this saturday

Set Times:

Depost Through The 9:15 - 9:45
The Baltic Sea 10 - 10:30
Arms and Sleepers 10:45 - 11:30
Thisquietarmy 11:45 - close

Fugues compilation feat. TQA reviewed by TSB

Here: http://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/2106/Default.aspx

Thisquietarmy can produce more than a nocturnal character, and "Summer Isolation," by far the longest track on the compilation appears to be the perfect proof; for once, listening to tqa in full daylight does not seem like an absurd and foolish idea. - Diana S.

Not sure if it's still available, but see this blog entry for more info.

thisquietarmy Videos

thisquietarmy videos made out of live footage and projections used during performances, between 2007 + 2008; all credits goes to thisquietarmy.

Battlefield Arkestrah:



Warchitects:



Mercenary Flags:

Blackhaunter reviewed in the Montreal Hour

Pick up a copy of the Montreal Hour, read the "Blackhaunter" review (****) by Steve Guimond; throw it out with the rest of the 50,000 or so copies in the recycling bins next week.

If you're environmental-friendly, you can just read it online here: http://www.hour.ca/music/spin.aspx?iIDDisque=5178, but the papers are already printed anyway...

Actually, just read it here:

blackhaunter
Steve Guimond

Eric Quach (x-Destroyalldreamers) is the lonely general who commands thisquietarmy, a Montreal instrumental project that has been gathering steam since its inception in 2005. Quach goes it all alone, a guitar in one hand, pedals in the other, loops in another, processors in the next, and a computer in the other, creating a world where these beings live peacefully, slowly, side by side in a stunned seaside embrace. The music is carefully plotted, a turtle's pace for fragile sound worlds to build and collapse, rebuild and collapse. ****

facebook page

i have created: facebook page.

now whoring.

tqa-hq improv series: 001

sound and video recorded by webcam;

Exclusive track on "_post" compilation out on [walnut + locust]

An exclusive Thisquietarmy track "They Have Found Us" is available on "_post", a 3" CDr out on [walnut + locust]. They are available in the Distroboto machines for only 2$! More info: www.distroboto.archivemontreal.org

Spotted them at the Cagibi's Distroboto this weekend (5490 St-Laurent), but they should also appear in some other locations as well.



wl014 - v/a "_post" (3" CDr)
6 bands, 5 exclusive tracks, featuring : Aidan Baker (Canada), .cut & Friends + Agathe Max (Canada/France), Raymonde Howard (France), Molasses (Japan), Thisquietarmy (Canada).

Thisquietarmy in Cuba

Not for anything music-related though... Fled to an all-inclusive resort from Dec 28th to Jan 4th for the first real vacation in a very very long time. Well-deserved too, after this handful 2008:

* 2 full-length albums released
* 1 book soundtrack ep
* 1 synth-only ep
* 1 single/b-side
* 1 short-film soundtrack
* 1 collaborative album (forthcoming)
* 3 exclusive compilation songs
* 1 remix
* 22 live performances
* 2 full-time jobs



But I actually still cheated: I did some soundwave editing and created some beat-patterns in my hotel room. Can't really stop a workaholic.

2009, who knows... No real plans yet.
Lots of ideas, but as usual, not enough time.

Thanks to everyone who has supported Thisquietarmy this year - whether you have attended a performance, bought a CD, helped to promote, wrote a review or a comment, talked about, passed the word around, gave it listen, anything... Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Free download: TQA009 - Hi My Quiet Tsar

Ho, ho, ho.

TQA(R) has decided to give away an MP3 download of the unannounced release of TQA009a, Hi My Quiet Tsar, limited to 24 copies. Hi My Quiet Tsar was spontaneously released the night of October 18th, 2008 as a collector's item to Thisquietarmy's first official synth-only live set. Plans regarding this project remains unclear, thus the MP3s are released under the Thisquietarmy name.

Read up & download: here.

Very Large Array; ready to be shipped!

Christy Romanick's "Very Large Array" book features a series of colored photographs shot in San Agustin, New Mexico. Christy captures the beauty and eeriness of the VLA satellites occupying an isolated desert landscape. Also included is an exclusive 30 minute soundtrack cd titled "Transmissions to 3774379 258421 13S" by Montreal musician Thisquietarmy.

More info on Space30a.

Twitter

http://www.twitter.com/thisquietarmy

Built on a Weak Spot reviews Blackhaunter

Built on a Weak Spot speaketh of Blackhaunter:

"Where Unconquered used layered fuzzy tones and loops to create a bit of warmth here and there, Blackhaunter does the complete opposite. As the title might suggest, this is a darker and much colder vision from Quach that at times reaches unsettling hair raising atmospherics. In my opinion it seems like a fantastic way to follow up a record such as Unconquered and displays Quach’s ability to achieve such contrasting moods through his skillful guitar tone manipulations." - Jonathan Harnish

read the whole thing: here.

Improvised set @ Cagibi - this friday!

I'll be playing a short improvised set with some friends:

- S.Cibo
- The Montreal Nintendo Orkestar
- Pier-Emmanuel Tremblay & Friends
- Stochastique

+DJ sets by AlBéRiCk & Star Tsar

Friday, december 12th - 8pm - free
Le Cagibi - 5490 St. Laurent - Montreal, QC

The Silent Ballet reviews Blackhaunter

Diana Sitaru writes a wonderful review of Blackhaunter for The Silent Ballet:

"Following in the surrealists’ steps, Blackhaunter stands against everything loud, existing as an ever-flowing, ghastly-abstract shout, quiescent, but constantly humming in one’s ear. For that matter, thisquietarmy represents the genuine reincarnation of avant-garde, conquering realm after realm after realm."

Read it the whole thing: here.

