photo taken by Allsoldout at Toronto’s Harbourfront, August 26, 2006

Having seen Torngat perform in the last days of 2006, they were poised to become one of my favourite bands of 2007. The release of “You Could Be” sealed the deal and their return to the Grad Club in October was icing on the cake. Their new record is their strongest release to date (and don’t get me wrong I lovelovelove their eponymous debut and the EP “La Rouge”), with its soaring horns, intricate and at times carnivalesque keyboards, electronics with just the perfect amount of glitch, and spot on percussion. They capture the greatness of their joyous album live with the added bonus of just touch of improvisation. The trio of Pietro Amato, Mathieu Charbonneau, and Julien Poissant were are exceptionally tight onstage, innately knowing when to enter, when to fade out, just how long to let their part build and they stop on a dime.

They didn’t spend too much time talking to the crowd – they don’t have vocal mics, after all – but when they did they were warm and humourous. Torngat performed nearly all the songs off their new album and entered the crowd during the encore for an “old song” (which I can’t for the life of me figure out title of) whereupon Pietro and Julien played a game of brassband ‘marco polo’ chasing each other throughout the various rooms of the Grad Club.

I’ve decided not to post the entire set but if you like what you hear here let me know and I might be persuaded to share the rest. And do buy the record because it is utterly fantastic.

Torngat, Grad Club, Kingston, 20 October 2007

* Moutin Noir
* You Could Be
* Bordeaux Boredom
* Celebrating New
* Minute By Minute
updated to include
* Finger Painting
* Surf [I finally figured out the name of this song!]
Pick up a copy of each of the Torngat records for someone you love. In fact, you will want to buy two: one to give away and one to keep for yourself.

Fans of the french horn take note: Pietro’s other band The Luyas will hit Kingston in the new year as part of the awesome all-ages Apple Crisp Music Series (I think, correct me if I am wrong).

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And don’t forget to enter my Buck 65 contest (see post below) which ends Tuesday at noon.