duchess11

Duchess Says, The High Dials, Malajube & other bands from Montreal (coming to CMJ, touring)

by Bill Pearis

Duchess Says
Duchess Says
Duchess Says

We already mentioned that Montreal’s Think About Life will be in town this week playing Tuesday night’s BrooklynVegan showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg and the M for Montreal night at Arlene’s Grocery on Wednesday (10/21). Also playing the M4M show are electro-punks Duchess Says, whose only other show this week will be the BrooklynVegan day party on Thursday (10/22) at Pianos. Full line-up for that show will be announced soon.

Duchess Says were probably the wildest band I saw at last year’s M for Montreal festival, due almost entirely to spitfire singer Annie-Claude. She is a woman possessed onstage, wild-eyed and not afraid to leap into the crowd… or drag the crowd onstage. They are loved in their hometown — the show I saw, the crowd was going completely mental — but they haven’t toured that much in America so it’s a real treat to have them here this week, and to have them at our day party.

If you want to get a good cross-section of the Montreal scene, and aren’t scared of seeing some bands who sing in French, you should definitely hit up Arlene’s Grocery Wednesday night which has an excellent line-up. In addition to Think About Life and Duchess Says, the M for Montreal showcase features: “trip rock” duo BEAST, whose singer Betty Bonifassi provided the vocals for Triplets of Belleville. As I wrote after seeing them, she’s got one of Those Voices (Shirley Bassey comes to mind) – smoky, world-wear, yet powerful, enough to cause the hair on the back of your neck to stand at attention. BEAST are playing four shows during CMJ, and all dates are below.

Also playing: Up-and-comers Parlovr play shouty, anthemic indie rock not entirely unlike Wolf Parade and they apparently wowed audiences at this year’s Pop Montreal; Malajube who did very well for themselves when they played CMJ in 2006; MTL scene veterans We Are Wolves; and the electropop sounds of Silly Kissers.

The High Dials
The High Dials

Not playing that night but also from Montreal and also playing CMJ are The High Dials whose most recent album, Moon Country, made my Best Albums of 2008 list. If you’re unfamiliar, they make country-tinged ’60s-ish psych-rock, with great harmonies and occasional doses of druggy drone. The High Dials are playing two NYC shows this week, both on Saturday (10/24). First at Lit (10:15) and then at Arlene’s Grocery (12:30). They are fantastic live, you should definitely clear some space for these guys. They’re also playing a few East Coast coast while down in America, too, and those dates are below.

And while I’m talking about Canada and Arlene’s Grocery, Thursday (10/22) is this year’s Canadian Blast which has hard rockers Priestess, the anthemic alt-rock of Jets Overhead, funk-soul mashup Grand Analog, hip hop act Classified and youngsters Spiral Beach.

Tour dates, flyers and videos after the jump…

M for Montreal

Duchess Says – Black Flag

Duchess Says – à Mange ta ville

Duchess Says – 2009 Tour Dates
Oct 21 CMJ – Arlene’s Grocery w/ Malajube, We Are Wolves, Think About Life, Silly Kissers, Beast New York, New York
Oct 22 CMJ – Brooklyn Vegan Day Party @ Piano’s w/ Lovvers, Alec Ounsworth, Surfer Blood New York, New York
Oct 28 Vice 15th anniversary @ Le Milieu w/ Silly Kissers and special guest Montréal, Quebec
Oct 31 Party d’halloween aux Forges urbaines w/ Back Stabbathhh Montréal

Beast
Beast

BEAST – Microcite

Beast

BEAST – 2009 Tour Dates
Oct 21 Arlene’s Grocery @ CMJ – M for Montreal Showcase w/ Malajube New York, NY
Oct 22 Galapagos Art Space @ CMJ Brooklyn, NY
Oct 23 The Studio @ CMJ // EARLY SHOW!! New York, NY
Oct 24 Living Room @ CMJ New York, NY
Nov 26 Universum Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg
Nov 27 59:1 Munich, Bayern
Nov 28 Luxor Cologne, Rheinland-Pfalz
Nov 30 Magnet Club Berlin, Berlin
Dec 1 Knust Hamburg
Dec 15 Club Soda Montréal, Québec
Dec 16 Club Soda Montréal, Québec
Jan 28 Centre Culturel de Joliette – Cabaret Telus Joliette, Québec
Jan 29 Centre culturel de Beloeil Beloeil, Québec

