Tag: Montaigne

Checked into https://www.montaignemusic.com.au/tour-shows
I was not sure what to expect from seeing Montaigne live at the Corner Hotel. Personally, I was interested in how Making It! would translate to the stage. Although it was the Making It! tour, I did not expect the album to be played straight-through. The point made was that was how it was meant to be appreciated as an album, therefore this is how it was to be played.

In regards to the intricacies of the album or guest performances, these were covered by pre-recorded tracks, something that has become common in the evolution of music performance, or substitutes, with Montgomery stepping in for David Byrne in always be you. The set also closed with ‘the hits’.

The official set time was to finish at 11:20, but Montaigne provided a track-by-track breakdown in-between each track. This included discussions of Pat, failed concept album and the music industry. This blew the set out to 12:00.

One of the other things that I was looking forward to seeing were the support acts. Both Montgomery and Molly Millington were solo acts, supported by pre-recorded tracks, sequencers or guitar. I remember seeing Twinkle Digitz thinking that the all-in-one setup was somewhat quaint. However, it now occurs to me that the support gig comes with certain conditions. I have been at the Corner before where they utilise both the main stage and the smaller stage, but there are challenges which changing over. It made me wonder about the impact on what is possible. For example, I could imagine Montgomery being a band experience, similar to say Chvrches. I feel that I now appreciate Sylvan Esso’s WITH tour. It also makes me think about the way in which Jake Webb reimagines Methyl Ethel for different contexts.

Listened https://montaigne.lnk.to/makingit from montaigne.lnk.to
I feel that Making It! is one of those albums whose whole is greater than its part. I remember hearing always be you a few months ago. I enjoyed it, but to hear it within the breadth of the album gave it different perspective.

I was intrigued that even with its liberal spray of sugar, Cerro is adamant it is not hyperpop. However, it is clearly inspired by the genre. Maybe what Montaigne is not is simple and straight-forward. That I found interesting is that although the album is not very long, its frenetic nature means that there is so much to dig into.

Montaigne has provided the stories behind the tracks.

Stepping comfortably into somewhat new territory for the-artist-also-known-as Jess Cerro, leaning more to a kind of burbling, low impact electronica intersecting with shiny floor pop that doesn’t so much sprinkle the sugar as spray it liberally (in other words, a kind of hyperpop), these songs have the kind of in-built momentum that make actual tempos secondary.

Where on Cerro’s previous records, the music would serve to uplift their vaudevillian prose, here it’s just as crucial. The bitcrushed percussion and wonky keys on ‘SickCryDie’ let the listener feel the pangs of anxiety Cerro depicts in their lyrics, reckoning with the impact trauma has on a blossoming relationship. And without its angular collision of wonky tropical house beats and garish brightness, ‘JC Ultra’ – a biting critique of major label ethics in the form of an instructional guide on becoming a “vessel for the pro-alien agenda” – would just feel cheesy.

Cerro has called making it! “neurotic computer music”. In fact, they were largely inspired by their beloved video games. “I really wanted to have that influence the sounds that were chosen on the record.” But, working closely with producer Dave Hammer (Lime Cordiale), Cerro similarly latched onto the exploding hyperpop genre, citing SOPHIE, Charlie XCX and Caroline Polachek. “Both of us were really excited by those sounds and found them really addictive and really good to listen to.”

Place between Charli XCX and Architecture in Helsinki.

Liked Writing is a process of discovery by Doug Belshaw (discours.es)

What I’ve always appreciated in Montaigne’s writing is that, as many others have said before me, he was a kind of 16th-century ‘blogger’. By starting from introspection, humility, and self-deprecation, he was able to write some of the finest essays ever written. Although he too had his foibles around fame and glory, it’s a reminder to me to write for myself, first and foremost.

Listened Montaigne on the tumultuous relationship behind a hit from triple j

Prodigiously talented young songwriter Jessica Cerro – better known as Montaigne – first stepped into the spotlight as a 16-year-old Unearthed High finalist. In this episode of Inspired, she dishes you the details on one of her biggest songs to date. for weekly episodes.

Montaigne describes her music as cute melancoly. I really like this. She also discusses her interest in the kookiness encapsulating sadness and life’s juxtapositions. This is what I described as capturing life’s ‘sharper sides’.