ALIEN76

Montreal’s Duchess Says fuses the fury and intensity of a punk rock comprised of screaming guitars, moaning bass and relentless drumming with keyboards and the explosively sexy stylings of vocalist Annie-C. There is something breathtakingly original about Duchess Says and one listen to Anthologie des 3 Perchoirs will cement that impression.

ALIEN75

Hailing from the frozen north of the province of Québec comes the duo cloaked in mystery, simply known as Menace Ruine. Since the release of their blazing self-produced demo, In Vulva Infernum, they have allowed themselves to perform live and over the course of the last year have quickly risen to the top of the food chain in Montreal.

ALIEN74

It was during the time that Shalabi was living in Cairo he came to the realization that Arabic pop music was much more wild, wide and weird than he had imagined and this also had a huge influence on this recording. Upon listening to Eid it becomes clear how Shalabi was influenced by the wide breadth of Arabic pop music: each piece is stylistically its own and allowed to take its own shape.

ALIEN72

Radiance of Shadows is a mammoth monster of a record, spanning well over an hour with three tracks that are more epic and heavier than ever. Nadja’s constantly increasing fan base will not be disappointed with this outing; it’s classic Nadja. Radiance of Shadows has the feel of the super-saturated and dense recordings favoured by the likes of Fennesz and Tim Hecker but with the bite of metal.

ALIEN71

Torngat is a formidable trio hailing from the fertile and diverse musical community of Montreal. Up until now the band has enjoyed success in a few key cities, but with You Could Be things are about to change. Although this is the band’s third recording, a follow up to 2005’s stellar La Rouge EP, it is their first full-length as a trio (their first CD was recorded as a quartet in 2002). The band has managed to sell through multiple pressings of their previous two recordings despite the fact that they were self-released, thanks in part to their extensive touring.

ALIENLP73

CPC Gangbangs rise from ashes of garage punk architects Les Sexareenos, Daylight Lovers and Spaceshits and create a new drug, punk, weirdo, hate trip that spews from the Franco-Anglo Petri dish of Montreal. Although their sound is celebratory and consuming it is often evil as well and full of the promise of self-destruction boosted by copious amounts of cocaine, LSD and Canadian Maple Whiskey.

ALIEN70

“Mon animal est possible” is a collection of electronic love songs written and conceived by Alexandre St-Onge, whose purpose behind the recordings was to try to communicate with monsters and exorcise/exercise his own monstrosity through them, thus making possible his own animal. Largely centered on vocals, both those of St-Onge and his partner Fanny, the album reveals St-Onge at his most melodious and sensuous thus far.