ATSUKO CHIBA

Band: ATSUKO CHIBA

Genres: Post-Punk / Post-Rock / Alternative / Ambient / Experimental / Instrumental / Prog / Psychedelic Rock
Related artists: ?.
Country: Montreal, Quebec CANADA
Years Active: 2011-present
Song: "Tidings"
Album: "Figure and Ground"
Year: 2016
For fans of: The Mars Volta, Mogwai, Godspeed, You! Black Emperor, Hella, The Advantage, The Sound Of Animals Fighting, Sacrifice Poles, Radiohead, For The Mathematics, Daft Punk, Ahleuchatistas and At The Drive In.

Label(s): Self Released
This post's artist is from the March 2016 Mix. This is track #5.

You can download: the March Mix#4 right here or get the new April 2016 Mix#5 here.

I first saw ATSUKO CHIBA in Toronto because they were touring with Nous Étions whom I am friends with. I filmed two songs from the set (here) because it was so engaging and unique, not to mention awesome and have made a point to see them whenever they come through Hamilton. The blend of a self-made movie via video projector that coincides with the music and a light show can be pretty spectacular at points, so be sure to pay a visit should they come through, which seems quite likely because the band tours a lot and also lives together in Montreal. Oh, and they are also amazing people.

The new 2016 cassette EP 'Figures and Ground' opens with "Barren Land", which is a rocking number that isn't far removed from later The Mars Volta territory, minus the vocals (because they are none until the very end). At 6:52 it weaves through a few different paths, including ambient stuff, keyboards, isolated instrumentation (bass), straight up jams and multiple/yelling vocalists at the close of the song. "Infared" is slotted in the middle and also eclipses the six-minute mark, which is much more on the eerie, atmospheric and psychedelic side. After three minutes the song begins to pick up but that's pretty relative as I'm really only comparing it to the first half of the song although the last minute is, dare I say, heavy. "Tidings" ties the EP up in a nice bow as it doesn't even hit the four-minute mark and is relatively straightforward in its approach, although it does display a wide variety of influences and styles, including hip hop and sassy math rock.

From the band's previous release which is a cdLP titled 'Jinn' (available for purchase from ZBR here) is a great album that suffers from recording/mixing/mastering that subdues almost all that is powerful and great about ATSUKO CHIBA. It turns out to be a good album, but seeing the same thing live is much better. Two songs in particular manage to come across more than decent (one might even say really fucking good) are "QVOX", the mathy/playful third song with definite At The Drive In leanings, and "One Big Happy Family" which is a huuuuuuge 21-minute closer that has over 15 minutes of excellent material including the first 10 minutes which I've included in a condensed version of the song linked earlier in this sentence. I would also recommend watching the video of that song below in the embedded youtube links below. Seriously this song is epic as all hell and a fucking killer jam that includes a part from four to five minutes that sounds like it was pulled from an old James Bond film.

Older ATSUKO CHIBA is okay but truly pales in comparison to the newer material, although this is kind of the case with most bands. All future material is expected to be excellent and I'm pumped to see them again soon, whenever that might be. A truly original and overlooked band.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2012 - Animalia: Several States of Being digitalEP (stream/donate/download here)
2012 - Oui, Non, Merci! digital single (stream/donate/download here)

2013 - Jinn cdLP (stream/buy here) (purchase the cd here)

2015 - Live Studio Session digitalEP (stream/buy here)

2016 - Figure and Ground cassetteEP (stream/buy here)

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(2016) ATSUKO CHIBA - "Tidings" (from 'Figure and Ground')

(2016) ATSUKO CHIBA - "One Big Happy Family" live in Hamilton

(2013) ATSUKO CHIBA - "One Big Happy Family (cut version)" (from 'Jinn')

(2013) ATSUKO CHIBA - "QVOX" (from 'Jinn')

(2012) ATSUKO CHIBA - "Oui, Non, Merci!" (from 'Oui, Non, Merci!')

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ATSUKO CHIBA additional links

Bandcamp

Facebook

Youtube channel

Shop

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UN AUTOMNE DE PLUS

Band: UN AUTOMNE DE PLUS

Genres: Punk / Post-Rock / Post-Hardcore / Emo / Screamo / Ambient / Shoegaze / Experimental / Instru-metal
Related artists: ?.
Country: Paris FRANCE
Years Active: 2011-present
Song: "Presque Mort"
Album: "Qu'Adviendra-t-il de nos souvenirs?"
Year: 2015
For fans of: Gantz, Envy, Aporia, Aussitôt Mort, Amanda Woodward, Les Deux Minutes De La Haine, Fall Of Efrafa, Nous Étions, La Parade, Sinking Steps, Rising Eyes, Angel Eyes, 124C41+ and Pastel aka PROPER SCREAMO.

