All Tomorrow's Parties introduced me to more music than I could possibly list. Sometimes it was because I saw band play one of their festivals and they were amazing; other times it was simply that they were on a bill with other bands I liked. In the case of The Besnard Lakes, it was on a mixtape given to me by a complete stranger.
At a few of the later festivals, ATP organised a mixtape swap on one of the days - the idea was simple: you made a mixtape in advance, brought it along and swapped it with a stranger; both of you go home with some new music. The first time wasn't the most successful - I wasn't into his music taste and, given what was on the cd I got in return, I'm very doubtful that the guy I swapped with got much out of mine. People who'd been before had brought multiple copies of their mixtape to get multiple new ones back. The next festival I took three copies and got three cds in return. There was an interesting mix of stuff over them, but one name that really stood out was The Besnard Lakes.
This guy had included their song Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent from their third album, The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night (great title). I enjoyed it and made a mental note to check them out. As is often the case, two years passed before I stumbled across their fourth album, Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO, in the sale section in Truck Store. At £11 it seemed rude not to, even though what they sounded like was now a distant memory.
The music I heard was pretty much what I had in mind from before - partly slow and quiet, partly brooding and deep. It's a very strange mix of sounds - they boarder pop and post-rock in such a strange way you wonder if you're really hearing either influence. I wasn't at all surprised to find out they were Canadian, as there are easy comparisons to be made to bands like Broken Social Scene, Stars and Metric. But they're only ever partial comparisons - take away the vocals and the poppier melodies and there are dark, long songs with unexpected changes that is the traditional style of Godspeed et al.
The whole album is lovely, interesting listening. The standout track for me was always Colour Yr Lights In - something about it pulls it above the rest (possibly owing to its big indie-rock chorus) - but The Spectre and At Midnight are great too. I probably don't play the album often enough. I have a bad tendency to forget about it, but then get a pleasant surprise in how much I enjoy it when I do play it. It seems that my forgetfulness has extended to my ability to buy anymore of their albums - this is still the only one I own. I'd like to get more, but it's hard to remember when online and I've only ever seen one of their albums in a shop (and I bought it).
Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 8
Cost: £11 new
Bought: Truck Store, Oxford
When: 15/03/14
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download card
