:: Download Hexes & Ohs 2008 Presskit ::
“… Lam and Donnelly delight throughout by introducing bittersweet boy/girl harmonies into the slippery mix of post-punk thud, newfangled dancefloor electronics and unapologetic pop savvy pioneered years ago by ancestors such as New Order and Depeche Mode.” - Toronto Star
“heartfelt boy-girl synth-pop that sounds like the Submarines collided with Woodhands. Slick synth production combined with propulsive dance beats back the couple’s cooing back-and-forth vocal harmonies and melodic, indie-rock-influenced guitar work. NNNN” - NOW Toronto
“… multi-hued arrangements, and a ceaseless flow of alluring hooks. It’s hard to pick favourites when so many stand out on this major-league effort” - Textura Magazine
“The world’s cutest “longtime couple” have put some of the warmest, sweetest synth-pop songs in the genre’s existence.” - SEE Magazine
“”Bedroom Madness” is here! One of the most anticipated releases to come out this year comes from this duo made up of two talented individuals” – CBC Radio 3 (New Music Canada – Featured Artist)
“It doesn’t take a band full of hands to create slick, modest electro-pop – the longtime couple provided their music with the clarity, structure and gentle care it needed to distinguish itself. This is well-parented stuff: happy, buoyant and secure. 4/5″ - the Hour
“given the spike in confidence and pop appeal plainly audible on their new record, Bedroom Madness, this is definitely a duo on the rise.” – Montreal Mirror
“… they’ve taken cues from the best in the business — “Suspicion” and the horn-inflected “Try So Hard” are the best songs The Postal Service never wrote. Bedroom Madness is an impressive studio debut that chronicles all the joy and insecurity of puppy love. 4/5″ – EYE Weekly
“Pop gems, dominated by the lush guitar sounds. It’s a kind of triumphant nerd rock that sets toes tapping and keeps you chewing out a rhythm with your bubblegum.” – FFWD
“(Bedroom Madness) solidifies the band’s super-trendy sound. Their music is filled with the optimism of happy lovers that is just so darn… well, cute” – Nightlife Magazine
“Honest, sexy, earnest and sweet — a catchy collection that will get even the most jaded hipster nodding their head.” – the Uniter
“If you could combine kisses and hugs with evil spells and ecstatic moans in a time-wasting pen-n-paper game format, you’d have MTL’s hottest electro pop couple, Hexes and Ohs.” – midnightpoutine.ca
“… from dance party tracks (“H-H-Highschool”) to romantic tunes fit for the bedroom (“Suspicions”). This is a fresh take on a genre that is quickly becoming saturated with mainstream drivel” – Stylus Magazine
2008
Stylus Magazine Review
EYE Weekly Feature
NOW Toronto – Dan Burke’s pick
BlackingOutTheFriction Blog – Best of 2008
Toronto Star Feature
The Link Feature
NOW Toronto Review
FFWD Weekly Review
the Hour Review
Voir Review
EYE Weekly Review
ChartAttack Feature
CharAttack Feature 2
Uptown Mag Feature
Uniter Feature
See Magazine Review
iHeartMusic.com Review
Midnight Poutine Feature
Montreal Mirror Feature
Ottawa Xpress Feature
Vancouver Straight Review
Soo News Feature
Soo Today Feature
JeNeSaisPop.com Blog Video Review
Discorder Review
Hero Hill blog Review
The Link Feature
MiddleDistanceRunner Blog Entry
Ottawa Sun Feature
Soundproof Magazine Review
the Martlet
Concordian Show Review
TV Guide Review
Nightlife Magazine Review
Textura Magazine Review
ChartAttack featured track
Toronto Star Review
Exclaim Review
Nightlife Magazine Feature
Filter Magazine – Patrick Pentland Top 10 of 2008
Blogarhythms – Blog Entry
2004-2007
Ottawa Xpress – 083106
Ottawa Citizen – 083106
Niagara Pulse – 083106
www.chartattack.com – 080906
www.steelcitymusic.ca – 082806
popmatters.com – concert review – 012406
NOW toronto – vibes – 011206
Montreal MIRROR – NDP benefit feature – 011206
POPmontreal.com – pop picks – 122105
Ottawa Xpress – feature – 091506
the Toronto Star – review – 062306
welovemusique.com – review – 081206
Montreal MIRROR – feature – 052605
VOIR – review – 052605
ICI – review – 052605
Hour – review – 060205
75orless.com -review – 071805
EXCLAIM – review – 02-05
umbrellamusic.com – review – 060405
textura.org – review – 06-05
www.mysteryandmisery.com – review – 111704
www.fatplanet.com.au – review – 11-04
kathodik.it – review – 06-05
gaesteliste.de – review – 09-05
rauschabstand.twoday.net – review – 09-05
westzeit.de – review – 09-05
www.realmusic.de – review – 12-05
Ottawa Xpress – August 31st, 2006
Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover
By Matt Harrison
The story of Montreal’s Hexes & Ohs is one that reaffirms the law of threesomes: They never work. Eventually things get awkward. From my own experience, couples have this tendency to morph into the same being, and though they may have one mind there are still two of ‘em, which can upset a so-called group of equals.
