Alone Not Alone

Montag | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 1, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Carpark Records
• ASIN: B0007NBABS
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #414,632 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Temps d'Observer Les Voies Ouvertes

2. Grand Luxe

3. Temps Partiel

4. Perfect Vision

5. All I See

6. Time Difference II

7. Figures of a New Color

8. Motif

9. Angles, Country + Terrain Connu

10. Les Choses Se Placent

11. Exit Mélodie

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Montag, Antoine Bédard's alter ego ( Montreal , Canada ), is one of the most promising musicians of the Canadian electronic music scene. His first album, entitled "Are you a Friend?", was released on Gooom Disques (M83, Cyann & Ben, Abstrackt Keal Agram) in 2002 - an album of memories expressed through a discreet and deeply nostalgic sound where analog pop meets digital technology. With "Alone, not alone", Montag goes further in his exploration of themes such as memory but with more confidence this time. His music is just as intimate and personal but with more emphasis on acoustic sounds which bring more richness to his musical universe than ever. As a kind of orchestra-man, Montag offers short compositions with a micro-symphonic feel and a fundamentally emotional dimension. His music has seduced M83, resulting in their first collaboration on " Dead Cities , Red Seas and Lost Ghosts". Antoine has also recently completed string arrangements for their forthcoming album.

In 2003, Antoine released an EP on UK 's Aï records, toured Canada twice, played live in France and was invited to perform at Montreal 's prestigious Mutek Festival. His live performances also include opening for bands such as Broadcast, Lali Puna, Hood, Stars and Momus.

On "Alone, not alone", Montag delivers some orchestral pop where vocals have a noticeable importance - Antoine's passion for vintage atmospheres and naive melodies find a balanced mix with the album's electronic elements. Having learned the violin as a child, it is easy to understand why Montag wanted to include classical instrumentation in his recordings. Used to working on his own, this time Antoine wanted to involve his friends in the making of the album. Collaborators include James Cardiff (bass and electronics - of Broadcast), Francis Amireault (drums - of Cian Éthrie), Amy Millan (vocals, of Stars and Broken Social Scene), Ariel Engle (vocals). The album was mastered by Sixtoo (Ninja Tune), one of Montreal best known hip hop artists. Through these collaborations, Montag brings a different meaning to the album's title.

Product Description

Montreal’s MONTAG (aka ANTOINE BEDARD) got lonely making music by himself. After working all alone on his first record for France’s Gooom Disques (M83, CYANN & BEN), Antoine decided it was time to share his knowledge of arrangement and orchestration by enlisting the help of friends such as James Cargill of BROADCAST (Warp Records, Drag City), Amy Millan from STARS and BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE (Arts & Crafts), and SIXTOO (Ninja Tune, Anticon). With its strings, horns, wind instruments, layered vocals, and analog synths, Montag’s Alone, Not Alone has a lush sophisticated sound that helps redefine classic electric pop.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Igloo Magazine's REVIEW, December 2, 2005

By 

Pietro Da Sacco - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alone Not Alone (Audio CD)

Review by: Mark Teppo at [...]
(02.18.05) Antoine Bédard has seduced M83; it is his string compositions which grace their recently released Before the Dawn Heals Us (Mute, 2005). Now, with his second release as Montag -- Alone, Not Alone -- he's out to entice the rest of us with his delicate micro-symphonies and elegantly weightless pop. Shining with a digital polish, his analog melodies and orchestral flourishes caper and cavort like Disney-fied animals in a field of sunflowers while he and his vocalists (Amy Millan on two tracks, Ariel Engle on one) wander through the trackless fields of flowers in a haze of wistful nostalgia. Taken as a thematic statement, the title of the record captures the dichotomy of the modern creative process: the digital abstraction which huffs and squirts and whispers across the tracks arrayed against the bountiful echoes of the collaborative aspect of pop songs wherein the writer directs a band, a string ensemble and a bevy of vocalists.

The slow brush of percussion and the wandering woodwind section of "Figures of a New Color" paint a rain-swept city street (Paris, in my mind, naturally), populated by the slumbering motion of forgotten lovers, their nostalgia for their lost companions gently pushing them along the water-stained streets. The melancholic narrative voice of "All I See" drips with heartache, a palpable resonance behind his words and the delicate and wry melody. Processed field recordings sneak in for the last two minutes of "Perfect Vision" and drain away all the Mazzy Star-esque heartbreak that has lingers in the wake of Amy Millan's voice. Clavecin, organ and brushed cymbal spin into the early twilight in the penultimate "Exit Mélodie" as the solitary odes of Alone, Not Alone draw to a conclusion; this final fade is tempered, naturally, by a re-visitation of the song for the last track by the combined percussion, strings and winds who have provided material on preceding tracks, an affirmation of the belief that not all solitary travelers are alone.

Alone, Not Alone is the sort of pop that I can still find enthusiasm for: unobtrusive, wistful, innocent and filled with organic textures. Antoine Bédard 's Montag clears my head as I consider how transparent orchestral pop heard over my headphones seems like it has been written just for me. The rest of the world can easily pass you by while you pause to listen to Montag. That's not a bad thing, and you're not alone while you step off the path. "Your life hasn't started yet," Ariel Engle sings of "Grand Luxe." Nor is it over yet, either.

5.0 out of 5 stars Montag - Alone, Not Alone, March 1, 2011

By 

scoundrel - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alone Not Alone (Audio CD)

Symphonic glitch? Montag, on his album ALONE, NOT ALONE, makes it work, believe it or not. "Grand Luxe" sounds like trip-pop confection scored by a Francophone John Williams. The tracks here veer towards the calm and gentle -- very chanson-esque. "Perfect Vision" modulates its sunny disposition with moments of electronic glitchery. The relatively short "Time DIfference II" pours on the cheery atmosphere thick and dense, like warm syrup on pancakes. "Figures of a New Color" takes an almost opposite tack, leaning more towards stately elegance, while "Angles, Country & Terrain Connu" is much more 'traditional' folktronica. "Les Choses Se Placent" takes a lone string melody and submerges it under careful layers. Although the album is relatively short, it makes quite an impact.