Montag - Going Places
[Carpark Records]

A blogger's wet dream, Montreal based musician Antoine Bédard (aka Montag) has drafted in an endless supply of current indie darlings for "Going Places". Released on the colourful Car Park Records (Casino Versus Japan, Kid 606, Keith Fullerton Whitman etc), Montag collaborates with members of Final Fantasy, Stars, M83, Beach House and ISAN during this cut and paste electronic pop explosion.

"Going Places" works best when a fine balance is found between the incessant electronics and a human element. The fact that two of the best tracks feature Amy Millan of Stars suggests that future collaborations would be more than worthwhile. "Safe In Sound" is a vibrant splash of 60's influenced pop tinted with electronics. "Mechanical Kids, meanwhile, recalls Beck's "Devil's Haircut" and flourishes into a rhythm that Austin Powers would call "Groovy baby!".

But an over reliance of computer bleeps and editing tends to detract from the actual compositions and songwriting on "Going Places". The amount of sound effects and little noises on "Softness, I Forgot Your Name", for example, soon becomes over-bearing to the point of annoyance. It sounds like music for a game on one of those vintage Atari consoles.

The album's title track is a great idea on paper. Collecting sounds from like-minded musicians worldwide, including Vitaminsforyou, E*Rock and Ghislain Porter, Montag has woven them into one song. Sadly though, such an innovative idea doesn't transfer to the music and "Going Places" is forgettable at best.

Thankfully, such moments are in the minority and the cinematic orchestration on tracks like "332 Water" help to gloss over any rough edges. But, you will be left with the nagging feeling that "Going Places" had the potential to be so much better. Despite featuring all of the right ingredients, it ultimately fails to separate itself from other electronic-pop records. A missed opportunity.

Going Places Track Listing:

01. I Have Sound
02. Best Boy Electric (hear the MP3)
03. Mechanical Kids
04. Alice
05. 322 Water
06. Softness, I Forgot Your Name
07. Safe In Sound
08. Hi-5 AU DJ
09. Hands Off, Creature!
10. > (Plus Grande Que)
11. No One Else
12. Going Places (hear the MP3)