More or less this is how things went down for the band. Back in 2004 Edmund Lam, Heidi Donnelly and Ali Rahman were called Vertical Mosaic and were about to produce their first effort with experimental record label Noise Factory. Instead things got, well… awkward. more…
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Ottawa Citizen – August 31st, 2006
Hexes, Ohs and Tic, Tac, Toes
By Fateema Sayani
Montreal duo Hexes and Ohs are working on a new album scheduled for spring. In the meantime, they’re on the Motion K’Motion EP tour. The album with the handmade sleeve features a preview of what’s to come, says Edmund Lam, guitarist, vocalist and electronic fiddler. He’s the “Oh” of the duo with his romantic better half Heidi Donnelly, who is on bass, electronics and vocals. They play dark-romo-electro and clearly grew up on New Order. (They up the cute factor with “Hexes” and “Ohs” T-shirts that they wear on stage).
“We’ve been playing more shows and discovering new things,” Lam says. “The songs are bolder and simpler with fewer layers.” Look out for the new track, You’re A Hologram, when the band plays Friday.
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Niagara Pulse – August 31st, 2006
Hexes & Ohs
By Jordy Yack
Whether it’s robots slow–dancing across a flashing motherboard floor, or astronauts spinning out of control between crossed telelphone lines, this Montreal duo, Hexes and Ohs seem so down to earth for a project that is so out of this world. For Edmund Lam and Heidi Donnelly, their musical project Hexes and Ohs seemed to find them in the midst of ironing out their musical careers. “We used to be in a pretty serious post rock band where we played really sad, slow experimental stuff. That’s a lot of what we listen to; it was kind of who we are at the same time, we never really explored the fun, happy pop side of it.” explains Lam, while waiting patiently for Donnelly to get her “pre–tour” hair cut. “We kept decreasing the size of the band, we were three and then essentially we felt Heidi and I worked together so well and with electronics now a days, you don’t really need a full band to have a full sound.” more…
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Chart Attack – August 9th, 2006
On The Road Again: Tool, Geoff Berner And Hexes And Ohs
By Chart Attack Staff
Montreal electro-pop duo Hexes And Ohs released their Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover debut full-length on Noise Factory Records last year. They’re hoping to capitalize on the support it received from campus radio for their next album, which they’ll preview with a limited-edition tour-only EP that will feature new material from their forthcoming album, remixes and selections from the current disc. Heidi Donnelly and Edmund Lam, partners in life as well as music, will share stage time with Stolen Minks and Hunter Valentine at these gigs…
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SteelCityMusic.ca – August 28th, 2006
Hexes & Ohs
By Aaron Wrixon
Hexes and Ohs is a cool little band from La Belle Province, with an intriguing and engaging album under their belts. We talked to Edmund about it.
Who are you and where do you come from?
We’re Edmund and Heidi. When we are making music we call ourselves Hexes & Ohs. We come from the little city north of you known as Montréal. more…
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popmatters.com – January 24th 2006
Concert Review
by Erik Leijon
Sounds from the Montreal Underground: Another wave of Canadians is coming for your throne…
My apologies if the Montreal music scene seems a bit full of itself lately. It’s always produced a steady stream of talented bands, but ever since groups like the Arcade Fire, the Stills, and Wolf Parade broke through to international audiences, Montreal acts have become a little dizzy with the attention. They’ve heard what Spin magazine and the New York Times have to say about the scene, and the words “the new Seattle” – not to mention the “Next Williamsburg” — have been bandied about an awful lot. Of course, for Montreal bands Code Pie and Hexes and Ohs, it’s unlikely the attention has fazed them…yet.
