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Belgium

Abraxis

Abraxis might be seen as a Belgian super group, including Bobaert and Mauer from Pazop, Loos from Cos and Musette from Waterloo.

1ABRAXIS1976IBC 4B058-98929

Age

The duo Age utilized some of the most advanced synthesizer equipment (from PPG, ARP, Korg and Roland) available at the time. Predictably, their music was comparable to Neuronium, Zanov and Tangerine Dream. Both albums should appeal to lovers of this genre, but don't look for any original ideas here.

1LANDSCAPES1980GAMM 0022 LP
2DIMENSION1982GAMM 0093 LP

Aqsak Maboul

Their leader was Marc Hollander, ex-keyboard player of Cos.

The first album was a peculiar, dadaistic concoction of experiments - some in the style of early Henry Cow, others playing with ethnic and minimalistic music. Most tracks have a certain jazz feel with frequent use of sax and electric piano. This is an important album that shouldn't be missed by any fan of experimental music!

The second album took a step even further, featuring famous guests from Henry Cow and Univers Zero.

ALBUM AS AKSAK MABOUL:

1ONZE DANSES POUR COMBATTRE LA MIGRAINE1977KAMIKAZE 1

ALBUM AS AQSAK MABOUL:
2UN PEU DE L'AME DES BANDITS1979ATEM 002

Balladeers

A duo who played acoustic folk-rock. Balladers were quite famous in their homeland at the time.

1WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FRENCH TOUCH?1969PALETTE (NL)
2NO TITLE1970PALETTE (NL)
3KIRSTEN & BERND1976PRIVATE PRESS

Banzai

Banzai's album contained high-quality symphonic rock in a style reminiscent of Fruupp, Genesis, Yes and Gentle Giant. Their enjoyable compositions were carefully segued into mini-suites with some traces of creativity and invention (including the use of vibes and marimba). Outside musicians provided tasteful brass and strings on some short parts. This is a lot better than their more famous compatriots Machiavel.

1HORA NATA1974DELTA DG 10.001

RE-ISSUED ON CD BY PSEUDONYM.

Bogard, Karel

This guy is better known as the leader of Kandahar. Two of the listed albums contained undistinguished blues-rock (only 300 copies were pressed of the 1976 demo album). By contrast, Bogard's solo album From Dusk Until Dawn was more folk-oriented.

KAREL BOGARD & CO.:
1BLUES FROM OVER THE BORDER1971BARCLAY (CANADA)

KAREL BOGARD SOLO:
2FROM DUSK UNTIL DAWN1975DWARF

BOGARD BLUES BAND:
3STILL HOOKED ON BLUES1976PRIVATE PRESS

SEE ALSO: KANDAHAR

Burning Plague

They were one of the few Belgian blues-rock groups that were on a par with several Dutch groups, such as Cuby & The Blizzards and Livin' Blues. They wrote their own material, mostly long slow blues numbers augmented by electric guitars and screaming vocals.

The band didn't last much more than a year before they called it a day. Michael Heslop later formed Doctor Downtrip.

1BURNING PLAGUE1970CBS 64279 (NL)

COUNTERFEIT COPIES EXIST!

Buro, Alain

This rare and unsung album is vaguely similar to Ange and Atoll, but less sophisticated and symphonic and more powerful. The tracks are song-based with French lyrics, but with excellent guitar work. The members were located in Brussels - to underline their origin the front cover was taken from the legendary Brussels café Mort Subite. (RD/DEA)

1FUME, C'EST DU BELGE1975OMEGA LPZ 505 Y352

Catherine, Philip

A jazz-rock guitar player who is quite well-known inside and outside of his home country. Among others, he has played with Jan Akkerman and, for a very brief period, with Supersister. Babel (1980) contained high-quality instrumental fusion very similar to the French fusion sound of the late seventies (not surprisingly as Ceccarelli and Top made up the rhythm section). His music was also augmented by a string quartet here, in a style similar to Zao's album Shekina.