Label(s): Self Released
This post's artist is from the March 2016 Mix. This is track #4.

You can download: the March Mix#4 right here or get the new April 2016 Mix#5 here.

D.I.Y. as all hell, two-piece UN AUTOMNE DE PLUS have been releasing their own music since 2010 and are headed over to the US next week for a few shows. The band first caught my attention in 2015 when they sent me some copies of their newest record 'Qu'Adviendra-t-il de nos souvenirs?' which really struck a chord with me. The band concocts massive movements into beautifully orchestrated soft/heavy moments with climactic and epic results. With the older material the band focuses much more on atmospherics and generally "rock out" to but a fraction of the song with the reminder being held by ambient instrumentals and audio clips.

It seems to make the most sense for me to quickly discuss my favourite songs from 'Qu'Adviendra-t-il de nos souvenirs?' as it is my favourite of the lot and the one I've jammed the most. "Presque Mort" begins much like Aporia and later Aussitôt Mort with spacey post-hardcore and yelling before slowing down to a crawl at 1:15. This four-minute closing section is a beautiful atmospheric haze that eventually incorporates more instrumentation and screaming as well as an audio clip of panicked 911 phone calls and a heart rate monitor. "Explosions" is a six minute plus affair of purely ambient instrumental post-rock/post-hardcore in the vein of Mogwai, Godspeed, You! Black Emperor and Explosions In The Sky. "Que Nous reste-t-il?" is another banger that begins with that amazing French plucking that so many of the "for fans of" bands are well known for, with insertions of full out post-hardcore with some screamo leanings, not unlike Gantz and Amanda Woodward.

As stated earlier, UN AUTOMNE DE PLUS is going on tour from April 17th-24th in New York and Pennsylvania. Check the show poster below for details.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2010 - 4 Paragraphe Pour Theme EP (same tracks as 2011 release)

2011 - Des Jours sans lendemain digitalEP (stream/download here)

2012 - Ces Sombres reflets d'hiver digitalEP (stream/download here)

2013 - 2010 (Solo Album) cdrLP (stream/download here)

2015 - Qu'Adviendra-t-il de nos souvenirs? cdrEP (stream/donate/download here)

2016 - Notre dernier combat! (stream here)

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(2015) UN AUTOMNE DE PLUS - "Presque Mort" (from 'Qu'Adviendra-t-il de nos souvenirs?')

(2015) UN AUTOMNE DE PLUS - "Que Nous reste-t-il?" (from 'Qu'Adviendra-t-il de nos souvenirs?')

(2013) UN AUTOMNE DE PLUS - "UPPT V2" (from '2010 (Solo Album)')

(2015) UN AUTOMNE DE PLUS - "Explosions" (from 'Qu'Adviendra-t-il de nos souvenirs?')

(2012) UN AUTOMNE DE PLUS - "1.Pourquoi es tu là-2.Des Jours sans lendemain" (from 'Ces Sombres reflets d'hiver')

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UN AUTOMNE DE PLUS additional links

Bandcamp

Facebook

Buy cd here

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AUSSITÔT MORT

Band: AUSSITÔT MORT aka MORT MORT MORT

Genres: Punk / Post-Rock / Hardcore / Post-Hardcore / Post-Metal / Ambient  / Experimental / Instru-metal / Prog
Related artists: Amanda Woodward, None.ID, Karysun, Sugartown Cabaret, El Bimbo, Gopher, The Apollo Program, Mexican Stand-Off, Guns Of Brixton, Nine Eleven, 2138, Season and Burning Bright.
Country: Caen FRANCE
Years Active: 2005-present
Song: "Percute"
Album: "6 Songs"
Year: 2007
For fans of: Amanda Woodward, Aporia, Envy, Milanku, Les Deux Minutes De La Haine, Sed Non Satiata, Nous Etions, Rosetta, Locktender, Mihai Edrisch, Lara Korona, Back When, Examination Of The..., Isis, (later) Tusk, Tigershark, Boris, Raein, Yage, Yaphet Kotto, Fall Of Efrafa, Amber, Abhinanda, Across Tundras and Gantz aka PROPER SCREAMO.

Label(s): Self Released / Level Plane Records / Adagio830 Records / Forge Again Records / Denovali Records / Heart On Fire Records / Parade Of Spectres / Puzzle Records / Oto Records / Purepainsugar / Moment Of Collapse Records / IFB Records / Destructure Records / Grains Of Sand Records / Music Fear Satan
This post's artist is from the March 2016 Mix. This is track #11.

You can download: the March Mix#4 right here or get the new April 2016 Mix#5 here.