(…) Electro-pop duo Hexes and Ohs — also a well-known player on the local scene — was the evening’s headliner. They have an album in stores, Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover, and on this night were premiering their first music video, for a song called “Whadaya Know?”.
The band cites New Order and the Pet Shop Boys as influences, and the correlation between their music and the electronic music of the ’80s is undeniable. The duo — Heidi Donnelly and Edmund Lam — are as close to retro as you can get without being a tribute act. Behind their electronic soundboards they were playing their favorite style of music, but with a twist.
The video seemed to indicate that their songs would be catchy and danceable, but their material ended up being pretty ambient. The songs’ mid-tempo nature made them feel like an electronic Godspeed! You Black Emperor or Explosions in the Sky. That may be an extreme comparison, but the atmospheric, almost dark, nature of their music came as a bit of a shock.
(…) One of the group’s best qualities is the way that it embraces and utilizes technology to maximize its image and performance. The aforementioned video, directed by Stephane Fournier, looked great, and the band used projections during the live set that captured its dreamy-electro sound perfectly. What’s left to be seen is if they capture the world’s hearts just as easily. Better watch out New York; they’re gonna give it a go.
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NOW toronto – January 12th 2006
Vibes
by Benjamin Boles
HEX BREAKERS
Glitchy is good for Hexes & Ohs
When Toronto indie label Noise Factory originally signed Edmund Lam and Heidi Donnelly, they were part of an experimental electronic band called Vertical Mosaic. However, just as they were about to start recording, the band broke up, leaving them to their own devices.
Since the offer was still there, they hunkered down in their apartment, writing and recording their debut as Hexes & Ohs, called Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover. The result is pretty and delicate electro-pop pairing glitchy beats with guitar, bass and even some accordion.
“Our background is in rock music, so that’s still how we approach songwriting,” explains Lam from their Montreal home. “Usually we’ll just start with an acoustic guitar and build up the electronic parts later. The songs are primarily pop. They might be electronic, but they’re not sound-based like a lot of electronic. Rather, they’re song-based.”
\Lam and Donnelly have played together in various bands for many years while also maintaining a long-term romantic relationship, so it makes sense that they’d try to perform as a duo. The electronic aspect has meant that they can comfortably replicate the songs live and tour in a small car or even take the train. Their music is somewhere in between laptop pop and indie rock, so they can play venues that might not have considered them if they were a full band.
However, as they prepare for their second album, they’re starting to consider other options, including lugging around a drum kit again.
“We actually just played a show with a guest drummer and we really liked it, so we may end up doing that more often. We weren’t sure how it was going to go, but he was really good, and it definitely added something.
“The first album was a little conservative. We were still unsure of ourselves, but I think the next one will be more raw, less layered and produced. It’s kind of taking the easy way out when you just layer on tons of stuff — I think we have the confidence now to keep it more stripped down now.
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Montreal MIRROR – January 12th 2006
feature on NDP benefit concert
by Chris Barry
Better Layton than whatever
Are the Mission District, Hexes & Ohs and Dead Messenger eco-phobic hippie haters, conservative agents provocateurs or just lazy pinko bums?
Aren’t musicians cute when they decide to get all political? Sure, these guys can teach you a thing or two about stringing a guitar, but when it comes to hardcore political realities, how many of these longhaired hepcats truly understand the issues they choose to lecture the rest of us about? And don’t say Bono if you know what’s good for you—and not just Vox, that goes for the late, great Sonny as well.
Perhaps I’m being unfair here. Perhaps some music makers really do possess enough insight into policy and legislative matters that we should all stand up and take note of their respective worldviews. Maybe if they tell us to vote NDP, that’s what we should do. Hey, it’s better than having to think for yourself, isn’t it?
To this end, the Mirror cornered reps from three local bands—the Mission District’s David Rancourt, Edmund Lam from Hexes & Ohs and Roger White of Dead Messenger fame—and asked them what it is that’s so wonderful about the New Democratic Party that they’ve chosen to do a benefit gig for them at la Sala Rossa this week. This is what they told us.
Mirror: What good will an NDP government do for you, or anyone, for that matter?
Edmund Lam: Improvements on the health care system would be nice because since turning 27 last month, I’m starting to experience aches and pains I always thought I was immune to as a kid. So I’m looking out for us ageing hipsters.
