Light Conductor
 
Sequence One


CST139
180gLP / DL
Out 8 March 2019
 
Tracklist:
1. A Bright Resemblance
2. Chapel Of The Snows
3. Far From The Warming Sun
4. When The Robot Hits The Water
5. Light Conductor

PREORDER HERE

Stream an excerpt from album opener
"A Bright Resemblance":
 
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We're thrilled to welcome newly-formed Montreal ambient/psych do Light Conductor to the roster, and announce the release of their debt album, Sequence One, out 8 March 2019.
 
Light Conductor is the twilight slow-burn modular synthesis duo of Young Galaxy’s Stephen Ramsay and Jace Lasek of The Besnard Lakes, formed out of a mutual desire to create expansive drone, ambient, and electronic music. After fortuitously acquiring a trove of rare analog electronic gear and meticulously restoring it from various states of disrepair back into pristine working condition, the duo began to explore the creative territories that were opened by their new musical tools. Using their mutual admiration for the celestial wig outs of Spiritualized, the quiet majesty of Eno's ambient albums, and the experimental landscapes of William Basinski as a template, Lasek and Ramsay ultimately carved out a sound of their own, resulting in their debut album Sequence One.
 
The album is a warm shimmering sonic hug of enveloping drone and hypnotic arpeggiation flowing along buoyant filter-sweeping eddies and waves. Gently immersive like a saltwater bath under a starry sky, Light Conductor make nighttime/sunrise music in widescreen high-fidelity at their vintage-equipped Breakglass Studios in Montréal, pinning the pre-amps with stately, slowly shifting synth tones, stereophonic squelches and pink noises.
 
You can get the full run-down on Sequence One here. The album is available now for preorder on thick midnight-black 180gram vinyl, with the first 333 copies in spot-printed jackets on thick uncoated 100% recycled paperboard.
 
Thanks for listening.
 
 

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to begin with, to do him justice at all, you have to remember a series of gestures-
 
a large hand holding a fork delicately, picking at a terrible plate of restaurant food, glasses at very tip of nose, nose almost touching the plate above where the fork is prying, an earnest examination that ends with him sitting upright, pushing the plate and fork away, towards the center of the table, then one terse sigh and a heavy stare into the distance, while he traces his thumb with his fingers in circles. we saw that one at least 1,000,000 times, on the road. together.
 
or the profundity of his first coffee and cigarette in the morning, sat on different sidewalks, in different cities, beneath all types of weather. knees up, arms rested outright there, his eyes tiny behind those glasses, chin up and faced into dawn. or coming out from underneath the van, scarred arms blackened with grease, holding his stiff back and walking on tiptoes, the tie rod repaired, or the bent caliper. or the time the italian border cops made us walk in circles while a leashed german shepherd sniffed us all. he was wearing these green pants on that tour, made of some material that did not stain or breathe, and that italian dog couldn’t get enough of dirk’s ass and balls, went at them like they were made of hambones and honey, dirk yelping and cursing at every prod. he was a regal and handsome motherfucker even there.
 
he told stories that made you feel like life was just a series of impossible and improbable events, ridiculous and uncomfortable situations that you just had to muddle through, incredulous and tired. just to lay a while at the end, just to rise and do it all again. in almost all those stories dirk was alone. he got stranded on an island in fiji once, nothing to eat but the coconuts that fell from the trees like grenades. when he was young he drank some sort of psychedelic root-tea and went blind for many days, and did not know who he was or why. he got fucked over by many bands, in big ways and small ways. he told those stories reluctantly. if you heard him say “for what?” on any given day, at the end of some story or description, you knew that he would be gone for a few hours, staring into space with a very still intensity.
 
he loved music in a singular way. he focused on esoteric details and went deep. he would point out some tiny murmur hidden beneath a song, and you’d never hear that song the same way again. he believed in the sound of the drums on the first two feelies records in the same way that some people believe in god. he was almost always unsatisfied with the sounds that his bands made live- there was always something missing, some crucial vibration, an absence that only dirk could hear. but he stood up for his bands- he was loyal to us and we were loyal to him. and he took care of us the best that he could. he hated empty words, he hated people who had easy opinions, hotshots who mistake subjectivity for objectivity, or those burdened with undeserved confidence. he believed that patti smith and jean smith were the only true punks. he lived an uncompromised life, and knew that the rare good things were pure, illuminated by the lack that imbues everything else.
 