1SEPTEMBER MAN1974WEA 40562
2GUITARS1976ATLANTIC 50193
3BABEL1980ELEKTRA 52244

Cos

Hailed as the Belgian reply to Zao, Cos had their roots in Daniel Schell's group Classroom, which formed in 1966. During the early 70's, Classroom played concerts in Brussels along with Magma, Zao, Placebo and Univers Zero. Some demo tracks were recorded for CBS in 1973, but the label turned them down.

Amidst several personnel changes, Schell decided to change their name to Cos. Soon after, a record dealer was so impressed by their music that he offered to produce an album and release it on his own label. Postaeolian Train Robbery (1974) was the result, an album of exalted jazz-rock in the tradition of Zao, Magma and Hatfield & The North. Cos had a superb jazz piano player and Pascale Son's expressive use of her voice's full range (often merely singing phonemes) and Schell's direct electric guitar (absent for minutes, then suddenly pulling out a stunning, jazzy solo reminiscent of Brian Godding).

Viva Borna (1976) was an even better album, producing a more advanced group sound. Part of the reason for this was the addition of Marc Hollander, a keyboard player fond of merging Arabian music and Henry Cow-like eccentricities. Cos produced the album with Marc Moulin (of Placebo), and made creative use of studio effects on the instruments.

Schell's album with Dick Annegarn also featured Pascale Son.

1POSTAEOLIAN TRAIN ROBBERY1974PLUS 8000
2VIVA BOMA1976EMI IBC 4C 23605
3BABEL1978EMI IBC 4B 23794

DANIEL SCHELL & DICK ANNEGARN:
A1EGMONT & THE FF BOOM1979FREE BIRD FLY 05 (F)

1 CAME IN A SECOND EDITION ON EMI WITH A DIFFERENT COVER.
1 RE-ISSUED BY MUSEA (FGBG 4028) IN 1991. ONE TRACK WAS REMOVED FROM THE ORIGINAL ALBUM BUT 4 EXCELLENT TRACK BY CLASSROOM WERE ADDED.
2 RE-ISSUED BY MUSEA (FGBG 4158) IN 1994 WITH 4 BONUS TRACKS.

De Bruyne, Koen

His album contained a wacky form of experimental jazz-rock, living up to its title. It was made up of two extended tracks on each side. De Bruyne also recorded music for movies and released other albums in a folky style.

1HERE COMES THE CRAZY MAN1974VOGUE

Doctor Downtrip

After the demise of legendary blues-rock group Burning Plague, Michael Heslop formed Doctor Downtrip with other musicians. They drifted away from the restricted blues formula to a heavier brand of rock, similar to the early seventies Golden Earring or even Black Sabbath. Doctor Downtrip (1973) was their best album by far. The two later albums comprised rather ordinary rock containing nothing of special interest.

1DOCTOR DOWNTRIP1973CBS 44053

ALBUMS AS DOWNTRIP:
2IF YOU DON'T ROCK NOW1976EPIC 81719
3DOWNTOWN1979EPIC 83664

SEE ALSO: BURNING PLAGUE

Dominique

Luc Henrion released a few hundred copies of his album on his own La Muse Gueule label. This little known poet sang the lyrics (written in collaboration with Roland Lefevre) in a style reminiscent of Emmanuel Booz. About half of the music was written by Henrion, who also acted as multi-instrumentalist (keyboards and guitars predominantly). The songs clearly belong to the French cultural sphere, ranging from nostalgic variety to more contemporary folk.

1LETTRE À V.1978LMG 001

Dragon

Their first album was released on the British Acorn label. Some years ago it was an expensive collectors item, but some unsold copies were discovered and the price dropped. On offer here is a curious mixture of spacious and progressive styles, related to Pulsar, Akasha and Amon Düül II. Opinions vary about their musical validity and, although it contains some parts with unusual and interesting instrumentation, this is certainly no lost masterpiece in my view.

The group also made some demo recordings before their demise. These were eventually released in 1988 and might be of interest for music archaeologists (but be prepared for a few false notes and tape dropouts).

1DRAGON1976ACORN CF 268 (UK)
2KALAHEN (1977)1988FICRIVAN F 88325

1 RE-ISSUED ON CD BY MUSEA (FGBG 4010).
2 RE-ISSUED ON CD BY MELLOW.

Flyte

A partly Belgian partly Dutch group who played competent symphonic rock comparable to Fruupp, Alquin, Genesis and even early Roxy Music. Dawn Dancer was recorded in Belgium, but released on a minor Dutch label.

