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Québec Rock !

#41
I knew there was a deep musical bedrock in Quebec when I heard keyboard player Jean St. Jacques follow a deep tenor solo by David Bellemare by stretching out on the Mallet Kat onstage with Alain Caron 20 plus years ago.

And also knew that we in the US would likely not get to hear much of what was happening in Quebec, if any at all.

 
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#42
Low Main said:
I knew there was a deep musical bedrock in Quebec when I heard keyboard player Jean St. Jacques follow a deep tenor solo by David Bellemare by stretching out on the Mallet Kat onstage with Alain Caron 20 plus years ago.

And also knew that we in the US would likely not get to hear much of what was happening in Quebec, if any at all.

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I read somewhere that Québec is one of the places in N-America with the most creators on a per capita basis. It is likely, at least in part, because we're somewhat on the cultural fringe of the continent due to language. That, in turn, is also why they don't get much diffusion outside French-speaking Canada.
 
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#44
LES GEORGES LENINGRAD

To be put in the same category as Angine de Poitrine. I hesitate to consider them French-singing though, or English-singing for that matter.
I believe they have something of a small cult following in the USA's underground punk scene.

 
#45
BEAST with BETTY BONIFASSI

Very inovative electro-rock band. Unfortunately, Bonifassi one day stumbled upon recordings of American black slave chants in an anthropological recordings database. I say unfortunately, because she decided to do a musical project about slavery named SLAV around them. (She's herself of Slavic origins, with ancestors having been enslaved.) Woke, so-called anti-racist activists, mostly from English-speaking Canada, declared that, as a white woman, she had no right to do such a "racist" thing and started protesting her until she literally exiled herself from Québec. Nobody would hire her because they made her toxic.





In Beast, she sings in English. But I thought I'd include her because you might remember hearing about her when she was featured at the Oscars ceremony some years ago :



Original French version :

 
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#50
Roxbororob said:
Like :)
So so much good music up here. Good choices those!
FM is alive and well.. icimusique 100.7 (and oh-di-o of course)
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Agree. Unfortunately, recent Montréal administrations have seemed bent on closing down every small independent live music venue because... well, they make noise (!!!) La rue St-Laurent used to have concerts at almost every corner, every week, only 15 years ago. Now, it's dead silent. Le Divan Orange, the whole Mile-End scene, and even the Latulipe recently... They were all closed down after some newcomer in the neighborhood complained about the noise, and the City sided with them.

At least, there is a growing circuit of small music places all over the province, with crowds who seek new acts. Many Francophone artists, such as Adamus, almost exclusively tour there. Maybe the Anglophone artists have not yet caught on; unless they are aiming directly for the American market.
 
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#51
One thing to know about French-speaking music in general is the lyrics are usually considered as important as the music and the instrumentation.
Exaggeratedly, but not that much, an English rock song can sing "Oh baby, oh baby, oh yeah, baby oh yeah!" and still be considered great if the musicianship is. In the French-speaking world, people will acknowledge your musicianship, but will down-judge you on the poetic front. For that reason, it is hard to convey the power of a French song on its audience to a non-French-speaking public.


By chance, I just stumbled upon this translation of a song that I put in my OP: Cowboys Fringants' L'Amérique Pleure (America cries). They are great lyrics. Hope you enjoy them.

 
#52
Discussing avant garde bands from Quebec I would be remiss if I didn't mention Godspeed You Black Emperor. They also have lots of their live shows posted on the archives to check out. Definitely some interesting sounding music to say the least.
 
#53
jVilla76 said:
Discussing avant garde bands from Quebec I would be remiss if I didn't mention Godspeed You Black Emperor. They also have lots of their live shows posted on the archives to check out. Definitely some interesting sounding music to say the least.
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Indeed. But I was more focused on French bands that are overlooked because they don't sing in English.
 
#54
Raman said:
Agree. Unfortunately, recent Montréal administrations have seemed bent on closing down every small independent live music venue because... well, they make noise (!!!) La rue St-Laurent used to have concerts at almost every corner, every week, only 15 years ago. Now, it's dead silent. Le Divan Orange, the whole Mile-End scene, and even the Latulipe recently... They were all closed down after some newcomer in the neighborhood complained about the noise, and the City sided with them.

At least, there is a growing circuit of small music places all over the province, with crowds who seek new acts. Many Francophone artists, such as Adamus, almost exclusively tour there. Maybe the Anglophone artists have not yet caught on; unless they are aiming directly for the American market.
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Sad to hear. My band played at a place called Café L'enco in La Rue St-Laurent 20 or so years ago. It was insanely windy and cold, but I fell in love with Montreal during my short time there.
 
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#57
Raman said:
With my old band, we did a sick cover of Agriculture. I sent a recording to Pierre Harel a few years ago. He replied with one word: "Excellent!" 😎
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@pabloramone , @Gervais Cote

Hey, I found it !

Song: Agriculture, by Corbeau
Covered by Capitaine Malade
Bass: Yours truly :cool:

(The mastering is s**t, especially the guitar panned on the left, because I did it as a novice at the time...)
 

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#58
I'm originally from Saskatchewan, currently on Vancouver Island, but I'm a huge fan of Plume Latraverse, QRBP, and Michel Pagliaro.

Definitely checking out the suggestions in this thread.

"J'te merci bien pour la grosse bière, j'ai eu ben du fun à Jonquière"
 
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#59
Low Main said:
I knew there was a deep musical bedrock in Quebec when I heard keyboard player Jean St. Jacques follow a deep tenor solo by David Bellemare by stretching out on the Mallet Kat onstage with Alain Caron 20 plus years ago.

And also knew that we in the US would likely not get to hear much of what was happening in Quebec, if any at all.

Click to expand...

So damned good!
 
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#60
My bass teacher from the late 80's (yikes), Bernard Dionne, retired from his day job a while back and now plays upright in the Quebec City jazz trio "Uptown Brigade":


I surprised him last fall by showing up at a gig they played in Toronto. We hadn't seen each other for decades. Turns out I was the only bass student he ever had... I must have broken him! 🤣 He opened my mind to Jamerson, Jaco, Weather Report, King Crimson, Mahavishnu Orchestra--so much more than I had been aware of. And guided me through the elements of music theory, reading, jazz improv. So many gifts that have paid dividends for my life. Such a sweet guy, and a great musician.
 
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