M: Is your support for the NDP rooted in your distaste for having to pull your own weight in Canadian society, or more about these silly non-issues they’re always harping on about—global warming, improved public health care, more equitable tax legislation?
EL: Less working for money, more working for a healthy planet, that’s what I always say. Some people think environmentalism is ’80s, but I’ve always been fond of the ’80s—and of Jack Layton’s moustache.
M: Being a Quebecer, how did you become aware that some party called the NDP even exists?
EL: I saw one of their ads once and noticed their party colour was orange. I thought to myself, “Hey, it’s not red or blue, that’s pretty gutsy.” I’m a designer, things like that score big points with me.
M: What is it about the Green Party you hate so much that you’re actively trying to steal votes away from them?
EL: They are a bunch of hippies. The NDP is like the Green Party sans all the pot-smoking.
M: Or might your “support” for the NDP really just be a Tory ruse to divide the Liberal vote so we can all soon live under Emperor Harper and his band of God-fearing merrymen?
DR: No, we support them on principle.
EL: I like how “support” is in quotation marks. You shouldn’t be looking at us anyway, it’s the Liberals that have done all they can to ensure us Canadian taxpayers don’t vote for them. And since Harper’s crazy scary, who else am I gonna support? Those Green party hippies?
RW: You know, bands with something to say always seem to hawk more t-shirts when conservatives are in power!
M: Are you aware that even a minority NDP government might be upsetting to the Bush administration? Why would you ever want to upset those good people?
EL: Because if we direct their anger over here a little, they may ease up on poor old Iraq over there. It would be a step towards world peace, really.
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POPmontreal.com – December 21 2005
Picks and Popcast
by Andrew Rose
Lovers – Code Pie, Land of Talk, Hexes and Ohs, Statue Park
I don’t care if it’s laptop-pop, orchestral triumphs or gritty indie stuff; there’s a lot of sexy music being made around these parts. Passion pleases in any form, really. If you love a good tried and true indie sound, try it sprinkled with urgent horns in Code Pie, or topped off with Liz Powell’s sultry singing in Land of Talk. If adorable bleeps or brilliant buzzing is your thing, Hexes and Ohs and Statue Park have it covered.
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Ottawa Xpress – September 15th 2005
Feature
by Jennifer Tattersall and Matthew Harrison
THE HEXES AND OHS OF LADYFEST
After 10 years of working in bands together, as teens in indie-pop outfit Jolly Bean and later in post-rock/experimental troupe A Vertical Mosaic, Montreal indie it-couple Edmund Lam and Heidi Donnelly opted to trim down to a twosome and reinvent themselves as Hexes and Ohs. For their debut Noise Factory release, Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover, Lam and Donnelly holed up in their apartment for close to two months to churn out the electro-pop tunes.
“It’s kind of a funny thing,” says Lam on the phone from Montreal. “To simplify it, Hexes and Ohs is kind of a combination of Jolly Bean and A Vertical Mosaic. Jolly Bean was straight-up Beatles-esque pop, like the Halifax stuff. Vertical Mosaic at one point was really very post-rock, experimental and almost sound-art like.
“Hexes and Ohs is like taking the thing we loved from both of those bands and putting it together and making something simultaneously very pop and accessible and kind of experimental and sonically interesting.”
And this admitted affection for pop music has undoubtedly spread like wildfire through the indie ranks.
“I think at one point in the late mid-’90s, independent music tried to go against what was going on in the mainstream,” says Lam. “I think perhaps there was an insecurity. They didn’t want to mirror the mainstream in any way. I think now, it’s gotten past that and it’s OK to like pop music.”
It’s about actually liking Justin Timberlake, he adds with a laugh. “So there’s kind of a simultaneous embrace and rejection of the mainstream. It’s more OK to do independent pop music as long as it’s aware of any clichés that it embraces.”
As the Fall festival circuit heats up, this week’s Ladyfest show will be hot on the heels of Hexes and Ohs’ showcase at the College Music Journal’s annual CMJ Music Marathon in New York City. H and Ohs is also scheduled to play the Pop Montreal Festival at the end of September, and the Halifax Pop Explosion in mid-October.