Textura reviews Blackhaunter, Boomkat sells FLAC + 320kbps MP3s

Textura gave 'Blackhaunter' a great review, read it: here
.
"Blackhaunter is the kind of recording that, when it ends, you're satisfied but also hungry to hear more, and how often is that the case?" - textura.org

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Boomkat are selling 320 kbps 44.1 Hz MP3s or in loseless FLAC formats, check it out: here.
I personally think it's way cooler than itunes, or emusic - but either way, your digital choice! However, the digipak artwork is really worth it... think about it, limited to 1,000 copies only.

Boyd Devereaux and Elevation Recordings

Check out the article in the Canadian Business Magazine about Boyd Devereaux, NHL Toronto Maple Leafs hockey player who won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 2002. What. Why, you may ask. Well, if you didn't know yet... Boyd is actually the co-owner of Elevation Recordings, the label that released 'Blackhaunter'. That's right. And this story is well-researched and well-written, and tells all about Boyd and his passion for music, and how he went about to create the label with Joe Greenwald, of Capitol Records (i thought it was Warner Music though). This article makes me proud of being on Elevation Recordings, and of Boyd! Read it: here.

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On a side note, the first review for 'Blackhaunter' was printed by the Montreal Mirror two weeks ago, by Lorraine Carpenter: "Like the wonderfully, woefully goth cover art, this is chilling ambient rock that you’ll be glad to get lost in. 8 (LC)"

Reviews for 'Unconquered' are still coming in, from Poland, Germany, Italy. Check out the myspace blog for an update, if it's of any interest to you.

Thisquietarmy has been recording here and there, surviving the season changes, dreading the upcoming glacial winter and putting out fires at his day job, fighting the end-of-the-year deadlines.

LFH & Casa show aftermath

Saturday Nov. 1st at the Loft from Hell was a blast, mostly because it's an old bomb factory hidden behind the courtyard of the Bread Factory in St-Henri. Martin (Aun), Reuel (Maggot Breeder) & I (Thisquietarmy) opened for Toronto's Holoscene (who played a fabulous set), as a tag-team improvised collaboration to a japanese war movie backdrop (can't remember the name, Reuel?). Reuel went first for about 15-20 minutes, bowing a hanger stucked in his guitar, raising it as high as possible, then I joined him and we did some noise together. When he went off the stage, I did a 15 minute drone-ambient trance-like solo set, piled up sound-on-sound with delays, tremolo, phaser, fuzz. Then I nodded to Martin and he joined me on stage - our collab was pretty cool, I was playing with the filter sounds going after my soundscape-loops the whole time, sweeping drones while he played low bassy distorted notes… I got off to let him play his set. It was the first time Aun had drum beats, it was a nice-change of pace for the set, by then the audience was already inflicted about 45 minutes of continuous wall of sounds. When his set finished, Reuel and I went back on stage with him and we all went into noise-war mode. It was getting really loud & intense at that point, I was afraid we'd blow up the speakers or something… I know my monitor was crackling but maybe it was my filtered sounds. Everyone really liked it, you couldn't escape anywhere, you didn't have any choice but to absorb it with your head in your knees.

The cops showed up like almost an hour after we were all done playing. Such a ridiculous delayed reaction. By then, the place must've stunk weed and sweat, people were high and drunk, but they left us alone somehow. We all hung out until 3am, cool night all around. Here's a picture of the Maggot Breeder/Thisquietarmy improv by Marie-Josée Roberge :


++

Thursday Oct. 23rd at Casa Del Popolo. Not much to say, another smooth-sailing night. Nadja played a wonderful set with visuals... also performing were the .cut & Maggot Breeder collab and the duo of Whilst, both were very good as well. It was the 'Blackhaunter' CD launch, but we just focused on having a good time. I brought my Moog MG-1 synth for bass and synth-lines on a couple of songs and performed a version of my upcoming track on the Walnut & Locust _post 3" compilation, out soon in the local Distroboto machines. Aidan & Leah slept over, and we went to Chez José for crepes on Duluth the next day. I called off work of course, as I didn't sleep much. Here's an ambient picture of the show by Annie Stephens who also did the artwork for Blackhaunter :

Post Apocalyptic Halloween Nightmare

@ Loft From Hell, 639-D St-Remi
in an old bomb factory... next to the bread factory in St-Henri.

* 7:00pm: Doors open

* 8:30pm-9:45pm: Special drone-noise-ambient collaboration
AUN vs. MAGGOT BREEDER vs. THISQUIETARMY

* 10:00pm-11:00pm: Loud Post-Rock band from Toronto
HOLOSCENE

Mega-projections and fog machine included, chilling atmosphere garanteed.

Cover is 10$ costumed/12$
Beer, shooters = 2.50$, drinks = 3.00$ only.

'Blackhaunter' available through TQA mail-order and Montreal record stores

Blackhaunter is Thisquietarmy's sophomore album (mini-album / technically a 41-minutes EP), released by Elevation Recordings (USA). Here's the tracklisting:

1. Black Haunters
2. In The Breathing Forests
3. Vampyr
4. Taming The Beast
5. Hunting Demons
6. Stranger Than The Sea

This album is a darker affair than the debut 'Unconquered', dealing with inner demons & chilly nightmares, just in time for Halloween season! In fact, an early version of 'Vampyrs' initially appeared on Silber Records' Halloween digital compilation, which was never pressed on CD anyway.

The album is beautifully packaged in a digipak and features the amazing artwork by Annie Stephens, check out her stuff on http://rednailswrongcity.blogspot.com/

The album is currently exclusively available at the best of Montreal's independent record stores:
* Atom Heart, 364-B Sherbrooke E. / St-Denis
* L'Oblique, 4333 Rivard / Marie-Anne
* Soundcentral, 4486 Coloniale /Mont-Royal
* Cheap Thrills, 2044 Metcalfe / Sherbrooke
* Phonopolis, 5403A Avenue du Parc / St-Viateur

If you live in the area, please support these stores!

