The Hylozoists — L'Ile De Sept Villes

Toronto instrumental collective The Hylozoists are in stark contrast to most Toronto collectives in that instead of everyone singing, nobody's singing. It's equal parts refreshing and infuriating. L'Ile De Sept Villes contains wonderful arrangements from the super-talented Paul Aucoin, yet some tracks just scream for vocals. "Bras D'Or Lakes" captured the morose feeling in my heart when Molson stopped making Brador, and the dark piano of Christopher Sandes reminds me of his stellar work on Andre Ethier's debut. The Hylozoists don't have the epic swells of Explosions In The Sky or Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, but are intriguingly melodic and just campy enough to evoke '60s nostalgia without getting into elevator muzak territory.

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