there was a time once, on an old tour, where the alternator belt on his van started to sag. we were on the highway just outside of town and the sun was setting. the van’s headlights strobed slowly, illuminated only when the belt was able to catch. the sunset was beautiful, and then the nighttime dark. we glowed like a firefly, until the headlights finally gave out. black as a shadowed coffin, we hurtled onward, invisible. we made it to the gig but i only remember the ride. and now he is gone and i miss him so deeply already. this broken world has eaten another of its good ones.
 
and o! the fires we burn,
and o! the silence that follows.
not all of us are safe.
not all of us are guilty.
not all of us sleep gently.
and the last of the sad german outlaws has said good night.
 
i love you dirk.
 
efrim manuel menuck
(gybe/smz)


 
 



 

Dirk Hugsam was a much beloved booking agent based in Germany who’s pure passion for adventurous and authentic music found him bringing over bands like Mecca Normal, Smog, Peter Jeffries, Dub Narcotic Soundsystem, The Mountain Goats, Pinback and many more, on a wing and a prayer, starting in the early 1990s. Together with his brother Rainer, Konzertbuero Hugsam put its roots down in Hamburg, remaining truly and genuinely independent for going on three decades.


Dirk discovered the debut album F#A#∞ by Godspeed You! Black Emperor shortly after it’s original vinyl-only release in 1997, when the band was still completely unknown and had barely traveled outside their Montréal hometown. Through sheer passion, enthusiasm and force of will, he figured out a way to bring over this unwieldy 9-piece group (and their three 16mm film projectors) for a first European tour the following year, against all economic and logistical odds. The band remained loyal to Hugsam through thick and thin, and has been booked by him ever since. Dirk and Rainer went on to book several other Constellation-affiliated artists – Thee Silver Mt Zion, Do Make Say Think, Fly Pan Am, Hangedup, Vic Chesnutt and Avec Le Soleil Sortant De Sa Bouche.


A warm, sweet, kindhearted man with a stern dry wit, unflappable temperament, unparalleled driving skills, and an amazing record collection (which he played on the world’s best turntable), Dirk died on Friday 21 December after a long illness. He became a true and close friend to so many of the bands and promoters he worked with over the years. Dirk was one-of-a-kind and will be profoundly missed. Our thoughts are with his beloved brother Rainer and all those whose lives he helped and touched.
 
Don and Ian
Montréal

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REFRESH YOUR MEMORY (AND YOUR EARS)
WITH A PLAYLIST OF OUR 2018 RELEASES:


SOUNDCLOUD
SPOTIFY
DEEZER
 
 
 
2018 IN REVIEW
 

EFRIM MANUEL MENUCK


Pissing Stars


CST129: 180gLP • Digital
 
Pissing Stars, the latest offering from Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion member Efrim Manuel Menuck, finds him charting a course through richly textured electronics, drone, and noise-tinged soundscapes. Layers of modular synth and guitar are shot through with Menuck's alternating chilling and plaintive vocals, infusing the album's maximalist sonic aesthetic with a distinctly human sense of emotion and vulnerability.



• STREAM: "LxOxVx / Shelter in Place"



Drowned in Sound: “Pissing Stars is a fever dream whose central tensions feel all too real. Of course, Menuck never has and is never likely to create straightforward, routine, or prosaic music. Consequently, it's down to his expressive soundscapes to drive the narrative. Yet abstraction is never a barrier to intent on Pissing Stars. It's Menuck's gift that he can take chilling melody lines and unsettled, often ugly, effects and turn out something so beguiling, like a trick of the light; desperate, terrifying and strangely beautiful."
 
 
 

JASON SHARP


Stand Above The Streams


CST130: 180gLP • Digital
 
Jason Sharp has become one of the foremost names in Montréal's avant-garde community, and Stand Above The Streams serves as a gripping testament to Sharp's compositional strength and groundbreaking creativity. Incorporating saxophone with an array of custom electronics, including rhythmic and textural elements triggered by his own heartbeat and breath, Stand Above The Streams raises the bar for musical innovation while remaining organic, visceral, and deeply powerful.



