[english follows]
Bonjour à vous tous,
Si j'ai abandonné ce blogue et mes émissions à la radio au printemps 2015, c'était pour pouvoir consacrer plus de temps à ma propre musique. Après 20 ans de journalisme, je me sentais enfin prêt à faire de la musique au lieu d'en parler.
C'est donc avec beaucoup de fierté que je vous présente mon premier album de compositions, Spam Me, des simulacres de chansons basées sur des commentaires publiés anonymement par des "spambots" sur ce blogue au fil des ans.
Sincèrement, si vous avez apprécié mes sélections musicales ces dernières années, donnez une chance à ce disque. Je l'ai fait réellement à mon image.
Merci,
CE François Couture
ex-Monsieur Délire
P.S. Spam Me est disponible en CD chez actuellecd.com et sur mon bandcamp. Il est également disponible en téléchargement chez iTunes, Amazon et sur mon bandcamp.
Dear readers,
When I abandoned this blog and my radio shows in the Spring of 2015, it was in order to devote more time to my own music. After 20 years of journalism, I finally felt ready to make music instead of writing and talking about other people's music.
So it is with great pride that I recommend to your ears my first album of compositions, Spam Me, a set of simulacra of songs based on comments published by spambots on this blog through the years.
Sincerely, if you tended to appreciate my musical selections, give this record a chance. It is as eclectic and wild as Monsieur Délire was.
Thank you,
CE François Couture
ex-Monsieur Délire
P.S. Spam Me is available on CD from actuellecd.com and my bandcamp. Also available as a digital download from iTunes, Amazon and my bandcamp.
2015-12-23
2015 Year-End List
No, I am not resuming reviewing duties, but I
wasn’t able to resist – after 20 years of radio work, you kind of have that
gotta-do-a-year-end-list thing embedded in your brain, and heart. So, I retired
from music journalism (web and radio) in May 2015, at which point I almost
completely stopped receiving promos AND started going back to old loves – prog
rock, psych rock, and the likes.
These are
my 12 favourite records of 2015. All highly recommended. And they cover a wide
spectrum, of course.
12.
JULIE BLANCHE
Julie Blanche (Coyote)
A wonderful
debut album by Quebecer Julie Blanche, an atmospheric pop singer with a
gorgeous soft voice, good songwriting ideas, and a stellar band (featuring
members of post-rockers Torngat).
11.
JOANNA NEWSOM
Divers (Drag City)
Finally!!!
It’s been SOOOO long since Have One on Me
that I had given up hope for some new Newsom. If Divers had come out last spring, it would most probably rank higher
in my year-end list, but Newsom’s records need time to bloom, and this one is
no exception. It has everything you came to expect from Newsom, including some
puzzling lyrics.
10.
CRAIG PEDERSEN QUARTET
Ghosts (ind.)
Montreal-based
trumpeter Craig Pedersen delivered a GEM this year in Ghosts, a 16-minute EP of beautiful modern jazz. With Lindsay
Wellman, Joel Kerr, and Eric Thibodeau. Some of his best songwriting is on this
album, backed by great musicianship. And it’s an easy listen, even though it
has plenty of edge. More at www.craigpedersen.com.
9.
JENNY HVAL
Apocalypse, Girl (Sacred Bones)
Norwegian
songstress Jenny Hval has an already long career behind her, and she featured
in last year’s year-end list with a collaboration with Susanna Wallumrød. I
usually find her solo albums fine, and that’s it, but Apocalypse, Girl ups the ante... and then some. Sparse songs over
an explicit discourse on female sexuality and perception. A captivating listen
as a whole and song by song. The most accomplished thing I have heard from her
to this day.
8.
ODD LIMBS
Walking on Light (Cuchabata)
It’s been a
long time coming, this debut album by Montreal band Odd Limbs, but it was
definitely worth the wait. Alexein P. Oris and co. deliver a bunch of great
post-new wave songs. The songs can be a bit too long at times, but that’s a
minor quabble. Now, give these guys a decent budget and they will produce a
knock-out follow-up. http://oddlimbs.bandcamp.com.
7.
EVAN PARKER ELECTROACOUSTIC SEPTET
Seven (Disques Victo)
What can I
say? This concert was a highlight of the 2014 edition of FIMAV. The recording
sounds amazing and confirms how strong the performance was. Way up there with
the best European/lowercase improvisation on the market. www.victo.qc.ca. Sorry, Victo never release
excerpts.
6.
MIRT
Mud, Dirt & Hiss (cat|sun)
A gorgeous,
gorgeous, just plain gorgeous album of minimal electronics and field
recordings. Everything here makes sense to my ears, producing its own logic as
it goes along. I am surprised at the number of times I came back to this CD
through the year.
5.
