Ghislain Poirier

http://www.exclaim.ca/musicreviews/generalreview.aspx?csid1=116&csid2=848&fid1=28353

Exclaim (Canada)
Nov. 2007

Ghislain Poirier
No Ground Under
By David Dacks

Ghislain Poirier has united the world in trying to pronounce his name. Seriously, “Ghislain Poirier” doesn’t trip off the tongue like “Scott Storch” but it’s somehow fitting that every vocalist on this album brings a different shade to their shout outs. Poirier’s latest finds him toning down the hyperactive rhythm programming of previous efforts. As a result, this album sounds more natural; it’s obviously still dominated by hard-edged electronic sounds but flows more effortlessly than before. First cut “Blazin” with Face T is a superior party starter, with ragga beats giving way to rave-y keyboard stabs. The vocalists’ positive lyrical energy is another refreshing aspect to this album, in contrast to the “badder than dem” tone of so much dancehall-inspired music. Rappers Omnikrom, whose profile continues to rise in Quebec and beyond, collaborate once again with Poirier over the springy rhythm of “Jusqu’en Haut.” Things get a little choppier with “Hit & Red” as dub shots punctuate backwards and forwards guitar loops overtop a bumpy groove. When Middle Eastern hand drums, soca cadences or Balkan-inspired string loops enter the mix, Poirier manages to come up with solid song ideas that make the most of these inspirations; his programming works with, rather than against, the samples. And that’s the story of this album. However, the lapses occur when the programming runs roughshod over everything else. Most of the time, though, it’s cool runnings. (Ninja Tune)
- Exclaim

http://www.eyeweekly.com/eye/issue/issue_11.01.07/clubs/extendedplay.php

EYE WEEKLY (Toronto)
Nov. 1st 2007

Extended Play
With Denise Benson
GHISLAIN POIRIER

GHISLAIN POIRIER (live) @ NO GROUND UNDER CD RELEASE with MCs Face-T, Abdominal, Zulu. Fri, Nov 2. The Drake Underground, 1150 Queen W. Followed at 11pm by Never Forgive Action with DJs Killa-Jewel, Dalia, More or Les, Numeric. $5.
“I was basically a recluse in December and January, maybe going out once a day to get a beer at the dépanneur,” laughs Montreal producer Ghislain Poirier from his home studio. “I spent a lot of time on this album and worked really hard, but while I was composing I felt like I was on vacation because I was feeling good.”
Poirier is speaking about No Ground Under, his sixth album in seven years and his first full-length for the Ninja Tune label. Booming and dripping with bass, it captures Poirier's artistic evolution like nothing else he has unleashed on the world. Here, his past as a creator of abstract and ambient electronics meets a present that is largely about club bounce and colossal beats.
“It's the first time I've done an album with so many dancefloor tunes, but at the same time I wanted to stay close to my roots. I can hear my early ideas and influences in the methodology or the treatment of these tracks,” says Poirier. “There are also four instrumentals and all of them are pretty intense and experimental. I'm able to make many things, and I want to share that.”
Certainly there were strong hints of what was to come as Poirier followed 2005's Breakupdown with two under-the-radar collections of hip-hop and pop remixes, Bounce Le Remix Volumes 1 and 2, and, more significantly, last year's blazing Rebondir EP. Still, as the producer developed his distinctive ragga-meets-hip-hop rhythms, corralled the influence of old-school dancehall and dub and continued to experiment in his electronic treatments, even he couldn't have known how mightily his music would stand out in the sea of crunk, grime and Baltimore club bass bling.
Poirier has a notable ability to treat MCs' voices as instruments while their rhymes flow over idiosyncratic rhythms.
“Let's take ‘City Walking' with Abdominal,” says Poirier, warming to the topic. “For me, that's probably the most funky beat I've ever done, and I sent it to Abdominal who was like, ‘Whoa.' When I saw him in Toronto recently, I played the track on a loud system. He came to me and said, ‘I think I just did my first club banger and I didn't know it!'”
Similarly, Montreal reggae vocalist Face-T of the Juno-nominated reggae-pop project Kulcha Connection gets gruff on album standouts “Blazin'” and “No More Blood.”
“I knew he'd be able to kill it, and do it really hard and massive. It took time, but he flowed perfectly on them and now we're going to do more tracks together.”
Ditto Chicago-based ragga rapper MC Zulu, who practically bursts out of the speakers on “Go Ballistic.” All three men will appear on stage at Poirier's album release Nov. 2 at the Drake Underground, with Face-T stepping up on all North American show dates. “Live” is the current buzzword for Poirier, who had just returned from performing 10 shows in six European countries when I spoke with him.
“Live, it's the team of me on laptop and sampler with drummer Christian Olsen,” enthuses Poirier. “I'm no longer just a random, lone laptop guy on a stage! We make a really massive sound, and I'm really happy with the formula. I don't want to add any other instruments – only MCs when they can be there.”
As he'll round out the year performing more live and DJ dates, completing Bounce Le Remix 3, and turning out official remixes for Pole, Buck 65, DJ C and We Are Wolves, Poirier is feeling mighty fine about the crossroads at which he now stands. Tellingly, he ended his signature club residency Bounce Le Gros this past June with a hella big bash.
“I feel it's good when things end,” he offers. “You know, [Montreal Canadians' goalie] Ken Dryden won the Stanley Cup five times in eight seasons and afterwards he retired because he did it. I thought a two-year cycle for Bounce Le Gros was good, and I didn't want to be stuck in one concept. My goal was to have a party, have fun with it and now evolve into new territories. And so, the live show is here.
“Whatever you do in life, if you only think about yesterday it's not good. I don't want to have any fade out.”
- EYE

