Published yesterday at 7:00 am.
…for a nightmare to become so real, Fuudge
Your metalhead nephew, your uncle who only believes in 1970s rock, your friend from the Promenade pub Masson who repeats beer after beer that “Lars Ulrich is a bad drummer”: if you're planning on having one this year Offering a vinyl rock lover – whether stoner, thrash, prog or post grunge – here is the ideal gift. A total of 11 songs, 34 minutes of great enjoyment. Let's write it down: …that nightmare come true is the best rock record released in Quebec this year…unless your group is called Karkwa.
Heavy stone
…that a nightmare becomes so real
Fuudge
Folivora Records
The land is inhospitable and so are we, Mitski
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Mitski in Osheaga, in 2022
Certainly we did not expect the arrival of the new Mitski music convoy on the silent stage of orchestrated people. We imagined it more full of fumes, a logical continuation of the synthpop Laurel Hell (2022), or even off-road, like the romantic post-grunge rock heard on Be the Cowboy (2018). These sounds are practically excluded from “The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We,” which references alternative country and classic pop… but not only that. Because it's difficult to describe the new album by the not-so-young Japanese singer-songwriter to classify Americans into a single musical style. Sounds of classical instruments – gliding guitar, festive trumpet, subtle piano, delicate organ, western violin – meet a 17-piece choir and a full string quartet led by Drew Erickson (known for his work with Weyes Blood, Lana del Rey and Angel ). Olsen) and Mitski Miyawaki's certain preference for lyrical flights. Complete, bushy and pompous.
Orchestrated alt-folk
The land is inhospitable and so are we
Mitsky
Dead oceans
In the second, Karkwa
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
The group Karkwa released a new album that marked the group's return.
Last September, during a pre-release party for the album, the quintet threw their new tunes into the mouths of the hundred or so lucky people present within the walls of the overheated Esco bar on Rue Saint-Denis. Song by song, the boys found the rhythm, the tempo, the chords and, above all, the joy of being together. The Karwaian+Fan symbiosis took place before our eyes that evening. And it has stayed in our ears ever since. The second is the most important CD in the discography of this “old” group. The 12 years of silence have changed nothing: Karkwa is at the top of his game here and back at the top of the Quebec rock scene.
Pop rock
In this second
Karkwa
Simone Records
The Bigger Wings, Julie Byrne
PHOTO JONATHAN BOUKNIGHT, PROVIDED BY GHOSTLY RECORDS
Julie Byrne
The Ruby of the Summer: Released in July, this nugget is signed by the warm and hushed voice of Julie Byrne and reminds us of the good moves of Lana Del Rey and Weyes Blood. An album that deserves more attention, let's say. Here, the aura of director Eric Littmann, who died during recording (who also plays the synthesizers that can be heard), illuminates every sound level. It was Alex Somers (Sigur Rós) who had the difficult task of completing the task. The result is sublime and respectful. Every time we hear it, a wave hits us right in the heart. Proof that singing melancholy can be beneficial for listeners.
Contemporary pop for adults
The larger wings
Julie Byrne
Ghostly Records
Cousin, Wilco
PHOTO CHRIS PIZZELLO, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVE
Jeff Tweedy, singer and frontman of Wilco
A wind from Chicago whispered to us that this new Wilco was in line with Yankees Hotel Foxtrot (2002), A Ghost Is Born (2004) and Sky Bly Sky (2007), our three favorite albums from the group. And along the way we learn that the production was entrusted to Cate Le Bon. We were already interested and shaking – yes, yes – with impatience. This 13th work by Jeff Tweedy and his band convinced us from the first listen. The musicians are at the forefront, the instruments of all genres fit together, the crescendos rise… the Wilco formula is in full swing on Cousin, a political-romantic hothead in tune with the times, both in the lyrics and the refreshing sounds from Le Bon.
Alternative country
cousin
Wilco
dBpm records
My other five songs from 2023
Dancers, Idles
Salty Road Dogs Victory Anthem, Alabaster DePlume
Los Chico's Tristes [El Michels Affair Remix ft. Jensine Benitez]Hermanos Gutierrez
“I Am the River” by Lael Neale
American Airlines, by The Golden Dregs