• VIDEO: Watch "Stand Above The Streams Pt 4" live at Eastern Bloc



The Wire: "Sharp continues to synthesise his vast array of influences into his distinctive style of electroacoustic music. Electronic pulse plays a key role, as does some artful sampling and a few subtle jabs of John Carpenter-esque synth lines. Sharp’s sax appears too, while his toolbox of crystalline processed sounds does the musical heavy lifting. While guest instrumentalists fleshed out his 2016 debut, Stand Above The Streams scrapes away those chamber rock semblances and deals more in synthesis, leading to even more microscopic detail and alien timbres. Stand Above The Streams makes it clear that the home of post-rock is carving out a niche as the home of whatever lies beyond."
 
 
 

ERIC CHENAUX


Slowly Paradise


CST131: 180gLP • Digital
 
With Slowly Paradise, Eric Chenaux has managed to stretch the boundaries of singer-songwriter territory in wonderful new directions. These long songs incorporate the hallmark elements of Chenaux's craft: his experimental guitar, buttery crooning, and dextrous compositions are on full display, all buoyed by a sense of playfulness and joy. Chenaux's explorations of tone, timbre, and harmony result in a truly gorgeous listen that is (rightfully!) being praised as his finest album to date.



• VIDEO: "Wild Moon"



The Quietus: "This is a remarkable record - it is wildly experimental and as comforting as a soft embrace. The way he takes from the singer-songwriter tradition and from the avant-garde somehow enables him to avoid the pitfalls of both, leaving him free to sculpt his own deeply idiosyncratic vision for songwriting. The most interesting art almost always has a sense of duality, and Slowly Paradise is no different; where it radically differs is in the lack of combat between those opposing forces. Chenaux’s love for Sade, for example, in no way contradicts or confuses his love for Derek Bailey...This album is truly his strongest yet."
 
 
 

CARLA BOZULICH


Quieter


CST132: 180gLP • Digital
 
Carla Bozulich, the legendary and uncompromising DIY hero, is no stranger to collaboration. Over the years, she recorded a collection of tracks with dear friends across the globe and eventually brought them together for Quieter. While it may seem like an album of orphaned tracks in concept, the result is a deeply moving, stunningly cohesive record that serves as a natural progression from her highly praised 2014 album Boy. Quieter commemorates Bozulich's temporary loss of hearing in one ear, resulting from her decades-long touring life, and ultimately proves that she and her fellow musicians are an unstoppable creative force, regardless of their volume.



• STREAM: "Glass House"



Tiny Mix Tapes: ""Bozulich’s decades-spanning career has produced a diverse and enviable oeuvre, which includes stirring performances and productions, impassioned writing, and clangorous sound art. Bozulich has built her reputation by celebrating everything non-traditional for years, often to gloriously resolute and raucous effect, but on Quieter, she lets her mastery of delicate intimacy shine as she taps into an eternal, cold 2am mood that few can. Featuring a crew of tremendously talented co-conspirators (Marc Ribot, Noveller’s Sarah Lipstate, Freddy Ruppert, Jessica Catron, Jhno, Shahzad Ismaily, Francesco Guerri, Andrea Belfi, and Ches Smith), Quieter is, remarkably, a collection of song foundlings recorded by Bozulich over the years and revisited for this album. Touchstones of hurt, loss, and anger in excelsis."
 
 
 

ALANIS OBOMSAWIN


Bush Lady


CST133: 180gLP • CD • Digital
 
Best known as a documentary filmmaker, Abenaki artist and activist Alanis Obomsawin also has a rich history as a singer-songwriter. Her album Bush Lady, originally released in a small private pressing in the mid-1980s, gained cult status over the years and Constellation is honoured to present a remastered version of the album on 180g vinyl and CD for the first time, complete with updated artwork. A unique and magical record that blends traditional folkways with avant-garde composition, Bush Lady is an essential work from a truly compelling, pioneering Indigenous artist.



• VIDEO: "Odana" live at Le Guess Who?



Drowned In Sound: "It’s remarkable that someone can conjure so much from such a limited palette. With vinyl sales on the rise, in particular, each week sees a glut of re-releases, many of which feel utterly pointless, but this record is an exemplary instance of an essential repressing. As a true rediscovered treasure it sounds as radical as it must have done on its release over 30 years ago. Bush Lady is a thoroughly magical record that is also deeply compassionate and strikingly real."
 
