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Montréal, antistar rock
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| malek |
Montréal, antistar rock
Ari Bendersky
Associated Press
Montréal, prochaine capitale du rock? Ainsi en ont décidé le Rolling Stone et le New York Times en février dernier. Six mois après cette «découverte», un journaliste d'Associated Press est venu prendre le pouls de la scène locale. Il a constaté qu'elle était toujours aussi vivante... même si certains musiciens se seraient volontiers passés de toute cette hype!
Pour trouver le coeur et l'âme de la scène rock montréalaise, il suffit de se rendre dans le quartier Mile-End. Par un récent soir d'été, dans un petit café pittoresque du boulevard Saint-Laurent, la magie de la musique était au rendez-vous.
Vers 23 h, l'ancien membre du populaire groupe de Victoria Hot Hot Heat, Dante DeCaro, est venu faire son tour de chant au café Pharmacie Esperanza. Guitare à l'épaule et harmonica au cou, il a empli l'espace de sa voix rappelant celle de Bob Dylan, stridente, mélodieuse, captivante...
Ses fans et ses amis étaient rassemblés autour de lui. On pouvait voir Nick Robinson, organisateur du festival Pop Montréal; Olga Goreas, du groupe de musique expérimentale Besnard Lakes; Nick Diamonds et Jamie Thompson, des regrettés Unicorns, et Tim Hecker, musicien électronique. DeCaro était accompagné à la batterie par Arlen Thompson, du groupe Wolf Parade, dont le premier album- très attendu- paraîtra en septembre sous l'étiquette phare du grunge, Sub Pop.
Dans une autre ville, on parlerait d'une soirée où l'on va pour voir et être vu, mais ici, c'est la routine. À Montréal, les gens ne recherchent pas les flashes et la reconnaissance. Ce qui compte ici, c'est la solidarité entre artistes. Comme s'ils n'avaient pas besoin des accolades de la communauté musicale internationale.
Craintes et réserves
Pourtant, à la suite du succès du groupe Arcade Fire, les projecteurs des médias se sont braqués sur la métropole. Montréal est devenu un nouveau foyer de créativité musicale, comme l'ont auparavant été Seattle, Austin (au Texas) et le secteur de Williamsburg, à Brooklyn.
Une situation qui ne fait pas le bonheur de tous.
«Certains craignent d'assister au pillage de la créativité de la scène underground», explique Dan Seligman, cofondateur et directeur artistique du festival musical Pop Montréal.
Au dire de son collègue Nick Robinson, les musiciens préféreraient rester dans l'ombre, le temps de mûrir et de se bâtir un répertoire qui tienne la route.
D'autres estiment cependant que tout ce talent et toute cette créativité méritent d'être exposés au grand jour.
«Je vieux bien, moi, qu'on braque les projecteurs sur nous, affirme Gary Worsley, copropriétaire de Alien8 Recordings, étiquette des Unicorns et des Georges Leningrad. C'est bon pour Montréal. Des groupes comme le quintette féminin Pony Up! ont obtenu beaucoup de publicité avec un seul mini-CD, ce qui ne serait pas arrivé sans l'attention des médias.»
À la source de tout ce tapage: l'explosion d'un groupe, The Arcade Fire.
Depuis l'automne dernier - et en grande partie grâce à Internet -, la bande de Win Butler a vendu plus de 200 000 exemplaires de son premier album, Funeral, paru sous l'étiquette indépendante Merge Records. Aussitôt, les élites musicales se sont réveillées, les magazines Rolling Stone et Spin qualifiant Montréal de «prochaine grande scène musicale».
Redonner à la communauté
Le nouveau groupe chouchou de Bono n'est toutefois pas le premier à avoir fait des remous outremer. Au milieu des années 90, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, orchestre post-rock expérimental, a connu un succès notable à l'étranger, sans l'appui d'une multinationale du disque.
Alors que ses membres auraient pu s'enfuir avec le magot, ils ont décidé de réinvestir dans leur communauté.