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the Toronto Star – June 23 2005
CD Review for “Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover”
by Vit Wagner
Hexes & Ohs is Heidi Donnelly and Edmund Lam, two former members of the Montreal’s A Vertical Mosaic. The couple’s debut for Noise Factory, a label known mainly for releasing ambient electronic discs, strikes a successful balance between the breezily accessible and the quirkily experimental. After an intentionally glitchy, instrumental opener, the album jumps right in to the approachable dream pop of “Alive Until Saturday Night.” The compositions are built from layers of electronics and conventional instrumentation, the synthetic and acoustic blending with the singers’ voices to turn a handful of the tracks, including “Whadaya Know?” and “Snow and Jazz Music” into captivating confections.
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welovemusique.com – August 12 2005
CD Review for “Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover”
by Kerwin W.
Hooray for Montreal’s cutest indie couple (Win and Régine of Arcade Fire get close seconds, but check out this tender-twosome live and you’ll feel overcome with an odd compulsion to eat them up whole, dimples and all). Formed from the ashes of local avant-garde electro-pop outfit A Vertical Mosaic after the departure of one of its members, Ali Rahman, Hexes & Ohs keep the ball rolling on the Noise Factory label with the release of the autobiographically titled, Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover.
Don’t be misled by the name however—this isn’t a compilation of star-crossed lovers’ duets (hello, Peabo). Instead, the newly-minted duo take their former electro experimentation even further on this release, weaving hook-laden, toe-tapping beats into pretty, ethereal sugar-pop confections without the edge of their former incarnation—light as a Sunday afternoon captured in a color-washed 70s home-movie reel, yet with enough substance to avoid stepping into the blatantly saccharine.
Lyrics sway into the abstract, but there’s definitely an undertone of wistfulness that’s apparent throughout their particular brew of danceable boy-girl pop. Cited influences include New Order, Stereolab and even Simon & Garfunkel, which is apt given the duo’s penchant for fragile vocal harmonies (albeit sung in that oh-so-unpolished indie-kid manner).
While this reviewer might have preferred to see a little more of the down-and-dirty action hinted at by this adorable twosome’s pictorial exposés (posted on their website), Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover will more than melt the hearts of those who can check their irony at the door and embrace its earnesty full-on. 88/100
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Montreal Mirror – May 26th, 2005
feature
By Rupert Bottenberg
“Together again for the very first time
Montreal’s Hexes & Ohs are a brand-new band who’ve been together, let’s see, 10 years as of next month. The duo of Heidi Donnelly and Edmund Lam have been an “item,” so to speak, from their start with jangle-pop outfit Jolly Bean, through the lifespan of the avant-tronic think-rock trio A Vertical Mosaic to today’s H&O duo, blending delicate synth-pop and easygoing indie rock with some experimental flourishes. A little too dignified to deflect curiosity with creepy incest rumours like the White Stripes, they address the matter head on…” read more…
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VOIR – May 26th, 2005
CD Review for “Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover”
By Olivier Robillard Laveaux
“Formé du couple Heidi Donnelly / Edmund Lam, anciennement de A Vertical Mosaic, Hexes & Ohs lance son premier album sur l’étiquette torontoise Noise Factory. S’inscrivant dans la mouvance électro pop ambiante menée par des groupes comme Prefuse 73, Four Tet et Notwist, le duo montréalais se différencie de ses contemporains avec des références pop 1980 dansantes. L’utilisation de claviers sur Alive Until Saturday rappelle d’ailleurs New Order. Tout comme à l’époque de A Vertical Mosaic, le couple présente un souci mélodique affiné qui rend sa musique accessible. Une pièce comme Whadaya know? a tout pour devenir le premier succès d’Hexes & Ohs. La formation lance son album le 28 au Main Hall avec Statue Park qui souligne aussi la parution de son nouveau compact le même soir. 4/5″
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ICI – May 26th, 2005
CD Review for “Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover”
By Sarah Lévesque
“Au lieu d’opter pour une pop électro synthétique, le couple Heidi Donnelly et Edmund Lam apporte à son premier album une fibre bricoleuse, mêlant séquenceurs, guitares, claviers et voix. En raison de cette image de duo amoureux, les liens avec Adult sont faciles à tracer. Pourtant, Hexes & Ohs se révèle plus soul, rempli de vie organique. Pop fébrile, cette fragilité transparaît à travers la voix de Lam ou de Heidi qui s’avère souvent un simple petit filet pas toujours juste. Pourtant, c’est dans cette approximation que le discret groupe de la métropole fait fondre les coeurs. Une découverte à faire le 28 mai au Main Hall en compagnie de Statue Park qui lance ausii son album. 8/10 ”
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Hour – June 2nd, 2005
CD Review for “Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover”
By Ilana Kronick
“A gentle and eloquent debut from ex-members of A Vertical Mosaic. Hexes And Ohs delve deeper into electro territory than their previous engagement while still committing to a sweet, pretty-pop mandate. There’s a whiff of tentativeness, but hopes are this duo/couple will soon embrace their Tears For Fears crossed with Howard Jones destiny. Charming.”
