Le Temps Des Bombes

First released on LP in 1984, Le Temps des Bombes (Bomb Time) was André Duchesne's first album for the Montreal label Ambiances Magnétiques he co-founded. This LP established him as the rockiest Ambiances Magnétiques member, although one can still feel the legacy of his avant-folk ensemble Conventum in his music. The eight songs are in the three-to-six-minutes range, punchy avant-rock numbers with a solid rhythm section, warped electric guitar lines, and irregular time signatures. The declamatory lyrics full of plays on words add to the esthetic connection between Duchesne's music (and most of Ambiances Magnétiques' rock production of the 1980s) and the European avant-pop scene (labels like Rec Rec Music and Re Records). Le Temps des Bombes is inhabited by the strange beauty of Conventum's melodies and a new angular rock sound that would become the basis of Duchesne's future projects, Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso Bar and Locomotive. Highlights include the sweet-and-sour "Limer," the instrumental "Sous une Lune Slave," and the modern tale "La Dictature Dure," which could have been the inspiration for labelmate Justine's "Bon Appétit" (the chorus and the idea of enumerating a list of foods sound very similar). "Limer," "Le Passeur," "Sous une Lune Slave," and "Corbeaux Noirs" were part of Jean Gagné and Serge Gagné's film La Couleur Encerclée. Le Temps des Bombes was reissued on CD in 1996. ~ François Couture, Rovi