I once randomly came across a band named Ajiibwa on MySpace way back in the day. They had just three songs but they were all brilliant, and ever since I have been searching for a song that would capture their aesthetic and expand on it. “The Morning Becomes Eclectic Overture”, the first track on We’re All Dying To Live, is exactly that song. It’s a spectacular debut in the LP format for Aucoin, and having it packaged with his Public Publication EP attached is a boon for fans.
The album has some truly spectacular highs and you can’t say that Aucoin half-assed any of it. To start with, he created a video by splicing together 40 films, and then created a song to sync up with it lyrically, thematically, and yes, percussively as well, so you know he has no fear of grandiosity. Following that great start, Aucoin hits another high with “Brian Wilson Is A.L.i.V.E. (All Living Instantly Vanquish Everything)”, which recreates everything that you love about the ‘80s, mixed with some excellent modern dance floor stomp. It’s just what Rich Aucoin set out to do when he began this project. The natural single “It” climaxes into an Arcade Fire-worthy chanting chorus, while “P:U:S:H” would make Daft Punk (QRO album review) proud – definitely a solid homage to “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”.
The album’s release party was during the 2011 Halifax Pop Explosion (QRO Festival Guide) where there were over 80 musicians on stage, and rumour has it that We’re All Dying To Live features over 500 guest musicians (at least on the last song). Even though no one gets singled out, you can feel them all throughout the album, especially on songs like “We Must Imagine Sisyphus/Ourselves Happy” and the pretty little “1929-1971”.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about this release is how it manages not to crumble under its own wait. Aucoin’s backstory is so full of quirks (he has both biked and run partial marathons between tour stops) that the music could easily have been nothing more than an afterthought, but it is anything but that. If you want to hear an album that encompasses and creatively reflects all of the trends in the current Canadian music scene and still keeps you coming back for more, this is the album for you.
MP3 Stream: “It“