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75orless.com – July 18th, 2005
CD Review for “Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover”
By Paul
“Montreal scene veterans Heidi Donnelly and Edmund Lam have gone from band to band thinning their numbers until only the two of them remained. Hexes & Ohs, their latest incarnation, is proof that no more people than necessary need to be involved in the making of a great record. On the surface, I’d say this would appeal immediately to fans of the Postal Service, but deeper down lurks an entire album of obscured melody and experimental craft. Let the world have “Such Great Heights.” “Alive Until Saturday Night” is for you.”
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EXCLAIM – february 2005
concert review for Casa del Popolo, Montreal QC – January 7
By Lorraine Carpenter
“… The recent downsizing of A Vertical Mosaic to Hexes and Ohs suggests that three was a crowd for Edmund Lam and Heidi Donnelly, who’ve left the edge (and their former cohort Ali Rahman) out of their retooled electro-pop oeuvre. Mixing and matching caffeinated beats and bittersweet melodicism with decorative drops of sonic syrup, the pair certainly doesn’t slouch when it comes to song craft. Accompanying their boyish and girlish vocals were neatly arranged guitar, bass and synths, and a moaning duet between a concertina and fab-organ during one song. Hexes and Ohs certainly aren’t a visually-oriented band, but few are these days, including the other bands on this bill, so seek out their tunes online or look for their debut LP, out on Noise Factory this spring or summer.”
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umbrellamusic.com – June 4, 2005
CD Review
By Steve Birek
“Montreal sweethearts continue their quest for accessibility in experimental pop.
Edmund Lam and Heidi Donnelly have accomplished a great deal together. Having spent the past decade or so embarking on sonic adventures in groups like Jolly Bean and A Vertical Mosaic, the duo continue to do what they do best on Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover, melding thinly layered melodic soundscapes over pulsating blips and glitches, resulting in a fluid tapestry that envelopes the reflective lyrical content with a soft embrace. Few can dislike this album, as it’s an honest and inviting palette of expression, no matter how you choose to look at it, but it might not engage everyone. Some will enjoy its rather subdued nature, while others will crave for more energy to come through in the carefully understated music of Hexes and Ohs.
While most of its slightly melancholic and bittersweet songs are similar to one another in terms of pace and feel, the album makes the occasional foray into edgier territory. The tempo picks up briefly during the danceable “Whadaya Know?” which could easily be a sign-along hit at any indie dance night for student intellectuals. “Lashes of an Actress” could have the same effect, but instead it wears its disco influence not on its sleeve but tucked under an indie-pop sweater.
Though the album demonstrates the virtues of such a tight collaborative relationship as Lam and Donnelly’s, one cannot help but think that the intertwined duo is capable of surpassing themselves in future efforts. After all, they are proven experimentalists who have pushed the limits of their small band set-up further and further with each passing project. While Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover is a strong album both conceptually and musically, one can only imagine that when Hexes and Ohs reach their creative peak, the effects will (or at least could) be seismic.”
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textura.org – June 2005
CD Review for “Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover”
Though Hexes & Ohs’ Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover sounds like a full-band effort, it’s actually the product of multi-instrumentalists Heidi Donnelly and Edmund Lam who share vocal, sequencer, and guitar duties. That isn’t anything too unusual these days but it’s nonetheless a conceit convincingly maintained throughout the Montreal duo’s debut full-length, a twelve-track concoction of alternately brooding (“Our Reflection Echoes On”) and delicate, light-hearted (“This and Other Distances”) synth-pop. It’s an instrumentally accomplished outing filled with lyrics covering the familiar terrain of alienation and heartbreak and delivered in a soft vocal style that on occasion calls to mind Simon and Garfunkel. Cited influences include Stereolab and New Order, and it’s not difficult to hear echoes of both surfacing now and then.
