Mojo - The Music Magazine

MONTREAL FEELS LIKE a north-American city, yet the street signs are French, bakers offer pain biologique, folks say bonjour as you walk into shops. Initially, it's slightly disconcerting - France transplanted to Canada with underlying hints suggesting the proximity of the Stars and Stripes. The editor of American lifestyle magazine J'Adore recommends MOJO a restaurant "that does good escargot". And then there's the money, bearing images of our very own Queen.

MOJO is here during MEG, a four-day bonanza of new music that takes place in venues around the city and on a dedicated stage at the huge two-day outdoor festival Oshéaga. Montréal is also hosting the 11-day Francofolies, a city-centre festival dedicated to Francophone music, both from Quebecoise Canada and France.

MEG kicks off at Le Divan Orange, a small city-centre bar. Initially Montreal Electronic Groove, MEG has morphed into the more-encompassing Montreal Eclectic Groove. Which is fitting, as the festival's opening act Random Recipe eschew the digital. A four-piece with an equal gender split, their hip-hop percussion, blues slide guitar, human beat box, rap and sweet melodic vocals create a streetwise, but self-conscious, mix. Cougarettes follow them. Fond of volume and attack, this great female-fronted quartet fuse French cold wave with the hyper-aggression of Atari Teenage Riot. After that, Noia's harsh electro pop seems a bit tame. The pick of day two are keyboard/guitar/drum trio Meta Gruau, who conjure up visions of a heavy metal Stereolab. Ballroom venue L'Olympia finds five-piece Latin-filtered-through-techno outfit Misteur Valaire hopping like bunnies. Entertaining and charming, they're the opposite of headliners Omnikrom; generic rap with lazy boasting and finger pointing. Curiously, the French-Canadian bands sing in English, with between song banter in French.

Saturday comes and so does Oshéaga, held on a man-made island in the Saint-Laurent river in the Parc Jean Drapeau. The island's soil was excavated during the construction of the metro system. Oshéaga has two main stages, a third for MEG and a fourth - the Scène Des Arbres - for new acts. Elbow's charisma and warmth dominate the main stages: women shout "I want to marry you" at Guy Garvey. No one wants to marry the sloppy and perfunctory Eagles Of Death Metal. Sweden's Lykke Li (pictured) and her propulsive Toyahisms are an unlikely hit on the MEG stage. Ironically, considering the origins of the island, the Scène des Arbres showcases recycled ideas and landfill indie. The politely riffing Gentleman Reg and the flat Americana of The Rural Alberta Advantage aren't raising too many temperatures.

Sunday's torrential rain stops just before Vampire Weekend's Oshéaga set of cartoon Africana. On the MEG stage Parisian dance-rockers Naïve New Beaters fail to demonstrate they've found a new way of saying something that's been said before. Local boy Rufus Wainwright - solo with an acoustic guitar and grand piano - adds to the familiar (Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk, Poses) with a song from his new opera. "Think of it like sorbet, to cleanse the palate" he cracks. Mother Kate joins him for the McGarrigle sisters' Entre La Jeunesse. It's wonderfully poignant, silencing the crowd.

Francofolies is French all the way. A Nino Ferrer tribute featuring a raft of French-Canadian stars (Catherine Major, Mara Tremblay) is by turns reverential and cheesy, but marvellous. Parisian visitor Sammy Decoster's energetic French-slanted Americana wins over an all-ages audience. Even his Hank Snow cover gets warm applause. The big Francofolies ticket is Juliette Gréco. She's 82, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a true legend. A standing ovation greets her and, boy, she's little. What follows is hour-and-a-half of her, her voice, a grand piano and an accordion. Each song is introduced by its songwriter and title: "Serge Gainsbourg, La Javanaise." The string of classic Left Bank chanson - Jolie Môme, Jacques Brel's Ne Me Quitte Pas, Leo Ferré's Avec Le Temps - is rendered with refined arm gestures and a commanding presence. She even makes space for newer songwriters, performing Abd al Malik's Tout Iras Bien. It's incroyable.

After Gréco, it's off to see Pierre Lapointe, a Quebecoise French-language star who's largely unknown outside Canada. His seven-piece band includes violin, Moog and grand piano, so it's immediately clear this isn't going to be run of the mill. Lapointe is extraordinary. Looking like a cross between a young Eric Cantona and Muse's Matt Bellamy, his voice and delivery are crystal clear, soaring. Songs veer from baroque fantasias to sweeping ballads that reflect an immersion in the chanson tradition. Yet there's nothing old hat about this; it's utterly modern, driving and supremely confident. Musically, his closest cousin is 1968-72 Michel Polnareff.

From French icons to crossover dance and indie, everything between is here. Montréal is infused with music. With winters commonly 30 below zero and the outdoor months limited, there's ample opportunity for sonic explorers - perhaps the next Arcade Fire - to evolve away from the public eye. The quality, quantity and scope of visiting musicians can only stoke that fire, raising the bar. It's just a matter of time before the world's ears turn towards Montréal.

Kieron Tyler

Juliette Greco by Pierre-Paul Poulin (www.ruefrontenac.com)
Lykke Li by Julie Artacho (www.julieartacho.com)