Bell Orchestre is a six-piece

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

band from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. It was formed in 1999 by multi-instrumentalist Richard Parry and violinist Sarah Neufeld. Both also joined

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member S ...

. They were joined in Bell Orchestre by

Michael Feuerstack Michael Feuerstack is a Canadian indie rock musician, who has been associated with the bands Wooden Stars and Snailhouse. Snailhouse was essentially a solo project with multiple contributing artists, including Julie Doiron of Eric's Trip, with ...

(steel guitar), Stefan Schneider (drums/percussion), Pietro Amato (French horn/electronics), and Kaveh Nabatian (trumpet/

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usual ...

). (Parry remains with Arcade Fire as well as Bell Orchestre; Neufeld left Arcade Fire. Amato is a member of

the Luyas The Luyas are a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2006 from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. History The Luyas did their first live performance in December 2006. Their first album, ''Faker Death'' came out in August 2007, and was re-released in Januar ...

and Torngat, and a and part-time member of

. Schneider is also a member of the Luyas. Nabatian is a member of

Little Scream Little Scream is the stage name of American-born, Montreal-based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumental musician and artist Laurel Sprengelmeyer. Her debut album '' The Golden Record'' was released on Outside Music in Canada and Secretly Canadian ...

, as well as a film director whose films have included ''

Vapor In physics, a vapor (American English) or vapour (British English and Canadian English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critic ...

'', ''The Seven Last Words'' and ''Without Havana''.) The band released the demo ''Bell Orchestre'' in 2002 then, in late 2003, they recorded their first album, at the same time and in the same studio where Arcade Fire recorded ''

Funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

''. Arcade Fire's popularity quickly grew, they went on tour, and the Bell Orchestre album release was put on hold. ''

Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light ''Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light'' is the debut release of Montreal-based instrumental act Bell Orchestre. On the back of the album, the track listing includes a track set off from the rest called (frost). On the iTunes Music Store ...

'' was released in 2006. The band toured Europe and the US to promote the album. At the

Juno Awards of 2007 The Juno Awards of 2007 were hosted in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada on the weekend ending 1 April 2007. These ceremonies honoured music industry achievements in Canada during most of 2006. The event was well known for a possible tape delay by t ...

, the album was nominated for Instrumental Album of the Year. Bell Orchestre released its second album, ''

As Seen Through Windows ''As Seen Through Windows'' is the second album by Canadian band Bell Orchestre. It was recorded at Soma Electric Studios in Chicago, IL (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interact ...

'' on March 10, 2009. It was recorded in Soma Electric Studios in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. At the

Juno Awards of 2010 The Juno Awards of 2010 honoured music industry achievements in Canada for the latter part of 2008 and for most of 2009. These ceremonies were in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada during the weekend ending 18 April 2010. Primary cerem ...

, the album won the award for Instrumental Album of the Year. On October 20, 2020 the band released a new single "IX: Nature That's It That's All." along with its music video. On the same day they announced that they had signed to the British indie record label

Erased Tapes Erased Tapes Records is a London-based independent record label focusing on releasing avant-garde and experimental electronic music. History The record company was established by Robert Raths in early 2007 in London, with the release of Ryan ...

. In 2021, they released the album ''House Music''.

Discography

* '' Bell Orchestre'' (2002, demo), Independent * ''

'' (2005), Rough Trade Records * ''Who Designs Nature's How'' (2009, EP), Arts & Crafts Productions * ''

'' (2009), Arts & Crafts Productions * ''House Music'' (2021), Erased Tapes Records

References

Canadian Geographic ''Canadian Geographic'' is a magazine published by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, (RCGS) based in Ottawa, Ontario. History and profile After the Society was founded in 1929, the magazine was established the next year in May 1930 unde ...

''
Bell de Jour - Montreal's Bell Ochestre Catching Fire
by Sarah Liss in '' Now Magazine''
Interview with Richard Parry
at ''Torontoist.com''
Bell Orchestre article
March 2009
Pitchfork articleCTV article
;Videos
Short film ''Les Lumières'' at NFB.ca
{{Authority control Canadian post-rock groups Rough Trade Records artists Musical groups from Montreal Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year winners Arts & Crafts Productions artists Musical groups established in 2002 2002 establishments in Quebec

Discography

References

External links