Biography
“A History of Layers” is the fourth release from beloved Winnipeg singer/songwriter/artist/activist Ian La Rue, and the first with new band The Condor. Featuring Matt Magura on drums, Andrew Workman on guitar and producer Mike Petkau on bass (a spot now filled by new member Louis Lévesque Coté), The Condor provide a variety of new colours to La Rue's already dazzling palette.
Among the healthy, ever-growing crop of thoughtful songwriters that have emerged from the oddly fertile city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, La Rue has remained ever distinguished by his overarching passion, his remarkable positivity and his electrifying performances, as well as his willingness to step outside of his comfort zone and tackle a variety of projects. Playing and touring both solo and as a member of other bands since 1998, creating scores for film and performances, foraying into visual art, and organizing events and actions have contributed to his skills as a songwriter, a performer and a keen-eyed observer of the human condition.
La Rue is well known alternately for his stunningly intense, affecting live performances (both solo and with the Condor) and the more layered, atmospheric power of his recordings. On “A History of Layers,” Ian connects the two sides of his music as never before, presenting the raw, confident power and live energy of his new band without losing the attention to detail and experimentation that he's known for. Recorded over a year and a half period at MCM studios in their hometown, the group has created a document that sacrifice neither clarity nor passion; the scrappiness of a raging live performance and the precision of a studio stream seamlessly and simultaneously.
Lyrically, La Rue explores the undercurrents of fear and despair that mark modern urban life, but always with an eye on solutions and an abiding faith in our power to overcome. The title of the album alludes to not only the layers of complexity and contradiction that we must attempt to unravel in search of these solutions, but also to building community, and working together towards a common goal.
This album is not just an exploration of these goals but a culmination of them, as La Rue, The Condor, and his vast constituency of friends and musicians can easily attest.
"A History of Layers" will be available February 12, 2010 with national touring to follow.
For fans of: Hot Water Music, Sigur Ros, Pedro the Lion, Death Cab for Cutie, Julie Doiron
Reviews for ILR&C
...HEROHILL...
Ian La Rue & the Condor
A History of Layers
(Independent)
February 2, 2010
When people think of Winnipeg, thoughts undoubtedly drift to the Golden Boy, Louis Riel's home and frigid winters. Thanks to talented song writers like John K. Samson, we all have vivid mental images of a city most have never even stopped in; the music we love has made their stories our stories. We've all been on that bus or alone in that shitty apartment. We've all spent cold nights with broken hearts and broken dreams, trapped in The Gateway to the West. Undoubtedly, we've all hated or loved the Winnipeg Jets and muttered, "I Hate Winnipeg" with more conviction than we have about any other city.
Without typecasting the sound - especially after we found out just how diverse the sound was on our Manitoba mixtape - I've found a surprisingly high number of acts that effortless blend emotion, energy, characters and heart into surging anthems that make you move, even when you focus in on what's being said. Whether it's The Weakerthans, The Paperbacks (a band Ian shares a sound and member with) or new to me, but seasoned vet of several releases, Ian La Rue & The Condor, Winnipeg seems to be full of artists that pen songs tug on your heart strings, but sound better the louder you crank them up.
A History of Layers is heavy on sing-alongs and fist pumpers (Sanguine Cursive, Cadence) and slow burning ballads (A Crow's Flight, Altruist's Anthem), but La Rue never hides his narratives behind the music. On every song, you get the impression the words La Rue sings mean something to him, and as a result, they mean something to us. More importantly, no matter how much emotion the Winterpegger adds to his songs, he never drifts into the emo-esque emotional realm that caters to angst ridden mall teens and no one else. The record is accessible and easy, but has a depth you don't get from people that haven't experienced life.
La Rue's songs move with a sense of purpose. The undercurrents that run through the record's narratives (fear is the one that you get hit with most often) are matched with atmospheric undercurrents that add drama and electricity to even the most restrained of songs. The B-side of the record is slowed in pace, but the Condor (his band) really thickens up the mix and keep things interesting. The nicely executed slow build of the penultimate track - And It All Comes Down To This - is heavily influenced by Death Cab for Cutie, a band La Rue sites as a potential jump off point for new fans. A History of Layers may never reach the heights of Gibbard's best work, but it certainly fares well enough to warrant the comparison.
