Sunglaciers – “Out of my Skull”

by Stephan Boissonneault

Calgary’s icy post-punks, Sunglaciers, are inching closer and closer to the release of their anticipated Subterranea LP, and have a music video for the darkened and minimalist “Out of my Skull.” Subterranea is out March 25 via Mothland. Until then, check out “Out of my Skull” below.

“Out of my Skull’ is dark but it’s lively. I shot in black and white to lend a bit of a classic, noir vibe to the video, which also helped bring out some of my innate 90s influence,” says band member and director, Evan Resnik.

“The lyrics loosely reference Miles Davis and a few moments from his life: his hiatus from 1975-80, a shooting in 1969, being assaulted by a cop outside Birdland in 1959. I watched a lot of music documentaries in early 2020 when we began writing this record. Miles was a mysterious and brooding artist, and that initial inspiration helped me get into that mindset during the songwriting and throughout the video production. The video is intimate but detached, with close-up faces in contrasting, unreal environments. We’re in your face, but we’re not really there.”

Indie Rock

Destroyer – Tintoretto, It’s for You

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Daniel Bejar, better known as Destroyer, is back in 2022 with an album announcement and an esoteric video single called “Tintoretto, It’s for You.” The song is somewhat of a free-verse mystery as Bejar sings in his romantic, mythical minstrel voice backed by pounding drums, dark jazz piano, and the odd off-timed synth.

Fragments of sentences form while imagery of arcane beasts appear as Bejar walks through the music video, following a bunch of red herrings that ultimately lead to nowhere. I learned long ago that deriving a complete meaning from a Destroyer track is pointless. For example, “Tintoretto,” could be a reference to the Italian painter, but it could also be from a lost voice memo Bejar recorded on his phone. The track is a preview to Destroyer’s 13th album, LABYRINTHITIS, out March 25.

Avant-Pop / Electro-Pop / Pop / Soul/R&B / Trip Hop

FKA twigs – Measure of a Man ft. Central Cee

by Rédaction PAN M 360

If Agent 007 were a female samurai, he would probably look like FKA Twigs in this clip. Director Diana Kunst sumptuously put on video a single titled Measure of a Man. We should hear this song in the soundtrack of The King’s Man, the third installment of the spy series Kingsman from Marvel Studios, starting December 22. Otherwise, we’re still waiting for the mixtape announced by FKA twigs in early 2021.

Funk / Synth-Pop

Fishbach – Masque d’or

by Rédaction PAN M 360

We are patiently waiting for Flora Fischbach’s new album, scheduled for February 2022. In the meantime, she is releasing some singles: after Téléportation last week, here is Masque d’or, with a video directed and animated by Aymeric Bergada de Cadet, who also made über-videos for Léa Vincent, La Femme, Régina Demina, and L’Impératrice.

First Nations / Pop

Beatrice Deer – The Storm

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Beatrice Deer is back with a salvo of inuindie pop. After History, unveiled in October, here is The Storm, the second single from the album Shifting, her sixth, which will be released on December 10th. Here is the video, directed by Robb Jamieson who introduces it as follows:

“The video for The Storm follows a weatherman who loses his cool on the air following his firing. Climate change and career setbacks snowball into a contemporary dance deluge. We wonder if it was all in his head or if it was broadcast live to thousands.”

Orchestral Pop / Pop / Singer-Songwriter

Jarvis Cocker – Aline

by Rédaction PAN M 360

This cover of Christophe’s megahit by Jarvis Cocker is on the soundtrack of Wes Anderson’s new film, The French Dispatch. Anderson directed the clip, which serves as the film’s opening credits. Jarvis Cocker lends his voice to the character of Ti-Top, played by Bruno Delbonnel. Cocker has just released Chansons d’Ennui Tip-Top, a companion album to The French Dispatch‘s soundtrack, with related covers (Dutronc, Ferrer, Gainsbourg, Hardy, Laforêt, Dalida and so on).

Indie Rock

Spoon – The Hardest Cut

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Pan M’s good news of the day: Spoon will release Lucifer on the Sofa on February 11th! To help us wait, the Austin-based band has posted a video of them playing the single The Hardest Cut to an audience that is dancing, if not smiling. This three minute twenty six second neo-noir film features some unforgiving elements: the riffs of Britt Daniel and his colleagues as well as one of the characters, who may not be the one you thought.

Classical

Bruce Xiaoyu Liu, winner of the 2021 Chopin Piano Competition

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Montrealer Bruce Xiaoyu Liu has won first prize in the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition. The 24-year-old pianist was born in Paris; he moved to Canada with his family at the age of six. Liu is a graduate of the Conservatoire de Montréal, where he studied under Richard Raymond. He had already won the Concours OSM in 2012 and the Prix d’Europe in 2015. The Chopin Piano Competition was created in 1927 and is held every five years. In 2015 Charles Richard-Hamelin, another Conservatoire de Montréal graduate, had won the second prize. Watch and–more importantly–listen to Bruce Xiaoyu Liu perform Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, during the competition final.

Folk Pop

Joseph Edgar – Sirène, sirène

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Joseph Edgar tells us a tall tale–unless it’s a dream?–about a siren… From his “Peut être un rêve” abum. He designed, edited and directed the clip.

Dark Pop / Electro

Aiko Aiko – Al Lat

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Deep pop duo Aiko Aiko was founded by Nada Aiko and Pascal Holper in Vienna, in the early 2010’s. Al Lat comes from RADICAL NOPINION, their second album, being released these days. Pascal Holper directed this clip where Björk’s universe seems to have been hijacked by Trent Reznor.

Avant Folk / Psych-Folk

Monsieur Doumani – Koukkoufkiaos

by Rédaction PAN M 360

In this clip directed by Anna Fotiadou, cypriot trio Monsieur Doumani roams the aisles of a library, blowing to pieces the « Silence! » instruction with their lysergic chords. From Monsieur Doumani’s fantastic new album, Pissourin.

Electronic / Jazz

Makaya McCraven – Frank’s Tune (aka De’Jeff’s Tune)

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Makaya McCraven is a drummer, producer and beat expert from Chicago. On Deciphering the Message, he pays tribute to Blue Note’s legends – Burrell, Mobley, Blakey, Silver and so on – by remixing some of their tracks. McCraven obviously doesn’t bask in nostalgia, far from it. Frank’s Tune – remix title: De’Jeff’s Tune – comes from the album Easterly Winds by pianist Jack Wilson. The clip was directed by the Rising Agency.