JULIE TIPPETTS & MARTIN ARCHER
Vestigium (Discus)
Againt,
what can I say? I have been championing this duo from the start. This is this
duo’s fourth album, and their string of releases keeps getting better and
better. Julie’s magical lyrics and wonderful vocals paired with Archer’s studio
constructions of electroacoustics, beats, and avant-jazz-meets-prog-rock. More
here: http://discus-music.co.uk/catalogue-mobile/dis48cd-detail.
4.
STEVE HACKETT
Wolflight (Inside Out)
I love
progressive rock. You guys know that. Well, Mr. Hackett delivered the goods
this year with a very strong solo album. I have had to brush over the bombastic
production – come on, you can’t take those arena rock drums seriously! – but the songwriting on this one is SOOO good!
If only Hackett would hire Echolyn to produce his next album...
3.
MAGMA
Slag Tanz (Seventh/Jazz Village)
2015 was
the Year of Magma. A worldwide tour that brought them to the Province of Quebec
for the first time ever (isn’t that unbelievable?), a 12-CD live box set, and
this new studio EP that commits to tape the official version of Slag Tanz, a composition that has been
featured live for quite a while now. I think I still prefer the earlier live
version found on the Epok V DVD, but
this studio take is still a breathtaking ride. (There are no audio excerpts on
the web, but here’s an excerpt from Epok
V.)
2.
VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR
Merlin Atmos (Esoteric Recordings)
I scream
MONSTER! 2015 has been a slow year for VDGG/Peter Hammill – no studio releases,
no concerts save for ONE solo Hammill performance a couple weeks ago. But in
early 2015 came out this incredible double live album featuring the power trio
performing “Flight” and “A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers” among other cuts.
Phenomenal.
1.
ECHOLYN
I Heard You Listening (ind.)
In 2015,
you could hear me listening to I Heard
You Listening everywhere – and ALL the time when it came last summer. This
is the album I had been waiting for from them every since As the World. Excellent SHORT prog rock songs – it’s an art in
itself. Great lyrics, fabulous vocal harmonies, not a single clunker in the
bunch. The band never released a bad album, but they did fall in ruts at times
and bit more than they could chew at others. Not of that here: just top-shelf
songwriting, stellar production, and only the best of what you can expect from
these prog rock legends. Yeah, legends. http://echolyn.bandcamp.com.
2015-05-19
Délire actuel, 2015-05-19
DÉLIRE ACTUEL
Réécoutez
(streaming ou téléchargement) la dernière édition de Délire actuel ICI (cherchez Délire actuel dans la
liste).
You can listen (stream or download) to the latest Délire Actuel broadcast HERE (look for Délire Actuel on the list of
shows).
Édition du 19 mai 2015
Broadcast of May 19, 2015
Le meilleur pour la fin (2/2): C’est la fin de Délire actuel. Pour ces deux
ultimes éditions, je revisite mes meilleurs disques des 19 dernières années -
les 1re et 2e positions de mes tops de fin d’année de 1996 à 2014.
Save the best for the end (2/2): It’s over for
Délire actuel, and for these two final shows, I am revisiting my best albums of
the last 19 years – seeds 1 and 2 in my year-end best-of lists from 1996 to
2014.
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(8:00 pm)
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KEIJI HAINO
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I Don't Want
to Know
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Black Blues [quiet]
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06:42
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Les Disques
du Soleil et de l’Acier
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TOD
DOCKSTADER
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Aw
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Aerial #1
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03:12
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JOHN ZORN
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Act Three
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Astronome
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12:44
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(8:30 pm)
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JOANNA
NEWSOM
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Monkey &
Bear
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Ys
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09:29
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FANFARE
POURPOUR & LARS HOLLMER
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Karusell
Musik
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Karusell Musik
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04:18
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UN FESTIN
SAGITAL
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La dignidad
del espiritu bestia
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Epitafio a la Permanencia
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05:14
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PEOPLE LIKE
US & WOBBLY
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Naked Little
Girl
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Music for the Fire
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04:53
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Illegal Art
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(9:00 pm)
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HENRY COW
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Erk Gah (aka
Hold to the Zero Burn)
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The Road, Vol. 6: Stockholm &
Götebrog
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17:06
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PAOLO ANGELI
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Ferri in
Transizione (Tra una gamba e l'altra)
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Tibi
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04:31
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BOB DRAKE
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Bob's
Drive-In
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Recreational Guide to the Solar
System for Humans
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02:38
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(9:30 pm)
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ANTHONY
BRAXTON
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Act 4 part 2
[extrait/excerpt]
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Trillium E
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05:00
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STIAN
WESTERHUS
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Shine
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The Matriarch and The Wrong Kind of
Flowers
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04:28
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PAUL DOLDEN
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Who can talk
faster: Crickets or Man?
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Who Has the Biggest Sound?
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04:07
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BILLBAND
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Blurred
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Towards Daybreak
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09:36
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