Locals Only – CFCF Lists His Five Favorite Spots in Montreal

Locals Only is a new feature in which we ask an artist to give us the inside scoop on his or her hometown, specifically by telling us about their favorite restaurant, bar, club, and record store, along with a unique locale of their choosing.

Much has changed in the four years since Mike Silver issued his debut LP as CFCF, Continent. The R&B and disco undercurrents of that record eventually transformed into acoustic collages on 2011’s Exercises, which were followed this year by the repetitious compositions of Music for Objects. Earlier this month, CFCF offered up Outside, an album that was largely written while he was traveling on trains and buses. It’s his sophomore full-length for Dummy/Paper Bag, and an effort that in many ways ties together the diverse musical avenues he’s explored over the years. Still, despite all his stylistic changes, one thing has remained constant for CFCF—his home base of Montreal. Given his status as a Montreal lifer, we figured that Silver would be an excellent candidate for this inaugural edition of Locals Only, and he was kind enough to send along a few words about a handful of his favorite haunts.

Restaurant: Chalet BBQ
5456 Sherbrooke St. West
This is the rotisserie-chicken mecca of Montreal. The story goes that the Canadian chain Swiss Chalet is just a total rip-off of this place, and that becomes clear from the moment you walk in; wood-panel walls from the ’50s and no-nonsense waitresses who have probably been there just as long are Chalet’s calling cards. The secret here is in the sauce. Chalet BBQ has been a staple in my family, especially for special occasions, so I have some personal attachment. Sure, it’s no fine-dining experience, and it’s completely across town from where I live, but I will go there at the drop of a hat. The chicken is that insanely good.

Bar: Sparrow
5322 Saint-Laurent Blvd.
As far as bars go in Montreal, I can’t imagine naming any other as my resident watering hole. Opened a few years back—and employing various friends, family, and neighbors—it’s a cozy, slightly British-pub-style bar where you just go and talk too loud for too long while drinking too much poison. The vibe is totally unpretentious and it’s just home for me as far as bars go.

Club: Casa Del Popolo
4873 Saint-Laurent Blvd.
This is as close as I come to “clubbing.” I don’t really ever go to places that have dancefloors unless I’m playing them, so if there’s a time when I want to be amongst a reasonable spattering of friends and strangers working towards inebriation, this is the place; there’s a bar on one side and a venue on the other, with an intimate (read as tiny) patio in the back. Every year, I play a Halloween party here with my friend Mark Slutsky, which is almost always a completely messy shit-show in the absolute best sense of the word.

Record Shop: Cheap Thrills/ Phonopolis/ Sonorama
2044 Metcalfe St./ 207 Bernard O./ 260 Bernard O.
I can’t really choose one record store because when I go record shopping, it’s all about the subtle differences between shops and what you can find there. Cheap Thrills is basically the preeminent indie record shop in the city, and it’s the same tiny attic it ever was with a reliably great selection, especially of experimental music and fiction books. The reason this place lives on is its intimately curated vibe. Phonopolis is another side of that coin, with similarly great taste with a slightly more rock-minded selection, but I always find awesome old ECM records there, and they also have a huge section dedicated to the Folkways series. Across the street, Sonorama actually rose from the ashes of another record shop, the cluttered St. Denis mainstay Primitive. Luckily, this place is larger and easier to browse, with a truly enormous cheap bin full of surprises. Being less organized and curated than the other stores, Sonorama can be a tiring and much dustier browse, but it’s absolutely worth it for satisfying that thrill of finding something totally unexpected.

Other: Chemin Olmsted on Parc du Mont Royal
Since I live in Montreal, and have for basically my whole life, this list is really about the things that make it home for me. I’m very much a routine-based person, and part of that routine has come to involve running on the mountain a few days a week. Parc du Mont Royal’s main trail, Chemin Olmsted (named for the famous landscape architect who designed it), is a perfect loping slope that, especially in these fall months, is really wonderful to get (mentally) lost in as I’m unconsciously jogging up and down it. It’s kind of a meditative headspace once you’re in the groove of the run. In the summer, this gave me a real reason to delve deeper into techno, but lately, I like to go just as it’s getting eerily dark and listen to folk, ambient, and Mount Eerie while I run. It kind of becomes exactly that place I pined for on those trains when making Outside—just temporarily—and then the darkness really sets in and I start running to escape it and return to the coziness of my home.

Simian Mobile Disco Tong Zi Dan

Tong Zi Dan. It’s a name that seems innocuous enough. However, on close inspection it’s much more grotesque; translating to “virgin boy eggs,” it’s a Chinese delicacy that consists of partially cracked eggs boiled in the urine of prepubescent school boys. This is the latest acquired taste that UK duo Simian Mobile Disco has decided to use for its Delicacies imprint, a label whose tech-house-informed EPs are all named after nausea-inducing edibles—past works have carried titles like “Casu Marzu” (a maggot-infested Italian cheese) and “Hakari (Shark Cheese)” (an Icelandic rotten shark dish). These names suggest something different from the norm: something special, abrasive, or differentiated by cultivated taste. However, the music contained within this EP is much less distinct.

