Ghost in the Machine

posted in: Artist Features

Like many artists, Fred LaLande’s musical education began at home. And though he’s played several instruments since the age of 12, these days the Montreal-based artist spends more time on the keyboard creating experimental electronic music and less time in bands. LaLande’s solo career centers on the manipulation and layering of samples from the public domain. The result is an alien species of sound”dark, futuristic, a little frightening, and completely entrancing. Take, for instance, Clomplexity, where metallic textures spin and ricochet through the slow genesis of something unknown and terrifying. Things continue to fall apart in Andromeda. Synthesizers wail as they melt, air raid sirens sound in the distance, and a salvo of electric guitars is fired off. But even after such a battle, traces of humanity remain. On Here Again LaLande builds a softer, more utopian soundscape with whistles, yawning textures, and the dull chime of bells. Living through the second coming is pretty exciting, but you’ll be glad for a little post-war relief.