Le Vent du Nord
Territoires
Borealis
Longtime readers might recognize that the Quebeçois band Le
Vent du Nord gets a lot of praise on this site. There's a reason for that. For
the past 17 years, Le Vent du Nord (The North Wind) has consistently raised the
bar for musical excellence. Their hot-off-the-presses new release Territoires celebrates many things,
including the intersections between city and village. If you go to the band's
Website you'll find an excellent video of their song "Adieu du Village" in which the band brings cool vibes and some rock and roll
flavoring to a song that's a poignant blend of old and new–a reworking of folk
traditions from the Montérégie region (100 km. east of Montreal) with some
eco-awareness tossed in as well. You'll experience a twisty tune that's driven
by the powerful voice and cranked up hurdy-gurdy excursions of Nicolas
Boulerice, who just happens to live in a pretty small village:
Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu (pop. 1,700), an hour northeast of Montreal. Bass
player Réjean Brunet and his brother André hail from a wee place as well,
Lacolle, just across the border from the Champlain Islands of Vermont. And if
you really want to get into the sticks musically, journey with Le Vent's
Olivier Demers (fiddle, feet, bombarde, guitar) to the sparsely populated
"Côte-Nord," where the St. Lawrence dumps into the Atlantic. The band
gives this song a gentle, dream-like treatment.
Le Vent du Nord also plumbs history. "Le Pays deSamuel" is reflection on explorer Samuel de Champlain from the Francophone
point of view. This song is also indicative of the tightness of the quintet's
music. As is often the case in Quebeçois music, clogging feet (from Demers) set
the rhythm through which hurdy-gurdy, bouzouki (Simon Beaudry), bass, and
fiddles (Demers and André Brunet) lay down joyous melodies. The integration of
feet, voices, and instruments is seamless and flawless. Another venture into
the past is "Louisbour" [sic], an interpretation of an Acadian song
that's given a wistful a cappella treatment replete with harmony and
chorale-like effects. (The French fort of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia was
captured by the British in 1758 and set the stage for the transfer of French-speaking
Canada to British control.)
Every track on the CD is a treat. "Chausaro" zips
along at a nice clip, Réjan's melodeon makes "Le Step A Alexis" feel
like a kitchen party, "Le Jardinier" is a cheeky little number, and
"Evolution Tranquille" is an ironically titled merde-kicker that will
make you bust out some hard soled shoes and give clogging the old college try.
There's a bit of everything on this release, even some sweet, quiet
Celtic-style folk: "La Mère Á L'Échafaud." One of the only things
better than listening to a Le Vent du Nord recording is catching them live.
I've been lucky enough to do that a good half dozen times, but you can see them
in a videotaped 2017 Shrewsbury Folk Festival appearance. As you'll see, this
is a leave-it-all-on-the-stage kind of band.
Rob Weir
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