 
 

JOYFULTALK


Plurality Trip


CST134: 180gLP • Digital
 
Emerging from rural Nova Scotia with unbridled creativity, JOYFULTALK use a variety of homemade and modified instruments to construct ear-bending electronic worlds. Their junkshop tendencies find them drawing from a wide range of sonic palettes, including dark trance, techno, krautrock grooves, new age soundscapes, and industrial jank, all while managing to blend these elements into a heady and immersive whole. Plurality Trip is a wild ride, and a hugely rewarding listen for fans of experimental electronics.



• VIDEO: "Kill Scene"



Exclaim: "Every sound and sample feels custom-built here, tailor-fit into the layers (and layers, and layers) that compose its seven tracks...It's the sort of experimental electronica that rewards deep dives and layer-by-layer excavations. And to that effect, it's well worth the effort: Plurality Trip is fascinating wormhole to get lost exploring the nuances of."
 
 
 

AUTOMATISME


Transit


CST135: 180gLP • Digital
 
Transit is the second Constellation LP from producer William Jourdain, aka Automatisme. Expanding upon his earlier work, Jourdain has masterfully collected and processed a stunning variety of field recordings and shaped them into an album of cerebral, absorbing electronica. Using material sourced entirely from the field that has been rendered through generative and probability-based digital patches, Transit is a dynamic and highly detailed work that occupies a liminal space at the boundaries of ambient, glitch, dub and environmental sound.



• VIDEO: "Bureau 1"



PopMatters: "As the title of the album suggests, this is a record that does not stay still. It is always moving between different moods and areas with great fluidity...The interpretation of the field recordings through this impressive barrage of drones, glitch, noise and sound design make 'Transit' feel like a work of sonic cubism. While the shapes and edges of the original structures are still present and the overall offering displays many qualities of electronic music, the result is one of true avant-garde expression. Jourdain performs an extravagant process of transformation, one that mutates and, to an extent, mutilates the qualities of the original recordings, in a most fascinating way."
 
 
 

SANDRO PERRI


In Another Life


CST136: 180gLP • CD • Digital
 
In Another Life is Sandro Perri's first solo album since 2011's acclaimed Impossible Spaces. Building on Perri's notion of 'infinite songwriting,' it's a gorgeous display of meditative, minimalist pop songwriting that incorporates guest vocals from André Ethier (Deadly Snakes) and Dan Bejar (Destroyer). Perri's extended compositions are rich in minute detail, both contemplative and whimsical, yet consistently anchored by his impeccable musical craftsmanship. The sense of warmth and generosity in Perri's work is abundantly evident, and In Another Life firmly solidifies his position as one of contemporary music's most gifted songwriters.



• STREAM: "In Another Life (edit)"



Aquarium Drunkard: "Across this expansive and cosmic piece, arguably his finest work to date, Perri muses on the possibilities of what can and cannot be: the complete divesting of one’s own ego...and the bittersweet melancholy of romanticized nostalgia...The bubbling swirls of minimalist synth, astral guitar moans, and glistening flashes of electronic squeaks and shimmers cements his place as our space age Arthur Russell."
 
 
 

JERUSALEM IN MY HEART


Dada'iq Tudaiq


CST137: 180gLP • CD • Digital
 
The Montréal-Beirut audio-visual duo Jerusalem In My Heart is renowned for pushing aesthetic and creative boundaries, and their latest album Daqa'iq Tudaiq takes this reputation to dizzying new heights. Equal parts Middle Eastern musical tradition (JIMH recorded a modern version of the popular Egyptian classic “Ya Garat Al Wadi” with a 15-piece orchestra in Beirut) and experimental electronics, paired superbly with hand-processed 16mm film visuals, Daqa'iq Tudaiq is a visionary and highly rewarding album.



• VIDEO: "Thahab, Mish Roujou', Thahab"



The Wire: "Moumneh blends virtuosity with unbridled inventiveness in composition, songwriting and collaboration to create an evocative and richly referential body of work...tension reflects a wider motif of duality, and just how brilliantly music can mediate these poles to create something far more articulate than language, particularly when it comes to understanding the modernity of the Arab world.”
 
 
 

JESSICA MOSS


Entanglement


CST129: 180gLP • CD • Digital
 
The second solo LP from longtime Silver Mt. Zion member Jessica Moss, Entanglement layers violin, voice, and electronics into staggeringly beautiful sonic landscapes. Channeling Klezmer, Balkan, and Middle Eastern tropes into drone-steeped post-classical minimalism, Moss's compositions are as expressive and affecting as anything in her collaborative oeuvre. Warm, refined, and deeply fulfilling, Entanglement is a profound new offering from one of Montréal's most talented artists.



