Les Momies De Palerme - Brulez Ce Coeur (CD)

Brûlez ce coeur is the first official full-length from Les Momies de Palerme, following a CD-R self-released by the group in 2007. Les Momies is the Montreal-based duo of Xarah Dion (synths, vocals) and Marie Davidson (violin, synths, vocals). We first heard from Xarah as a Constellation mail-order customer years ago, and then began receiving the occasional long hand-written letter from her soon after she moved to Montreal from Quebec City, introducing herself more fully and ruminating on her sense of displacement and re-orientation. Xarah remained unknown to us except in name, until a couple of years later when we were struck by an otherworldly performance by Les Momies de Palerme and realised she was one half of the duo. Xarah and Marie have both gone on to make many musical connections in the city, including membership in Sam Shalabi's Land Of Kush orchestra and Matana Roberts’ Coin Coin ensemble. Xarah and Marie are also among the founders of La Brique, an artist-run DIY space in Montreal that hosts loft shows of all sorts. Les Momies create an uncategorisable sound built up from a core of synths, processed violin and voices: slow-paced without being ponderous; synthetic without being retro; methodically restrained and strangely devotional without being easily tagged as ethereal or gothic. Brûlez ce coeur is often like an ersatz sacred music: canticles on acid, full of strange quirks and avant sounds while remaining soothing, meditative and incantatory. It is also sometimes like French yé-yé pop on Robitussin. Recorded at David Bryant's (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Set Fire To Flames) studio The Pines in Montreal, Brûlez ce coeur takes advantage of the fantastic acoustics of this space – and Bryant's  necollection of spring and  plate reverbs. The album also rallies contributions from notable guest players like Sam Shalabi (oud), and David Bryant himself (electric guitar). The results are immersive, disorienting and gently unmoored; it is hard to know where to plot this record in any historical timeline, geographic place or stylistic continuum. Brûlez ce Coeur was originally released as part of Constellation's Musique Fragile Vol. 01, a three-album collection of recordings by new artists in an elaborately-packaged limited edition box set. Now available as a stand-alone CD release, the album comes in a beautiful 4-colour screenprinted jacket.

Tracklisting:

1. Rivière du non-retour
2. Solis
3. Incarnation
4. Le cerf invisible
5. Brûlez ce Coeur
6. Médée
7. Outre-temps
8. Je t’aime

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