Malajube – “Luna”

Malajube – 2009 Tour Dates
Oct 21 CMJ | M pour Montreal showcase | Arlene’s Grocery New York, New York
Nov 3 Call The Office London, Ontario
Nov 4 E Bar Guelph, Ontario
Nov 5 Casbah Hamilton, Ontario
Nov 6 The Mansion Kingston, Ontario
Nov 8 Festival Diapason| Maison des Arts Laval, Quebec
Nov 12 Cabaret de la Dernière Chance Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec
Nov 13 Bistro La Maîtresse La Sarre, Quebec
Nov 14 Bar Dundee Val-D’or, Quebec
Nov 26 Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, Ontario
Dec 3 Salle Jean-Despréz Gatineau, Quebec
Dec 5 Salle de L’Alizée Mascouche, Quebec
Dec 9 Théâtre Impérial Québec, Quebec
Dec 11 Cactus Resto-Bar Victoriaville, Quebec
Dec 12 Complexe culturel Félix-Leclerc La Tuque, Quebec
Dec 18 Métropolis | Avec Clues en première partie Montréal, Quebec
Dec 19 L’AZILE Joliette, Quebec

We Are Wolves – “Holding Hands”

We Are Wolves – 2009 Tour Dates
Oct 15 Lancement d’album @ Le National Montréal, Quebec
Oct 16 Supplémentaire ! – Le National Montréal, Quebec
Oct 21 CMJ-M for Montreal Showcase @ Arlene’s Grocery New York, New York
Oct 24 CMJ-Windish Agency Showcase @ Santo’s Party House New York, New York
Oct 31 L’imperial Quebec, Quebec
Oct 31 DJ Set @ Cercle Quebec, Quebec
Nov 5 Nord-Ouest Café Trois-Rivières, Quebec
Nov 7 Trash St-Hyacinthe, Quebec
Nov 13 L’azile Joliette, Quebec
Nov 14 Pub O’Callaghan Sorel-Tracy, Quebec
Nov 21 Métric St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Quebec
Nov 28 Téléphone Rouge Sherbrooke, Quebec
Dec 2 Studio théâtre de la Salle André Mathieu Laval, Quebec
Dec 3 La boîte à bleuets Alma, Quebec
Dec 4 Le Bunker Chicoutimi
Dec 5 Vox Populi Dolbeau, Quebec
Dec 10 Vieux St-Pierre Resto-Bar Victoriaville, Quebec
Mar 6 Trou du diable Shawinigan, Quebec

Pavlovr

Palovr – 2009 Tour Dates
Oct 20 CMJ Music Marathon at Bruar Falls New York City, New York
Oct 21 CMJ – Musebox presents : BLOG FOR BEER @ Bowery Electric New York City, New York
Oct 21 CMJ Music Marathon at Arlene’s Grocery – M for Mtl BBQ New York City, New York
Oct 31 Théâtre Impérial w/ We Are Wolves Québec, Quebec
Nov 7 Le Trash w/ We Are Wolves Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec
Nov 13 L’Azile w/ We Are Wolves Joliette, Quebec
Dec 2 Studio Théâtre Salle André–Mathieu w/ We Are Wolves Laval, Quebec
Dec 3 Boîte à Bleuets w/ We Are Wolves Alma, Quebec
Dec 4 Bunker w/ We Are Wolves Chicoutimi, Quebec

Silly Kissers – “Halloween Summer”

Silly Kissers – 2009 Tour Dates
Oct 21 CMJ // Arlenes Grocery W// Duchess Says // We Are Wolves // Think About Life New York, New York
Nov 13 Le Milieu W/ Witchies + Mixylodian montreal
Nov 20 Juste Pour Rire W/ Parlovr + DD/MM/YY montreal

The High Dials – “Holy Ground”

The High Dials – The Holy Gound on MUZU.

The High Dials – 2009 Tour Dates
Oct 23 Sully’s Pub Hartford, Connecticut
Oct 24 Arlene’s Grocery – Special guests at the Rainbow Quartz CMJ Party New York, New York
Oct 24 Lit Lounge – CMJ Showcase New York City, New York
Oct 27 O’Brien’s Pub w/ The Receiver Allston, Massachusetts
Oct 28 Silk City w/ The Three-4-Tens and The Receiver Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 29 The Velvet Lounge w/ The Receiver Washington, Washington DC