http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2007/11/0110.cfm
Chart Attack (Canada)
November 2007

Ghislain Poirier Adds More Soca And Ragga To His Mixes
Thursday November 01, 2007 @ 05:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

MONTREAL — Montreal DJ and remix king Ghislain Poirier already has five albums, a host of EPs and two Bounce Le Remix "hors d'oeuvres," as he likes to call them, under his belt. But his new No Ground Under is his wildest tangent yet. The album dropped on Oct. 16 in Canada, and his next Bounce Le Remix volume is due in January.
No Ground Under is Poirier's first record for Ninja Tune, a change that Poirier really appreciated after releasing 2003's Beats As Politics and 2005's Breakupdown on the Chicago-based Chocolate Industries label.
"I feel like this time I have a real team behind me pushing the album, making it happen," Poirier says. "I've been used to doing a lot of the work myself, thinking if no one else is going to do it, I may as well do it myself."
Musically speaking, Poirier has changed considerably since his ambient techno beginnings. Influenced greatly by his own Bounce Le Gros live shows in Montreal, a monthly dance party that he ended in June, No Ground Under prominently features guest vocalists and thumping bass lines. Poirier says the main difference from past records is how up-tempo his new one is. He's also been more influenced by soca music from the Caribbean and ragga/dancehall, the latter of which can be heard in his collaborations with Montreal MC and Kulcha Connection member Face-T on "No More Blood" and the first single, "Blazin'."
"When I first got into electronic music, I tried to dig into its history and I discovered dub, like Lee 'Scratch' Perry and King Tubby," Poirier says. "I started with the past and went towards the present.
"I went from dub to early dancehall, and after digital dancehall in the '80s and slowly to dancehall right now. Now I'm listening to what's happening in the ragga scene and, for me, it's a style of music with a lot of innovation and it's really challenging."
Poirer says the ragga and soca he played during his DJ sets were initially received with apprehension, but he likes using his Montreal shows to experiment with different styles. At one point he was into Haitian hip-hop (which he compares to crunk and dirty south rap), and the large local Haitian population was very receptive.
"I play a lot of really ghetto Haitian tracks even the Haitians haven't heard before. When I get Haitians in the crowd, they respond so loudly to it. They're really surprised since they're not used to hearing these tracks in non-Haitian parties."
Although a perfect fit, Poirier isn't sure if his love of third world beats inspired him to use political themes for his songs and albums or vice-versa. He's always been politically aware, and his dark electronic instrumentals "It's A War War War" and "Diaspora" demonstrate that he can still make thoughtful electronic music with political undercurrents.
"I think the fun parts can co-exist with the serious, conscious parts," he says.
Here are Poirier's live dates:
• Nov. 1 Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe w/Zulu, Abdominal, Face-T, Omnikrom and Nik Myo
• Nov. 2 Toronto, ON @ Drake Underground w/Zulu, Abdominal and Face-T)
• Nov. 16 Trois-Rivieres, QC @ L'Embuscade
—Erik Leijon

- Chart Magazine

http://www.canada.com/cityguides/toronto/story.html?id=92529d72-dbd0-4562-a067-bd2069cbdc21&k=58248

