POP Montréal, Day 2 | Post-rock orchestral at l’Entrepôt 77

POP Montréal is undoubtedly one of the major fall events for true music fans. From Wednesday, September 27 to Sunday, October 1, dozens and dozens of discoveries and acclaims from artists nestled in pop are taking place in Montreal. Follow the PAN M 360 team until Sunday!

Bell Orchestre

Following the release of the excellent opus House Music, Bell Orchestre created a symphonic concept in Germany around this corpus. Subsequently, in autumn 2021, the Montreal ensemble performed the material with the OSM. Superb, we recall. And then everyone went about their other professional occupations, we know the painful episode of the last Arcade Fire cycle, Richard Reed Parry once again concentrated on other projects less mainstream than this one. In the process of being created, Bell Orchestre offered a symphonic-free performance at Entrepôt 77 on Thursday, in front of a crowd well-versed in instrumental post-rock… and in the Pop Montréal vibe, which has always been an important stage for this aesthetic.

We’re dealing here with a cohort of experienced performers and improvisers, who have reached a level of excellence on an international scale. The level of each has continued to improve, notably violinist Sarah Neufeld, who occupies an important place in the current cycle. The compositions/improvisations are more mature, and we discover more singularity in the corners, without transgressing the post-rock and post-minimalist foundations of this expression. And so we were treated to a solid performance from the Bell Orchestre, who don’t seem to be on the verge of taking an extended break given their upcoming projects – recording a new album in the coming months.

Sauf les drones

Instrumental post-rock has been around since the 90s, and Sauf les drones (what a great band name!) is one of those musicians whose rock culture just isn’t enough to satisfy them – Godspeed YBE, Sigur Ros and… Bell Orchestre spring to mind. To better nourish themselves, these young musicians integrate elements of post-minimalism and other contemporary music from the classical tradition. More post than rock, Sauf les drones is remarkable for the fullness and calm dominating this expression. In this case, the concern for a collective sound clearly outweighs the individual performances of nonetheless well-educated and professional performers. With keyboards, violin, trombone, drums, bass and electronics, this Montreal sextet has been around since 2017, and today manages to present a coherent and attractive performance, banking on the idea that apparent calm can underlie an intensity far greater than it seems.

Anjimile

In the middle of the program, Anjimile Chithambo suggested a similar approach to the other two, but with a touch of African ancestry – his family hails from Malawi. A second-generation immigrant to the USA, where he grew up and moved around (Dallas, Boston, North Carolina), Anjimile offers a body of skilfully orchestrated songs that don’t take us where we might think at the outset. His biographical profile states: “Anjimile’s songwriting is inspired by everything he’s learned, from the African pop his parents loved, to the youth choir he attended, to the influences of ’80s music and even his contemporaries and fellow 4AD label mate, Big Thief. Thus, the author, composer and performer (guitarist and singer) thwarts clichés by downplaying the groove and banking on a Western culture whose bedrock is the indie folk of the 2000s,renowned for the richness of its arrangements and its concern for melodic limpidity. Prolific since 2015, he has already released 5 albums, including the recent The King on 4AD.”