Marie-Pierre Arthur

I strongly dislike categorizing things. Anglo/Franco. Yes/No. Chocolate/Vanilla. Most categories are too narrow (or too vague, it’s all the same) to really illustrate what it’s supposed to include. Long story short, it just makes me cringe. But sometimes it’s necessary. Like for the francophone and anglophone music scenes in Canada, for instance. They are still two very distinct scenes and rarely do we see those two mingle music wise. I would be happy to have a 5 hour conversation on the topic of Canada’s bilinguism, but let’s stick to the point. MUSIC! The francophone music scene is thriving, it’s wonderful and it wants to be your friend. We’re not going to let the language barrier win so easily are we? So here it is : your guide to the francophone crème de la crème of 2009.

Dumas - Traces

1. Dumas – Rouge, Demain, Au bout du monde, Traces

Back in December 2008, Dumas released the enigmatic album Nord, the first album of a series of five due out for 2009. One would think that after more than a year of not having a home and constant moving around from France and back to the Belle Province Dumas would want to stop and sleep for a bit. Much to the contrary, going back in the studio and recording three new albums was just the way to recover for Dumas. The first part of the puzzle was Rouge, a limited edition album that featured 10 melancholic new songs. Demain also features 10 songs and was tinted with ambient and more refined sounds. Then again, like the aunt who refuses to leave your house after Sunday morning coffee time (in a good way, I think?), he released Au bout du monde in which he mixed classic French song with rock and pop. Does one ever get sick of Dumas? Yes. But it’s the “delicious cake” kind of sickness. The last piece of the eternal casse-tête of albums, Traces, landed on the shelves this December. Dumas is now out of the studio and back on the road. He’s doing a residency at Le National for the last week of December, catch him if you can.

2. Marie-Pierre Arthur – Self-Titled

Once Ariane Moffatt’s bassist, Marie-Pierre Arthur wandered out of other people’s bands to treat us with her wonderful first solo album, out on Montreal label Bonsound. She got help from fellow Québécois Louis-Jean Cormier, boyfriend François Lafontaine (Karkwa), Patrick Watson’s Robbie Kuster and Galaxie 500 alumni Olivier Langevin. Gaëlle wrote the beautiful lyrics to go with Arthur’s melodies. Her first album is heartfelt pop goodness with a hint of rebellion. You’ll love it if you like Karkwa or Land of Talk. Bonsound put three free songs on her official website.

3. Lac Estion – Affranchi

4. Le roi poisson – Self Titled

Le roi poisson shares members with Lac Estion and Le Citoyen, hence the similarities in the sound of all three bands. Le roi poisson stand out with their ever so surprising ability to play with words as well as they play with guitar riffs and drum beats. Sample some tunes, love it and buy the album at their official website.

5. Yann Perreau – Un serpent sous les fleurs

Yann Perreau could be the lovechild of Serge Gainsbourg and Cyndi Lauper. Yep. He’d have his mother’s spunk and stage presence, his father’s genius song writing and undeniable charm.  Un serpent sous les fleurs goes beyond French chanson and ventures into a more daring mix of genres. It deserves your attention. (Psssst: clicketyclick) Evidence of said “spunk“.

6. Mara Tremblay – Tu m’intimides

(To me) she’s the Québécois Neko Case without the Russian poetry, the fun twangy voice you hear in your mother’s car, the weird nosy voice with the Chihuahua in her music video. Mara Tremblay introduced me to the joys of mandolin and alt-country. Tu m’intimides is her stunning fourth album, more pop, less twang. It suits all kinds of ears and it’s beautiful. Listen to Tu m’intimides here.

7. Jean Leloup – Mille excuses Milady

Jean Leloup, John the wolf, Jean Leclerc, dead wolf, Pablo Ruiz or whatever you want to call him is the Neil Young of french canada. Sometimes irreverent and disrespectful (I mean he did get boo’ed by his own fans a couple of times), Leloup has a love/hate relationship with his fans, his music and himself. Milles excuses Milady is a great album. It doesn’t deserve to be in any top something lists but I’m mentioning him because I think everyone should know him. He’s a music icon. You know, it’s truly frustrating when you really want to hate an artist for being such a douche but his music is too good for you to do so. Comme la vie est laide, laide… dammit! Figure him out here.