For the other folks around the world, they will available on November 4th - the official release date, through Elevation Recordings' distribution networks & the stores they cover.

You can also purchase the album online through the TQA Records/Distro webstore @ http://www.thisquietarmy.com/records

Emoragei Magazine review of 'Unconquered'

Quebec's Emoragei Magazine review by Jeff Bugz:
http://emorageimagazine.com/article.php3?id_article=993

Christy Romanick's VLA book soundtracked by Thisquietarmy: pre-order now!

Christy Romanick's "Very Large Array" book features a series of colored photographs shot in San Agustin, New Mexico. Christy captures the beauty and eeriness of VLA satellites occupying an isolated desert landscape. Also included is an exclusive 30 minute soundtrack cd titled "Transmissions to 3774379 258421 13S" by Montreal musician Thisquietarmy.

To read more about the book and to hear 3 songs from this soundtrack go here: http://www.myspace.com/space30a

Space30a will be releasing the 20 page soft-covered 5.75 x 7.75 book late Autumn 2008. This is the first pressing of 50 signed and numbered copies. The cost is $25 US dollars which includes shipping*. We're taking pre orders now:

Pricing

United States $25.00 International $29.00

About Thisquietarmy:

Thisquietarmy is the ambient/drone project of Eric Quach, from Montreal post-shoegazer band Destroyalldreamers. Armed with several effects and loop-samplers, his guitar-based sonic experimentations challenge the boundaries of the conventional guitar-drone mould by combining both non-frigid song structure and ambiance together, blending layers of textures over textures, merging faint growing melodies into a beautiful sea of noise.

For this conceptual soundtrack to Christy's breathtaking photographs, Thisquietarmy recreates the transmissions received through the various hybrid configurations (BnA, CnB, DnC) of the Very Large Array dishes in New Mexico located at 3774379 258421 13S on the grid-based UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) coordinate system of the Earth's surface. Different sounds from outer space are captured through the different configurations such as the first televised transmission returning from space, signals from lost spacecrafts and random outer space phenomenons.

Foxy Digitalis reviews 'Unconquered'

http://www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/reviews.php?which=3772

Review #6 of 'Unconquered' for October 2008, twenty seventh/eighth/ninth overall, I lost count. Thank you Mr. Zac Keiller.

Germans & Polish reviews of 'Unconquered'

* Musikreviews (Germany) by Nils Herzog :
http://www.musikreviews.de/reviews/2008/Thisquietarmy/Unconquered/

* Gery (Poland) by Łukasz Dubaniowski :
http://muzyka.gery.pl/cms/43575,0,thisquitearmy-unconquered,recenzja.html

* Alternativmusik (Germany) by Marius Meyer :
http://www.alternativmusik.de/rezensionen/thisquietarmy-unconquered

The reviews for Unconquered keep coming in, even after 6 months from its release, it's weird & nice but never too late. Good job, Foreshadow!

Entrevue en français avec le webzine Autres Directions

Thisquietarmy intimately shares the personal (*cough* pretentious? *cough*) details of his musical output, guitar sounds, writing process, inspirations, world views, TQA records and of course the Montreal music scene - - - through a lengthy discussion by email over the span of a week with Fugues' Jerome Olivier, from Paris, France.

Cut & chopped up as a Q&A for Autres Directions, a french webzine who has also reviewed Unconquered earlier this year, here's the exclusive interview, en français only, sorry!

http://www.autresdirections.net/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=3

October event flyers

oct. 23rd @ casa del popolo



oct. 18th @ cagibi



oct. 10th @ day in black for arts

Unconquered = Crucial Blast's featured release of the week

From the Crucial Blast Shop: http://www.crucialblastshop.net/

Our featured release, the debut full length from the Canadian band Thisquietarmy, which is actually just one guy, but he creates a massive droneological sound with this collection of drifting guitar ambience and pummeling Industrial sludge. Fans of Nadja will definitely want to check this out, not only because Thisquietarmy at times offers up a likeminded form of blissed out, shoegazy heaviness, but also because Nadja's Aidan Baker himself appears on one of these tracks, contributing some great dreamy guitar drones.

++

Also, a full-length, full-on / rave-on review! I don't know how to link it, so I'll just post it in its entirety, here:

Much the finest guitar-based heavy ambient music that I have been listening to lately has been coming from north of the border, Canada to be precise. Aidan Baker, obviously, for one; he's been on a roll this year with not only an assload of new Nadja releases but also a respectable number of solo discs, and all of 'em have been fantastic collections of spacious slowcore and dreamy drift. Then there is Aun, the solo industrial guitar drone project from Martin Dumais whose amazing Multigone disc was so heavy and alien sounding, I had to release it through our Crucial Bliss imprint.

Now there's another Canadian guitar-ambient artist that I've recently discovered, a guy named Eric Quach who records solo under the name Thisquietarmy, and he just released this amazing debut album through the Polish label Foreshadowm Productions, who some of you might recognize for releasing the reissue of Nadja's Corrasion CD last year. Unconquered actually features Aidan Baker from Nadja on the opening track, contributing some of his heavenly guitar feedback and gossamer textures to the song, and his presence on this disc might give you an idea of what kind of sound is happening here....the first few tracks focus on heavy guitar-based ambience formed from gorgeous dreamy melodic drift and slabs of sculpted feedback, dark and fuzzy sheets of amplifier drone and shimmering distorted strings. Fans of Aidan Baker and Troum would love this stuff.

