For the last 15 years the Pigeon Breeders have been at the forefront of Edmonton’s noise scene, releasing several improvisational albums and playing dozens of shows to fans of ambient, krautrock, and post-rock genres. To mark their quindecennial, the duo – Myles Bartel and Will Scott – is releasing their 12th collection of recordings called Springtime As Violence, a work over three years in the making. “It’s just very much about confronting that duality within ourselves and within the world we see, and trying to assess what is gained in growth, what is lost in growth, what you have to say goodbye to,” said Bartel in a recent interview. The album’s eight-song track list includes titles “Thawing” and “Forming” – portraying renewal, and tracks “Torching” and “Burning,” representing what can be destroyed in growth. Scott and Bartel will typically record a song, which is always improvised, and sit with it before refining it and putting a name to it. “We like to do a lot of layers of refinement to find a way to not over-describe things and to deliver just the right amount of a spark of an idea to someone so they can project however much meaning they want onto it,” explained Bartel. The idea for Springtime As Violence came from a prompt by dancer Max Henic during a project he and Scott collaborated on while doing a residency with the Good Women Dance Collective in 2023. “I immediately wrote that down,” said Scott. If you are part of Edmonton’s noise music scene, you may be familiar with Pigeon Breeders’ unique approach to performing. They always improvise, and they always play quietly with no instruments going through a venue’s sound system, inviting the audience in on an intimate experience. But Springtime As Violence is different in the sense that the duo has an idea of where they are going, adding slight structure to their composition than in previous recordings and performances. “Normally we always improvise and all of our albums are from improvisation. We’ve never done the same thing twice,” said Scott. “Sometimes we’re in the same area that we’ve been in before, but it’s never exactly the same. “With this, once we started doing it, it was more of a structure to improvisation. You’re improvising to get to the next structure, and how you get there could change, but you’re always trying to get to that spot.” The album features dozens of instruments from the band’s extensive collection – some conventional like a guitar and keyboard, others as eccentric as a dish your grandma may have donated, thrifted from Goodwill, as well as plenty of percussion instruments. Springtime As Violence begins quietly, like an early spring morning just as the days start to get longer, progressing into more severe sounds that are heavy on guitar, calling into mind some of Lou Reed’s more experimental recordings. Listeners will have the opportunity to experience Pigeon Breeders’ sound on Friday at their album release in the basement of Kinshi Rinji (former location of Maki Maki). The first 100 copies of vinyl sold will include a bonus CD, Partial FEED Sessions, featuring exclusive content that isn’t available to listen to anywhere else. Marking their 15th year making music as Pigeon Breeders, both Scott and Bartel say the album release and show are significant in their ongoing saga. “It’s probably my most emotional show because we’re finally releasing vinyl, which has been on my bucket list forever,” said Scott. “It’s heavy for us to make it good and make it special.” Pigeon Breeders have no sights of slowing down, with another album and hours of recordings to sift through for another project. “We’re definitely going to feel really good releasing it finally, and excited to move on to the next thing,” said Bartel. Opening on Friday’s 8 p.m. show is Edmonton’s Echoradia and Low Earth Orbit. Pigeon Breeders will be joined by guitarist Ethan Tonack of Whiling and drummer Anthony Flanagan of Mbira Renaissance. Springtime as Violence will be released on vinyl and on Bandcamp by Honey Farm Records on Sept. 4.
