HISTOIRES À L'ENVERS

If you've liked Harmonium's "Si on avait besoin d'une cinqui'me saison", or other bands from Quebec's 70's musical scene, like Beau Dommage, you should like this too. Not a masterpiece, but certainly a great album. 32 minutes that go by really quickly.

Hier - a short electronic ambient that sets the mood for the album. Quite mellow.

Dernier Hiver - An interesting mix of trad-folk and prog with some great percussion work.

Ainsi parlait Pinel - The longest and probably of the proggiest song on the album. Good vocal harmonies.

Fille de Lune - Dreamy song that leans more on the pop and ambient side of prog.

Ballade en haute mer- Ambient guitar harmonies with long instrumental parts.

Refuge - Short, soft and introspective instrumental with a great guitar solo.

Enfants de coeur - Great ending to the album, groovy riffs and epic finale.

Overall, 4/5. Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection.

Back when I started working with bands, labels and PR companies everything was physical. I used to write letters (or make phone calls) and was sent CDs and tapes with photos and press releases. I used to keep everything in filing cabinets and when it was time to write a review, I could put my hands onto whatever I needed. Then along came email and I started organising (and still do) all my email into folders so again it is easy to find what I needed (search has improved over the years, but I like it this way). But these days I can be contacted in multiple different ways, through multiple sites, and all I can say for sure about this is that I was sent it directly by the band, but I don't know who and I can't find where we had our original conversations. I find this incredibly frustrating and get really annoyed with myself for allowing it to happen, especially when I enjoy the music as much as this!

Formed in 2016, this Montreal-based band performs solely in French, and this is their debut release which came out earlier this year. Seven songs, at slightly more than 32 minutes long, the only major issue I have with the album is that it simply isn't long enough. This is progressive rock which has been heavily influenced by folk, where harmony vocals are incredibly important, and the musical backing is literally just that, designed to provide support for the singers to show what they can do. I have no idea what they are singing about, but really don't care. Each time I play this, and I have bee playing it a lot, I feel I am being taken into a different world. The use of an electric piano is in itself quite unusual, in that most bands use banks of keyboards, and there is a very strong use of acoustic guitars while the drummer is here listed as providing percussion. That normally means drums and cymbals, but in this case, he truly is using multiple instruments, sometimes playing with his hands as opposed to sticks, and there are also plenty of instances that he just sits back and listens to his bandmates before coming back in at just the right moment.

The guitar solos are simple, erudite, and to the point. This isn't a band who are ramming their musical ability into your face, but rather are performing well-thought out beautifully arranged material which is a delight from beginning to end. It is impossible to pick a favourite as each song contains elements of real delight, whether it is because of the vocals, the harmonies, the arrangements or the sheer delight this brings. Well worth investigation.

The Baku is a spirit in Chinese mythology that can be summoned to devour one's nightmares, but has the rather uninvited occasional side effect of gobbling one's hopes and dreams once its appetite is whetted by the frightful stuff. Why am I even talking about the Baku? It turns out that this subdued, almost passive Quebecois outfit might be named after said being in a charitable mood, because all that is left here are the sweet fleeting images of gentility that would probably not have made much of a meal in any case.

All tracks on this EP length debut offer a soothing blend of acoustic guitar, electric guitar strummed like acoustic guitar, electric piano, percussion and vocal harmonies. MANGEUR DE REVES seems intent on immersing the listener in sweet reverie occasionally punctuated by a seductive hook probably meant to keep one from escaping completely into the deep sleep phase, because the REM is about the only exercise that might register on your fitbit during these 32 minutes.

Lest I come across as not getting the point, I think the point is well taken, and a worthy selection in this fraught interval where one needs a little more than just a "you are floating on a cloud" type induction to pass from one part of the day to the next while remaining both productive and civil. As such, the duration is just about right, but don't be surprised if, upon awakening, you find the Baku in well deserved slumber by your side. Shhh.

In North America, the Province of Quebec, for lack of a better description, can conveniently be considered, at least culturally, as a "distinct society" of sort. Americans see "quebecois" as europeans living in America while europeans feel they are french speaking americans. This specificity is equally valid as of matters of interest on this site, and the same formula could be applied when taking Quebec progressive music in consideration. One of the first market to open up to the the new sound of the british scene, the Genesis, Gentle Giant and other Strawbs of this world established their base in Montreal and Quebec City before (relatively) conquering North America. The local scene became one of the most buoyant and original progressive flavor out ot the anglo-american domination. Informed by the political and cultural situation and characterised by an openess to everything new , Quebec musicians experimented in all areas progressive music could reach. They suffered the same disaffection for our beloved sound at the end of the seventies but yet, there, prog never became a dirty word. As a result, you may still discover pretty good bands all along the years, from The Box to Perséides, passing by Ere G, only considering those singing in french. Which lead us to the subject of the day.

Mangeur de Rêves is the last avatar in this great tradition of folk prog bands from Quebec, following the great Harmonium as an avowed deity. Yet their sound is informed by all the evolution of the US neo folk movement. In fact the mood is more indebted to Fleet Foxes than any celtic rooted traditional quebecois music, if one accept a Robin Pecknold singing in french. Under the initial guidance of Jici Lord-Gauthier and Alex Cégé, vocals and guitars (and pretty efficient P.R. work for the latter as far as i'm concerned) one can recognize the cultural roots as soon as the first minute as the atmospheric introduction lets place to "Dernier hiver". In line with the cover picture depicting a seasonal scene from the northern "chez nous", we're treated with the "mangeur's music", mix of acoustic and electric strings, hand percussion and a dash of electric piano in the background, but mostly , those vocal harmonies which came to define the Quebec sound, from Fiori/Normandeau tandem, Beau Dommage, les Séguin and so on. Here is also the link to the Foxes and the Quebec american side. Even more evident on "Ainsi parlait Pinel", the magnum opus of this short (32 minutes) first album, as Alex Cégé adds some "soul blues" feeling to his rendition. Toward the fourth minute, we're treated to a nice electric soloing lying on a bed of electric piano and nowhere else the choice of this homogenous sound anchored in the seventies is more evident.

Mangeur de Rêves install an overall dreamy feeling as the "choice of the heart". "Fille de Lune" does this with certitude, all's well in place by now, nice falsetto's and vocal counterpoint included, the first eponymous Harmonium is called upon. "Ballade en haute mer", with his high tides images and vocabulary is the most rockn'folk in his musical idiom. A rythmn electric guitar riff is dominant, letting place to a nice solo in this decidely most american inspired song of the record. Nice vocal harmonies leed to the last reprise of the refrain. And then, as if to fight back any sense of repetition, follows seamlessly the only instrumental piece of the album, but for the very short opening. Logically attributed to Lord-Gauthier, the flowing lead guitar of the otherwise pastoral "Refuge" is a thing of beauty. At past six minutes " Enfants de coeur", the second longest song of "Histoires à l'envers", plays the role of a nice resume of the whole album with his mix of acoustic/ electric strings, lead and harmony vocals, the rythmn section now firmly and steadily in place, till we reach the last two minutes. Intensifying all the ingredients, the conclusion leads to wonder what's waiting for us on a second offer, hopefully some day soon. One simply hopes for a slightly better and clear production as to allow one who may enjoy french lyrics to better enjoy the nice sound of these "dream eaters" (the litteral translation of the band's name for those not having yet catch it).

Three stars easily translated to four, for followers of the great qubecois folk prog tradition.