Musicians :
- Wouter Vandenabeele : violin
- Wim Claeys : accordion
- Tom Theuns : guitar
- Ludo Van Deau : vocals
Also :
- Bhaia Marakchi Abdellah (percussion)
Production : Ambrozijn & Jo Francken Recorded at Motor Music (Koningshooikt)
Sleeve Pic : Guy Kokken
My opinion
Operating under the name of the beverage than made the Gods on the Olympus
immortal, Ambrozijn is a wondrous folkband with inventive musicians, feet in traditional
folk music and head in the clouds. With "Naradie", Ambrozijn has delivered
its second album.
The musicians of Ambrozijn are active on other fronts in the Flemish Folk scene
(eg. Wouter Vandenabeele has another big project in the folkbigband Olla Vogola,
Tom Theuns just recorded a CD filled with American bluessongs with singer Vera
Coomans ...), but with the combination here present they rapidly have found their
own place in the rostrum of folkbands from Belgium. This has led to the band to
a record deal with major Virgin Records.
"Naradie" provides the listener with a mixture of age-old traditional
songs, a number of self-written songs (not the lesser by any means) and a modern
sound through the arrangements of this material. The limited number of musicians/instruments
(only violin, guitar, accordion, vocals), gives the music room, leaves space to
include silence. Also striking is that the percussion instruments (even the ones
that are common in western-european folk) are absent: only a handful of tracks
have a rhythm track, and even then it is only a modestly tapped tambourine, a
carefully shaken shaker, some footsteps, or the held-back eastern percussion of
guest musician Bhaia Marakchi Abdellah. This makes Naradie a record full of tension,
one that radiates calmness and languishes in nostalgic moods. And there's not
much that distracts from the main assets of the band : musicality and melody.
The two tracks that stand out are the two Tom Theuns-compositions "Naradie"
(which is also the single) and "Wee Mij".
It's been since "Laïs" that a
folk-cd has given me so much pleasure, although the success of these girls will
not likely follow for Ambrozijn. The sound is a little bit less radio-ready. Tant
pis. You know the way.
And your opinion?
Did I get it all wrong, or was I spot-on ? Do you want to share your opinion about
this cd ? Send it in, and I'll put it up here !
This Album in the Press
- Christian Moll in Folkworld
: "Ambrozijn is a very innovative band - they have found there very own
very special sound. It is often amazing how full the sound of a band with only
three instrumentalists can be - the lads know how to play and arrange their instruments
effectively ... A special band and a special album - worth to be heard!".
- Dag Allemaal : "Energiek pulserend, wars van elk dogma en nooit
toegevens aan makkelijke oplossingen levert het onmiskenbaar hippe Ambrozijn met
deze cd een knap en meeslepend werkstuk af."
- Peter de Rop in Het Nieuwsblad : "De vier jongemannen van Ambrozijn
hebben met Naradie een heel genietbaar klankenpallet afgeleverd waarop niet alleen
hun technisch kunnen maar vooral hun muzikaliteit in het oog en het oor springt".
Did you see a good (or bad) review of this album ? Tell
me about it !
Where to buy this CD ?
You can order this CD from a number of locations (prices researched on September
25, 2000, but nothing guarantees they still are the same when you read this).
The lowest price is in yellow, the highest in red. This price comparison doesn't
take things into account like deduction of shipping expenses when ordering more
than 1 cd, bonus points, differences in guarantees ... Shipping prices are those
for customers in Belgium.
Have you seen this record elsewhere on the net, do you own an online-CD-shop
with Belgian products in it, or if there's something wrong with my calculations
: let me know.
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