The Besnard Lakes

All Music Guide:

The Besnard Lakes raise immediate comparisons to the Arcade Fire, but those are primarily due to accidents of geography and band chemistry: like the Arcade Fire, the Besnard Lakes are from Montreal and led by a married couple. That's largely where the similarities end, because if this Quebecois collective resembles any of its Canadian counterparts, it would be as an unexpectedly effective combination of the Dears' psychedelic pop hooks and the languid space rock ambience of early Broken Social Scene. The aforementioned married couple, singer and guitarist Jace Lasek and singer and bassist Olga Goreas, formed the Besnard Lakes in 2001 as a sideline to Lasek's day job as an in-demand producer at the Montreal recording studio he and Goreas own, Breakglass Studios. (Lasek has produced and engineered records by Wolf Parade, the Dears, Stars, and many other Canadian indie acts.) The band was originally a full-time project, but before it could record its debut album, the other members of the band left. Undaunted, Lasek and Goreas recorded nearly all of 2003's Volume 1 on their own during down time at the studio, then self-released the result. Following the album's glowing reviews, a touring lineup eventually solidified, with guitarists Steve Raegele and Jeremiah Bullied and drummer Kevin Laing. During sessions for the band's second album, Bullied was replaced by Richard White and keyboardist and arranger Nicole Lizée joined the band. Signing to the venerable dream pop indie label Jagjaguwar, the Besnard Lakes released their second album, The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse, in February 2007 and followed it up with The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night in March 2010. ~ Stewart Mason.

Wikipedia:

The Besnard Lakes are a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Formed in 2003 by the husband and wife team of Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas, two of their four albums have been nominated for the Polaris Music Prize.

History [edit]

The band are currently a four-piece centered around the atmospheric songs of Lasek and Goreas, whose expansive sound draws from numerous aspects of rock 'n' roll history. The band's name comes from Besnard Lake in North-Central Saskatchewan. The band's second album, The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse was recorded at singer Lasek's own Breakglass Studios, with members of Stars, The Dears and Godspeed You! Black Emperor/Silver Mt. Zion making guest appearances. It was nominated for the 2007 Polaris Music Prize. Many songs on The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse are prefaced by recordings from shortwave radio number stations as first made popular in recordings such as The Conet Project.

A third studio album, The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night, was released on Jagjaguwar on March 9, 2010. A 12" record featuring album track "Albatross" and "Four Long Lines" was released on February 9, 2010. This album was a shortlisted nominee for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize.

The band wrote their first film score for the film Sympathy for Delicious, from actor/director Mark Ruffalo. They also wrote and performed the score for the National Film Board of Canada web documentary Welcome to Pine Point. The collaboration came about when Lasek was approached by the website's co-creator Mike Simons, an old friend from high school. The soundtrack includes their reworking of the Trooper single, "We're Here For a Good Time (Not a Long Time)." The group released their score for Welcome to Pine Point as a twelve-inch EP entitled You Lived in the City. The album also features a previously unreleased outtake from their score for the film Memories Corner, entitled "The Corner."

A new studio album, Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO, was released in April 2013.