Hey did you hear about the new Malajube EP? They are not officially releasing it on Dare To Care and it’ll only be available at shows and on their website (although they are thinking about a possible digital release). It’s a limited edition 12’’ with pretty serigraphy printings by Alice Jarry from Sérigraphie 514. It’ll include “Malajube remixes by Malajube” and some new songs.

Zut alors lovelies,

Christine

Lila dit ca (Copyright Roy Patrick)

Bonjour! Are you addicted to Malajube’s new album yet? You can watch them perform five songs offLabyrinthes, including the single “Les collemboles” on the bande a part website. While you’re there check out Duchess Says’ session as well! Dumas is finally back with a new and, may I add, magnificent album:Rouge. You can listen to “Quelque part”, “Le son de vos voix” and “Un train dans la nuit” on his MySpace. For this blog, I decided to go all thematic on you guys. These are the current contestants for the 13th edition of Les Francouvertes, a contest for indie French-speaking bands that takes place every year at Lion D’or. I handpicked la creme de la creme for your listening pleasures.

Lila dit ca

Lila dit ca is a book by the mysterious Chimo. Just like the author of the book, these guys are fine masters of their art. Every harmony, every lyric and tiny sound is there for a reason which is, in my opinion, what makes the greatest songs. It takes you back to the sole pleasure of listening to music, getting lost in the guitar riffs and cymbal thumping. They’ve been compared to the Velvet Underground and Black Lips. A very enjoyable and addictive band, listen without moderation. No but seriously, click the link; you’ll be glad you did.

MySpace: www.myspace.com/liladitca

Lac Estion

What started as a temporary La Raisin Secte side project became an EP and the EP became an album. Lac Estion’s music was meant to be a Christmas present for a girl guitarist PA Brochet (also of Le Roi Poisson) he was pretty fond of. Unfortunately, the girl dumped him because he spent more time working on the EP than with her. We were left with this collection of airy guitar driven songs sprinkled with a dash of bitterness. Lac Estion is by far the best thing that ever got out of a bad break-up. Think Bon Iver and Broken Social Scene’s handsome French lovechild. They are launching their very first record, called Affranchi, tomorrow at Divan Orange. More information on their MySpace.

MySpace: www.myspace.com/lacestion

On a cree un monstre

This pop/rock trio began “creating the monster” back in 2006 in Montreal via Sorel. They recorded their first EP with the help of music master Renaud Bastien (Malajube, Coeur de Pirate) back in 2008. Their song “Dorval”, a hate letter to Dorval airport (Oh Dorval I hate you/An airplane takes off and takes my heart with it), was a favorite on college radios and the demo landed a well deserved 26th position in the 2008 CISM (Universite de Montreal radio) top 50. They mix catchy vocal harmonies, fantastic melodies and danceable rhythms perfectly, resulting in instant hit songs for wise ears.

MySpace: www.myspace.com/onacreeunmonstre

Peppertree

You know when it’s -35C, there’s 20cm of snow at your doorstep and you lost all the love you had for Canada? Well, I think I got the solution. Peppertree made me dance like a 4 year old at Christmas while I was shoveling snow this winter. I would describe it as heart warming pop/rock coated with sugar. The song “Insecte” takes you back to Radiohead’s OK Computer with its beautiful arrangements. The vocals are often used as an additional instrument much like Malajube do, except you can actually hear Peppertree’s lyrics, which is a good thing. I think Peppertree might as well be my Malajube. Oh and they also sing in English.

MySpace: www.myspace.com/pptree
Where you can download several songs for free: http://www.peppertree.ws

Les Francouvertes’ finals will be held at Club Soda on April 27th. Lac Estion and Peppertree are still in the race. 2008′s winners, La Patere Rose, released their first record last week; you can hear 3 songs on MySpace. Have a good week lovelies!

Zut Alors,
Christine

Regina Spektor

Ever since Soviet Kitsch was released worldwide, Regina Spektor has been shedding her veil of obscurity and gaining popularity everywhere.

Her songs have appeared in shows like CSI: NY, Criminal Minds, Weeds, and Grey’s Anatomy. Her song “Fidelity” was also used in the trailer for 27 Dresses, and even a JC Penny commercial was graced with the voice of Ms. Spektor.

One cannot help but be taken with her unique vocal style, quirky song lyrics, and admirable piano skills…not to mention the fact that she is positively adorable.

But recently, Spektor sound-alikes have also been growing in popularity as fast as her sound has.

