Quinimine

Quinimine fits the typical Montreal music scene requirements: beautiful CD packaging, members who also moonlight in other Montreal bands, and songs about the dangers of unchecked urban sprawl, but there is enough idiosyncrasy to distinguish them from Molasses and others of their ilk. This band knows where it’s going, and it’s in no rush to get there, which is admirable. It’s really only about six minutes into the third track, "That’s How We Learned to Dance,” that the music starts to jump out, with a distant organ echoing out from a hushed percussion and bass, almost a soundtrack to a slow, sad waltz. The last track, "They Built Bridges to Build Skyscrapers” is a fitting coda, with the various instrumentation coming together perfectly to raise more than a couple of goose bumps. In fact, one of the main themes of this album is that of urban activism — they cite noted activist Jane Jacobs as inspiration — or stopping the spread of "monolithic structures” as they put it. The music here is that of long pastures, windswept beaches and starry nights. Just like knocking back a beer on a summer’s night at the beach, this album is hard to gather as a whole, but it is in the little details and atmosphere that the inspiration lays. A gorgeous, graceful elegy of an album, this has many rewards for those willing to be swept along.