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BELL ORCHESTRE

Post Rock/Math rock • Canada


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Bell Orchestre picture
Bell Orchestre biography
Founded in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 2002

Yes, yes, yet another post-rock band coming from Canada ... But what separates Bell Orchestre from all the others, is their rather unconventional approach to music. The band was formed by two Arcade Fire members, Richard Reed Parry and Sarah Neufeld in 1999. However, they were forced to put Bell Orchestre on hold as The Arcade Fire became increasingly popular, thus leaving no time for their other project. This definitely explains why it took them six years to release their debut.

While Bell Orchestre's style is not entirely original, it's what they do with the style that makes them so special. They are quite wild in some strange way, and are able to surprise you with their music quite often. They manage to sound "epic" without using any cliches of the genre (the quiet-loud-quiet-loud style). While their music can occasionally remind you of other bands (GY!BE, A SILVER MT. ZION, RACHEL'S, perhaps?), most of the time they only sound like themselves. A wide base of instruments (lots of horns, bells, strings etc.) definitely adds to the atmosphere, and some wild trumpet & violin duels can be heard.

It's fairly difficult to try to describe their music, but their name is actually a very good indicator. They play some sort of orchestral "chamber-prog" music, with an enthusiastic and energetic mood. While it's a commonly known fact that post-rock is hardly the happiest-sounding music genre, Bell Orchestre just might be the exception to this rule. Admittedly, there are a couple of disturbing and dark moments in their only album up to date "Recording A Tape The Colour Of The Light", but for the most part, it's a rather happy and light-sounding album IMO. It's not overtly dramatic, but there's a sense of experimentation and melody going on throughout the album, that seems to be quite rare nowadays.

Bell Orchestre is a band that can be recommended to anyone with an appreciation for good music. It is not required to be a post-rock fan in order to appreciate their majestic and beautiful melodies.

Photo: Guillaume SImoneau

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BELL ORCHESTRE discography


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BELL ORCHESTRE top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.96 | 27 ratings
Recording A Tape The Colour Of The Light
2005
3.98 | 13 ratings
As Seen Through Windows
2009
5.00 | 2 ratings
House Music
2021

BELL ORCHESTRE Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

BELL ORCHESTRE Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

BELL ORCHESTRE Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.00 | 3 ratings
Who Designs Nature's How
2009

BELL ORCHESTRE Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

BELL ORCHESTRE Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 As Seen Through Windows by BELL ORCHESTRE album cover Studio Album, 2009
3.98 | 13 ratings

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As Seen Through Windows
Bell Orchestre Post Rock/Math rock

Review by raigor

4 stars "As Seen Through Windows" is the second album of the Montreal based instrumental ensemble BELL ORCHESTRE. And it holds true to the local stage penchant for electroacoustic cinematic experimentation with melodic lines covered up by atonal slabs, electronics mixed with organic chamber-rock, post-jazz, and brass orchestrated neoclassic.

This album is full of inventive ideas and blends compositional, improvised, and textural music together in a very specific and imaginative soundscape. The production is top-notch punctuating every sonic aspect of the performance. BELL ORCHESTRE imbue each track with strangely beautiful surrealistic playfulness - and this is what makes their second album so enjoyable for a open minded listener.

This is rewarding and definitely recommended work for those willing to discover new deviant forms and contents of modern instrumental music.

 As Seen Through Windows by BELL ORCHESTRE album cover Studio Album, 2009
3.98 | 13 ratings

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As Seen Through Windows
Bell Orchestre Post Rock/Math rock

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Bell Orchestre take their inclusion of brass and stringed instruments into their post-rock sound even further on As Seen Through Windows, and in particular they go all-out to bring jazz back into post-rock. I've never heard a post-rock release which shows so much influence from classic jazz except, if you count them as post-rock (and I personally do) the final two Talk Talk albums. Although a very few post-rock acts have incorporated jazz influences into their sound since Talk Talk's swansong, I can't think of any who have managed to recapture that particular mastery of jazz influences in a post-rock context; Bell Orchestre succeed admirably.
 Recording A Tape The Colour Of The Light by BELL ORCHESTRE album cover Studio Album, 2005
3.96 | 27 ratings

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Recording A Tape The Colour Of The Light
Bell Orchestre Post Rock/Math rock

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Bell Orchestre is one of the many Canadian post-rock bands whose activities centre on the mighty Hotel2Tango, headquarters of Godspeed You Black Emperor. The project, featuring talents from the amazing Arcade Fire, takes an intriguingly different approach to post-rock - in particular, there is a much greater emphasis on stringed and brass instruments in their music compared to other post-rock bands, which results in a melancholy and classically-tinged sound which sets them apart from the rest of the pack. This debut album shows a fascinating level of originality at a time when too many post-rock bands were just lazily imitating Godspeed or Mogwai.
 Recording A Tape The Colour Of The Light by BELL ORCHESTRE album cover Studio Album, 2005
3.96 | 27 ratings