AUSSITÔT MORT formed from the ashes of Amanda Woodward and The Apollo Program with the original lineup including two members from each band. The sound was unmistakenly Amanda Woodward during the 2005-2007 years, and then in 2008 the band began evolving into much more of a post-hardcore/post-metal band while still dabbling in screamo. By 2014 the band had shed nearly all screamo leanings but all of the material released by AUSSITÔT MORT (later called MORT MORT MORT) is great in different ways.

Early songs from the 2005-2007 era that help showcase these differences are "(Memoria Grigia)", "(Percute)" and "Dur Comme la Banalite" which are amazing screamo/post-hardcore with heavy nods to Amanda Woodward, Sed Non Satiata and Mihai Edrisch. "(Memoria Grigia)" is a spacey but heavy affair that could have been released on Amanda Woodward's 'La Decadence de la Decadence'. "(Percute)" is a much longer song, clocking in at 6:26 and riding the cumulative wave of guitars until 2:19 when the band blows the doors off with some powerful and massive notes that shape the remainder of the song into a beautiful Envy-ish sibling. From the 'Balboa split' 7" comes the song "Dur Comme la Banalite" which is so Sed Non Satiata that I assume that they must have collaborated, as the clean vocals sound just like them.

After their first album, AUSSITÔT MORT dropped a fair amount of the screamo element in their music and instead focused on post-metal stuff that reminds me of Lara Korona and Tigershark. Go ahead and jam the epic "Mort, Mort, Mort" which could certainly be likened to Isis, Back When and later Examination Of The.... The song is 6:29 which by 2008 is pretty standard for the band. The song climbs for the first 30-something seconds before exploding with prodigious riffs and distant yelling (yelling, not really screaming) before sliding into a groovy instrumental section that cycles back to the doomy and imposing verse. The band then brings in some violins and more insanely catchy and heavy riffs to close out one of the best songs they ever wrote. "Le Prophete de Malheur" is also from 'Montuenga' and is a sludgy, thick and powerful number that reminds me of Abhinanda and Neurosis.

AUSSITÔT MORT continued releasing material in 2011 and 2012 that was relatively similar to 2008's 'Montuenga' that tended to be released on numerous albums as the band released three compilations in the span of two years. "Une Defaite a la Piaule" is my favourite of these songs and it was released on the 'Heaven In Her Arms split' EP in 2011 and it includes more amazing instrumental work but a slight slip in the vocals as some are sung and don't really help the music in any fashion, I'm speaking in particular about the singing at around the three-minute mark. Other than that this song is killer, especially that breakdown at 4:20.

AUSSITÔT MORT became MORT MORT MORT in 2013 and dropped the two-song 7" EP titled 'La Chants des Sirènes' in 2014 under the new name. With the name change comes the expected evolution of the band as they venture further into spacey, experimental territory shrouded in darkness with strong nods to later Tusk and Fall Of Efrafa. "La Chants des Sirènes" is the strongest track of the two and has more tangents and juxtapositions than any of the earlier material.

So that's that. I guess the band is still going as MORT MORT MORT and I'm intrigued about their future releases, but nothing will top the 2005-2008 material in my mind. My saturated mind. Be sure to download the complete discography on the AUSSITÔT MORT bandcamp page linked below.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2005 - Aussitôt Mort cd/12"EP

2006 - Balboa split 7"EP

2007 - 6 Songs cdLP (compiles 2005-2006 material) (stream/donate/download here)

2008 - Montuenga cd/12"LP (stream/donate/download here)

2011 - Heaven In Her Arms split 10"EP (stream/donate/download here)
2011 - The Catalyst split 7"EP (stream/donate/download here)
2011 - Discographie 2x12"LP

2012 - La Ride Du Lion 12"EP (stream/donate/download here) (buy 12" here)
2012 - Nagykanizsa cd/cassette/12"EP (compiles 10"/7" splits & 12"EP) (stream/donate/download here)
2012 - Montuenga + 6 Songs cdLP

2014 - La Chants des Sirènes 7"EP as MORT MORT MORT (stream/donate/download here)

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(2006) AUSSITÔT MORT - "Dur Comme la Banalite" (from 'Balboa' split)

(2007) AUSSITÔT MORT - "Percute" (from '6 Songs')

(2008) AUSSITÔT MORT - "Mort, Mort, Mort" (from 'Montuenga')

(2011) AUSSITÔT MORT - "Une Defaite a la Piaule" (from 'Heaven In Her Arms' split)

(2014) MORT MORT MORT - "La Chants des Sirènes" (from 'La Chants des Sirènes')

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AUSSITÔT MORT aka MORT MORT MORT additional links

Bandcamp

Facebook

Blog

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