...EXCLAIM...
Ian La Rue & the Condor
A History of Layers
March, 2010
It's always fun to see action-packed pop rock come with some hometown spirit, especially when it's Winnipeg. La Rue even sings something oddly similar to a Weakerthans lyric on "A Crow's Fight": "Letting this great city fall." This is La Rue's first recorded venture with new band the Condor, and it was a good experience. They work well together, mixing adrenaline and strength in the faster, guitar-driven songs with patience and self-discipline in the slower ones. There are a few moments that don't fit. For instance, in the last song there's a typewriter sample that's distracting, and "On Pride and Patience" could have used a bit more tweaking. Don't let that discourage you though. La Rue and new members Matt Magura, Andrew Workman and Louis Levesque Cote have made a good album. (Independent)
-Jessica Lewis
...THE UNITER...
Ian La Rue & the Condor
A History of Layers
(Independent)
Feb. 3/ 2010
A History of Layers is a departure for La Rue, it being his first with the band The Condor, featuring Mag 7’s Mat Magura (drums), Mike Petkau (production and bass) and Andrew Workman (guitars). Ian La Rue is usually seen on his knees in front of his pedals making soundscapes through loops and feedback, but here he steps up to the mic and struts some hefty and wordy pop-rock with an appropriate surplus of layers, using all 18 months in the studio to his advantage. Pianos and feedback swirl around rimshots and an un-levered snare that warms the record up nicely. The Greg MacPherson/Weakerthans influence is evident, but it still executes with passion and credibility, coming off as a nicely laid back Jawbreaker (circa Dear You). Extra points for including the incredible Poor Tree’s typewriting sonics on the album’s closing song, which worth sticking around for. La Rue releases A History of Layers on Feb. 12. Look for an interview in next week’s issue of The Uniter.
...The WINNIPEG FREEPRESS...
Ian La Rue & The Condor
A History of Layers
(Independent)
Saturday, April 3, 2010
There's something ineffably Winnipeggian about local singer-songwriter Ian La Rue's songs. Maybe it's the music's blend of delicacy and sturdiness; maybe it's the lyrics that combine the thrust of activism with the grace of poetry; or maybe it's stylistic nods to local acts like the Weakerthans and the Paperbacks.
But that doesn't mean you've heard A History before; it's filled with departures from form, such as the sudden, gutsy guitar extro on the upbeat jangle of People Shaking Hands with Strangers, and the experimental soundscape of Dénouement, which combines urban ambience with an eerie choral feel.
La Rue helpfully includes a link to his evocative lyrics, and they're worth dissecting. However, the significant flaw of A History of Layers is the way the words are at odds with the music, fighting or downright ignoring the meter, as if La Rue were trying to bend a poem into a song. It works on A Crow's Flight, which sounds like spoken-word with accompaniment, but it's mostly jarring -- "inertia" just can't be stretched to four syllables. (3 stars)
-- Jill Wilson
Articles
Feb./Mar. 2010
“I’m cooking on the tour,” Matt Magura announces between bites of his “Little Tadpole” breakfast at the Toad in the Hole on a Saturday afternoon. “I’ve got a Magic Bullet and a butane stove. I’m going to make fucking curry wraps. Smoothies every morning!” Bassist Louis Levèsque Coté is agreeable to the notion; he and Ian La Rue start discussing the possibility of getting an inverter so that the Magic Bullet and possibly a rice cooker could be operated while the van is in motion.
This kind of creativity is surely inevitable when you have seasoned musicians looking forward to a tour. These guys have been around. When Ian La Rue and the Condor (drummer Magura, Coté, and guitarist Andrew Workman) list their other current and previous bands, the lists are long and overlapping. La Rue and Coté have both done stints in Boats and the Paperbacks, for instance. Workman has played in everything from the Horribly Awfuls to Cone Five.
