New Music: Andrre - Lac Noir EP

 

 

Well, I figured it's been a while since I did a review post and I managed to unearth an album I bet most of you (outside the Francophone world at least) were probably sleeping on, so here goes...

Andrre is one of my favorite rappers. He has one of the most interesting voices in indie rap, bursting with personality and subtle coolness. I always come away from an Andrre tune feeling like I just heard the unfortunate but ultimately uplifting life story of the Canadian badass sitting with me at the bar. I've never thought anyone could truly hate this guys music, he's just got so many perfect songs. Take "Big Jet Plane (Zoen Remix)", a gorgeous re-imagining of the Angus and Julia Stone tune. Or "The Fades", a Degiheugi produced, piano driven masterpiece that literally gives me chills every time I hear it. (I found out where the sample comes from, and it's truly unbelievable. One of the most genius uses of a sample I've ever heard.).

All that said, I realize that like me many of his English speaking listeners are probably not aware of his work with X-Ray Records and the resulting EP here. I stumbled onto it after really falling in love with Degiheugi's production (basically ever since hearing "Keeping the Memory Alive" which has one of my favorite beats of all time I believe) and I don't know if it was ever promoted to his hip hop listeners or posted to any Bandcamp account.

So let me be the first to break the great news! Lac Noir is the first Andrre release since the excellent 2019 EP Dichotomie out on French label Dora Dorovich, and for those of us in the know it's been a long wait. I don't have much to say about this little EP, mostly I was just excited to find it and share it with everyone who might have missed it. Most important to mention is that Andrre has moved away from rap driven tunes. This is essentially a collection of indie folk songs, but this Beatles / Radical Face-esque offering brings with it all of his emotional turmoil, playful innocence and fearless self exploration in the form of his poetry and melodies. It is very very good, while also very very short.

 

You can pick it up from iTunes, or stream the whole thing here on YouTube. I'm so used to linking to Bandcamp it feels incomplete not to, but I guess that's it. Hope everyone's staying out of this crazy weather!

Enjoy!

AndrRomak (Andrre & Roma) - Life Up There (2006)

 

 

So here we are again at the end of the week! As promised, to myself and all of you, I'm taking a step back this week and offering another download. It's down to the wire though, and I'm down to my proprietary algorithmic method of determining which fossil to post. After making it most of the way down the A's on my iTunes I came up with this.

I don't know if this is a real release. It does have a track from James P. Honey that is as far as I know unique to this EP so I assume it must be real, but the files are all mixed up and labeled like it was compiled by one of Andrre's many many fans. There is a lot of cool stuff on here though, and after I share a bit of background you can listen and find out what.

Roma's the DJ(ish) Andrre's the rapper(ish). One produces lush and haunting beats with a reliance on natural instruments such as keys and strings versus the far more common these days electronic spacey "trippy" sounds, the other raps and sings with a Quebecois accent that sounds like it lost a fight with a few cartons of Marlboros. I love both of them, and they work exceptionally well together. Andrre has some solo work as well as a full length album as AndrRomak out on Milled Pavement. Get it now.

Side note, Staplemouth of New Cocoon was supposed to do a project with Roma I believe. I heard a few tracks and found them frankly amazing so I hope that may still happen (hint hint).

Whether or not this release is a legitimate product of the names it bears, it's dope and I saw it first during my proprietary, absolutely not alphabetical scrolling based search of iTunes, so it's what y'all get for today.

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