1DAWN DANCER1979DON QUIXOTE 40.002

RE-ISSUED ON CD BY MUSEA (FGBG 4096) IN 1993.

Freckleface

300 copies were pressed of their album, containing run-of-the-mill blues-rock with harmonica and vocals. The leader of the group was Arno Hintjens, later a well-known character of the Belgian pop scene, releasing records with Tjens Couter, TC-Matic, Charles and under his own Arno moniker.

1FRECKLEFACE1972BOBO 34827

Free Pop Electronic Concept

Please see the Jess & James entry!

1ANEW EXCITING EXPERIENCE1969.

Full Moon Trio

This trio mixed jazz and North African ethnic music. Their approach was quite experimental, often playing strange raga tunes. They were helped on two tracks by Kandahar members Jeff De Vissher and Karel Bogard.

1FULL MOON1975DWARF 4C062 99845

Grignard, Ferre

The late Ferre Grignard was Belgium's best most known protest singer and released a long string of singles.

RELEVANT ALBUMS:
1RING RING1966FONTANA 6443 505
2CAPTAIN DISASTER1968BARCLAY 920 117
3FERRE GRIGNARD1972MOTORS MT 44.011

Henrion, Luc

Only 200 copies were pressed of his Gallerie album. A solo album in the literal sense, Luc played all the instruments himself, although his main instrument was the piano. His music has neo-classical influences, often comparable to Julverne and Dominique Lawalree. Not a "rock" album by any usual definition.

1GALLERIE1978LMG 002

SEE ALSO: DOMINIQUE

Irish Coffee

They were from the Aalst area in the East-Flanders and were known as The Voodoos until the beginning of 1971. Their first single "Masterpiece" gained some recognition in several European countries and allowed Irish Coffee to make an eponymous album, which eventually sold 3,000 copies (by Belgian underground rock standards this was highly impressive). With Souffreau's powerful, screaming and soulful voice and the semi-classical electric guitar and organ lines, Irish Coffee were a Belgian equivalent of Deep Purple or 2066 & Then. The album had several hard-hitting tracks ("The Show"), but Irish Coffee were at their best on the more introspective and reflective "A Day Like Today" (6:52) and The Beginning Of The End". The album sounded a bit rushed due to the restricted studio time, but this really did the music no harm. In fact, the songwriting shows great potential and the group could have made it internationally if a major company had invested time and money (which they never did on Belgian groups). A recommended album for anyone interested in the vintage heavy progressive sound and indeed the favourite Belgian album of several collectors.

After this, Irish Coffee made three more singles, but none were up the standard of their previous material. Sadly they later split after a fatal car accident in which Paul Lambrechts was killed and two other members injured.

1IRISH COFFEE1971TRIANGLE BE 920 321

RE-ISSUED ON CD WITH 7 EXTRA TRACKS IN 1992 IN A LIMITED EDITION OF 1500 COPIES BY VOODOO RECORDS.

Isopoda

Like Irish Coffee above, Isopoda also originated from Aalst, but formed five years later and the groups were musically poles apart. Much like their Belgian compatriots Banzai, Isopoda did a fairly good imitation of Genesis, although showing a preference for their soft and poetic songs rather than their theatrical and pompous ones. Those able to ignore these obvious facts will discover two fine symphonic rock albums filled with good tunes.

1ACROSTICHON1978TWINKLE 201
2TAKING ROOT1981LARK 3528

ONLY THE FIRST EDITION OF 1 HAD A FOLD-OUT COVER. BOTH ALBUMS HAVE BEEN RE-ISSUED ON CD BY MUSEA.

Jenghiz Khan

Jenghiz Khan were short-lived but their Well Cut has long been in demand among collectors. This contained the archetypical heavy progressive rock of the times, sometimes similar to Zarathustra, Uriah Heep and May Blitz, but also with some more mellow tracks. The lead vocalist might be compared to Paul Rodgers of Free. In my view this album is a bit overrated, but check it out if you're into the genre. Pierre Raepsaet had previously played with Laurelie.

