Under the Snow Festival: experimental music fest aims to keep listeners on their toes

As sure as the snow will melt, the Ides of March in Montreal welcome back the annual Under the Snow Festival and its sister underground music and arts fair.

Founded by Emoragei/Where Are My Records’ Jean-Francois Rioux nearly a decade ago, UTS has seen its focus flux between the extremes of pop, from harsh noise to ultralite, and has thus kept things interesting for all. 2011’s programming shows no signs of letting up.

On the weirder tip, the Fest teams up with Voix d’Amériques to present three of our coolest: Les Momies de Palerme, -O- and Héliodrome, while international content is serviced by the bombastic rock of Japan’s Zoobombs (pictured) and Euro heroes MLCD (My Little Cheap Dictaphone), Beat for Sale, Cody and Alcoholic Faith Mission.

A personal highlight is the reappearance of West Canadian wonders Siskiyou, while others to watch are local dream-rockers Surface of Atlantic and fuzz-gaze heavyweights Sianspheric.

Under the Snow Festival
March 9th-13th
www.underthesnow.ca