NORTH EAST BISTRO from Montreal

I thought you might like to read little bit about this obscure Montreal band that plays a mix of dark rock with trippy themes and instrumental dreamy pieces. Their new CD is a compilation that goes from 1995 to 2005 of their best songs. Before my life is one of the most interesting pieces where they use loops for the vocals. Die Young reminded me of the new wave dark bands from the 90s.  Then in reprive they even have poetry in Spanish. The CD is really eclectic, the voice of the vocalist is close to that of Swan’s Michael Gira and actually the duo that Ian and Caro do in some pieces reminded me also of this legendary band called The Swans. The lyrics are explicit, the instrumentation is Gothic in some themes with wild metalish vocals. The Last one Standing is more like a ballad.  Interesting CD. Kind of on the dark side, imagine obscure afternoons with black clouds over Gothic churches full of inner pain. Great day to hang myself says one of the lines of their song so you get the idea. Remember London After Midnight?… Listen to them here

Over the past 10 years, a love story like no other (really) has been hidden away in the depths of Montreal’s rich and vibrant music scene.
A multi-influential rock band known as North East Bistro has stuck together for a decade, held in place simply by their shared love and passion for music. The band’s latest release,  Committed, perfectly sums up how this six-piece orchestra feels.

On May 7th, NEB will be showcasing songs from their musical vault at Aux Trois Devins (2390 Saint Joseph) in Lachine, QC in celebration of the launch of their 16-track compilation album, which was mixed and re-mastered by Kevin Jardine (Slaves On Dope) and produced by Rene Garcia (The Brains).

“Committed does represent the perfect title for this compilation,” says bassist Ben. “Time goes fast; three drummers, seven or eight guitar players, a few singers, a few pianists, two sax players, but we are still here! We had to be committed to pursue or
way. This album seals the decade and we are ready to start another one!”

BAND BIO:

It was the summer of 2006 when three musicians who had known each other for years – Ian (vocals), Erik (trumpet) and Ben (bass) –were sitting in a half empty bistro, enjoying a glass of whatever was available at the time, when they had a brilliant idea.

Having played together before (since 2001, to be exact), just under a different band name, and having received great feedback (such as placing 4th out of 150 musicians who played the first ever Emergenza festival), the friends decided to morph themselves into North East
Bistro.

As new members came and went; as arrangement were made, revisited and sometimes scrapped; as a deadline for the first NEB record was pushed back from the spring of 2008 to the fall of that year -Sharing Our Darkest Moments…A Montreal Native Story_ was finally released on November 11th.

Now, celebrating 10 years of their musical partnership, North East Bistro is ready to unveil its latest creation, Committed, which will feature unique NEB touches such as trumpet, trombone and piano. Set to come out in May 2011, NEB is ready to prove the band is still alive and very much kicking, and is committed to its music until death do
them part.

COMMITTED…

What started out as one show turned into a decade…  What started as a collective and only a collective, turned into an entity…  NORTH EAST BISTRO is celebrating it’s tenth year of existence.  Most may have thought us dead and buried like most bands but have no fear, we are still alive and very much kicking.  Our presence will be felt as you will have the opportunity to listen to our latest little adventure we have entitled COMMITTED.  For all of you patient and loyal fans out there you will recognize some of the titles on this album as it is a compilation.   A work of art is never truly finished and we felt that it was important to rework some of our songs as you deserve the best we have to offer.  As for the rest of the songs, well…  let’s just say we just couldn’t resist digging deep inside ourselves and expose our souls like never before.  Old stuff, really old stuff, stuff we thought we’d lost in a hard drive and stuff we finally had the courage of showing, even though we might a little embarrassed by some of these little gems as they are even older than Bistro itself.  Why did we feel the need to take these out of their obscurity?  We wanted to reach deep down to the core of our being.  To see and feel where it is we come from.  When we started there was but us and our dreams.  Today their are children and women that we love.  So we did it for them, for us but more importantly, we did for you.  So to another decade and long live Bistro!

Ben

North East Bistro is from Montreal and this is our lineup :

Erick trumpet, trombone

Ian vocals

Ben bass, vocals

Mat drums

Caro vocals, piano

Simon guitars