The album’s an eclectic mix that includes a sparkling instrumental overture of chiming keys and synth bleeps (“But It Can Build Beautiful Things”), guitar-driven rock (“Whadaya Know?”), experimental interludes with croaking voices and grimy beats (“The Horse’s Myth”), and pretty vocal pop (“Snow and Jazz Music,” “You Can’t Save Face”). With its skittering beats, acidy synth accents, hushed vocals, and twanging guitars, the slightly brooding “Alive Until Saturday Night” showcases the group’s propensity for expansive arrangements. The 11-minute closing song also impresses, though that’s more attributable to naw’s remix abilities. In “Our Reflection Echoes On (camembert, beurre et baguette mix),” the group’s original vocals are heard as intermittent phantom traces but the primary focus is a lightly bumping tech-house groove overlaid by tinkling keys, voice traces, and steely electrical tones.
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www.mysteryandmisery.com – november 17 2004
“I think this is the year I will remember falling in love with bands who use and experiment with electronica to make some pop masterpieces. Hexes and Ohs, an electro-pop duo, is one of those bands. Hexes and Ohs was recently formed after the Montreal electro-band A Vertical Mosaic decided to call it quits. A Vertical Mosaic, as a band, made some beautiful songs from the earingly dark to the get up and dance type of music that even the most sullen indie kid could get into. Hexes and Ohs works off of this philosophy and the two preview tracks off of their upcoming album (Spring 2005) prove this.”
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www.fatplanet.com.au – november 2004
“… a rare fusion that takes the all the most electrifying parts of the electro-rock-post-punk boom, and mixes it up with smart-ass electronica. truly a tasty treat. they are a couple (this fact seems to surface a great deal, yet only in the context of them trying to distance themselves from the concept – odd…), heidi donnelly and edmund lam and were formerly known as a vertical mosaic. influences cited include new order, the velvet underground, stereolab, tortoise and simon and garfunkel (i wonder who plays who in that role playing game?). check them out, ahead of their 2005 debut, at hexesandohs.ca.”
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kathodik.it – June 2005
CD Review for “Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover” (in Italian)
Già parte dei Vertical Form, con i quali hanno licenziato un album e un mini, gli Hexes and Ohs sono un duo canadese (e, per la cronaca, anche marito e moglie), che, con il proprio album d’esordio “Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover” (edito dalla pore canadese Noise Factory), va di buon diritto ad inserirsi in quel nutrito filone post-new wave che annovera tra le proprie fila, per fare qualche nome, Notwist e Lali Puna, Weevil, ISAN, Her Space Holiday, Ladytron, M83. Similmente ai detti loro colleghi (e anche a tutti quelli che potrebbero venire in mente a chi legge ma che sfuggono a chi scrive), i nostri suonano un elettropop gradevolmente melanconico e ballabile, ora in parte chitarroso e molto New Order (Alive until Saturday night, Whadaya know?), ora decisamente più sintetico e non molto lontano dagli Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark prima maniera (The horse’s myth) oppure marcatamente soundscape-oriented (The shape is me, Our reflection echoes on, This and other distances). Nulla di nuovo sotto il sole, naturalmente, ma la meticolosità negli arrangiamenti e l’ottima qualità del suono, nonostante che si tratti di registrazioni casalinghe, rendono “Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover” un piacevole diversivo, nel quale tradizione e avanguardia si accompagnano amorevolmente.
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gaesteliste.de – Sept 2005
CD Review for “Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover”
by Carsten Wilhelm
Falls Ihnen das Warten auf ein neues Postal Service-Album schwerfällt, sollten Sie es mal mit dieser Platte des kanadischen Duos Hexes & Ohs versuchen. Apropos Kanada. Was dort momentan in Sachen Pop passiert, kann einem nur die Freudentränen in die Augen treiben. Erwähnt seien neben Arcade Fire hier nur noch Broken Social Scene oder die famosen Stars. Und die Liste ließe sich fortsetzen. Hinter Hexes & Ohs steckt das Ehepaar Heidi Donenelly und Edmund Lam und wer jetzt gelangweilt abwinkt, liegt völlig falsch, denn in diesem Fall scheint die Ehe tatsächlich zum Katalysator gemeinsamer Ideen geworden zu sein. Und die liegen auf dem Debütalbum “Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover” irgendwo zwischem hippem Electro-Pop und Laptop-Folk. Neben den unglaublich einnehmenden Melodien begeistern die zwei Montrealer mit ihrer Experimentierfreude, ohne dabei in langweiliges Gefrickel abzudriften. Dadurch wird “Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover” zu einer Platte, die den Spagat zwischen Popanspruch und experimenteller Elektronik schlüssig auflöst. Eine ideale Platte für den Club Ihrer Wahl und den Morgen danach.