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Recording A Tape The Colour Of The Light
Bell Orchestre Post Rock/Math rock

Review by OceanTree

4 stars I don't know why all Canadian post rock bands always use violins and horns. It's as if they didn't know electric guitar and synths existed and I always found that rather annoying. I love post-rock but I stay away from Canadian post rock because of that. One day a friend of mine talked about a band he saw at a festival or something and I decided to buy the album without knowing how they sounded like. Then I start hearing horns and all that and stopped right there. Months later, I gave it another shot having nothing else to do and I loved it. It's just wonderful. This album actually made me love Canadian post-rock..by the way I'm Canadian so I was kind of ashamed of not liking Canadian experimental music.

The goal of making post rock music is to not sound repetitive through repetition and Bell Orchestre really won that one. They build their layers perfectly adding new instruments over and over. Plus you got to love those bells as they use them a lot and this is what really defines them. It adds that cheerful thing to their music. It's the best music to listen while strolling in the snowy forest.

So if you don't like Canadian post rock bands... try this one and think again.

 As Seen Through Windows by BELL ORCHESTRE album cover Studio Album, 2009
3.98 | 13 ratings

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As Seen Through Windows
Bell Orchestre Post Rock/Math rock

Review by Prog-jester
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Post-Rock is NOT dead - until we have bands like BELL ORCHESTRE and releases like "As Seen Through Windows".

While the majority of genre's bands tend to grow heavier and mix their guitar-based music with electronics, some unique outfits progress in their own special way. Never a guitar worshipers collective, BELL ORCHESTRE examine the territory of bells, violins and piano sounds, inspired rather by modern Classical composers and Chamber Rock than by 80s indie or today's delay-tremolo-overdrive twins. Sometimes quirky and joyful, sometimes melancholic and academic, BELL ORCHESTRE's music is not everyone's cup of tea, but it's undoubtfully fresh and captivating. Highly recommended - especially for those who thinks Post-Rock is five bands that are good and thousand clones that are bad.

 Recording A Tape The Colour Of The Light by BELL ORCHESTRE album cover Studio Album, 2005
3.96 | 27 ratings

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Recording A Tape The Colour Of The Light
Bell Orchestre Post Rock/Math rock

Review by avestin
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars Elation

Not an ecstasy but a sort of delight, excitement and jubilation; those are all sensations which arise in me while listening to this album and after it ends. It is a comforting album; the music tends to calm me down, even at its most dynamic; its sound resonates in my ears, removing all worries away, grabbing me into its world, leaving reality behind and on to a soothing and cheerful musical journey.

This album took me by surprise. I was not expecting this kind of upbeat music at all. What I mean is that I was expecting some brooding and mostly melancholic music and what I got is a rather dynamic and mostly optimistic sound that makes for a rather cheerful mood and not the ordinary depressive or pensive disposition.

This is an instrumental album and what makes it special is the lack of guitars and the presence of a violin, trumpet (two dominant instruments here), French horn, melodica, keyboards and drums and percussions. Therefore, while the music is as engaging as any other rock music, it sounds different, obviously, which is part of the magic of this album.

The album starts out quietly with "Recording A Tunnel" (This theme will return throughout the album), sneaking up as some thief in the night trying not to be noticed. A trumpet and some more wind instruments of sorts lurking with hesitation, not sure whether it is yet safe to come out. This goes into the next track. There you have the bass giving a basis for the other instruments to align to. The wind instruments and xylophone are gradually getting more confident and get louder and in joins the violin and together they play a nice slightly melancholic, but still optimistic sounding tune. They add more layers by adding more instruments into the musical weave. There is a sort of interplay between the trumpet and violin, each one taking the lead now and again and when not in lead, they provide the backing sounds. This might sound sad to some people, but I find this tune to be filled with hopefulness. It ends with a return to the trumpet and percussions playing stochastically about as it began in the previous track.

In the next track the volume rises all of a sudden to reveal a wonder - violins accompanied by bass, drums and percussions playing together a tune that conveys an encouraging feel, as if trying to cheer up the listener and make him reevaluate his current status in a more positive perspective. Sounds that to me depict a person that has just now found a new interest in life. I usually tend to prefer gloomy, dark and even depressing music, but in tracks like this, Bell Orchestre show that it is possible to create a different kind of music; one that stems out of the dark origin of music and veers off to the more high spirited side of it. It is as if they use the means by which you create dark, brooding music to create the opposite. It's not straightforward happy music, not at all. It is simply the feel of positivism and content that is expressed in their compositions. It ends on a mellow note, letting you ponder on what you just heard.