But this is the first time this particular combination has come about, and that, Coté says, is all because of La Rue. “The Condor wouldn’t be a band outside of Ian,” he says. For La Rue, though, having the Condor behind him is a dream come true. “I’ve been looking forward to making a full band record for my whole life. This is it—kinda like the pinnacle of my career,” he says of the new record, titled A History in Layers. “It was a big move on a couple levels, because I always recorded my own stuff, played all my own stuff. So this is the first time I’ve let someone else record it.”
That someone else was Mike Petkau—a longtime staple of the indie rock scene. Petkau is known for playing in bands like Les Jupes, being a sought-after recording engineer and producer and for creating the celebrated and successful Record of the Week Club last year, where he invited, on a weekly basis, three disparate musicians to write and record a track in a single night. Lately, he’s ascended to the position of Artistic Director at the West End Cultural Centre, a move that the guys are all excited about. (The general consensus of his biased-but-honest friends was that he’s going to do an awesome job.)
The West End is the venue for the CD release on February 12, but decision to have the show there was not a simple one, given La Rue’s anarchistic and DIY proclivities. “We struggled really hard with how to do this release,” he says. “We thought about the Park [Theatre], we thought about doing it Create-Your-Own-Venue, Artspace, whatever. But in the end, most of us have connections to the West End.” Workman reassures us that they’re not moving too far from their roots. “We played a show at the Rocker the other week. It doesn’t matter if there’s a state-of-the-art sound system or a crappy P.A. We just want to play in an authentic space.” And when you work hard on a record, you want it to be played to its best advantage in a true listening room. “I take music seriously,” La Rue says. “Sometimes too seriously. Writing can be painful for me. It’s a difficult process.”
The pain of birthing new songs is another reason that La Rue is happy to have the Condor with him on this new record. But the Condor is not just Ian La Rue’s support group (though he does say, “I’d be hopeless without you guys!”). What do they bring to his music? “Power,” La Rue says without hesitation. “And bigness. I’m serious. I guess when I’m writing I always have a band in my head.” The band enables him to realize the sound he imagines, though Coté notes, “It’s not always easy.”
“No, it isn’t,” La Rue agrees. “It’s a lot of trial and error and blank stares.”
“Ian’s put a lot of trust in us,” Magura says, “as the band that’s making the things you got in your head come about. It’s pretty organic.” The guys say that though the band plays the songs La Rue writes, it’s a collaborative process developing them for the record and the live show. “I think the Condor is definitely not just a backing band,” La Rue says.
The band name wasn’t just picked for its cool phonetics or the currency of the wildlife motif. “We were originally going to be called Ian La Rue and the Sparrowhawks,” La Rue explains. “But they’re less powerful. The condor to me was really… strong. And I like the idea that the condor, as a bird, almost went extinct, down to 12 animals, and they brought it back up to a more healthy number. And they have ten-foot wingspans! But listen to this: they have really small chest muscles. They can’t really flap very well. So it can often take them awhile to get off the ground. And once they get up there, they just soar on the thermals.”
“We don’t flap very much. We have small chest muscle,” Coté summarizes. Magura gets a thoughtful look on his face and asks, “Isn’t the condor the one with the disgusting skin head?”
La Rue nods. “Small ugly heads. And as for the singular vs. plural—well, having many condors, that’s crazy! One is all you need, I think.”
“If you saw one condor in your life, that would be enough,” Workman says.
“Exactly,” La Rue agrees.
Ian La Rue and the Condor release A History of Layers at the West End Cultural Centre on Friday, February 12, with guests Nova and Cannon Bros.
-Jenny Henkelman
...THE UNITER...
Struggles and triumphs
Ian La Rue and The Condor face their fears and have fun on A History of Layers
by Aaron Epp (Managing Editor)
February 10th 2010
When it comes to Winnipeg’s music scene, the first quarter of 2010 belongs to literate rockers with activist roots.
In January, The Paperbacks released their double CD Lit From Within. Next month will see the release of Greg MacPherson’s new disc, Mr. Invitation.
And this Friday, Feb. 12, it’s Ian La Rue’s turn.