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rauschabstand.twoday.net – Sept 2005
CD Review for “Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover”
Lange Zugfahrten sind sehr gut geeignet, um sich in neue Musik hereinzufinden: Man kann einfach aus dem Fenster starren und sich auf die Musik konzentrieren. Mit etwas Glück ziehen sogar Strommasten im Takt am Fenster vorbei. Inzwischen ziehen mir in solchen Momenten auch Satzfetzen und nette kleine Ideen für eventuelle Musikkritiken durch den Kopf. Mit einer halbwegs guten Idee und etwas musikalischem Halbwissen hab ich die Musikkritik dann auch schon beisammen. Zur Not geht es auch ohne die Idee.
Auf der Fahrt von Augsburg nach Aachen habe ich sehr viel Hexes & Ohs gehört. Hexes & Ohs ist eine der zahlreichen kanadischen Bands, die momentan meine Gehörwege verstopfen. Auch wenn Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover das Debütalbum der Band ist, sind Heidi Donnelly and Edmund Lam schon eine ganze Weile in der kanadischen Musikszene unterwegs. Noch zu viert mischten sie mit Jolly Bean in den Neunzigern die Pop-Szene auf, um dann 1999 elektronischer und mit einem Musiker weniger als Vertical Mosaic aufzutreten. Inzwischen sind sie nur noch zu zweit, und machen wunderbaren Elektropop irgendwo zwischen widerborstigen Haken und poppigen Hooks.
Hört man den ersten Track, könnte man für etwa 4 Sekunden denken, es handelt sich um Folk im Sinne von Iron & Wine – bis dann das elektronische Äquivalent einer rolligen Katze einsetzt und den Song eher in Richtung Folktronica zieht. Das Album ist voll solcher Überraschungen, und deshalb genau richtig für lange Bahnfahrten – oder auch sonst für fast alle Situationen in die man geraten könnte.
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westzeit.de – Sept 2005
CD Review for “Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover”
Kanadawochen in der Westzeit! Hexes & Ohs sind aus Montreal, vor allem aber: ein Pärchen, welches seit mehr als 10 Jahren gemeinsam musiziert und sich derweil an verschiedensten Stilrichtungen versucht hat. Aktuell ist Pop die Devise, und zwar nicht der zurückhaltende Wohnzimmerpop, an dem sich nunmehr 2 von 3 Erdenbürgern versuchen. Ziel ist der Tanz. Vergleichen kann mans mit diversen Weilheimer Acts, genannt seien MS John Soda, Notwist oder auch Lali Puna. Während bei diesen aber auf höchstem Niveau doch langsam der Zahn der Stagnation zu nagen beginnt, gehen H&O den entscheidenden Schritt weiter, lehnen sich ein Stück weiter aus dem Fenster. Das Experiment glückt. „Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover“ sollte – wenn nichts dazwischen kommt – für Furore sorgen. *****
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www.realmusic.de – Dec 2005
CD Review for “Goodbye Friend Welcome Lover”
Wem der Name JOLLY BEAN noch etwas sagt, der erinnert sich wohl auch an das kanadische Musikerpaar Heidi Donnelly und Edmund Lam. JOLLY BEAN mutierte zu A VERTICAL MOSAIC, der Stil wurde elektronischer und experimenteller und die Zukunft sah gar golden aus – bis zum Bandsplit im Jahre 2004. Für die beiden Kreativlinge war dieser Bruch in der künstlerischen Biografie der Ansporn, in sich zu gehen und alle Erfahrungen und Visionen jahrelangen musikalischen Schaffens zu einem ganz persönlichen Stil zu destillieren.
Das Resultat ist ein Amalgam aus silbrig schwebendem Post-Rock, laszivem Indiepop, Electronics und ambienten Soundscapes, mal treibend, mal versponnen und nebulös, getragen vom zarten Gesang, den Donnelly und Lam sich teilen. Sehr gelungene Neuerfindung und ein überzeugendes Debüt, dem hoffentlich bald eine ausgiebige Tour und mehr, viel mehr Platten folgen werden. (8)
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