All Angels Gone (One Hot Record)

All of those French speaking, Montreal-based bands, seem to have stolen France's thunder when it comes to creating sprawling instrumental and experimental sounds. Look no further than the whole Godspeed collective and their myriad of off-shoots, to see where I am coming from.

France is renowned for its electronica artists, but not so much in the instrumental genre. A quick glance through my itunes, reveals Arca as the only French band of note. This may all about to change, through Parisians All Angels Gone, with the release of their 5 track "Quietly" album.

All Angels Gone are a septet of musicians that combine to form the classic post-rock line-up. A drum and bass spine, a twin guitarist attack, an assured piano in the centre and two flamboyant violinists on the wings.

I didn't quite grasp French at school, so their French-only bio, on their website, didn't make much sense. What I can tell you, though, is this band are strongly influenced by the 'holy trinity' of post-rock (Mogwai, Godspeed, Sigur Ros), but also contain Radiohead's immpecable sense of melancholy.

Released on One Hot Record, you can read a full-blown analysis of "Quietly" here. Or for now you can enjoy not one, but TWO mp3's here.

"Stephen H" features chiming piano tones (not unlike the recent music of Colleen), mournful strings and a muted computer enhanced spoken word sample. Imagine Godspeed You Black Emperor in their more serene moments. It is achingly beautiful.

"Wave" ,on the other hand, contains glacial tones, operatic vocals and clattering machine-like drums, to create a sound akin to Sigur Ros at their most exuberant clashing with Enya. It culminates with a stunning climax.

For further listening and investigation, go here.

"Stephen H" mp3 - All Angels Gone

"Wave" mp3 - All Angels Gone