Ever had one of those dreams where you have no idea where you are or how you got there but everything there is upside down, tilted to the left and backwards? And then you wind up falling down a big hole and landing in the velvet lined cocktail lounge of a hotel bar? If so, Compil zouave is perfect for you. It’s an album that defies catagorization; oh, you could try to pigeonhole it in any one of 20 musical categories, only to have it change directions 5 seconds later, leaving you right back where you started. Côté, joined by a cast of over 20 other musicians (including your favorite Ambiances Magnétiques stars! — Ed. ), has created a supernatural sound collage that’s not sure if its coming or going. Some songs sound like free jazz, others resemble drum-n-bass, percolating coffee makers, circus music or random sample-fests played on a malfunctioning turntable. The result is a wonderfully cohesive space odyssey, rather than the garbled mess you might expect of an album this musically diverse. Let’s Get Lost is reminiscent of a 60’s blaxploitation soundtrack, Bavaroise sounds like middle-eastern funk, replete with gratuitous saxophone stabs and opera-like vocals and I Can’t Give You Anything But Love is a Bachrach-style ballad that I’m sure you’ll be hearing in the bar of a Holiday Inn some time soon. What makes Compil zouave so impressive is its ability to “nail” musical genres without compromising its varied and adventurous nature. So grab six or seven different bottles of liquor and a glass, throw on Compil zouave and prepare yourself to be amazed — or perhaps, if you can’t hold your liquor, sick.

One of the seven collaborators on this release is M. F. Côté, who is responsible for another release by Ambiances magnétiques. Côté plays drums and live electronics. He is composer and improviser. All these qualities can be enjoyed on this solo-album “Compil Zouave”. Côté composed for dance, theatre and film. He is known for his work in the Bruire ensemble. He is also a first-generation member of the Ambiances magnétiques collective. His compositions on this solo-effort are played by an ensemble of 20 musicians, Pierre Bastien and Martrin Tétreault among others. It is difficult to find out what kind of game Côté is playing here. Very humorous music, no boring persiflage’s. Here is played with much musical wit with the music of Miles Davis, Chet Baker, reggae, eastern music, etc. Fake jazz, semi-jazz Call it how you like. Deconstruction may be a good name for the way Côté uses the music of Baker and others. Inventive and original where you wonder it comes from. It gives a new and very interesting light as to how reinterpret already existing music.

An impressive debut by a new band from Montréal: Papa Boa. Four musicians Bernard Falaise, Rémi Leclerc, Frédéric Roverselli and Pierre Labbé assisted by seven other musicians present 12 songs that are very wild and hybrid. All band members are new to me, except Rémi Leclerc, who is known for his participation in Miriodor, making a kind of Canterbury-styled music. The music of Papa Boa originated from a process where improvisation and composing techniques go hand in hand. Although of this complex process the music sounds very direct and raw, Rock “primitivism” and improvisation make a perfect explosive mixture. The result is a very up-to-date kind of “rock music” that is very enjoyful, sometimes reminding of Etron Fou Leloublan. Must be great fun to see them live!

With Réflexions, Montréal-based, classical guitarist André Duchesne presents tender solo musings. As the album title indicates, Duschene’s music is both reflective and deeply personal. It seems to speak of days gone by, of loves lost and so forth. The track titles are about all that’s given in terms of concrete commentary on the music. They are in French, of course, but here are a few translated: An Afternoon in Paris, Friday Evening in Andalusia and Straight Fingers, Soft Fingers. Réflexions is wonderfully evocative and communicative stuff. It leaves me in a decidedly more melancholy state after hearing it. I applaud monsieur Duchesne for his sensitive musical soliloquies.

Papa Boa explores the art of noise, and speaks French while doing it. This art-punk free jazz arises from group improvisation later torn about and reassembled into a Frankenstein audio collage. Tête à queue juggernauts about like an unruly creation. Rock- and R&B-like rhythms emerge in the sometimes-harsh finished product. Making up the group is guitarist Bernard Falaise (Farniente Salon, Miriodor), percussionist and wacky brass band drummer Remi Leclerc (l’Orkestre des pas perdus, Miriodor), bassist and keyboardist Frederic Roverselli and Pierre Labbé on saxes, flutes and didgeridoo. Numerous guests form the Montréal musique-actuelle scene help out. Salient in these collaborations is the dulcet voices of actress-singers Marie-Hélène Montpetit and Marie-Jo Thério singing in French. The juxtapositions of these mellifluous tones in that beautiful language against the alternating rhythmic or abrasive constructions pull it together. (4 out of 5)

Papa Boa explores the art of noise, and speaks French while doing it. This art-punk free jazz arises from group improvisation later torn about and reassembled into a Frankenstein audio collage. Tête à queue juggernauts about like an unruly creation. Rock- and R&B-like rhythms emerge in the sometimes-harsh finished product. Making up the group is guitarist Bernard Falaise (Farniente Salon, Miriodor), percussionist and wacky brass band drummer Remi Leclerc (l’Orkestre des pas perdus, Miriodor), bassist and keyboardist Frederic Roverselli and Pierre Labbé on saxes, flutes and didgeridoo. Numerous guests form the Montréal musique-actuelle scene help out. Salient in these collaborations is the dulcet voices of actress-singers Marie-Hélène Montpetit and Marie-Jo Thério singing in French. The juxtapositions of these mellifluous tones in that beautiful language against the alternating rhythmic or abrasive constructions pull it together. (4 out of 5)