ENT Blog

Every city has its own music scene. But few of them generate as much heat, hype and buzz as Montreal's music scene.

And no wonder. Over the last few years, the city has given us everyone from Arcade Fire to Islands to Patrick Watson. And there's plenty more where they came from.

Who will be the next Next Big Thing to emerge from Montreal's eclectic, vibrant scene? That's what I'm here to find out. I'm in the city all weekend to take in the M for Montreal music conference and festival. It's a three-day gathering of industry types from around the globe, here to shmooze, network, interface — those are all code words for getting loaded, by the way — and, oh yeah, check out a few dozen local artists of all shapes, sounds, styles and stripes (along with a few out-of-towners and ringers).

You might recognize some of the homegrown acts on this weekend's roster — like former Smashing Pumpkins and Hole bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur, who's finally putting out a new CD. Others — like Final Flash, Silly Kissers and Parlovr — might be as new to you as they are to me. But given Montreal's track record, chances are you'll be reading about at least one of them someday soon. So why not beat the crowd? Check back all weekend long as I B for Blog my way through M for Montreal and rate the bands.

Here's what I caught during Thursday's opening-night festivities, held in the Just For Laughs theatre and adjoining cabaret:

Final Flash
The shady black-and-white picture of them in the program makes them look like gritty garage-rockers. Looks can be deceiving. In person, these five dudes generate a sound that's far slower, moodier and lusher — and far more British than French. Think lotsa ringing guitars, no shortage of keyboards and dreamy vocals that fall closer to Robert Smith than Robert Plant on the spectrum. Their singer also manages to play what may be the least bluesy harmonica I have ever heard. And it doesn't help that their tunes aren't exactly memorable, either. "Every song they play reminds me of six other songs I like better," cracks the guy next to me. Sadly, that about says it. 

ENT rating: 2.5 out of 5

The Luyas
"Do you have any idea what the f--- that instrument is the singer is playing?" I ask the dude next to me. "I was just about to ask you the same thing," he replies. It looks like an exploded 12-string guitar with a screwdriver jammed beneath the strings in the middle of the fretboard. And the woman playing it has her hands on either of that movable bridge, producing a lot of muted, plinky tones that are somewhere between Asian and African. OK, that's got my attention. And this local sorta-supergroup (which features members of Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre and more) hold my interest with music that's just as beguiling as that bizarre instrument — which turns out to be a modified zither called a Moodswinger, I later learn from the Internet. On one side, you've got some glitchy keyboards and solid drums. On the other, violin and French horn adding orchestral colours and shades. Down the middle, you've got frontwoman Jessie Stein on Moodswinger, regular guitar and girlish vocals. Put them all together and you've got some exceptional art-pop. The set closes with the drummer rocking out in 3/4 time while the French horn player cooks and everybody else rings hand bells. A little precious, perhaps — but interesting enough that you want to hear more.
ENT rating: 4 out of 5

Miracle Fortress
A tall gangly guy with a red buzz cut walks on stage in the dark. He is carrying a low-wattage light bulb on a stick. His breast pocket is glowing. He rubs the bulb on the strings of a guitar that's lying flat, producing a warm, glowing hum. Eventually he straps on the instrument and noodles angularly over a surreally slowed-down recording of a door-to-door salesman asking a housewife if she's wearing her "favourite costume." Then thing start to get weird. Meet Miracle Fortress, aka multi-instrumentalist Graham Van Pelt (watch the video for the track "Have You Seen in Your Dreams" below). His 2007 album Five Roses was shortlisted for that year's Polaris Prize. On this night, he's playing all new material, presumably from his followup. For the most part, it's electronic dance-pop — but in keeping with Van Pelt's entrancing entrance, it often seems equal parts music and performance art. When he isn't pushing buttons, twiddling knobs and crooning lovingly in a fragile falsetto over his digital creations, Van Pelt strikes statuesque poses or shows off some gracefully balletic arm movements. He even runs his own light show, which consists of table lamps, a trio of police-car cherry tops, some goofy multi-coloured disco-box thingie, and even mini-flashlights stashed up his sleeve. Somehow, I suspect he has a lot more up those sleeves.
ENT rating: 4.5 out of 5



Rural Alberta Advantage
Neither rural nor Albertan, this trio hails from Toronto. But don't hold that against them. If you're looking for roots music, though, you might be a tad disappointed. Sure, there are acoustic guitars — but the guy playing one spends a lot of time gently tapping the body to make chords and notes resonate. And OK, some of the vocals are a little twangy — and during one a cappella segment, genuinely haunting. So that's good. But once they bring in the rest of the show — the keyboards, the indie-pop textures, the skittery drums — it all seems to add up to less than the sum of its parts. Most of the time, it sounds to me like the band is missing something — another instrument, a stronger arrangement, a bigger hook. And ultimately, it's hard to grasp what they're trying to do. Maybe that's what they're going for. But it doesn't seem to work to their advantage in this setting.
ENT Rating: 3 out of 5

You Say Party! We Say Die!
Give these Vancouver new-wavers points for dedication: According the M for Montreal emcee (whose name is, naturally, Mikey), YSP!WSD! took a detour from their Ontario tour to drive here for their 25-minute set — after which they're turning around and heading back west. You gotta like that. I just wish I liked their latest album XXXX as much as everybody else seems to. But, everybody has also told me they're one of those bands you have to see live to appreciate. Well, fair enough. Now, I do appreciate them more than I did before. In concert, their beats are punchier, their guitars have more bite and everything has far more energy than it does on the CD. And disco-queen frontwoman Becky Ninkovic's gold-winged bodysuit-leotard outfit is truly something to behold. Also impressive: When she climbs the PA stack at the end of their set. Still, I am not blown away. Much as I want to love them, I just keep hearing echoes of Blondie in their dance-rock grooves and ghosts of The B-52's in their dual female vocals. Granted, I could see them winning me over with an hour-long show at full throttle. Maybe this set is just not hard, fast or long enough. Or maybe they're a band you have to see again to appreciate.

ENT rating: 3.5 out of 5

Think About Life
It's Graham Van Pelt from Miracle Fortress again, but this time with a band. Well, sort of. There's a drummer and a singer and a woman who plays bass on a song or two but spends the bulk of her time singing and dancing. So between his guitar, keyboards and programmed elements, Van Pelt is really making most of the heavy musical lifting again. And like Miracle Fortress, it's still stylized and dance-oriented, but way more exuberant and addictive — while YSP! got a few bodies moving, TAL's propulsive, irresistible beats have a a giant knot of people on the packed floor shaking it. The quartet's combination of electronics, art and bold rhythm invites comparison to more recent TV on the Radio — especially when a horn section comes onstage for a couple of cuts — but ultimately TAL are way groovier and less distantly cerebral. If this is what Van Pelt can do with a drummer and a couple of vocalists, think about what he could do with an entire band.
ENT rating: 4 out of 5