National Post (Canada)
November 2007

Call it a re-melange
Montreal's Ghislain Poirier mixes genres
T'cha Dunlevy , CanWest News Service
Published: Friday, November 02, 2007
"I've always been a believer in simplicity," says Ghislain Poirier. "I go straight to the goal, rhythmically. I don't like to play virtuoso. I make music for impact."
Poirier hits hard with his beats, a visceral barrage of futuristic hip hop, grime, electro and, most recently, Caribbean rhythms.
"I'm tripping out on soca lately," says the Montrealer, whose new album, No Ground Under, is his first on internationally renowned electronica label Ninja Tune (which, though based in England, has its North American headquarters in Montreal).
"I've been playing [soca] in my DJ sets, and making electro-soca tracks. ... There aren't a lot of soca remixes outside Trinidad."
Slowly but surely, Poirier's bold, bassbin-rattling sound has earned him a devoted following in Montreal and abroad, not-so-quietly making him into a leader of an underground movement.
"I think this album is more accessible than my other ones. But it's the album I would have made anyway," he says. "It didn't change much (to be on Ninja Tune). There was more of a thrill, knowing I was going to have real distribution and promotion."
Ninja Tune's global network and iron-clad reputation could give Poirier a big boost. He noticed the results recently, touring Europe with fellow Montrealer and Ninja label-mate Sixtoo.
Sixtoo's rugged new beat project Megasoid -- a collaboration with Wolf Parade's Hadji Bakara -- aligns him with Poirier, as both push the limits of distortion, bass and booming beats.
Poirier links up with an impressive roster of talent on No Ground Under, recruiting vocalists Face-T (of Montreal reggae duo Kulcha Connection), Zulu and Mr. Lee G for party-rockin' ragga and soca vibes, plus local franco-rap act Omnikrom, and Toronto's MC Abdominal --each lending distinctly different flavours to the mix.
"I didn't think I would have as many guests, but I was happy with all the results," Poirier said.
Working with vocals is something he practises on his own, reworking tracks by everyone from Snoop Dogg to Busta Rhymes, Ciara and Justin Timberlake on his bootleg series Bounce Le Remix (available on his MySpace page). He has also made over-the-counter remixes for London rapper Lady Sovereign and rock band the Editors, and is fresh off reworking a track from Buck 65's new album Situation.
At the other end of the spectrum, Poirier just remixed a song for German minimal techno artist Pole -- evidence of just how eclectic his tastes are. His experimental side can be heard on No Ground Under, as boundary-pushing instrumentals are squeezed in between the dancefloor shakers.
"I make lots of different rhythms," he said, "but I always recognize myself. I like a variety of tempos and beats. I like to play with that -- I'm really not finished."
-Ghislain Poirier performs tonight at the Drake Underground. Tickets are $5; call 416-531-5042 for details.
© National Post 2007
- National Post

http://www.voir.ca/musique/disque.aspx?iIDDisque=12403

25 octobre 2007
Ghislain Poirier - (Ninja Tune/Outside)

No Ground Under
Patrick Baillargeon

Le Montréalais Ghislain Poirier frappe fort avec ce nouvel effort. Sur ce sixième album, le bidouilleur étale ses goûts, ses influences et ses multiples facettes, alternant de l'abstract hip-hop au dancehall-reggae, en passant par le grime, les rythmes baile funk et banghra ou l'électro plus froide sans perdre l'auditeur. Une seule constance, l'omniprésence des basses. Appuyé par plusieurs invités dont les rappeurs rigolos d'Omnikrom, le chanteur/toaster Face-T de Kulcha Connection, Nik Myo, Zulu, DJ Netik et quelques autres, Ghislain Poirier prouve ici qu'il est un des réalisateur/DJ les plus ingénieux, groovy et polyvalents de la planète club.

(4 étoiles)
- Voir

#10. Ghislain Poirier No Ground Under (Ninja Tune)
M.I.A. might have the larger stage presence, but Ghislain Poirier has the better beats. In a year when electro beats from every corner of the world clashed and mashed, Poirier proved that his 2005 masterstroke Breakupdown was just the beginning. His wobbly bass and dancehall/soca rhythms invited a small army of MCs along for the ride — including Abdominal, Omnikrom and Face-T — but Poirier’s post-modern hip-hop grooves always speak louder than words. Several tracks here allude to the dark politics of the day, as the show-stealing Chicago MC Zulu urges here, the best antidote is to “fight the pressure with bass and treble.” Michael Barclay - Exclaim