Growing up through the 80's there was one Crayola he kept and never used. It was the 25th in a pack of 24. A lucky find at a local daycare garage sale.
There amongst the "Prussian Blue" and "Indian Red" it was nestled firmly into what little available space was left, bearing the oddly enticing name "Muted 70's Brown".
"Hmmm." he thought, "It seems like more of an orange." And so with a worndown stub of Raw Umber he amended the name to "Muted 70's BrownOrange".
Several years passed and still the crayon remained untouched, until one day, for some unremarkable reason, he picked it up and started drawing. With the first tentative tracings of an outline he began to hear soft arpeggios - could've been guitar, could've been piano, distorted by fractal webs of dislocated reverb. With intuition quickly defeating his initial frightened hesitation he continued to draw, and as the strokes became more assured, the lines clearer and bolder, the shards of sound coalesced and solidified into an exact rendition of Townes Van Zandt's "High, Low, and In Between". "Muted 70's BrownOrange indeed", he thought to himself when done.
For a while he believed that the crayon was magic, one-of-a-kind and so he only drew in Muted 70's BrownOrange, and so only ever heard Townes in his head, until one day, for some unremarkable reason, he began to color in a picture of the Las Vegas skyline with Cerulean Frost. Much to his surprise he heard sounds again, only now it was disjointed drums punctuating subtly abrasive fax-machine guitars. Just as the finishing touches were being scratched across the Imperial Palace he recognized the sounds. Wilco. Yankee Hotel. Understanding dawned and in a frenzy he grabbed up a handful of crayons and began to scribble madly without form.
Sonic Silver manifested itself as "Marquee Moon". Midnight Pearl was "Whatever You Love, You Are". Malachite, The National's "Alligator". In this epiphanic state he tore out a fresh page and began to combine colours, eyes ecstatic at what he heard.
A light scraping of green against blue would add a halo of echo to tremulous organs. The softer metallic hues interwove intricate guitar lines around the faded purple of the vocals. Eyes-closed experiments with confident primary colours yielded brass and piano strewn almost carelessly atop swells of cymbals and fuzz. And the Muted 70's BrownOrange, when sparingly added to this seemingly haphazard melange, made them songs.
Sometime in the winter of 2007, Montreal band Murder Ford Monument obtained an off-the-record government grant to purchase the drawing and used it as a strict template to record their debut self-titled album, which they released amongst the muted colours of Fall 2009.
FIND THE ABOVE RECORD AT THE FOLLOWING STORES
PHONOPOLIS 5403A Avenue Du Parc, Montreal
L'OBLIQUE 4333 Rue Rivard, Montreal
ATOM HEART 364 Rue Sherbrooke Est, Montreal
SOUNDSCAPES 572 College St, Toronto
You can also get it at:
iTunes
eMusic
Amie Street
.
Or directly from us.
Murder Ford Monument CD
Canada $12.00
International $13.00
MFM ALBUM REVIEWS
"Murder Ford Monument's debut, self-titled LP is one of those albums that is best enjoyed when you invest yourself in it, rather than having it as casual background music.it is as good a debut as you could expect to hear. Even though the album is only nine songs long, it doesn't feel too short. On the contrary, listening to this album from start to finish is quite an adventure.
"
Meet You at the Show (Montreal)
"Baritone vocals initially reminiscent of Ian Curtis (which took some time for me to get passed but certainly did) and musicianship that honestly rocks, Murder Ford Monument have created a record that can inspire true emotion. I have had this record on a pretty heavy rotation for a couple weeks now and it has truly been enjoyable to listen toWith only 9 tracks, Murder Ford Monument's self-titled is certainly a good indicator of where this band will end up. It's a solid promise for good things to come.
"
Drvewayfarerdrive (Ottawa)
"Montreal's Murder Ford Monument roll down from the indie-rock hotspot with a self-released album that slips the bite, the bile and the danger back into the post-punk world.Filled with ragged edges of sawing guitar, bursts of drum work that belies post punk's usually deliberate pacing and the impassioned vocals that buck the genre's restraint.As fashionable and sophisticated as post punk is these days, it's important to have a reminder that the style wasn't intended to go down easily, or that it wasn't really made simply to make people dance or explore atmospheres. It was made by pissed-off, desperate and sometimes unstable people for pissed off, desperate and unstable people. Murder Ford Monument is that reminder.
"
Aversion (Colorado)
"If Explosions In The Sky put a voice to their amazing tracks, it would sound a bit like Murder Ford Monument…this killer band from Montreal that just released their self titled debut album in October (2009).
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Evilbuss
"MFM are a pretty talented bunch. the horns in "The Hills Were On Fire", and the synths in the very awesome "Black Moon Lake", and the punky urgency of opener "The King Is Dead" -- all reasons to believe that, next time out, Murder Ford Monument could be inspiring a few cover bands of their own.
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I (heart) Music (Ottawa)
A promising debut worth checking out.
Now Magazine (Toronto)
"The nine-song album draws on the darker, more sinister elements of pop/new wave, with keyboards hovering like a cool afterthought between your stereo speakers, all the while blazing guitars and a punch drunk rhythm section slap each other silly. Dig, if you will, the killer horns on The Hills Were on Fire. Good stuff if you can get it, so go get it.
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The Hour
"From the opening riff of Murder Ford Monument's self-titled debut album, it's clear that there is a desperation here. By the time the song closes with hungry synths floating above the guitar attacks and Legallais' anguished cries, it's clear that the rest of the album will contain an epic and beautiful bring-down (their) self titled disc has a new depth of sound and lyricism, a much more layered approach that enhances the emotions being layed down Not exactly a beach-party record, but it's sensitive and introspective enough to demand attention.
"
Vue Weekly,(Edmonton)
"When lead singer Jesse LeGallais' baritone explodes over the fuzzy guitar and horns on The Hills Were On Fire, you can't help but think of The National. His voice is similar to Matt's and the band tries hard to match the energy of the NY outfit over the eight songs that make up their self-titled LP the band is trying some interesting things – the female vocals that perk up the bleak Gunfighters, the barren simplicity of Rebel Smile that leads nicely into the strong, synth-dominated closer Black Moon Lake (the song that I really think the band shows who THEY are) – and are headed in the right direction and when you dive in you notice that instead of the taught percussion and surging melodies you expect from The National, MFM opts for cloudier, bleaker sounds that never try for the staggering heights or intimate confessionals you might expect.you can't help but think this isn't the last time you will hear about Murder Ford Monument on herohill"
hero hill (Halifax)
"Au chant ténébreux de Jesse LeGallais, lequel rappelle énormément celui d'un Matt Beringer (The National), le groupe ajoute d'agréables courtepointes de pianos et de cuivres, puis secoue le tout à coups de guitares et d'orgues «fuzzés» à souhait."
Voir
"This Montreal five-piece meanders and explores the vast terrains of country-inflected rock on their debut, yet prove capable of rising to the occasion during a few sublime instrumental high points.
"
The Mirror
MFM LIVE REVIEWS
"With dramatic, carefully sculpted guitar parts and a smart sense for dynamics, the band's songs built up into some crafty little maelstroms the band played pretty intensely for a sparse crowd. Certainly worth keeping an eye on."
Mechanical Sound live review at Pitter Patter (Toronto)
" Murder Ford Monument have outgrown small rooms, and I hope (and fully expect) they move to bigger and better things in 2010"
Midnight Poutine's "Twelve Montreal Concerts of 2009"