Le guitariste de Godspeed, Efrim Menuck, a ouvert avec quelques collègues le studio d'enregistrement Hotel2Tango, qui a vu passer les Wolf Parade, Arcade Fire, The Dears et autres Pony Up! Le bassiste de Godspeed, Maura Pezzente, et sa partenaire Kiva Stimac leur ont quant à eux donné des endroits où jouer: la Casa del Popolo, El Salon, la Sala Rossa...
Cette volonté de redonner à la communauté est demeurée dans les moeurs. Prenez Andre GuDerette, membre du groupe de rock bruitiste psychédélique AIDS Wolf. Avec son ami Matt Miller, le musicien a fondé Mandatory Moustache, compagnie de promotion à l'origine de la populaire soirée bimensuelle du même nom au resto-bar Le Divan orange.
Les artistes qui s'y produisent deux mardis soir par mois sont toujours montréalais, mais pas nécessairement connus. De fait, ces soirées ont la réputation de faire découvrir de nouveaux artistes, dans des styles aussi variés que le country, le folk, la pop ou la musique électronique.
«Souvent, les gens ne connaissent pas les bands, mais ils y vont parce que c'est une soirée Mandatory Moustache, affirme le rockeur et chroniqueur culturel Jonathan Cummins. Ils sont jeunes et ils savent que c'est l'endroit où il faut être.» Les soirées Mandatory Moustache reprennent en septembre après une pause estivale.
Au suivant!
Des soirées comme celle-ci ont réussi à prospérer pour différentes raisons, dont les subventions accordées à certains groupes, les loyers abordables et une attitude «faites-le maintenant».
Le sens de la communauté reste toutefois un facteur primordial. Ainsi, de retour de séances d'enregistrement cahoteuses à Portland (en Oregon) pour son prochain album, qu'a donc fait le chanteur de Wolf Parade, Dan Boeckner? Il a demandé à son ami Jace Lasek, fondateur d'un studio et musicien établi à Montréal, de remixer les chansons du disque. Le résultat est à la hauteur des attentes.
En tout état de cause, les artisans d'ici contemplent avec philosophie le soudain engouement pour leur ville. «Les projecteurs ne seront pas toujours sur Montréal, affirme Gary Worsley, de Alien8. Une autre scène attend déjà son tour, au coin de la rue.» |
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| malek |
in english:
Spotlight Unnerves Montreal's Music Scene
By ARI BENDERSKY, For The Associated Press Thu Jul 28,12:01 PM ET
MONTREAL - To find the heart and soul of the Montreal music scene on a recent evening, all one had to do was head to the Mile End neighborhood, walk into a quaint coffee shop and pop into the intimate back room.
About 11 p.m., Former Hot Hot Heat member Dante DeCaro stepped up to the mic at Pharmacie Esperanza. With his guitar slung over one shoulder and harmonica fastened around his neck, DeCaro projected a voice that sounded like pure Dylan — whiny, melodic, captivating.
Standing around were many of DeCaro's friends and fans, including Nick Robinson, an organizer of the influential Pop Montreal International Music Festival; Olga Goreas of the experimental ambient group Besnard Lakes; Nick Diamonds and Jamie Thompson from the now-defunct, once-hopeful Unicorns; and electronic artist Tim Hecker, also known as the techno rebel Jetone. Backing DeCaro on drums was Arlen Thompson of the indie buzz group Wolf Parade, which is scheduled to drop its Sub Pop Records debut, "Apologies to the Queen Mary," in September.
In many cities, this would qualify as a see-and-be-seen crowd. But in Montreal, it's the status quo. This is one cosmopolitan city where celebrity and pretense don't exist — just a strong community of musicians and artists dedicated to their craft.
They don't necessarily need approval from the outside world, despite the onslaught of international media attention. But now that it has arrived — making Montreal a successor to former musical "hotbeds" like Seattle; Austin, Texas; Omaha, Neb.; and the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn — many here have mixed feelings.