In fact, there has been much controversy and dispute over whether Spektor was the voice behind a song in a recent Rice Krispies commercial. The song was not actually not her, but a composition created specifically for the commercial. A friend of mine also thought that a song in a recent Macbook Air commercial was Spektor, but after consulting the Internet, conceded that it was “New Soul” by Yael Naim.

But going beyond television ads, there are some artists who could almost replace Spektor in case of laryngitis, and only die-hard fans would notice.

Caroline Keating is a Montreal-based artist whose likeness to Regina is eerie at times. Her pronunciations and her voice sometimes sound almost completely like Spektor. She has a totally vintage look, and her bouncy/catchy music and use of piano are also reminiscent of Spektor.

If I had heard Keating before Spektor, I think I would have been nuts for her; she’s very talented and her music is bouncy and intriguing. However, hearing her after years of Spektor-love distracts from her talent; the music is almost too similar. However, her work is still worth a listen; some of her songs are truly unique, and one has to admire the talent it took to create each piece. Plus, if you feel like being more hipster than your friends, while still listening to something Regina Spektor-ish, this girl has got it.

Another Montreal-based singer, Beatrice Martin of coeur de pirate, has also been compared to Spektor in the past. While it is true that her use of piano is very reminiscent of Spektor, and their voices do sound similar at times, Martin differs in some key ways.

For starters, if one saw Martin walking down the road with her tattooed arms and long blonde hair, one would be more inclined to think that she was in a rock band or maybe the rebellious background dancer for the Pussycat Dolls, instead of an accomplished pianist.

Besides not looking the part, she also has an ensemble behind her while performing; violin, guitar, bass, drums, and the alto sax. This gives her music a more varied sound, although she cannot boast self-proficiency like Spektor and Keating.

Call me crazy, but I think that the fact that coeur de pirate’s music is entirely in French also adds a lot to the sound; it’s beautiful to listen to, and just using another language changes Martin’s sound and sets her further from Spektor.

I have to say that I am a bigger fan of Martin than Keating; her sound is similar to Spektor’s, but it is also distinctly different.

So what’s the final verdict? Regina Spektor and her music are one of a kind. No sound-alike can quite match her vocals or has that certain…soviet kitsch. (please pardon the pun)

However, the music that she inspires is often beautiful as well. As long as the artist can really find a way to separate themselves from Spektor, she is a great inspiration for creation.

Keep it real kids,
Cashlyn

Pas Chic Chic

It’s time to french it up, people. Here’s a first glimpse at what Montreal’s french independent music scene has to offer.

Pas Chic Chic

The band came together in 2005, reuniting members from various mythical Montreal bands such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Fly Pan Am. Their 2008 debut album Au Contraire was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize (won by Caribou) but unfortunately did not make the short list. Pas Chic Chic’s music combines shoegaze and French pop; let’s say Serge Gainsbourg meets Blonde Redhead in a sketchy corner of Montreal. It’s poppy enough to make you dance and has enough depth to make you want to listen to the album three times a day. (MySpace)

Pas chic chic will play a show at El Mocambo in Toronto for Canadian Music Week on March 12th along with fellow Montrealers Radio Radio, Duchess Says, We Are Wolves and Malajube.

Karkwa

If you like Malajube you will fall in love with Karkwa. If Malajube annoys the crap out of you with their non-sense lyrics and pre-teen vocals, you will fall even more for Karkwa. It’s a win-win situation, really. They have three albums out, their second album, Les tremblements s’immobilisent launched them into the Quebec music scene and made them local favorites. Their heart-wrenching alternative rock and brilliant song writing are complimented by great melodies, which make this band nearly perfect. Rarely do male fronted bands move me like Karkwa have. They evoke that warm feeling you get when you fall in love or cuddle a puppy. But don’t be mistaken, they are a rock band. (Come on, click the link. I strongly recommend “La Facade”. You can also go here to stream their albums for free!)

Misteur Valaire

Simply put, Misteur Valaire are a beloved super group of musical geniuses. Their music isn’t something you describe, it’s something you experience. It’s a mix of electronic, jazz, rock and an acid trip. They’ve made their albums available as free downloads on their website. They played M for Montreal and are renowned, legendary even, for their explosive live performances. (MySpace) And free music! What’s better than free music?

Alright, so while you anxiously (not really) await part 2 of this series of frenched up blogs, go listen to these and tell me what you think: Le roi poisson, Lac estion and El Motor. May your ears be pleased!

Zut Alors,
Christine