But the album isn't all just ambient guitarscapes. The third song "Warchitects" makes that pretty clear as it kicks in with pounding industrial rhythm and majestic grinding riffage; from the beginning, the song is an awesome combination of epic synth-like melodies and crushing ethereal dirge, like a space-rock Godflesh doing the anthemic closing song over the credit roll from an 80's teen movie. The following track "The Sun Destroyers" is also heavily rhythmic, but the rhythm here is a kind of rattling, clanking machine loop that cycles over and over underneath swells of fuzzy widescreen ambience that swirls and drifts along dreamily, as an ominous melodic guitar lead soars through the fog of violet twilight drones. Man, this is beautiful stuff, an evocative mix of industrial dreamsludge, dark guitar ambience, heavy fuzz-encrusted dronescapes, and the rest of the album moves through varying shades of these sonic elements...

But the highlight of Unconquered is without a doubt the sixth song, "The Great Escapist", where the plodding industrial drum machine rears up again with a pounding Godflesh-like beat, thumping away behind a gorgeous melody formed from nebulous guitar textures and what sounds like looped synths, and featuring the deep, soulful vocals of Meryem Yildiz. Her voice is gorgeous, and it turns what would have otherwise been amazing blissed-out sludge into something that sounds (much like the earlier track "Warchitects") like an unbelieveably beautiful 80's gloom-pop song infused with shoegazey industrial slowcore. I love that song.

This is an album that Nadja fans should check out, not that the two bands sound exactly alike, but there are definitely some similiarities, the dreamy guitar drift, the heavier shoegazey Godflesh-like stuff, all of that. But Thisquietarmy is much more dreamy, much less "metal", and the music has a heavily synthetic, sometimes propulsive quality that keeps reminding me of Tangerine Dream's electronic soundtracks from the 1980's and other epic, "synthy" soundscapes. It took me one listen to this to pick it as this week's featured release, and it's highly recommended to anyone into heavy, industrial-tinged ambience and gorgeously gloomy guitardrone.

++

Crucial Blast Webstore is a great store hailing from Maryland, existing in conjunction with Crucial Blast Records, that specializes in heavy underground music that spans the adventurous, avant-garde, quirky, and downright weird.

EtherREAL review (en français) & Photos by Etienne

Une critique de "Unconquered" par le zine français EtherREAL, à lire en détail ici: http://www.etherreal.com/spip.php?article2904

"Fort plaisant sur la longueur, Unconquered est plutôt une très bonne surprise, en tout cas suffisamment pour être curieux de la suite qui sera donnée à cet album." - Fabrice Allard

++

Casa Del Popolo 2008.08.23 (Photos by Etienne Blythe, aka Cloudscapes)

Thisquietarmy Remixes Radiohead's Reckoner

I focused on the strings and piano to give it an Ambient/Experimental feel, with Cocteau Twin-ish vocals, and a post-rock/shoegaze build-up at the end. I hope you like my take on the remix... even if you don't know the song, which i don't think is an issue at all.

Listen and Vote, thank you in advance!

Thisquietarmy / This Will Destroy You / Lymbyc Systym - Live Review by Exclaim

Lymbyc Systym / This Will Destroy You / ThisQuietArmy
Zoobizarre, Montreal QC September 13
By Jasamine White-Gluz

Montreal's Eric Quach, otherwise known as ThisQuietArmy kicked off the evening under a pile of guitar pedals and synths. The mound of gear aside, ThisQuietArmy created sonic landscapes with guitar loops and samples, with well-arranged projections adding a story to his soundtrack.

This Will Destroy You were the surprise of the night, with the band appearing to have somewhat cult status in Montreal. The tiny Zoobizarre was nearly shaking from the sheer volume of the band, and it became basically unbearable to listen to them for too long before your ears started buzzing. Apparently one of Tool's favourite bands, their droning guitar-driven post rock had a heaviness that would have begun to get monotonous if it weren't for some clever use of melody and an engaging live performance.

Lymbyc Systym followed with a less abrasive set, their particular brand of atmospheric pop sounding surprisingly full despite there being only two people on stage. Most songs are quite cinematic, sounding like it could easily be the backdrop for any quirky indie flick. There are moments where the laptop steals the show and an extra body onstage providing live instruments could only improve the songs. Brothers Jared and Michael Bell are great songwriters, with lush loops and organ sounds providing the basis for most pieces, with an obvious affinity for ‘90s shoegaze.

Despite it being a completely instrumental evening, there was no lack of energy in the room.

http://www.exclaim.ca/musicreviews/latestsub.aspx?csid1=125&csid2=870&fid1=33663

++

Thanks Jasamine.

V/A | Fugues Unreleased Tracks 2008 (OUT NOW)

V/A | Fugues Unreleased Tracks 2008
fugues / limited edition cdr compilation

■ tracklisting

01 - KUROSAWA Lead Me To You
02 - PART-TIMER feat.
NICOLA HODGKINSON A Familiar Site
03 - BARENTS SEA HARBOUR Just Last Night
04 - ELECTROLUMINESCENT Callar
05 - EPIC45 You Were Never Here
06 - THE RETAIL SECTORS Boy Like Air
07 - MARCO CAMPITELLI Eleven Years
08 - APILLOW Eloge de la fuite
09 - BALMORHEA Show-Me
10 - THISQUIETARMY Summer Isolation
11 - FORESTFLIES Music Box And Piano
12 - PORT-ROYAL I Used To Be Sad
13 - BUILDING CASTLES OUT OF MATCHSTICKS Inside The Rewind
14 - WORRYTRAIN Bad Roads


■ listen


ELECTROLUMINESCENT Callar


MARCO CAMPITELLI Eleven Years


■ infos

We would like to raise the sails. Abandon those who brood, those who separate. Feeling the heat of August and its stars, patient until the end of the day.
We yearn for twilight, blue, loneliness. Small things that move about our empty spaces. We would like a few diversions too. Lights, blurred lines. December’s skies. Something that stretches under the sheets and shivers only when it doesn’t speak. Some ghosts, sighing bridges, arched churches and then the moon under a curtain of mist.
Awakening in silence upon hearing singing at night and observing from afar the surroundings, a vacuum, the absence: our shadows almost asleep.