The veteran singer-songwriter will release A History of Layers at the West End Cultural Centre. It’s his fourth release and first with new band The Condor, a group rounded out by guitarist Andrew Workman, bassist Louis Levèsque Coté and drummer Matt Magura.
Over drinks at a Corydon Avenue bar last week, La Rue and Magura described the making of A History of Layers as “a journey of patience and reward.” Recorded at MCM Studio with engineer Mike Petkau, who co-produced the disc and handled bass duties, the nine-song CD took 18 months to complete mostly due to financial reasons.
That was fine with the band, though.
“We felt that if the songs are good, we could wait and give the record the time it needed,” La Rue said. “This is the best stuff I’ve ever done.”
Workman, Levèsque Coté and Magura fill out La Rue’s sound while still retaining the raw urgency and experimentation that marked his earlier recordings.
A History of Layers also marks a lyrical shift for La Rue, who says his focus has turned from the political to the personal.
“I used to write lyrically about world issues or things in the world I felt moved by,” he explained. “There was a turning point where I began seeing that I can write about stuff happening to me or in my own community, and that can be just as important, or more important, than writing about world issues.
“Instead of writing about someone else’s fears, I can write about my own.”
The undercurrents of fear and despair that mark modern urban life figure prominently in the lyrics on A History of Layers, but always alongside a search for solutions and ways to move forward.
“Life is essentially about struggle and triumph – it is for me, anyway,” La Rue said. “It’s about just being ultra honest and sincere, and not being afraid to say, I’m really fucked up, or I get depressed.
“It’s OK to have a bad day – everyone has them. But you’ve got to work through it. Really owning it is the way to get past it, and that’s what music is to me: owning and embracing it, and then moving on.”
While the music may come from a place of sadness or struggle, the band is looking forward to playing upbeat live shows at the West End and on tour in February and April.
“I think we’ve only played four shows since going into the studio,” Magura said. “That definitely lends itself to the anticipation of rocking out at the CD release show.”
Ultimately, La Rue adds, the band isn’t about being ultra-rehearsed and playing note-perfect. It’s about having fun and expressing their mutual love for music.
“We’re definitely friends before we’re bandmates,” he said. “I’m super thankful for that.”
Reviews for Ian La Rue
...EXCLAIM!...
Ian La Rue
Bull Days
(Independent)
By Liz Worth
February 07, 2007
Winnipeg’s Ian La Rue pull together scatterings of found sounds, expressive vocal fabrications and flowing, atmospheric guitars, both acoustic and electric, to create the masterful EP Bull Days. “Catalyst/conquered” is wrought with the sense of a restrained disappointment that morphs into a wonderfully explicit introduction and becomes an irresistible invitation to delve deeper into La Rue’s songwriting. These songs sound like they’re gritting their teeth, trying to contain themselves within a sense of hurried insistence that is cloaked in flowing, acoustic atmospheres. La Rue allows for varied elements to trickle into these jaded lullabies. “Disorgan” is a multi-instrumental journey into shards of chaos, while “A Crow’s Flight” carries sloping, country jangles that swirl in and out of the arrangements. Bull Days denotes a landscape of languor and disenchantment carved out against a patchwork of intricately weaved styles.
...The UNITER...
Ian La Rue
Bull Days
(Independent)
by Derek Leschasin
Nov. 30/ 06
Ian La Rue has quietly been etching out a space for himself as a singer-songwriter in Winnipeg's indie music scene, and his latest release, Bull Days, captures the best of his live performances. While only a six-track release, the length of the songs ensures you're getting your money's worth. La Rue sings and plays all the instruments, from slide guitar to reed organ, on this disc- his musical talent and songwriting skills are not to be disputed. His lyrics are poignant and thoughtful, while not being heavily political or obscure.
This isn't exactly party music. The six tracks on Bull Days range from quiet ambient music to straight up offerings, altogether creating a sombre melancholy atmosphere that is as much a part of Winnipeg, and more authentic, than anything found in a CanadInns bar in the suburbs. there's something about this city that creates truly great songwriting, and Ian La Rue falls within that tradition.
...UPTOWN...
IAN LA RUE
Bull Days
(Indie)
by John Kendle
Nov. 2/ 06