Patche, Patche: REVIEW

Patche, Patche (popop)

The first few minutes of the debut album by Patche — a new local experimental electronic-krautrock five-piece that pushes the boundaries of modular synthesizers — feels like taking an elevator in a surrealist dream, as the walls slowly begin to melt, the door opens and the floor disintegrates. It’s a constant stream of sound, synthy melodies, tasty bass lines, motorik drum beats, art rock guitars — like PJ Harvey if she ever jammed with the musical German collective Popul Vuh, and Brian Eno was the producer. Ultimately, it’s an album to listen to front-to-back if you’re looking for unconventional, multilayered, instrumental music that follows no real roadmap, sometimes jumping into club-ready electro or calm ambient textures. These musicians (members of past and present groups like Lumière, Duu, zouz, Mon Doux Saigneur and Zombie Life Mon Coeur) are highly skilled and some of the sounds they create together are nothing short of extraordinary. 8/10 Trial Track: “Motorik”

For more on Patche, please visit the band’s Linktree.

This review was originally published in the March 2023 issue of Cult MTL.

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