"There is a kind of knee-jerk fear reaction among certain people that this is all bad that people are going to come here and rape and pillage the pure underground scene," said Dan Seligman, co-founder and creative director of Pop Montreal.
"If the attention goes away, then A&R people ("artist and repertoire" executives from music labels) won't swoop in, allowing bands to grow in the proper fashion," said Pop Montreal's Robinson. "We're just musicians trying to do our own thing. Then we got thrust into the spotlight — we banded together to protect ourselves."
Protection from what, exactly, is unclear. Protection from allowing clever musicians and talented artists to gain more attention than if the media hadn't started poking around? Protection from letting some of the quality music get out?
"I don't agree with wanting (the spotlight) to go away," said Gary Worsley, co-owner of Montreal-based indie label Alien8 Recordings, which has put out albums by the Unicorns, Merzbow and Kiss Me Deadly, which recently toured with uber-hot group Bloc Party. "It's good for the city. Bands like Pony Up have been able to get a lot of hype on one EP, which would not have happened if we didn't have this attention."
What initially brought on this attention can be pegged, in part, to the explosion of one group: the Arcade Fire.
Last fall, indie music fans and bloggers sent the Arcade Fire's MP3s around the Internet at breakneck speed. Eventually the band shipped 220,000 copies of its debut, "Funeral," on independent label Merge Records — something fairly uncommon for an indie release without a large distribution partner. This prompted media outlets like Rolling Stone to dub Montreal the "next big scene."
But years before the Arcade Fire blew up, many bands were already creating a stir up north. In the mid-1990s, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, an experimental post-rock orchestra, gained international prominence without major label backing, and enjoyed some financial success.
Where Godspeed's members could have taken their money and ran, they chose to remain immersed in Montreal's music community.
"People reinvested themselves and their money into studios and opened clubs and cafes that gave back to the artists and the community," Seligman said. "The idea of reinvesting your cultural enterprises into the city is important."
Godspeed guitarist and current
A Silver Mt. Zion member Efrim Menuck, along with local producer Howard Bilerman and Godspeed member Thierry Amar, opened the influential Hotel2Tango recording studio, where the likes of Wolf Parade, Arcade Fire, the Dears, all-girl rock outfit Pony Up! and the psychedelic noise-rock group Et Sans have all laid down tracks.
Godspeed bassist Mauro Pezzente and his girlfriend/partner Kiva Stimac gave those artists a few venues to put on shows. The pair run three newer music venues in the now-trendy Plateau Mont-Royal area — Casa Del Popolo, El Salon and Sala Rossa — that also double as either a bar, restaurant or cafe.
"When I first moved here, there were only like three venues to play in," said Jonathan Cummins, founder of the hard rock band Bionic and a Montreal Mirror columnist. "Today there are so many venues, you can see five different shows a night."
Even without big financial success, people give back to the community in other ways. Andre Guérette, member of the psychedelic noise rock outfit
AIDS Wolf, teamed with friend Matt Miller to form Mandatory Moustache, a music promotions company that launched a popular biweekly Tuesday night music series at restaurant/club Le Divan Orange.
The bands that play these nights are always local but not necessarily known, a strong reason why Mandatory Moustache picks them for the bill. The evening has built a reputation for showcasing emerging talent across many genres including country, folk, pop and electro.
"A lot of times people won't know who the bands are, but will go just because it's a Mandatory Moustache night," Cummins said. "They're young and they think it's wicked and the place to be."
Nights like this have been able to thrive for several reasons, including government subsidies for some bands, Montreal's low rent — Besnard Lakes member and Breakglass Studio founder Jace Lasek pays about $1,800 per month for his 5,000-square-foot studio, and his four-bedroom apartment costs $720 — and an attitude of "if you want to do something, do it."
