After several COVID rainchecks, Louis-Jean Cormier can finally play live the songs from his latest album Le Ciel est au plancher.
Folk / Pop / Rock / Singer-Songwriter
MTELUS
Electronic
Caribou & Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith at MTelus
After a series of unfortunate postponements, mathematician and electronic composer Dan Snaith will finally perform in Montreal. Opening the show will be the amazing composer and singer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith.
Contemporary / Electroacoustic / Electronic / Experimental / Contemporary / IDM
(Cancelled) Caribou • Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
Without a doubt one of the most enticing programs to be presented at MTelus in this first quarter of 2020: the brilliant composer and producer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith opens the new show by Daniel Snaith, aka Caribou. The latter will notably trot out material from Suddenly, his fifth album under the pseudonym, officially launched on February 28. Formerly an electro artist associated with the IDM movement, this Canadian transplant to London, who also holds a doctorate in mathematics, has gradually included singing and instruments in real time, to create multi-genre, auteur pop and electro. A new show by Caribou, a beyond-brilliant artist, is indeed a pretty big deal.
Electronic / Techno
(POSTPONED) Amelie Lens • Farrago • Milo Spykers • Atroxx
Does the Amelie Lens phenomenon still need any introduction? Known for stringing together the bangers, the Belgian has swept through the techno scene like a hurricane. After signing with Second State, the label of the German techno duo Pan-Pot, in 2016, she played at the biggest festivals in Europe (Dour, Awakenings) and clubs around the world, and launched her own label, Lenske. Following a successful run at Piknic Électronik (2018), then at Stereo (2019), she moves to MTelus with her acolytes Farrago and Milo Spykers, also from Belgium, supported by local techno veteran Atroxx (formerly known as Gino G). An ideal evening for anyone who wants a taste of techno with a formula close to a concert.
Electronic / House
Tchami
Pioneer of the future house movement, known notably for his work with Lady Gaga, Janet Jackson, and the DJs Snake, Mercer, and Malaa – with whom he forms the collective Pardon My French – the founder of the label Confession heats up the MTelus with his panoply of warm and sensual sounds. The Miami-based Parisian DJ and producer, whose real name is Martin Bresso, has made house his domain, flirting with practically every variation of the genre. Always dressed in his emblematic priest’s vestment during his sets, this apostle of the bass invites you to a groovy, not very Catholic mass.
Ben Böhmer
However, if Tchami is too much this or not enough that for you, you can always opt for Ben Böhmer’s ethereal house at Théâtre Fairmount on the same evening – one wonders why the two weren’t programmed in the same place… Recently active on the world house scene, Ben Böhmer has in just a few years become an unavoidable reference point for deep and progressive house with about ten EPs already to his credit. The prolific German DJ and producer, endorsed by Anjunadeep and Keller Records, is also the boss of the Ton Topferei label. If you can’t choose between Böhmer and Tchami, you still have some time to develop the gift of ubiquity.
Hard Rock / Progressive Metal / Rock
(CANCELLED) Opeth • Graveyard
Photo credit: Jonas Åkerlund
Proof of the Swedish band’s success with Montreal audiences, the MTelus concert has been sold out since January 17. The tour, led by singer, guitarist and composer Mikael Åkerfeldt, follows the release of the album In Cauda Venenum last September. In an interview with Hop ‘N’ Music, an Italian publication dedicated to music and beer, keyboardist Joakim Svalberg mentions, among other things, that Opeth members didn’t know that Åkerfeldt had started composing their 13th album until he had finished. Since their debut in 1989, the progressive death metal band, which has steered into prog-rock metal since Heritage (2011), has been delivering its lyrics in English. On In Cauda Venenum, Åkerfeldt decided to write and sing in his native language. The musicians have also recorded an English version, but they consider the Swedish to be the original version. (Christine Fortier)
Soul Secret Agency takes an in-depth look at classic soul/R&B, totally dominated by Motown and Stax Records during the ’60s. The Montreal collective draws on retro soul to tinker with songs “about love, desire and self-discovery”, according to the band’s Bandcamp profile for their eponymous album released in May 2019. Produced by Danny Trudeau, this opus was recorded by Howard Bilerman at the famous Hotel 2 Tango studio. Soul Secret Agency is made up of director, composer, arranger and bassist Danny Trudeau and singer Abigail Galwey, joined by guitarists Eric Lemelin and Francis Veillette, keyboardist Willis Pride, drummer Pascal Lepage and percussionist Elli Miller Maboungou. Of note, singer Dominique Fils-Aimé is featured on this recording… Will she be appearing on stage for this show under the Soul Secret Agency banner?