The next track too is an energetic one that for some reason reminded me at first of Irish fiddlers playing. But this is not a lasting impression. Again the violin play a quick equivalent of a guitar riff and the trumpet plays its main role while the drums and percussions have fun in the background (or should I say the foreground, as they are very well heard but not shadowing the music). In this track I sense the power of the music of Bell Orchestre; the dynamics of their compositions.

After that we return again to the "Recording A Tunnel" theme. A trumpet calls us to stay vigilant and ready for the next part.

And what is next is a track that begins as a composition that GY!BE might do, only that when the drumming begin it strays off from that sound and you receive the usual BO's sound again. A simplistic drum beat, but an effective one to emphasize the violin part in the role of the rhythm section while the horn plays some abstract sounds. This ends abruptly, only leaving the violin behind as a remnant.

The Bells Play the Band is another short track with what I think is a glockenspiel playing a simple few notes.

Recording a Tape has a typewriter playing in it along with the tapping of the string instruments.

What I also like about this group, apart from all the things I said in the beginning of this review, is the swapping of the roles of instruments; their violin replaces the guitars and the trumpet replaces the vocals. A possible downside for some listeners might be the blurry parts where it's sure what is going on and where the music is it headed, if at all. It might be perceived as not being focused and trying to achieve too much. On the other hand you might say those parts enhance the overall experience one has while listening to the album. So it's up to you. As for me, it changes every time I listen to the album, depending on my mood, but for the most part, I am comfortable with those, while a small proportion does feel not focused.

To sum it up, for a beautiful, instrumental and optimistic sounding album, with a special sound due to the instruments used, Bell Orchestre's album is one I recommend without hesitation.

 Recording A Tape The Colour Of The Light by BELL ORCHESTRE album cover Studio Album, 2005
3.96 | 27 ratings

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Recording A Tape The Colour Of The Light
Bell Orchestre Post Rock/Math rock

Review by Prog-jester
Prog Reviewer

4 stars BELL ORCHESTRE offers us unconventional Post-Rock. Gone are SILVER MT. ZION moans or SIGUR ROS whines; no GYBEish walls of sound or freaky TORTOISE beats; you won't find anything from this in BO’s music. They offer almost experimental chamber stuff in DAAU’s vein (young Belgian formation) or even related to French neo-classic movement. Horns, pipes, some violas and cellos, soloing typewriters and yes – bells. Bells are everywhere, any kinds of bells, from hardly-noticeable to ear-hurting…The album becomes even better closer to the end, with such wonderful playful tracks as “Nuevo” and “Salvatore Amato”. Highly recommended, especially if you’re tired of “intro/ louder/climax/outro” Post-Rock style.
 Recording A Tape The Colour Of The Light by BELL ORCHESTRE album cover Studio Album, 2005
3.96 | 27 ratings

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Recording A Tape The Colour Of The Light
Bell Orchestre Post Rock/Math rock

Review by chamberry
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars Bell Orchestre is a new band from Canada that plays your not so average band from the genre. They play a different type of post-rock using classical instruments more than the usual rock instrumentations bands normally have. You won't find any guitars here. Instead you'll get horns (!) a violin player and a drummer. It's a very interesting line-up, but is it good? Let's see what this chamber (post) rock band has to offer.

The album starts softly without making much noise. The first and second song on the album are soft and calming with the brass instrumentations playing softly with the other instruments backing them up. By the middle of Les Lumieres Pt. 1 you'll notice the epic feel of the album. Les Lumieres Pt. 2 starts out with a bang and it doesn't let you go until the very end with the brass instruments taking the lead while the violin, drums and lap steel guitar (the only one you'll find in the whole album) set nice and energetic melody for the song. Their sounds is rather happy and innocent maybe that's why there are sometimes when the band sounds like a marching band, but you could only wish that the ones you hear at your university or school were as good as this.

One of the good thing about this band is that, apart from having a strange line-up, they are also unconventional with their style of post-rock as well. They avoid almost all of the clichés of the genre so you can rest assured that you'll be having a breath of fresh air with this one. Most of the songs of this album tend to vary from soft and delicate beautiful songs to very energetic ones. It also has a nice balance of both soft and hard songs so it feels perfect on that matter. Again, I have to emphasize on the epic feel of the album since it's part of makes this album so great. There are songs like The Upwards March that one feels lifted by their full and orchestrated sound. They'll make you think there's really an orchestra behind their sound and their only a four piece band. This may sound like a GY!BE description, but rest assured they sound nothing like them. The softer songs on the album also carry that same feel, but in a more calming way like in the song Nuevo which is a beautiful song that brings images of places that can only be reached by ones imagination. Beautiful landscapes that often look like the art cover.

If you're looking for something to break out of the ordinary and still be accessible and melodic then give this band a try. It isn't limited to fans of the genre either. People that enjoy other genres and don't particularly like post-rock won't have any problem getting into them. Warm, optimistic, energetic and epic. Go and get it!

Thanks to Jimbo for the artist addition. and to Quinino for the last updates

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