There's a strong experimental music scene, lead by the likes of AIDS Wolf, The Besnard Lakes and Sam Shalabi, who all play music in disparate genres: noise rock, avant garde ambient and psychedelic experimental with Middle Eastern influences, respectively. Even alt-country artists like The Adam Brown and neo-folkies like John Lennox have filled particular musical voids.
But Montreal wouldn't be Montreal without its majority French community. While much of the spotlight is currently on English-speaking bands, Montreal has a thriving Francophone scene — and many musicians in Anglo bands are of French descent, like Arcade Fire's Régine Chassagne and all the members of the cartoonish post-punk rock outfit Les Georges Leningrad.
But Montreal music always seems to come back to the notion of community.
After Wolf Parade — which had never worked with a producer — returned from troubled recording sessions in Portland, Ore., for "Apologies to the Queen Mary," singer Dan Boeckner turned to his friend Lasek to remix the songs, resulting in a solid alt-rock effort.
When asked about the demise of Unicorns, no one felt comfortable discussing the situation — because it was their friends' business. But whatever happened behind closed doors must have caused a creative spark because Nick Diamonds and Jamie Thompson are now working on not one, but two new projects together: Th' Corn Gangg, a hip-hop outfit with Los Angeles underground rappers Bus Driver and Subtitle; and Islands, a straight-up pop group.
So whenever the press attention fades away, it's likely the buzz will pick up somewhere else.
"(The spotlight) isn't going to be here forever," said Alien8's Worsley. "There's another scene ready to explode around the corner." |
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| malek |
Montreal Buzz: Nightclub Name Game
Monday August 15, 2005 @ 04:30 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff
Are you like me? Are you sick and tired of the same old bar and club names? Why must every city have an Aria, a Blue, a Cheers, a Copacabana, a Crystal, a Funkytown, a Sugar, a Tonic, a One (or any number, from 54 to 360 to 737)? Thankfully, Canada has establishments like the Bovine Sex Club, Zaphod Beeblebrox and Foufounes Electriques to counteract the drudgery, and now Montreal recently gained more club-name cred by snatching a hot, novel nightspot from Bordeaux, France, Zoobizarre . Alexandre Auché and Valérie Sury founded the club in 1997 and recently imported the idea to Montreal. Their musical mandate is electronic, experimental, indie rock and underground hip-hop, along with video and performance art. Take the opportunity to check out their unique cave-like atmosphere this week when Japanese New Yorkers Dynamite Club drop in with their jazz noise and violent stage antics, with Ottawa’s Daiquiri and our own World Provider on Tuesday, August 16, at 9 p.m., for $5.
Another new venue for live music is Playhouse (5656 Parc), a former strip club that books bands and rock DJs. Not many details about Playhouse’s programming yet, but watch this space for more in future.
On Saturday, August 20, Moog maestros The Unireverse launch their latest Plays The Music disc, their debut on the No Type label, at La Sala Rossa, with the long-lost Corpusse! Let’s hope he’s still rocking the Misfits/Cure stylee.
And finally, yes, it’s true, Arcade Fire will open for U2 in November, two shows at the Bell Centre and one at Ottawa’s Corel Centre. Some say it’s infamy, I say it’s just a gig. The Pixies opened for U2 in ’92, after all. Wake me up when the band gets booked at a KKK fundraiser or Republican convention and I’ll be the first to burn their CDs in the street.
Tip off [email protected]
— Lorraine Carpenter |
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| gd_nimrod |
| quote: | Originally posted by malek
Are you like me? Are you sick and tired of the same old bar and club names? Why must every city have an Aria, a Blue, a Cheers, a Copacabana, a Crystal, a Funkytown, a Sugar, a Tonic, a One (or any number, from 54 to 360 to 737)? Thankfully, Canada has establishments like the Bovine Sex Club, Zaphod Beeblebrox and Foufounes Electriques to counteract the drudgery, and now Montreal recently gained more club-name cred by snatching a hot, novel nightspot from Bordeaux, France, Zoobizarre . |
All i read was that, and yeah lol its so true!
@ Foufs: its actually a pretty fun place! |
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