5 / 10
Montreal producer Antoine ‘Montag’ Bédard is the current darling of the Canadian indietronica scene – a none-too-difficult feat when his chief rival is a grizzly bear in Edmonton doing Four Tet covers. His third album sees him calling in favours from his fellow Canucks – gentle souls like Final Fantasy’s Owen Pallett and Stars’ Amy Millan – and underemploying their talents on a major scale. Bédard’s collaborators just aren’t tested or exploited far enough, his ideas aren’t pursued to an end point; examples of which are found in the Au Revoir Simone–featuring ‘No One Else’ (who sings about seven words) and the Gallic glitchpop of ‘Alice’. The latter merely serves to prove that no amount of breathy French vocals can lift ‘Going Places’ out of the mundane. Hence, it’s kinda the twindie equivalent of Timbaland’s ‘Shock Value’: a few guests, even fewer ideas.
Mike Sterry
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