The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse

by The Besnard Lakes

Overview

The Montreal-based husband-and-wife duo of the Besnard Lakes really work some of the old yin-and-yang magic on their debut release The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse. Throughout the eight tracks, the push-and-pull of crunchy guitars versus delicate, stringy instrumentation seems to reflect the dynamic between Olga Goreas and Jace Lasek themselves (with wife Goreas, seemingly the prime instigator for the power chords). It's a slightly indulgent affair, but the only way to get these seemingly disparate qualities to play nice on an album together is to sweat over it -- and sweat they did, but not on somebody else's timecard. Utilizing their own studio, Goreas and Lasek could, and did, take plenty of time getting their vision to come through in the mixes, and the ebb-and-flow between abrasive and lilting isn't half as jarring as you might think. It's like a Beach Boys album when it's calm and a Queen album when it's crunchy, but all filtered through what must be one hell of a record collection over at the Goreas-Lasek homestead. ~ J. Scott McClintock

Product Details

Release Date:	02/20/2007
Label:	Jagjaguwar
UPC:	0656605210612
Rank:	53261

Tracks

1. Disaster
2. For Agent 13
3. And you Lied to Me
4. Devastation
5. Because Tonight
6. Rides the Rails
7. On Bedford and Grand
8. Cedric¿¿¿s War

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Besnard Lakes   Primary Artist
Jerimiah Bullied   Guitar
Fifth String Liberation Singer Choir   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Kevin Laing   Drums
Olga Goreas   Bass (Electric),Bass,Drums,Organ,Vocals,Synthesizer,Choir/Chorus,Glockenspiel,Guitar (Bass),Vocals (Background)
Billy Bouffard   Saxophone,Flute,Sax (Soprano)
Nicole Lizee   Horn,Flute,Strings,Saxophone,Bass,Piano,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes,Guitar (Bass)
Jace Lasek   Bass (Electric),Bass,Drums,Organ,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Tambourine,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes,Guitar (Bass),Lap Steel Guitar
Eric Larock   Guitar (Bass)
Johnathon Cummins   Guitar
George Donoso III   Drums
Chris Seligman   French Horn
Jean Paul Terron   Drums
Heather Schnarr   Violin
Steve Raegele   Guitar,Vocals,Soloist
Sophie Trudeau   Violin
Elizabeth Powell   Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Corri-Lynn Tetz   Vocals (Background)
Susan Beckett   Vocals (Background),Choir/Chorus
Catherine McCandless   Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Corri Lynn Tetz   Choir/Chorus
Eric La Rock   Bass

Technical Credits

John Golden   Mastering
Olga Goreas   Composer,Producer,Group Member
Jace Lasek   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Group Member
Nicole Lizee   Arranger,Composer,Group Member,Flute Arrangement,Horn Arrangements,String Arrangements,Saxophone Arrangement
Steve Raegele   Group Member
David William Smith   Audio Engineer
Corri Lynn Tetz   Cover Painting
Daniel Murphy   Design,Design Assistant
David Wm. Smith   Mixing,Engineer
Richard White   Group Member