5 things to know about Concrete and Glass by Nicolas Godin

January 31, 2020 admin music, music reviews, vancouver music

Credit to Author: Stuart Derdeyn| Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2020 19:00:43 +0000

Nicolas Godin | Because Music

Nicolas Godin dropped his first solo album in 2015. Counterpoint explored intersections between the classical genius of Bach and the cosmopolitan synth-cool that fans the world over would expect from the founder of the Versailles duo Air.

For his latest recording, Godin crafted 10 tracks inspired by “architectural reference points: mounted with minimalist precision and delivered with an abundance of pop warmth.”

Needless to say, the vast majority of listeners won’t be likely to grasp which blueprints or existing structures inspired which song, but it’s safe to say that you could play this lounge-ready record in any of them and it would pair perfectly.

Here are five things to know about Concrete and Glass:

1. Guest singers. The title track features the vintage Vocoder-treated vocals that were all over Air albums such as Moon Safari and Love 2. But over half of the songs, such as the romantic We Forget to Love (feat. Kadjha Bonet) or percolating The Foundation (feat. Cola Boyy), are clean, clear Euro-soul free from any modern window dressing.

2. Back to Your Heart. Featuring Kate NV, this loping mid-tempo pop tune is like Godin decided to channel 10cc for 4:47. It’s more repetitive than it needs to be, but the electric piano groove is pretty sweet.

3. Time On My Hands (feat. Kirin J Callinan). Air always had a rear-view take on pop, favouring a kind of late Seventies studio balladry crossed with plenty of progressive rock tricks, too. Case in point, the David Gilmore style guitar in this echoey tune. It’s almost annoyingly slow.

4. The Foundation (feat. Cola Boyy). Could a more appropriately titled track turn up on an album inspired by architecture? Godin is on record stating that ““Pierre Koenig’s Case Study House #21 was the starting point for this song.” While nothing in the easygoing song invokes this L.A.-based house in the Hollywood Hills, it’s a cool tune. The house listed in 2016 for under $4 million. Godin missed out on not coming to look at more expensive iconic Vancouver teardowns for inspiration.

5. Le Corbusier composition. Godin is an architecture grad who was deeply inspired by Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, the Swiss-French architect also known as Le Corbusier. So he comes by his concept from deep understanding rather than being a dilettante. In 2019, the musician was asked to compose a tribute to Le Corbusier to be part of a soundtrack to site-specific installations across the globe.

Also reviewed this week:

Ben Williams

I Am A Man | Rainbow Blonde Records

The title of the latest from DC-based Grammy-winning bassist/composer Williams references the 1968 African-American sanitation workers’ strike in Memphis, TN. Over the course of the 10 tracks, he delves into bongo-driven deep grooves while declaring the need for love (If You Hear Me), for freedom (March On) and standing up for future generations (Take It From Me/The Death of Emmett Till). With its dense layers, silk soul and jazz-funk backing, this falls right in with classics such as Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On or the work of Curtis Mayfield. Highly recommended.

Dan Deacon

Mystic Familiar | Domino

Opening with lunging piano that keeps multiplying into circling crescendos, Become a Mountain is spectacularly cinematic. That sets a tone for the latest from this experimental electropop progenitor. His sound ranges from almost early Eno-style pop (Sat By a Tree), to fully realized multi-movement synthesized soundscapes (Arp I – III) coupled with often robotic vocals. It’s far more mature and pristine than his shambolic early work, but adventurous arrangements and sonic architecture still sit most comfortably in the world of the outsider electronic music scene.

• March 21, Venue, 881 Granville. Tickets and info: $24.83 at ticketweb.ca

Jason McMahon

Odd West | Shinkoyo

Guitarist McMahon has plied his trade on electric guitar in bands ranging from Skeletons to Janka Nabay and the Bubu Gang, but this is an open, acoustic album that ranges from near ambient folk (The Ballad of Fat Lightning) to Brazilian-tinged handclaps-and-choruses in If It Rhymes, It’s True. The music was developed over a time performing at family gatherings, house concerts and similarly small shows as he honed various finger picking techniques and explored non-standard tunings. The result is 14 mostly instrumental pieces that go down very easily. Art music you could play for your parents.

Ross The Boss

Born Of Fire! | AFM Records

As a founding member of both The Dictators and Manowar, Ross “The Boss” Friedman played a key role in the development of what would become thrash, combining fast punk styles and attitude with the precision hard rock of the Seventies. His solo releases with his band haven’t had the same impact as his Seventies and Eighties work, but on its fourth release, the group shreds. I Am the Sword is a classic, and there is a lot on this 12-tune release to make a headbanger smile. Judas Priest fans, in particular, will really want to give this a spin.

• Feb. 11, Rickshaw Theatre, 254 E. Hastings. Tickets and info: $22 at eventbrite.ca