1WELL CUT1970BARCLAY 920 313

1 ALSO RELEASED IN CANADA. RE-ISSUED ON CD BY TWILIGHT TONE (TT 021).

PIERRE RAEPSAET SOLO:
A1NEW YORK1973ATLANTIC (F)
A2MUSICOLOR1975ATLANTIC 50134
A3JE SUIS MOI1977RCA PL37133

Jess & James

The brothers Tony and Wando Lom, from Portsmouth (UK), played in various formations in Belgium and Spain between 1967 and 1972. More than ten singles and several albums were released on Palette (in BeNeLux) and on Belter (in Spain). These mostly contained a mixture of pop, beat, psychedelic rock and rhythm and blues. A more experimental approach was attempted with Free Pop Electronic Concept, adding strange electronic noises to an instrumental backdrop of psychedelic beat. Clearly this is a novelty album with a strong appeal to those who love uncommon sounds (Fifty Foot Hose, etc.). In 1972, Jess and James joined Teddy Bautista's group Los Canarios.

ALBUMS WITH THE J.J BAND:
1MOVE1968PALETTE MPB 3114 (NL)
2REVOLUTION, EVOLUTION, CHANGE1969PALETTE (NL)

ALBUM AS FREE POP ELECTRONIC CONCEPT:
3A NEW EXCITING EXPERIENCE1969PALETTE (NL)

ALBUM AS JESS & JAMES:
4JESS & JAMES1969PALETTE MPB 32900

A COMPILATION ALBUM EXISTS:
C1GOLDEN BESTSELLER197?BESTSELLER 4C 97931

Jokers

One of the Belgian beat groups. Spider 8 was a private pressing of 500 copies of instrumentais in the style of Underground Set.

1BIG BEAT WITH1965ARCADE
2SPIDER 81970REWARD

Julverne

Julverne offered a different perspective of Belgian chamber rock than Univers Zero, being the light and vibrant opposite to the dark, sombre and cold universe of Daniel Denis and company. In my view, Julverne were the Belgian equivalent of the French ZNR, playing slightly twisted classical chamber music with only a little hint of rock. Julverne used mainly piano, strings and wind instruments - never drums. Their music was quite unique and refreshing - highly recommended for any listener in search of new sounds! Julverne of course released many more albums in the eighties, becoming one of the most famous acts on the cult label Crammed Discs.

ALBUMS UP TO 1980:
1COULONNEUX1979EMI BEST SELLER 058 099069
2A NEUF1980CRAMMED CRA 274

Just Friends

Obscure electric folk-rock with high-pitched vocals resembling David Surkamp in Pavlov's Dog.

1JUST FRIENDS197?PRIVATE PRESS

Kalika

Only a few hundred copies of their album were pressed. The content was rather patchy - 12 short songs that were a mixture of heavy progressive and rather tedious ballads.

1KALIKA1973VOOOM

Kandahar

If Supersister had any Belgian cousins, they would have been Kandahar. Not that their sound was identical, but both groups had a strong, prevalent sense of humour. "The Wakin' Piles" on Long Lived The Sliced Ham was a strong-hitting pastiche on Magma. Kandahar favoured a versatile jazz-rock with changing textures from track to track. One track would be sub-tropical ethno-jazz with congas and guiro, the next chamber rock or maybe Genesis-influenced symphonic rock. Their more mannered, rhythmical, brassy jazz-rock facets were related to Marc Moulin's Placebo. In fact, Kandahar were one of the most interesting groups from Belgium.

1LONG LIVED THE SLICED HAM1974DWARF LP 1
2IN THE COURT OF CATHARINA SQUEEZER1975DWARF 96846
3PICTURES FROM THE PAST1978GIP 143.026

Klan

Recently their album has been offered for high prices on the collector's market. It contains disappointing beat music inferior to countless bands from this period.

1JOIN US1967PALETTE

Kleptomania

During the early seventies, Kleptomania were among the most important live acts in Belgium. They started working on their first album in 1971, but this was abandoned when their label (Flame Records) went bankrupt. Four tracks were completed in addition to seven rehearsal recordings. This material appeared on a bootleg album in 1979. Judging from this, a proper album of theirs would have been in the class of Irish Coffee and Jenghiz Khan with plenty of impressive guitar on the long instrumental parts. Stylistically, this is also related to Cream and Black Sabbath, but with a more improvisational and less blues-based character.

