Stargazing
and glue-sniffing

by JACK OATMON

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned lab.synthèse, a new art space that has opened up in Outremont at 435 Beaubien W. in loft 200, just below Nice Music and their gargantuan selection of vinyl singles and rarities. Well, on a recommendation from the members of local moody pop trio Parlovr, I dropped by on Jan. 26 for the launch of cool-ass culture zine Four Minutes to Midnight’s ninth issue.

The first thing that crept up on me as I arrived was how much had been done to maximize the space which, at my last visit two months before, had basically been four walls, a scrubby wood floor and a nondescript stage. The room had been filled out with sparse tasteful lighting, some wall hangings, an LCD projection set-up and some modular couches. The arrangement was inviting and spacious enough for a couple hundred people to rock out in. The space was also being used to very interesting effect, as an approachable, talkative crowd took advantage of the art supplies and paper provided, making just the sort of twisted doodles and love letters one might expect from a bunch of design-types boozing after midnight.

The music was eclectic enough for me too, with deadpan dissonance from local skronk merchants American Devices and the insightful cosmic wisdom of noted American astronomer Carl Sagan and his four other selves, standing in for indie Internet-junkie rockers, Flames!. I’m still kicking myself for showing up right as Parlovr finished playing, as I’ve been hearing good things about their live performance. No worries, however, I’ll get to them when they open for Most Serene Republic on Feb. 23 at Lambi. Not only were the bands and astronomers variable enough to please my finite attention span, but the DJ filling out the gaps between the acts provided just enough brooding new wave to keep the angular, artsy-fartsy vibe from tumbling into the hellish quagmire of granola-eating arts-and-crafts nights.

All that strangely congruous variety, along with the, um, perks, of an independently run venue made for a fabulous and engaging evening that would satisfy just about any subcultural magpie’s bloated demands. Furthermore, from what I can gather from communication with the venue’s directors, there is a great desire to continue focusing on artistically motivated events and make serious attempts to maintain the space as a place where only the most progressive and thoughtful exhibitions occur. Like the big, Ramones-themed Rock ’n’ Roll High School blowout goin’ down on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14. Whoo! Let’s sniff some glue!

So keep your eyes peeled for more events there, and check them out if you have a jam in planning that might suit their style. In other news, I have a slight correction to make. Last week, I said Khiasma’s Mundial night at Sing Sing would be going down weekly on Saturdays, but in fact it was only the launch that was last Saturday. The weekly night will be each Thursday, starting tonight.

And finally, I recently nabbed a copy of the track “Suite 9” by PUZIQUe, a collaboration between production prodigies D.I.M. and Boys Noize, and it’s a heady thriller of minimal techno madness.

FUCK, MY BRAIN-FONT IS STUCK ON WINGDING AGAIN… jack.oatmon@gmail.com