Sounds

Montreal Music Videos

by Lorraine Carpenter

Hallucinatory, ecstatic and goofy charms are on display in new clips by seven local acts.

jeanmichelblais-nostos
From Jean-Michel Blais’s “Nostos”

Iris, “Follow Me”

The latest single by indie pop artist Iris, released last month by Cult Nation, gets some visual vigour in this action-packed narrative video by Sebastien Duguay. There aren’t enough videos like this being made these days.

Beat Market, “Madonyx”

Old ladies party hard in the Louis Delisle-directed video for the latest single from Sun Machine, the sophomore album by robo-pop duo Beat Market, released by Lisbon Lux Records back in September.

Suuns, “Paralyzer”

The second video released ahead of the upcoming third LP by experimental rock band Suuns — Hold/Still, out April 15 on Secretly Canadian — is almost as heavy a trip visually as it is musically. Directed by Charles-André Coderre, this video is as serious and mysterious as it can be, given that it was probably shot inside Laser Quest.

Jean-Michel Blais, “Nostos” (feat.  Bufflo)

Climate change and Ulysses inspired this track and its video, a beautiful piece of work directed by Jason Rodi, with drone footage shot from Montreal all the way down to Antartica. The track is a tease for the upcoming album by pianist/composer Jean-Michel Blais, out April 8 on Arts & Crafts.

Little Scream, “Love As a Weapon”

Laurel Sprengelmeyer (aka Little Scream) has a sophomore record on the way, an album under the influence of Tina Turner, Tracey Thorn, and White Album-era Beatles. Cult Following —produced once again by Richard Reed Parry, and with a loaded guest list including Sufjan Stevens, Owen Pallett and  is being released by Merge on May 6, with a local launch happening on May 11 at Theatre Fairmount. For a taste, check out this shiny new video directed by Dan Huiting.

Motel Raphaël, “System”

Starring local actor Kyle Gatehouse and directed by Dan LeMoyne, this video for the title track from Motel Raphaël‘s forthcoming LP depicts a man who reaches his boiling point. (Spoiler: A freak-out in a small grocery store ensues.) System comes out on April 15 and launches locally with a show at the Fairmount Theatre on April 22.

Jeremy Gara, “Divinity”

Arcade Fire drummer Jeremy Gara released his first solo album, Limn, on March 11 — read more about his ambient, experimental, noisy project in our interview, here. This interview

Posted in Sounds

by Lorraine Carpenter

Editor in chief
Lorraine Carpenter was born in Montreal and studied communications and journalism at Concordia. She co-founded Cult MTL in 2012 following 12 years at the now-defunct Montreal alt weekly the Mirror, where she worked in editorial as copy editor and music editor. She’s dedicated to supporting the cultural scene in Montreal.