Essentially, the record consists of four tracks of well-produced, club-oriented tech-house. “Tong Zi Dan,” the titular single, leads the EP with a dubby motif built around a delayed stab loop. Its structure is simplistic and predictable, building and breaking back down across a number of easy climaxes created via delay and filter tweaks. Basically, it’s the kind of track that plays like it’s been created with the concerns of a large dancefloor audience in mind. In a DJ set, it would probably work, but it would do so without leaving any lasting impression.

That’s a global criticism of Tong Zi Dan as an EP. Like the titular single, its other tracks only offer vaguely different atmospheres, all tinged with the same kind of studied professional sheen. “Escamoles” is a little brighter and “Smalahove” a little deeper. Ultimately, the most compelling material on the record comes via German techno producer Mike Dehnert. His remix of “Tong Zi Dan” travels in a deeper and less obviously dubby direction, stripping away the original’s peak-and-valley structure to get at something more driving and linear, with a jacking bassline added to replace the stabs. It stands out because of its different arrangement, but also because Dehnert’s touch adds at least some semblance of flair to what is otherwise an EP of effective yet forgettable tracks.

Podcast 319: Noah Pred

Noah Pred may be a low-key artist, but there’s little question that the guy is a worker. Born in the US, reared in Canada, and now based in Berlin, he’s been steadily turning out quality pieces of house and techno for more than a decade. His tunes have appeared across a variety of labels over the years, although his music is increasingly being issued via his own Thoughtless Music imprint, which remains a highly active outpost in its own right. Next week, he’ll be releasing Third Culture, his third LP and first full-length in four years. Given the long gap between albums, we found ourselves wanting to take a closer look at Pred’s current musical headspace, so we invited the veteran artist to put together an exclusive mix for the XLR8R podcast series. When it comes to production, Pred tends to favor a clean, polished aesthetic, and that sensibility has carried over to his DJing. Tech-house may have become something of a dirty word in recent years, but Pred knows how to do it right, as he capably balances techno precision with subtly soulful house rhythms in a quietly compelling fashion. Over the course of this 70-minute mix, he smoothly slides from one track to the next, moving between moods and sounds without ever upsetting the groove. It seems that Pred has little desire to make himself the center of attention, as he prefers to let the music—even when it’s not his own—do the talking.

01 Aebeloe “Manon” (Farver)
02 Lawrence “Lucifer” (Dial)
03 Deepchild “Riyadh (Derek Marin Remix)” (Thoughtless)
04 Danza Macabra “Keeping the Rabble in Line (Anton Kubikov Remix)” (Danza Macabra)
05 John Tejada “Somewhere” (Kompakt)
06 Baikal “Just You and Me (feat. The Drifter)” (Maeve)
07 Dusky “Words Later On” (Aus)
08 CLOSE “Beam Me Up (feat. Charlene Soraia & Scuba) (Hercules & Love Affair Remix)” (!K7)
09 Deepchild “Haiti” (Facetoface)
10 Noah Pred “Circles & Circles (feat. Rosina) (Extended Mix)” (Thoughtless)
11 Tone of Arc “PTAH” (No. 19)
12 Minilogue “Let Life Dance Thru You (Simon Wish Remix)” (Traum)
13 False Image “B-Mode” (Get Physical)
14 Noah Pred & Pablo Bolivar “Follow the Green Light” (Apparel)

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XLR8R_Podcast_Noah_Pred_2013_10_29

Vjuan Allure “The Rippperrr”

Vjuan Allure, a DC-based producer/DJ and originator of the current vogue/ballroom production scene (our 2011 article about which can still be read here), has dropped a new EP this week for the (somewhat unfortunately named) Hot Mom USA label. To help spread word of the five-track Bandit EP’s release, Vjuan Allure has passed along non-EP cut “The Rippperrr,” a characteristically no-nonsense slice of floor-focused, ballroom-ready music full of sharp rhythms, unrelenting percussion, growling synth-bass, and the occasional vocal chop thrown in for good measure. Along with this download from the fem vogue pioneer, a preview of the Bandit EP (which includes a remix of its title track from Distal) can be streamed after the jump.

The Rippperrr

Emufucka “Orbit Unlimited (Julian Edwardes Remix)”

Fremdtunes, a Dutch electronic label, has a new project in the works titled Reprogram, on which 16 previously released tracks by label artists like Coco Bryce and Kelpe will receive the remix treatment. And each of the new remixes will initially debut as a free download with unique artwork, culminating in an official Bandcamp release of the complete album. Today, we have the pleasure of premiering Julian Edwardes‘ rich, melodic revision of “Orbit Unlimited,” a slice of bright, bass-focused sounds from Tokyo’s Emufucka. Edwardes massages the original production into a moodier, funky cut filled with warbling synths that intermittently sputter and overload, like a genteel take on new dubstep tropes. But the radiant synth layers eventually win out, shining the original melody through a symphonic prism.