In Kleptomania's lifetime from 1969 to 1975 only singles were released - five in all on various labels (MCA, Kingdom and EMI Best Seller). Luckily the story didn't end there. In 1996 Music Emporium released a double CD containing their complete recordings. In addition to the already mentioned material this included 11 demo tracks recorded from 1972 to 1974. Lademacher and other members later played in the hard rock outfit Tush.

BOOTLEG LP:
A1ELEPHANTS LOST1979FLAME FLP 03

OFFICIAL CD-RELEASE:
1KLEPTOMANIA1996MUSIC EMP. 210195

ALBUM BY TUSH:
A1WE'RE JUST BOYS1977EMI

Krutzien, Henry

His album contains a mixture of experimental music and jazzy tunes. Krutzien has recently recorded with Finnegan's Wake.

1SILENCES1979IGLOO IGL 006

Lagger Blues Machine

Many experienced record collectors regard Lagger Blues Machine as the very best Belgian group from the early seventies. Listening to their eponymous album it's easy to understand why. Lagger Blues Machine combined odd elements from Soft Machine, Moving Gelatine Plates, Frank Zappa, King Crimson, Magma and 20th Century classical music to a very original and largely instrumental rock ensemble style. This made them pioneers of the archetypical Belgian dark symphonic style that later evolved into groups such as Univers Zero and Present. LBM mainly used a powerful combination of electric/acoustic guitar, organ/electric piano and sax/flute playing very complex themes to a restless rhythmical backing. All tracks were written by the two keyboard players. The main piece was a "symphony" in two parts. Univers Zero later replaced most of the electric instruments with strings and woodwinds. The live material released in a limited edition many years later sounds disappointing by comparison.

1LAGGER BLUES MACHINE1972CBS S 65230

ARCHIVE MATERIAL (LP):
2TANIT LIVE 31/10/701992FRICRIVAN 88326

2 WAS RELEASED ON VINYL IN 500 NUMBERED COPIES ON VINYL 1 & 2 ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON A CD-RELEASE BY MELLOW IN ITALY.

Laurelie

Laurelie were one of the first in the wave of Belgian progressive rock bands, still rooted in the sixties songwriting tradition of Traffic, Cressida, Barclay James Harvest, Jethro Tull, Beatles and many others. Laurelie's perspective was soft and elegant, favouring condensed compositions rather than improvisations.

1LAURELIE1970TRIANGLE 920249

SOME MEMBERS WERE FEATURED ON THIS ALBUM BY SWAY: A1HUMAN GARBAGE1979PRIVATE PRESS
SEE ALSO: JENGHIZ KHAN

Lawalree, Dominique

Lawalree employs piano, organ, string ensemble and occasional synthesizers on these neo-classical instrumental albums. Vis A Vis (1979) only featured solo piano, as opposed to Traces (1978) where he mostly used pre-recorded tapes and editing. The remaining albums fall between these extremes.

ALBUMS UP TO 1980:
1INFINITUDES1976WALRUS 001
2LE CHOIX DU TITRRE1977WALRUS 003
3TRACES1978WALRUS 004
4BRINS D'HERBE1978WALRUS 005
5VIS A VIS1979WALRUS 006
6VICE-VERSA1980WALRUS 010

Machiavel

This easy-going symphonic pop group had considerable success in their home area at the time. Unfortunately, time hasn't treated them too well. Arguably, Machiavel were a link between the symphonic pop-rock movement of the seventies and its revival ten years later by Marillion and IQ. Fans of these groups might appreciate Machiavel but most others will deem them too light-weight.

ALBUMS UP TO 1979:
1MACHIAVEL1976HARVEST 4C064-23565
2JESTER1977HARVEST 4C064-99289
3MECHANICAL MOONBEAMS1978HARVEST 4C064-23805
4URBAN GAMES1979HARVEST 1A064-23894

Mad Curry

Their album is frequently offered on the international collector's market. In truth, it doesn't contain anything of major interest - just song-oriented rock (as it sounded around 1970, that is) with jazzy saxophone and some decent organ doodlings. Westra's soulful vocals sometimes recall Julie Driscoll and she later sang with Stainless Steel.