Out | september 15th 2008
Distribution | debruit&desilence



■ mail order

International order : please send us an e.
mail to mailorder @ debruitetdesilence. com.




■ label

Fugues
www. myspace. com/fuguesmusic


■ internet

www. myspace. com/kurosawadreams
www. myspace. com/pommyjohn
www. myspace. com/daveolliffe
www. myspace. com/inlandsistheorem
www. myspace. com/electroluminescent
www. myspace. com/epic45
www. myspace. com/theretailsectors
www. myspace. com/mercuresurlaneige
www. myspace. com/apillowmusic
www. myspace. com/balmorhea
www. myspace. com/thisquietarmy
www. myspace. com/forestflies
www. myspace. com/uptheroyals
www. myspace. com/buildingcastlesoutofmatchsticks
www. myspace. com/worrytrain





debruit&desilence
label | promotion | distribution | mail order | booking | events
http://www. debruitetdesilence. com
http://www. myspace. com/debruitdesilence

Petit Campus - Guitarapocalypse 9/14

Photos by AlBéRicK >>> http://zerokanada.blogspot.com/

Kick-ass weekend coming up (Sept. 13-14)

Saturday Sept. 13th @ Zoobizarre, Montréal.
Supporting Lymbyc Systym & This Will Destroy You.
Presented by Blue Skies Turn Black.



Sunday Sept. 14th @ Petit Campus, Montréal.
GUITARAPOCALYSE w/ Aun, Maggot Breeder, Thierry Gauthier.
Presented by Espionnage & Le Salon de la Musique Indépendante de Montréal 2008

New projections in the works

I've been using almost the same visuals sequences for my shows for the past 2 years now, people have got to be tired of them. Currently working and editing shots I filmed of industrial buildings on the Lachine canal. It's a bit cliché and the locals will probably recognize them, but I'm giving them a ghostly feel as per usual. Here are some screenshots:

Synth-drones

Giving the guitar a bit of a rest. Working on something exclusively synthy, albeit not any less ambient & droney. There's a lot to do with a simple analog Moog... Not sure whether I should separate this completely from Thisquietarmy though. But for live shows, it kinda needs to be because I'll definitely be playing only one or the other, and the synth project will only be very sporadic. Any thoughts?

Harvested and Brainwashed

Here's the lastest couple of reviews... Great musical essays by Simon Marshall-Jones for Brainwashed.com & Baruhlo for Heathenharvest.com; thanks guys!

* Brainwashed (USA):
http://brainwashed.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7022&Itemid=1

Excerpt: 'This is a deeply meditative, holistic album, giving color, shape, and substance to a world caught in the margin between the light and the darkness. Ranging over a wide spectrum of sonic textures, from pure dronefields to acoustic strumming, and from fuzzed-out harmonic blankets to shimmering hazes augmented by the ethereal vocals of Meryem Yildiz, Unconquered represents a veritable cornucopia of riches. That it is the vision of one man heightens the experience all the more.' (by Simon Marshall-Jones)

* Heathen Harvest (USA):
http://www.heathenharvest.com/article.php?story=2008081111470346

Excerpt: 'All the album has an attention to detail and to its hidden dynamics, all tiny movement merging together in a suspension of long forgotten troops and all inner, mental, battles. Avoiding the more obvious post rock ups and downs, 'Unconquered' has a intrinsic domain, a territory of its own, where these movements tend to clarify as we forgot them and try to experience movement as a whole, traveling as a mystic somnolence.' (by Baruhlo)

T-shirt available

I've put the Thisquietarmy T-shirts for sale on my distro website, prices include international shipping so if you're local - it's cheaper (save 5-10$). They are black American Apparel T-Shirts, with light grey screenprint. Available sizes Men: S, M, L, XL (American Standard); Girlies: M, L (Classic Girl).

Mtl-Qc-TO shows

I am back in Montreal after a few days on the road. I had to cancel the U.S. trip, partly because some shows didn't work out as planned, but mostly because my back is too weak, and i've started some chiro treatments. I'm also mentally exhausted from my dayjob and i haven't had any time off for myself. I'll reschedule the shows for this fall, hopefully.

Saturday was a great night at Casa, it started slowly but ended up being a full-house. granted, facebook invites don't mean shit once again, as practically no one of the "attending" people came. But so many people showed, people who actually came for a specific band/act or just curious people who happened to be there. I think everyone was surprised at how good the music was throughout the night, it was a very good diverse bill and the sound was amazing. I've seen everyone play at least 3-6 times before, and everyone played their best sets yet - particularly Arms and Sleepers from Boston who had a live drummer for the first time, which made quite a difference.

I had Elika from NYC & their two friends sleeping at my tiny place on air mattresses. We ate bagels on the rooftop after the show and had breakfast at Eggspectation, then took a stroll in the Old Montreal and head straight to Quebec City for the house show sunday which was a lot of fun - hosted by the guys who run the P572 label. There was just a handful of people, food & drinks. Everyone was friendly, attentive, receptive and grateful to be pleasantly surprised by our music. The sound was pretty good considering that there was only a vintage Traynor mixer & old P.A. speakers; we had to project the visuals on the ceiling.

After some 800 km & a few pit stops, I arrived in Toronto around 7pm. Again, just a handful of people showed up for a monday night, but the sound was huge & killer! Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was Boyd Devereaux, the Maple Leafs hockey player who showed up at my show.

