Il is the debut studio album of French-Canadian pianist and composer Jean-Michel Blais, released in April 2016 by the Arts & Crafts. The album is a set of improvised piano pieces Blais recorded in his bedroom in Montreal with a Zoom microphone. The LP was produced in such a manner where the listener feels immersed in the music by having other sounds outside the piano bleed into the recording, such as breathing, camera shutters, rain, kids playing, and more. The compositions featured on Il also had sheet music released by Arts & Crafts in July 2016. Il garnered critical acclaim, landing on Time magazine's list of the top ten best albums of the year, and also made it to the longlist of the 2016Polaris Music Prize, though it never made it into the shortlist.
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