Alternative / Horror Punk / Post-Punk / Synthwave

Alix Fernz – Muselière

by Louise Jaunet

Noticed at the M for Montreal festival last November, or alongside La Sécurité, Stoylov, and Hippie Hourrah as a touring musician, Alix Fernz is a strange new rebel, emerging straight from the gloomy underground of the Bermuda Triangle. Nominated at the GAMIQ for the best punk album of the year in 2020 with his previous project Blood Skin Atopic, this self-taught singer and multi-instrumentalist is releasing his first solo album Bizou on 19 April via the Montreal label Mothland.

Directed by Annabelle Fournier, the video “Muselière” depicts Alix Fernz in an ambiguous psychic state, oscillating between wakefulness and sleep. With his hair dyed like a super-villain and marked by a deformity that has driven him mad, Alix embodies the malaise of his alter ego on the run by adopting the role of a clumsy, sadistic criminal clown who ends up in the hands of the forces of the law. Like a reflection of his unconscious, this master criminal evokes Alix’s fear and desire for a youthful rebellion against his own alienation, in the context of a coming of age in a cybernetic era. Like a dog barking into the headphones of its muzzle in the face of a well-trained collective mass, psychosocial disorders are perhaps just waiting to burst through the screen. AllO aLLO AllO aLLo…

Alix Fernz will be performing at the Sala Rossa on March 6, opening for the group Omni (Sub Pop).

Alternative / Indie Folk / Psych-Folk

Alex Southey – God’s Green Earth

by Stephan Boissonneault

Building off his cerebral and soothing folk singer-songwriter stylings, Toronto’s, Alex Southey, has released his final single “God’s Green Earth” off his upcoming album, Entertainers Bring May Flowers.

The new track puts the listener into a strange trance, as they follow Southey’s voice, which at times sounds a bit stitched together with a tape echo delay, or multiple voice recordings. The backup vocals sometimes feel off-centre or out of time, but purposefully so, as if Southey is interrupting himself in a zen, yet manic state.

Thematically the track is about the world burning, but also feeling slightly apathetic to constant madness. The light acoustic guitar and mellotron add to the psychedelic flair, a bit shoegaze-y at times like something from Slowdive.

The chorus will be stuck in your mind hours after your first listen. Finally, the music video made by one Don River, features a vintage pop-up art collage style that slowly reacts to the words of the song, sometimes going completely off the rails, but pleasantly so.

Get lost in God’s Green Earth here:

Jazz Fusion / jazz-hop / math rock

Waxamillion – Steezy

by Stephan Boissonneault

For those craving the guitar pop riff madness of CHON or Polyphia, Austria’s Waxamillion is happy to oblige. On the single track “Steezy” we are taken on an incredibly rich, complex journey of math rock and lo-fi instrumental hip hop. These kinds of artists always aggravate me due to their skill. You just have to shake your head at how insane it is… There is some rigorous palm muting and tapping skill here and the full album Random Notes. The “Steezy” single is accompanied by a bonkers music video of cubic psychedelic images and rotating shapes, a perfect accompaniment to the hysteria.

Electronic

Igloofest : (re)discover The Blaze in 5 videos

by Elsa Fortant

For the final weekend of Igloofest 2024, we invite you to immerse yourself in the spellbinding world of French electronic duo The Blaze, made up of cousins Guillaume and Jonathan Alric.

Their music blends electronic sounds with world music influences, creating an immersive, emotional, almost mystical atmosphere. .

To discover the extent of their talent and prepare for Igloofest, here are five must-have tracks.

This Thursday, February 8 at Igloofest, 9:30pm, INFO HERE

crédit photo: Peter Ryaux-Larsen

Virile (2016)

Territory (2017)

Queens (2018)

Dreamer (2023)

Madly (2023)

Alternative Rock / Experimental Dream Pop / Post-Punk

Sunglaciers – Cursed

by Stephan Boissonneault

“Cursed” is a new single from Calgary’s alternative post-punks, Sunglaciers, announcing their full-length follow-up to 2022’s Subterranea album, Regular Nature (Out on March 29th via Mothland.)

Caught somewhere in between a dream and astral projection, this track might be Sunglaciers at their most melancholic, a song about longing for something lost and being plagued by only fleeting memories. The rhythmic bass and tumbling synth leave room for the hazy vocals and quiet deluge of fuzzy guitars. The music video, by Sunglaciers Evan Resnik, follows a woman (Denice Olivares) being pulled out of and plunged into the waking and sleeping world. Though the music is light and airy, there’s still something unnerving about the landscape shifting form—kind of something from Christopher Nolan’s Inception. Subterranea is a tough album to follow, but based on our initial impressions it’s the perfect passing of the sonic torch.

