It was a fascinating meeting of veterans(LUNIK), newbie (SLM) and promising (Larois) talent that M for Montreal gathered in a room designed to conquer new stars or run victory laps with established fans. Despite such varied stylistic differences, the only unifying factor between the performances was their authenticity on stage and the complexity of their execution.
Montreal rapper SLM debuted her new album. Broken hearts are like angel wings – but don’t let the heavenly title deceive you; her tight and raunchy rhymes resonated throughout the room, and her fluidity was as intense as her dancers' choreography. SLM's ability to keep his verses spoken through danceable, obnoxious beats and not-so-friendly reverb BelmontThe sound system was impressive.
Known as half of the duo Streets of the heartexclaim! New favorites The Larois alumna's music is deeply emotional and engaging, but she's recently adopted a new laissez-faire attitude on social media that has permeated her performance, making it more accessible to those not in the know. It was a very solid vocal showcase from one of the city's deepest and most accomplished electronic bands.
Finally, genre-bending producer Lunis took the script from his recent performance with the legendary Sixtoo and brought the same reckless yet meticulous energy to the stage that he is famous for in the studio. It's certainly a grimy place best suited to its broad, hard-to-define soundscape, with recent work including work with 645AR and Nicholas Craven, as well as a remix of Larois' single “LSD”.
While I've been following all of these acts for a while now, based on the nods and notes from the international delegates in attendance, I'm confident that these locals will be getting some overseas gigs as a result of the skill on display last night (November 20).