Ryan (Electroluminescent) & Beth (gf) took the day off the next day just to hang out with me, we drank until 6am & played some Wii. We woke up at 1pm and went to this all-day breakfast diner called Mars Diner in Beaches Park. Then we walked down to through the park, on the boardwalk and sat down on the beach for a while. It was a great day. Proof:



We went to Soundscapes afterwards, bought some records to listen to on the way back home, mainly some Faust, Can, Slowdive, Tren Brothers, Sigur Ros & Portishead. I have the rest of the week off, and a bit of next week as well. I'm just going to take it easy for once.

Mini-tour w/ Elika

Fugues

Forgive the silence.

An exclusive track called 'Summer Isolation' will be part of Fugues Unreleased Tracks 2008, compiled by French Webzine Fugues. The compilation also features TQA(R) labelmates Electroluminescent & Apillow, as well as the likes of Balmorhea, Port-Royal, Epic45 & Worrytrain. It is currently available at the Fugues stand at the prestigious festival La Route du Rock (St-Malo, France) & will be distributed by debruit&desilence.

Olafur Arnalds show

Tuesday night, I got a panic email from my co-promoter Steve from Suoni Per Il Popolo / Sala Rossa pointing me to The Drake Hotel's website, where it said that Olafur Arnalds & co. canceled their show in Toronto because their touring broke down in the middle of nowhere, Michigan.

With the help of Caleb from ericrock.com I managed to track them down. They were getting a new van from Chicago the next morning, which arrived a lot later than expected. Add the canadian border delays and the usual traffic jam through Mississauga/Toronto (note to self, always use the paying highway 407), Oli & crew got to the venue close to 11pm, while I was performing - after a 13 hours drive, and I had plug & play almost immediately as it was getting late.

That was one hell of a stressful night, but everything ended well. The turnout was good for a Wednesday, all expenses were covered - everyone's set were very good, especially Olafur's which was quite beautiful & heartbreaking. Thanks to Saccidananda & Suoni Per Il Popolo. You can check out some pics of the evening here.

Also, yes. I performed with the addition of an analog moog synth for the first time, adding basslines and leads. I did an impulsive & improvised strictly-synth set at lab.synthese back in may, but that was pretty free & experimental. This time, it blended well with the regular TQA material.

Do not miss Ólafur Arnalds in Montreal (July 16th) with thisquietarmy & Saccidananda

Suoni Per Il Popolo & This Quiet Army Records présentent:

Ólafur Arnalds, thisquietarmy & Saccidananda

Mercredi 16 Juillet 2008
La Sala Rossa, Montréal QC
4848 St-Laurent

10$ à la porte / 8$ à l'avance (billets en vente):

* Casa Del Popolo, 4873 St-Laurent
* Atom Heart, 364B Sherbrooke e.
* Cheap Thrills, 2044 Metcalfe (2e étage)
* L'Oblique, 4333 Rivard
* Phonopolis, 5403A Parc

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Programmation / Portes à 20h30pm:

21h00pm: Saccidananda
21h45pm: thisquietarmy
22h30pm: Ólafur Arnalds

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Ólafur Arnalds (Islande, Erased Tapes)
En tournée avec un quatuor de corde - pour les amateurs de l'Islande et Sigur Ros, Bjork, Johan Johansson…
www.olafurarnalds.com

What Erased Tapes says:

Fragile, emotional, classical indie music would maybe be the best term to describe Ólafur Arnalds' music. Combining classical instrumentation with an indierock aesthetic there are obvious comparisons to Sigur Ros, but Arnalds is sculpting his own epic, string-laden compositions.

Only 21 years of age, Ólafur hails from the suburban Icelandic town, Mosfellsbær, just a few kilometres outside Reykjavík. He as immersed himself completely in the world of delicate symphonic compositions in a near weightless orchestral undertaking. Mixing strings and piano with loops, ambiance, electronics and beats. Debut album 'Eulogy for Evolution' (Now out in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, UK and Iceland!) takes the listener on a journey, representing different periods in life, from birth to death. The follow-up 5-track EP 'Variations of Static' so far has only been available as a limited tour edition. While keeping the classical foundations of his debut album, here Arnalds incorporates crackling electronics and the dead voice of a machine; like vague memories of tradition lost within the digital age we all live in.

Avec invités locaux:

* thisquietarmy (ambient/shoegaze)
www.myspace.com/thisquietarmy

Armé d'une guitare et d'une panoplie de pédales, Thisquietarmy esquisse ses fresques sonores en temps réel à l'aide d'échantilloneurs, qui sont soumises à différents processus de stratification, décomposition, reconstruction en mouvance perpétuelle pour aboutir à une musique instrumentale texturée qui s'avère rêveuse ou même cauchemardesque, dépendamment de l'ambience - le tout, accompagné de projections visuelles texturées pseudo-abstraites en noir & blanc. (pour les amateurs de Nadja/Aidan Baker, Tim Hecker, Destroyalldreamers, etc.)

* Saccidananda (post-jazz/math)
www.myspace.com/saccidananda

Découvrez le nouveau et jeune trio montréalais qui s'apprête à enregistrer avec Dave Bryant (Godspeed, Set Fire To Flames) aux studios Pines Recordings (Growing, Think About Life, The Hot Springs, Hrsta, etc.) à la fin du mois - - - pour les amateurs de Tortoise, Slint, Do Make Say Think, Mogwai, etc.)

Control & Lopez

Someone stole Ian Curtis' gravestone. Gah. Maybe someone have just seen Control, and believed that he's just the way Debbie has portrayed him. Anyway, good movie - see it if you haven't already, the pictures are gorgeous, signed Anton Corbijn.

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In other news, I went to see Francisco Lopez earlier this week. By "went to see", I mean I got blindfolded and sat in an outward concentric circle in the middle of a quadraphonic sound system configuration at the Sala Rossa, while he played (well, I don't know what he did, as I was blindfolded) ambient sounds. Unfortunately, they had to turn of the A/C probably because it would've distracted the whole experience, and it has gotten almost unbearably hot for the whole performance, which made it hard to get into because of the discomfort. The best part is the ending, when the sounds faded and you didn't know if it was finished or if something was coming back to frighten us. Someone started to bang their hands together, and the rest of the sheep followed and that was it.

