Montreal’s new online arts magazine offers a breadth of coverage ranging from books to film, TV, stage, music and visual art. Look to the Rover for frequent updates from the wide world of Montreal culture.

After a soft launch on October 1, the Rover is ready to go public. Top young talents from Montreal’s indie music scene will headline our official launch at Sala Rossa on November 27. The evening will be hosted by the Rover’s founder and editor Marianne Ackerman, backed up by literary editor Elise Moser and some two dozen Montreal writers who post on the site.

In the line-up: Amanda Mabro with The Cabaret Band, singer-songwriter Coral Egan, the instrumental pop quintet Sweet Mother Logic and folk rock group The Darling DeMaes.

Purchase your $10 ticket now to ensure admission.

Or, become a Rover member at $30, and in addition to the launch, enjoy great savings on Montreal culture – a full panier of discount tickets, gifts and coupons, to be announced at the event.

(General admission tickets can be converted to membership at the launch.)

The Talent…

The Darling DeMaes

[audio:02_A_Day_In_Her_Life.mp3|titles=A Day In Her Life (Obituary Version)|artists=The Darling Demaes]
Montreal’s The Darling DeMaes (pronounced “de-Mays”) blend pop melodies with experimental song structures and visual lyrics that drift from hope and joy to horrific images of the everyday. In 2008, the DeMaes were awarded the F.A.C.T.O.R. “Independent Artist Recoding – Juried” loan to record their first full-length album. Their debut LP recorded at Mountain City studio with Joseph Donovan (Sam Roberts, The Dears) was released November 7.

“While it’s easy to throw around the term “indie” with reference to The DeMaes, the group’s output is a unique blend of classic folk with their own upbeat relevant approach… The product is a poetic, lyrically focused batch of songs that are likely to set them aside from the rest of the genre.” ~ Steve Adamyk, XPress

“A beautiful discovery to be made.” ~ Clemence Risler, Voir Montreal

Amanda Mabro

[audio:03_Dont_It_Feel_Good.mp3|artists=Amanda Mabro|titles=Don't It Feel Good]
A young performer with an astonishingly rich voice, Amanda Mabro has worked with producer/co-writer Cozmos Quazar to craft a sound that fuses the smooth and sultry vocal stylings of jazz legends, the raw energy of indie-rock and blues, and the mysterious theatrical flare of German and French Cabaret. Her music embodies a fresh exuberance and intensity that jazz-based music has seen too little of in the past three decades.

“With a versatile vocal style ranging from a coquettish coo to a milk-curdling brassiness, Montreal’s Amanda Mabro shines on this six-track disc, a departure from the Cabaret Band stylings of old. Backed by fluid arrangements of piano, guitars, percussion, violin, accordion and synths, and deftly produced by her right-hand man, Cozmos Quazar, Mabro & cie fuse what were once evident influences into something more modern and unique. A cover of Jolie Holland’s “Old Fashioned Morphine” is an umbilical cord to the blues, but their timely tune “Nuit Blanche,” in French and coated in pixie dust, sounds like a key to the future.” ~ Lorraine Carpenter, the Mirror

Coral Egan

[audio:02_Clean_Up_Time.mp3|titles=Clean Up Time|artists=Coral Egan]
As a singer and songwriter, Coral Egan creates landscapes of musical imagery and lyrical meaning that convey emotional depth and are of lasting appeal. Her stage presence exudes charisma and sensuality, but is strongly grounded by her earthy humanity, connecting the singer effortlessly to her audience.

Born and raised in Montreal, Coral is the daughter of singer, composer and performer extraordinaire Karen Young, so unsurprisingly, her musical education began from day one. Her mother‘s ever-evolving musical tastes helped forge Coral’s eclectic ear. Falling asleep backstage at her mother’s shows, or during rehearsals at home, Coral lived and breathed the vibrant musical life of Montreal in its myriad musical eclecticism. At age eleven, her drive to be a part of the excitement won her a solo a cappella performance at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. This was a defining moment; she then knew what she would become.

Sweet Mother Logic

[audio:01_Ascension_Island.mp3|titles=Ascension Island|artists=Sweet Mother Logic]
Consisting of two cellos, synths, vintage organs, bass, guitar, drums, and piano, this instrumental quintet stirs a wide variety of styles and sounds together to form something new and tasty. Formed in January of 2007, Sweet Mother Logic is relatively new to the Montreal music scene, though with five shows under their belt, the band’s progress has been unexpectedly fruitful. Described by some as a cross between Battles and Bell Orchestre, the band’s moody chord progressions, intricate rhythms, and free improvisation collide, giving birth to a danceable, high-energy groove that is complex but still easy to listen to.

Ascension Island is Sweet Mother Logic’s debut EP, released June 26, 2008. Over the four instrumental tracks, the mellow sounds of cellos are mixed with analog synths and electric guitars over jagged beats, flowing from tense chaos to melody. As the public’s introduction to Sweet Mother Logic, it is also the band’s introduction to the world of recording. Hence they kicked things off the old-fashioned way, and recorded and mixed the EP live off the floor onto 2″ tape at the Treatment Room, one of Montreal’s finest analog studios.