1MAD CURRY1970PIRATE'S LP 91001

Magenta

Magenta were one of the few groups in Belgium to use Flemish (Dutch) lyrics. Their music was mildly interesting soft progressive rock influenced by Procol Harum and Moody Blues.

1MAGENTA1973PHILIPS 6451 016

Mariavah

Their albums contained song-based symphonic rock comparable to Tideline but much less interesting. The flute player had previously been a member of Laurelie.

1LES HEURES1979PRIVATE PRESS
2MARIAVAH1983PRIVATE PRESS

Mustang

Raw and primitive hard-rock with lots of guitar, possibly influenced by Deep Purple. Only 300 copies of their album were pressed and it has recently started to sell for a fortune.

1BORN AND STILL ALIVE1977EAGLE 0255

Nato & Lady Pain

Nato is a provocative artist (living partly in Paris and partly in Brussels) preoccupied by the act of sex in art. His paintings depicted naked humans in a sexual context. His music is eccentric and strange, suggesting comparisons to Dashiell Hedayat and Emmanuel Booz. Nato made another album in 1982.

1ACTUEL UN1974BARCLAY

Nessie

Nessie made pleasant albums of symphonic rock highlighting flute and synthesizers. Both had English lyrics and are still quite obscure. Could be a good choice for those who like Flyte, Prelude and Dragon, although of a lower standard than these. (RD/DEA)

1THE TREE1978PRIVATE PRESS
2HEAD IN THE SAND1979PRIVATE PRESS

New J.J. Psychedelic Orfeon

A kind of pop-rock opera which seem to be very obscure even in Belgium.

1FUTOPIE1969DECCA

Pebbles

A group centered around Fred Bekky and Luc Smets, later members of various pop groups (including Trinity and Dream Express). For a short time The Pebbles had some international success with their hit singles "Mother Army", "Jane, Susy & Phil" and, most importantly, "Seven Hours In The Sky" in 1970. Their music was simple pop with some slight hard-rock influences (comparable to Slade and Sparks). Their albums were collections of their hits. (RD/DEA)

1THE PEBBLES1970BARCLAY 920 280
2CLOSE UP1972UNITED ARTISTS

Phylter

Second league symphonic rock influenced by Genesis and Camel, recorded in a little studio in Brugge. As usual for this genre in the late seventies, they used a wide array of keyboards (lots of string ensemble, electric piano, etc.) and soft guitar parts (much like Andy Latimer). The album contained six tracks in all.

1PHYLTER1978PARSIFAL 4000/461

RE-ISSUED ON CD BY SPALAX.

Pillion

A short-lived electronic duo, who made one good album containing two extremely long and floating tracks in the best Klaus Schulze tradition. Rothe later found some recognition as a solo artist in the 80's.

1ENIGMAS1978MASTIC MASLP 1011

Placebo

A large jazz-rock ensemble with Marc Moulin in charge. In addition to being a skilled piano player, he also produced records by Philippe Catherine and Cos, created his own label Kamikaze and had a radio show on RTB in the mid-70's. Placebo's groovy, instrumental jazz-rock sound gained them a surprising renaissance among the "trip hop" disc jockeys in the early 90's.

1BALL OF EYES1971CBS 64625
219731973CBS 65683
3PLACEBO1974HARVEST 2C064 95379

MARC MOULIN SOLO UP TO 1980:
A1SAM' SUFFY1975CBS 80753

Plus

Their album (which occasionally appears in secondhand record lists) contained big band jazz-rock. The group is rumoured to have a connection to Waterloo, but I don't know their line-up.

1PLUS1972PINK ELEPHANT

Pollen

This group from the South of Belgium (meaning they were French-speaking) made an interesting album, which combined the spacious sound of Dragon (the Belgian group) and Pulsar with the more poetic and acoustic facets of the Ange-sound. For 1978, this is indeed a good album. It featured a surprising rendition of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds".

1RY D'OXHE1978BEO 780101

Prelude

Symphonic progressive rock featuring the guitar player Vincent Fis, later leader of the group Now (who released albums on Musea).

