The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse
| The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 20, 2007 | |||
| Recorded | Breakglass Studio (Montreal, Canada) | |||
| Genre | Post-rock Psychedelic rock Indie rock Shoegaze | |||
| Length | 45:26 | |||
| Label | Jagjaguwar (U.S.) Outside Music (Canada) | |||
| Producer | Jace Lasek, Olga Goreas | |||
| The Besnard Lakes chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 83/100[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | [2] |
| Drowned in Sound | 9/10[3] |
| musicOMH | [4] |
| Now | [5] |
| Pitchfork | 8.2/10[6] |
| Q | [7] |
| Spin | [8] |
| Stylus | B+[9] |
| Uncut | [10] |
| Under the Radar | 9/10[11] |
The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse (sometimes referred to as ...Are the Dark Horse) is the second studio album by the Canadian rock band The Besnard Lakes,[12] released in 2007 (see 2007 in music). The album was The Besnard Lakes' first release on indie label Jagjaguwar and was self-produced by bandleaders Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas. It was nominated for the 2007 Polaris Music Prize.
Track listing
All songs written by Olga Goreas, Jace Lasek, except (1, 5, 6) by Goreas, Lasek, and Nicole Lizée.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Disaster" | 5:42 |
| 2. | "For Agent 13" | 5:12 |
| 3. | "And You Lied to Me" | 7:20 |
| 4. | "Devastation" | 5:50 |
| 5. | "Because Tonight" | 7:11 |
| 6. | "Rides the Rails" | 4:56 |
| 7. | "On Bedford and Grand" | 5:06 |
| 8. | "Cedric's War" | 4:05 |
Personnel
- The Besnard Lakes
- Olga Goreas – vocals (2–8), bass (2–8), glockenspiel (2), synthesizer (4), organ (5), drums (5, 8)
- Jace Lasek – vocals (1–3, 5–8), guitars (1–3, 5–8), bass (1), drums (1, 6, 7), organ (2, 3, 5, 6), synthesizer (2, 5, 8), piano (2, 6, 7), tambourine (2, 6, 7), Rhodes electric piano (7), lap steel guitar (8)
- Kevin Laing – drums (2, 3, 4, 8)
- Nicole Lizée – all string, horn, flute and saxophone arrangements (1, 6), Rhodes (3, 7), synthesizer (3), bass (4), string arrangement (5), piano (7)
- Steve Raegele – guitars (3, 4), vocals (6)
- Richard White – guitars (not on album)
- Additional musicians
- Heather Schnarr – violin (1, 5, 6)
- Sophie Trudeau – violin (1, 6)
- Chris Seligman – French horn (1, 6)
- Billy Boufford – flute (1, 6), soprano saxophone (1, 6)
- Jonathan Cummins – guitar (3, 4)
- Jerimiah Bullied – guitar (4)
- Eric LaRock – bass (4)
- George Donoso III – drums (4)
- Jean-Paul Terron – drums (4)
- The Fifth String Liberation Singers Choir (Catherine McCandless, Corri-Lynn Tetz, Elizabeth Powell, Susan Beckett, Olga Goreas) – vocals (5)
- Production
- Jace Lasek – producer, recording engineer, mixing
- Olga Goreas – producer
- David William Smith – recording engineer (3)
- John Golden – mastering
- Corri-Lynn Tetz – cover painting
- Todd Stewart – illustration, design assistance
- Daniel Murphy – design assistance
References
- ^ "Reviews for The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse by The Besnard Lakes". Metacritic. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
- ^ McClintock, J. Scott (February 20, 2007). "The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse - The Besnard Lakes". AllMusic. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
- ^ Dowling, Jordan (19 February 2007). "The Besnard Lakes: The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 3 April 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
- ^ Jex, Andy (19 February 2007). "The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse". musicOMH. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
- ^ Liss, Sarah (February 28, 2007). "THE BESNARD LAKES - Are The Dark Horse". Now. Archived from the original on February 24, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Berman, Stuart (February 20, 2007). "Are the Dark Horse - The Besnard Lakes". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
- ^ Intriguing, unpredictable and far from ordinary. [Mar 2007, p.110]
- ^ Rarely has dispiritedness sounded so uplifting. [Mar 2007, p.88]
- ^ Miller, Derek (February 20, 2007). "The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on May 5, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ An amazing album. [Mar 2007, p.75]
- ^ Their overarching fingernail-meets-chalkboard eeriness... is what prevents a lapse into the preciousness that sometimes accompanies orchestrated indie rock, making the album a rousing success. [#16, p.90]
- ^ McClintock, J. Scott. "( The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse > Overview )". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-10-28.