• VIDEO: "Fractals (Truth 4)"



A Closer Listen: “These long-form works allow the performer room to expand on her theme as she tangles and untangles melodies and phrases, allowing them to tumble like strings in space. The violin continues to be her main instrument, layered and looped, dancing between the speakers as if held aloft on gossamer threads...By the end of the album, Moss has woven seemingly disparate threads into a unified whole. Strong, dark melodies close the album, declarative and confident. The last ninety seconds introduce chant, underlining the album’s spiritual content. By the time the album ends, every knot has been undone.”
 
 

 

 

Having spent the past few months touring extensively throughout the EU and UK, Jessica Moss is excited to announce a new series of dates in early 2019 opening for Julia Holter in North America. This tour follows a round of significant praise for both Moss's recent live performances and her latest album Entanglement, and we couldn't be more pleased to see these two groundbreaking artists join forces. See below for the full itinerary and stream Entanglement on Bandcamp:
 
 



 
 
JESSICA MOSS & JULIA HOLTER TOUR DATES

DD/MM/YY	PLACE	VENUE
19.02.19	Washington, DC	U Street Music Hall
20.02.19	Philadelphia, PA	Underground Arts
22.02.19	Brooklyn, NY	Warsaw
23.02.19	Boston, MA	Brighton Music Hall
24.02.19	Montréal, QC	Sala Rossa
26.02.19	Toronto, ON	The Great Hall
27.02.19	Detroit, MI	El Club
28.02.19	Chicago, IL	Thalia Hall
01.03.19	St. Paul, MN	Turf Club

 
 

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Original photo by Hashem Al Madani & Akram Zaatari
Courtesy of the Arab Image Foundation
Re-photography and treatment by Charles-André Coderre



After touring extensively over the past several months, Jerusalem In My Heart is thrilled to announce a new series of dates for early 2019. Catch the gripping Montréal-Beirut duo live at the Museum of Modern Art in Fort Worth and at select cities across the EU, with more shows to be announced soon:
 
 
 
JERUSALEM IN MY HEART
WINTER 2019 TOUR DATES

DD/MM/YY	PLACE	VENUE
30.01.19	Namur, BE	Belvédère
31.01.19	Amsterdam, NL	De School
01.02.19	Berlin, DE	Hau Theatre @ CTM Festival
02.02.19	Brussels, BE	Beursschouwburg
04.02.19	Liège, BE	KulturA
05.02.19	Baden, CH	One Of A Million Festival
07.02.19	Gent, BE	Vooruit
07.03.19	Fort Worth, TX	Museum of Modern Art
20.03.19	Brooklyn, NY	Elsewhere
21.03.19	Philadelphia, PA	PhilaMOCA
22.03.19	Durham, NC	Duke Coffeehouse
23.03.19	Knoxville, TN	Big Ears Festival
25.03.19	Rock Island, IL	Rozz Tox
26.03.19	Chicago, IL	Empty Bottle
28.03.19	Hamilton, ON	This Ain't Hollywood

 
 

Jerusalem In My Heart has received strong acclaim for their latest album, Daqa'iq Tudaiq, and also for their captivating audio-visual live show. With custom 16mm video projections from Charles-André Coderre, JIMH's live performance is a deeply moving multimedia experience. Get a taste of Coderre's gorgeous aesthetic with the video for “Thahab, Mish Roujou’, Thahab”:

 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 

Jerusalem In My Heart
 
Daqa’iq Tudaiq

CST137
180gLP / CD / DL

ORDER HERE

Praise for Daqa'iq Tudaiq:


“Beautiful, beguiling, astonishing. A transcendent entry point into a world of shared culture, one without borders in which ideas are freely exchanged” A CLOSER LISTEN
 
 
“Exhilarating. a revelation of sorrow that goes beyond all language – with JIMH providing an articulate, angry and poetic voice for the mess we’re in.” NEW INTERNATIONALIST
 
 
“Blends virtuosity with unbridled inventiveness in composition, songwriting and collaboration to create an evocative and richly referential body of work. Reflects a wider motif of duality, and just how brilliantly music can mediate these poles, particularly when it comes to understanding the modernity of the Arab world.” THE WIRE (Feature Review)

 
 

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