The Art Lover

Making your 2008 Fantasia movie selection? Why not include the world premiere of 'The Art Lover', a 9-min short film by emerging Montreal director Andrew Krajewski. The film is described as Quentin Tarantino meets Jean Baudrillard in a bathtub: a hitman reminisces about killing an artist.

It features the song 'World Death Clock' by thisquietarmy, as well as snippets of other released songs. I haven't seen it yet, but this is what I've been told. Schedule it for July 20th, 7:00pm at the DB Clarke Theater.

More details here: http://www.fantasiafest.com/2008/en/films/film_detail.php?id=194

Edit: Andrew put it up on youtube.

Hate mastering

The last two days were spent re-mastering the release for Elevation as I wasn't so happy anymore. Little anomalies were noticed through playbacks on various platforms. As we all know, music has to sound good on ipods these days. But I mostly test it on my old-school Panasonic Shockwave discman, computer speakers, a soundsystem with subwoofer and in the car. Thus, work was skipped and dinner were served at odd hours, but it was necessary to erase any doubts, and reach that point of satisfaction. Producing music is a love/hate thing, the hate being emphasized thoroughly at the end of the journey. I hope the label likes it, they are currently listening to it at the moment. Artwork is in the works... I'm excited about my first digipak.

Friendship Cove

Always fun to play in loft spaces, especially one with access to the roof where you can watch the fireworks, the skylights and the mills between bands change-ups. The crowd was relatively pretty young, but the kids seem to enjoy it. However, I seemed to be the only one drinking that night, which was weird. Place Hands played an amazingly loud set, we swapped CDs. Saccidananda showed a lot of promise, looking forward to hearing them through a decent venue sound system next month.

Tren Brothers

Yesterday, I stumbled upon the Tren Brothers gig at La Sala Rossa, for the Suoni Per Il Popolo. The Tren Brothers are Mick Turner & Jim White from Dirty Three - basically Dirty Three without Warren Ellis, the violinist. I saw Dirty Three in 2000-something, at the Cabaret. They were accompanied by Zak Sally, then - also bassist of Low, which was one of my favorite gigs of all-time.

The Tren Brothers played a tremendous set. I never knew that a drummer could make me fall asleep, as I was drifting in and out of consciousness. Of course the 6-7 beers I had at a corporate party prior the show also had something to do with that. Anyway, check them out if they're playing near you.

Speaking of Low, the Gospel Retribution Choir led by Alan Sparkhawk are playing tonight, which is very, very tempting...

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Tomorrow I'm playing at the Friendship Cove, a DIY artsy underground loft in the middle of the abandonned, ghostly streets of Griffintown. 215A Murray Street is the address. I'm opening for Place Hands, this math/indie pseudo-hardcore band from Toronto & newcomers to the scene, Saccidananda. 5$. Check it out.

Autres Directions

Superbe critique de l'album 'Unconquered' sur l'excellent webzine français Autres Directions, merci Denis! À lire ici.

Divan Orange

Gig at Divan Orange yesterday, it went okay I think. I had problems with my laptop's screensaver for the visuals… it was distracting. The sound was massive, the bass on the new stage was boomy, which is good for TQA stuff because it usually lacks the low-end. My sporadic basslines (aka octave guitar notes) were a lot more present, and I also triggered more drum-loops than usual on the spot, making it a more upbeat/rockier set than the usual washed out hazy ambient. I also played some really old stuff that I haven't touched since the very first TQA shows, and some new stuff I just made up a few hours before the gig... and made quite a random mix-mash.

Apillow played his first set in 3 years (and 2nd ever), with guest musicians Kit Malo & Mike Baker. Very good stuff.

Playing again at the Friendship Cove in Griffintown this Saturday, with Toronto's Place Hands and newcomers Saccidananda. Should be a fun loft show...

Follow-up to Orange

Aidan Baker came over yesterday evening. We listened and figured out what to do with our tracks. They were recorded live in one afternoon back in October, playing simultaneously & completely improvised. Kept some, flushed some, editing & clean-up will ensue. It will sound pretty different to what we've done with Orange, not quite terror-ambient-ish. There's actually a part with a nice groove, that's all I'll say for now.

Entry for no one

I'm obviously not updating. Mainly, because no one is reading because I haven't publicized this. So for those who are reading, well... this is a random entry. I can't be arsed to make the effort to make a nice layout. I did try at some point, but unfortunately between work and music, I don't have time.

What else. I'm recording an EP for Elevation Recordings. Although it's turning into an album because some songs are just too long, past the 40-minute mark. It's currently in the DIY mastering process... which drives me as insane as the mixing process.

I'm trying to book some U.S. dates for the end of august, but I'm starting to lose my motivation... All I really want to do is not do anything for a while. But maybe that's not true either. If anyone in NY, MA, RI, NH, CT, PA, etc. wants to book me from August 26th-31st, get in touch.

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I also got some more reviews for 'Unconquered':

* Imperiumi.net (Finland):
http://www.imperiumi.net/alb_2.php?id=7517

* Nothingatall.net (UK):
http://nothingatall.net/review.php?what=reviewView&item=234

* Vital Weekly (Holland):
http://vitalweekly.net/628.html

* Exclaim! (Canada):
http://www.exclaim.ca/musicreviews/generalreview.aspx?csid1=122&csid2=847&fid1=31443

* The Metal Observer (Canada/Germany):
http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=1&id=14351

* Music-Scan (Germany):
http://www.music-scan.de/Templates/reviews_team.php?id=9886

* noiZine (Greece):
http://noiz.wordpress.com/2008/06/04/thisquietarmy-%e2%80%93-unconquered/

* Built On A Weak Spot (USA):
http://www.builtonaweakspot.com/2008/06/thisquietarmy-unconquered.html

Textura, Muzyka & Noise.fi

A few reviews added...