Alternative Rock / Experimental / Contemporary / Post-Punk

Hotel du Globe – Strange Vision

by Stephan Boissonneault

Hotel du Globe is an 80s alternative rock band from Belgium that called it quits in 1987, but after the pandemic, almost three decades later, decided to give it another go with a new lineup, especially the wonderous, warm and encapsulating voice of Louise Floss.

They now offer “Strange Vision” a song with a Pink Floyd-esque beginning that morphs into a more Joy Division post-punk ballad about the human race, slowly killing and fixing the Earth. Much of the video has black-and-white footage of the Pripyat disaster and nuclear meltdown as shots of the band playing are interspersed throughout. “Strange Vision” is the opening single of the band’s late 2023 EP INTROSPECTION

Electro / Electronic / Instrumental

CØLIBRI – Kuujjuaq

by Stephan Boissonneault

Kuujjuaq is an isolated Northern village in Quebec. Accessible only by plane, this isolated place has the largest open-air landfill in northern Quebec: 82,700m3 of polluting waste. An exception in Canadian law authorizes the burning of certain waste, with the resulting health and ecological consequences. France electro artist, CØLIBRI, has made a soundscape to accompany the mini-documentary about the Kuujjuaq landfill and it is breathtaking. Feeling a bit like a lo-fi hip-hop beat at times that morphs into a powerful and orchestral beat, “Kuujjuaq” is worth every second of listening. The video is also gorgeous, featuring bird’s eye view drone footage and topographic shots of the landscape. Watch below.

Garage Rock / Stoner Rock

Bird’s View – Do I Have To Call

by Stephan Boissonneault

Feeling like the Frankfurt, Germany answer to the Queens of The Stone Age, Bird’s View’s “Do I Have To Call,” is a heavy song about escapism. With an easy-to-grab-onto Drop D guitar bending riff, and bombastic drums fills, the track has a way of seeping into your mind and staying there minutes after your initial listen. The music video follows the band on tour, opening for bigger acts like Skid Row, Greenlung, Planet of Zeus, and others. Stay from the alt rock breakdown during the outro. Bird’s View is one to watch.

EDM / Industrial

SINthetik Messiah – Der Anfang

by Stephan Boissonneault

Featuring the power of AI and a cosmic metal warrior princess, the music video for “Der Anfang,” from SINthetik Messiah is sure to make your head spin. With powerful industrial bass and soundscape EDM, SINthetik transports the listener into a cyberpunk world multiverse. Musically the track feels like it could play in a darkened German nightclub until the wee hours.

Darkwave / Gothic

Jessie Berkshires – Testify

by Stephan Boissonneault

Nothing like some super gothic dark synthpop to ring in the new year. This time it comes from Jessie Berkshires’ “Testify.” In the same vibe as someone like M83 or Phantogram, “Testify,” seems like it is about confession. The singer-songwriter leaves it just vague enough to come up with your own understanding of the witch-like and ethereal vocals. A vocalist, songwriter, and visual artist, Jessie self-directed the music video as well.

Post-Punk

Real Farmer – The Straightest Line

by Stephan Boissonneault

It seems like straightforward and frenetic post-punk is back in 2024 thanks to a band like Netherlands’ Real Farmer. They just dropped the single “The Straightest Line,” out on Peter Doherty’s Strap Originals label, which is completely volatile. With a trilling rhythm guitar like Wire and post-hardcore vocals, Real Farmer’s sound slaps your brain around like a piece of crumbling, floating tinfoil. It feels a bit like the debut LP of IDLES but with more of an old-school punk rock flair. Think MC5 meets The Fall.

The lyrics in “The Straightest Line” are straightforward but so relatable; how is someone to walk the straightest line when there are so many vices to entertain oneself?

The music video is a simple one, featuring Real Farmer in a black room, lit by minimal light as the camera moves on a dolly sometimes in slow motion or upside down, looking at times like a worn-out zine. The artistic direction is a good one for the fact that it makes you focus on the music, something sometimes lost in this day and age of music videos.

Real Farmer will be following up on the release with the Compare What’s There LP out in early March.

rap

Dax – Catch The Rain

by Stephan Boissonneault

Leave it to Dax, a Canadian rapper, based in St. Johns to drop an absolute banger of a music video with high production value and a flowing narrative. Each of his videos is well thought out and an absolute marvel, dealing with the pitfalls of mental health, addiction, and other horrifying realities. His latest “Catch The Rain” is no different. Following a kind of old school Eminem-type flow as Dax raps about the storm of conflicting thoughts in his mind while we watch the aftermath of a car crash and his life flash before his eyes.