1VOYAGE197?EUROPRODUCTION EP803

Recreation

This trio played instrumental progressive rock fronted by Falaise's mighty Hammond organ. Don't Open contained one side of original compositions plus versions of "Summer In The City", "California Dreamin" and "Reach Out, I'll Be There". Music Or Not Music was a better effort, written as a suite of short linked themes. This album also contains sound effects and electric guitars to balance the various dominant keyboards.

1DONT OPEN1971TRIANGLE 920 219
2MUSIC OR NOT MUSIC1972BARCLAY 920 356

1 ALSO RELEASED IN GERMANY.

Rum

A Flemish trio who recorded traditional folklore with sparse arrangements. Most songs only had vocals, acoustic guitar, fiddle and mandolin. Apart from the Flemish lyrics, this is like the material released on the British Topic label. Those interested in more traditional Flemish folk outfits from the period may want to check out De Elegasten, Miek En Roel and T Kliekske.

1RUM1972PHILIPS
2RUM 21974PHILIPS
3GELUKKIG MA NON TROPPO1980BYRON

S To S

99 copies were pressed of their demo album, which contained raw underground rock similar to The Pink Fairies with distorted lead guitars. The members were of Italian origin, but moved with their parents to Liege.

1S TO S1978PRIVATE PRESS

Shampoo

Smets and Bauwer had previously played in the pop-rock formation Pebbles, while Chitschenko came from the jazz-oriented Mad Curry. All tracks on the Shampoo album were composed by Mets, Chitschenko and Cel De Cauwer. The album has some historical interest due to its unusual mixture of harmony pop (a la The Beatles and the first Argent album) and brassy jazz-rock (similar to Chicago and Colosseum). Interestingly, some very short fragments of the album predated the chamber rock of Univers Zero, indicating that their unique vision still had some roots in the general Belgian rock scene of the time. Shampoo's curious mixture fits in well in the jigsaw of Belgian rock between Wallace Collection, Waterloo, Placebo, Arkham and Pazop. Some years later this scene developed into great bands such as Abraxis, Cos and, most importantly, Univers Zero.

1VOLUME 11972MOTORS 44 009

SHAMPOO AND HEART OF SOUL:
A1WE LOVE THE POLICEMAN 197?BARCLAY

Snaar

Quiet Flemish folk music. They were helped out by Rens van der Zaim of the Dutch group Fungus.

1SNAAR1976PARSIFAL

Solis Lacus

Their music is reputed to be closer to jazz than rock.

1SOLIS LACUS1975BEST SELLER

Stainless Steel

300 copies were made of their album, containing folk-rock with flute, violin and guitars. Their vocalist was Viona Westra, previously a member of Mad Curry.

1STAINLESS STEEL1974PRIVATE PRESS

Tideline

They recorded one of the better Belgian private pressings in Studio Bobine, Jemappes. This is lush, semi-acoustic symphonic rock, with a slight mediaeval touch. Tideline have rightfully been compared to Fruupp and Genesis, but weren't lacking the theatrical aspirations of the latter group (read: Peter Gabriel).

1THE CROWDED ROOM1979FIELDS 001

RE-ISSUED ON CD BY MUSEA (NOW DELETED).

Tjens Couter

A group who mainly belonged to the new wave genre. They developed out of Freckleface. The leader of both groups was Arno, the future Belgian new wave rock star of the eighties.

1WHO CARES1976DWARF

Trol

Trol played quiet folk music comparable to various albums released on the Stoof label. They wrote their own material, but performed them much like traditional folk music. Fairly good albums, although they contained nothing extraordinary.

1TROL1977PARZIFAL 400/1061 (NL)
2OSKAR II1979PARZIFAL 400/1062 (NL)

Tueurs de la Lune de Miel

This experimental outfit was inspired both by Henry Cow and the emerging punk and new wave scene. They predated the musical orientation of Belgium's well-known Crammed Disc label. With the addition of Marc Hollander they later evolved into Honeymoon Killers.