Textura (Canada):
http://www.textura.org/reviews/thisquietarmy.htm

"Unconquered is a more than solid debut album and the contrast between the hazy washes and scalpel-sharp leads Quach produces with the guitar makes for an arresting combination." (by textura.org)

Muzyka (Poland):
http://www.muzyka.pl/recenzje/pokaz/162/rss.html

Noise.fi (Finland):
http://www.noise.fi/levyarvostelut/?id=8805

More blogging, an ontario recap & some heads-up

Hey hey - - -

I've decided that I should write more in this blog, and make it more personal instead of just using it to make announcements. So let's start. How about a recap of the last few shows? I drove to Toronto a couple of weeks ago, and bumped into Pas Chic Chic at a rest stop on the 401 as they were playing the same night at the Drake Hotel - chatted a bit with Roger, Radwan & Marie-Douce while in line to get a Tim Hortons' coffee.

The Toronto show was better than any other Toronto show I played before with Destroyalldreamers - mainly because well, people attended! The sound sucked but I made it work OK I think. Good to see Kevin from The Riderless & meet Dorian from Holoscene. Aidan Baker played with Naw & Jacob Thiesen as Whisper Room - I thought it was pretty cool.

I did some records store the next day, dropped CDs off at Soundscapes & left a promo at Rotate This, before heading to Hamilton - and then to Waterloo. By then, the fog had settled on the way there and it felt like we were driving inside the artwork cover of a Jesu record. We arrived at the Trepid House, where we got treated for some homemade food and the grand tour of the house: three-floors, theme-rooms (pirate room, arboretum, aquarium/studio, etc.), living room as the main space for music, attic, etc. Because Mahogany Frog had a 45 mins set-up & tear, Jeff proposed that I play in the attic, which is a gallery space. The house P.A. / soundsystem was wired throughout the whole house, so people were able to come up to sit & watch, or listen in one of the rooms - I thought that was such a fantastic concept, that I decided to play 2 sets (opening & closing) - it just felt warm & comfortable, it felt like home. The sound in the attic was also perfect.

The Hamilton show was a completely different beast. The vibe was completely off and at the other extreme. The venue was large and cold, depressing. The rain didn't help. It just felt dark. And I think people could feel it in my set, as it was a completely discharge of angst & rage, yet in an ambient context… there was piles of layers of confusion, very hazy but very present at the same time. That's how I felt anyway. Ryan (Electroluminescent) joined me on stage for the closing song (Warchitects), playing bass-synth. We also did some improv at the end. Also met Beta Cloud who came from Buffalo to see this.



All in all, a great mini-tour… There isn't many pictures to share, unfortunately. Here's Owen Cherry's shots from the attic show: http://trepid.org/events/houseshows/photos/2008-04-11%20-%20thisquietarmy/

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In other news, thisquietarmy's Unconquered debuted at 4 of Montreal's CKUT 90.3 MHz Top 30 charts, and is currently 23 on CIBL 101.5 MHz. That was quite surprising…

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Also some Unconquered reviews and heads-up:

The Silent Ballet:
http://www.thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/1322/Default.aspx

"Unconquered is a fitting name for the release – it presents unheard-of territory within the confines of the ambient-drone subgenre, and quickly thisquietarmy claims it as his own. The release is so fresh, so satisfying, that it makes you wonder why no one else has tried any of this (on this scale) before. I can't answer that question, but I do know this: there will be a lot of artists following in the footprints left by this album. It may not be a perfect album, but the most adventurous ones never are – perfection requires a commitment that musical explorers cannot make, and to fault them for pushing the boundaries of genre is to have gravely mistaken priorities." (by Zach Mills)

Montreal Mirror:
http://www.montrealmirror.com/2008/040308/rex.html
http://www.montrealmirror.com/2008/040308/disc.html

"While we're in review mode, there are a couple of other discs that you should bug out to, namely Unconquered, by Montreal solo ambient artist Eric Quach's new joint Thisquietarmy. This disc actually comes to us from Krakow, Poland's Foreshadow label, and if you are getting hip to the exploding drone scene, Thisquietarmy is guaranteed to turn you into a veritable pile of ooze. Instead of just relying on the same old dirt-box distortions and done-to-death loops, Thisquietarmy sounds light years ahead of the huge traffic of drone debuts being released right now." (by Jonathan Cummings)

"Light, glitter and gloom come together on this celestial instrumental LP by Montreal's Eric Quach." (by Lorraine Carpenter)

’Unconquered’ album out in march 2008; free MP3 single available now!

Thisquietarmy signs to Foreshadow Productions to release its debut album 'Unconquered', that will see the light in March 2008. Foreshadow is fairly new and upcoming record label from Krakow, Poland - www.foreshadow.pl

The album will feature a collaborative track with Aidan Baker (guitar, Nadja) and another one with Meryem Yildiz (vocals), as well as complete original conceptual art pieces by Eric Quach/Thisquietarmy, done specially for the album's artwork. Here's the tracklist, for a total of 54 mins:

01. Immobilization
02. Battlefield Arkestrah
03. Warchitects
04. The Sun Destroyers
05. Death of a Sailor
06. The Great Escapist
07. Mercenary Flags
08. Empire

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A free internet MP3 single release called "Battlefield Arkestrah & Dronewars" is already available to stream and download. It features the single "Battlefield Arkestrah" which clocks at more than 8 minutes and its b-side "Dronewars" which clocks at more than 16 minutes for a total of 24 minutes! Exclusively released on Foreshadow.

Cover art by thisquietarmy.

Go listen or download here: thisquietarmy.foreshadow.pl