Orbit Unlimited (Julian Edwardes Remix)

Dense & Pika Colt

The output of London duo Dense & Pika (a.k.a. Chris Spero and Alex Jones of Hypercolour) has thus far been brutally simplistic in its approach and execution—essentially, it’s dark warehouse techno driven by in-the-red drum sounds with a heavy emphasis on sub-frequencies. The pair’s third release for Scuba’s Hotflush label, the four-track Colt EP, finds Dense & Pika gradually stretching the running times of their tracks and adding subtle new flavors to their productions.

This evolution is most obvious on the title track, which contrasts a straightforward, overdriven 4/4 kick pattern with the entrance of warm, emotive piano chords. The addition of a weightless string line that hovers above a smattering of bit-crushed percussion accents only deepens the sonic juxtaposition. The middle two tracks of Colt are less idiosyncratic, yet they’re still functional. “Black Deep” manages to keep a submerged beat in center focus, adding pitched vocals and sweaty chords along the way, while “Vomee” employs monochrome organ chords and twinkly keys draped in delay that keep the track’s low end from sluggishly derailing. The EP’s final tune, “Airless (Live),” is a clear outlier that nonetheless manages to pleasantly surprise, as the duo balances nimble live percussion, hollow woodwinds, and a range of modular synth effects over the track’s galloping, repetitive backbone. The gambit pays off, as the track’s foray into more “real” instrumentation never loses focus, and more importantly, shows that Dense & Pika’s predilection for brute force can excel in a number of frameworks.

Download a New Jungle Mix from Mark Pritchard

Longstanding Warp producer Mark Pritchard recently decided to distill his many monikers into solely releasing music under his given name, which he’s recently used to issue a solid series of jungle-, bass-, and footwork-centric EPs. This singular focus has also been used on a new mix that finds the UK mastermind weaving together a massive, 56-track mix of jungle tunes. Said to be his “personal journey through jungle,” Pritchard’s podcast for FACT focuses on tunes from between 1988 and 1993, and clearly shows his encyclopedic knowledge of the genre. The first part of the mix is available to be streamed and downloaded for free here, with part two arriving tomorrow.

Jeremiah Jae Readies ‘Dirty Collections’ Series for Warp, Shares Free Download

Experimental hip-hop artist Jeremiah Jae has had a banner year, signing with Warp and dropping his Bad Jokesmixtape just a few months ago. Today, the Chicago MC and one-time Brainfeeder affiliate has announced a forthcoming series of 7″ EPs called Dirty Collections for Warp, offering a cut taken from Vol. 1 as a free download. Limited to only 500 copies each, the three-volume set will feature members of Jae’s own Black Jungle Squad, including Oliver the 2nd, Isreal, E-Snow, and Tre. “Fun,” a tiny burst of crooked hip-hop that takes Jae’s production style in even stranger directions, pairs his lackadaisical wisdom with a hazy, sample-centric beat. A free download of “Fun” can be found below, along with the artwork and tracklists for the Dirty Collections series; Dirty Collections Vol. 1 will drop on November 12.

A1 – Fun
A2 – Fish Bomb
B1 – Go Get It

A1 – Pop Pop Shoot
B1 – Shake Stunt feat. Oliver the 2nd

A1 – Bright Works (feat. Isreal & E Snow)
A2 – Nu Bad Man (feat. Tre)
B1 – Outer Onto Other

Stream Gardland’s Debut LP for RVNG

Australian duo Gardland is set to drop its debut full-length via the RVNG label tomorrow, but before then, the outfit has made Syndrome Syndrome available to stream in full. The 11-track effort finds Gardland exploring the more experimental and esoteric ends of techno, giving a somewhat unexpected full-length introduction to the work of the largely unknown pair. The complete Syndrome Syndrome can be streamed over on Pitchfork Advance, and the somewhat disorienting—by design, of course—video for album track “Nothing But Not Zero” which premiered today can be watched here.

Kulkid “U Were The One”

French producer Kulkid has already built a following based on a string of remixes that have managed to turn a variety of source material (Bon Iver, Lana Del Rey, Mumford & Sons) into dancefloor fodder. Featured here, his debut original track “U Were The One” finds a crisp steel-drum melody rubbing shoulders with a very of-the-moment pitched vocal sample and a snappy house beat that will undoubtedly fit into a range of DJ mixes. The tune’s arrangement succeeds at keeping the energy level up while utilizing a few reverb-flooded detours, but the highlight comes around the halfway point, when Kulkid drops the trendier elements and instead slides a portamento-fueled synth riff into the mix with ease. Despite not taking many (or any) risks, “U Were The One” certainly succeeds at demonstrating Kulkid’s ability to create engaging original productions.

U Were The One

U Were The One

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