1SPECIAL MANUBRE1977KAMIKAZE 3

Univers Zero

Take some of the instrumental segments out of The Mothers Of Invention's Uncle Meat and combine them with the radical, early Henry Cow sound. Then to provide the right kind of tasteful academic intellectualism, add some early 20* Century classical music by Bartok and Stravinsky (more precisely their circa 1910 "barbarism" works, strongly influenced by pre-romantic Balkan, Slavic and Turkish folk music). Cultivate this strange brew for five years with prolonged Magma-influences. Then arrange the final result with bassoon, viola, violin as uncommon solo instruments over a hot rhythm section that would make Chris Cutler proud. The result is known as Univers Zero - THE most original, dark, anguished and forbidding music ever to be created in Belgium. Their music is often called chamber rock.

Many listeners will find Univers Zero's music too cynical, appealing to the brain rather than the heart. This may also explain why the group has gained a solid cult status among the younger fans of progressive rock in recent years. Fans could be accused of interacting in an advanced social game rather than searching for a pleasant listening experience. The music of Univers Zero simply isn't a pleasure and wasn't designed to be so either! If you want to dive down into murky cellars of the human mind, then this is the group for you!

Their leader Daniel Denis had played in the legendary group Arkham in 1971 (along with Jean-Luc Manderlier and Patrick Cogneaux) before he became the second drummer in Magma, albeit for a few months only. The three listed albums (of which Ceux Du Dehors is generally agreed to be their masterpiece) are much better than more recent efforts. Roger Trigaux later recorded with his new group Present and Daniel Denis also made some solo albums.

ALBUMS UP TO 1980:
113131977ATEM 7001 (F)
2UNIVERS ZERO1979ATEM 7005 (F)
3CEUX DU DEHORS1980ATEM 7009 (F)

1 RE-MIXED IN 1984 AND RELEASED ON CRYONIC (FOO 41). ALL ALBUMS HAVE BEEN RE-ISSUED ON CD BY CUNEIFORM.

Vacation

This trio played rough, raw-edged hard rock on their album Resurrection Of. The technical quality wasn't too good, having countless small tape dropouts (it was camouflaged as a live album but the applause was obviously inserted between tracks later). Many tracks are instrumental with the focus on electric guitar and sound similar to a fast paced live Cream in improvisational mode. One to check out for electric guitar lovers.

1RESURRECTION OF1971MAJESTETIC 1020

ARCHIVE MATERIAL:
A1LONG VACATION (1973-83)19??DEXON

1 RE-ISSUED IN 1992 IN A LIMITED EDITION OF 300 NUMBERED COPIES.

Wallace Collection

A marginal case for inclusion, as this must be considered a pop group who only occasionally made tracks anywhere near the fringes of progressive rock. Their hit "Daydream", based on Tchaikowsky's "Swan Lake", was a million seller across Western Europe.

RELEVANT ALBUMS:
1LAUGHING CAVALIER1969ODEON 2C 062-04036
2WALLACE COLLECTION1970ODEON 2C 062-04522

SEE ALSO: PAZOP

Waterloo

Their album is a top rarity on the collector's circuit, fetching higher prices than any other Belgian album! Musically it was mid-way between psychedelic and progressive rock with catchy short songs such as "Why May I Not Know". The only exception was the closing track "Diary Of An Old Man" (11:00).

1FIRST BATTLE1970VOGUE CLPVB 016

RE-ISSUED ON CD IN 1999 BY MUSEA WITH EXTRA TRACKS.

Womega

Their very rare and underrated album contained fully developed progressive rock featuring rich electric guitar, mellotron and organ textures augmented by brass and woodwinds. Their vocalist was also highly talented. Recommended to all fans of this genre.

1A QUICK STEP1975SKRUUP 162210751

AN INSERT WAS ENCLOSED.

Various artists

.BELGIAN POP SAMPLER1976EMI
WITH SOLIS LACTUS, MACHIAVEL, COS, BLUE ROCK, SONNY ZANDUETA, HIGHWAY BAND, KANDAHAR, KAREL BOGARD, 5™ BALL GANG AND TJENS COUTER.
.ROOTS OF BELGIAN POP1969MFP (B)
WITH WALLACE COLLECTION, TOUR EIFFEL, SWEET FEELING, CRASH, FIVE FROM DAVE, NO ENTRY AND OTHERS


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