Songs (Click the -icons for some small realaudio-samples)

1. Curtains
2. General Downfall
3. Little Lover
4. Porcupine
5. Tiger & Chips
6. Barber's Left Hand
7. Story's in the Air
8. Cat's Whiskers
9. Catchy Song
10. Take Off Your Hands
11. Grandpiano
12. Shaky
13. Jo's Private Hell
14. Turn
15. Used to be Proud
16. Tiny Force

Songs : the Grandpiano. Words : Serge Lacroix

Musicians:
- Boris Gronemberger : keyboards, rhodes, guitar, glockenspiel, backing vocals
- Julien Paschal : drums, percussions
- Teuk Henri : guitars
- François Verrue : bass, double bass, backing vocals
- Serge Lacroix : vocals, guitars, trombone, horn, french horn
Guests:
- Bieke Van Celst : violin
- Claudia Rosens : violin
- Bart Kubiak : cello
- Bernard Guyot : sax tenor, soprano sax
- Laurent Grolus : trumpet, french horn

Recorded at Etages Ion, Brussels
Produced by The Grandpiano & Duke
Artwork : Fortemps (www.speculoos.com)

My opinion

The young wolves of The Grandpiano, a band from Brussels with a past in Juniper Boots, has delivered a remarkeable debut with "Turn". For example by the fact they they were the favourites for the talent contest Concours Circuit, but released an album even before the finals. Or for the fact that they were immediately signed by a foreign label (albeit one with a "Belgian fixation", as the Dutch Baron Samedi Records is named after the first CD of Flowers For Breakfast). Or because of how seamingly easy it was for them to find 16 songs to put on this debut cd.
As with many bands from the talented "new wave" that's growing in Wallonia & Brussels, they have listened very carefully toe the recipies that made the bands from the Antwerp scene big (and rightfully so). They demonstrate a serious musical luggage, a great sense of detail, and a well-developed sense of melody. The tracks in which these three qualities of The Grandpiano come together produced the best fireworks: first and foremost on "Grandpiano", the song, that has a devastating effect with its dark and percussive piano, whispered vocals, false endings, Einstuërzende Neubauten rhythms and a crazy guitar. Also in the catory "very worthwile" are "Story's in the Air" with the violins, titeltrack "Turn", the surprising twists & turns of "Used to be proud" en "Barber's left hand". But most surprising perhaps is that nowhere on these 16 tracks the level drops beneath an acceptable height, and that there's enough variation in tempo's & arrangments to stay interesting until the end.
On the downside there's only to note that the production is a little "cheap": despite a multitude of ideas in the music of The Grandpiano, this makes for a rather unilateral sound, and a missed chane at that. Also the lyrics seem a little simplistic.
So, will someone give these guys a knife that cuts just a little deeper, an "image", a serious recording budget (and an inventive producer): a new Belgian top band will be the reward. In the meantime : this cd is already quite recommandable...

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

- De Waterput (Nederland) : "Houdt het dan nooit op in België? Wederom laat een cd van een tot op heden totaal onbekende band een onuitwisbare indruk achter. De muziek van The Grandpiano, opererend vanuit Brussel bezit werkelijk alles wat je van spannende popmuziek mag verwachten."
- Rif-Raf (ed. fr, december 2000) : "C'est amusant : 5 ans après Juniper Boots, les rebaptisés Grandpiano font toujours du dEUS en un peu moins bien, ils mettens aujourd'hui tout comme les Anversois plus de pop dans leur rock marqué de Captain Beefheart et Tom Waits. Même structures de compositions, mais sans les tubes ..."
- Peter van Dijck in Knack-Focus : "Popgroep van eigen bodem die weigert zichzelf beperkingen op te leggen. Funky muziek, knap uitgekiend en gegoten in degelijke songs".
- Didier Stiers in Le Soir : "Encore tout jeune, puisqu'il se retrouve finaliste du Concours Circuit, Grandpiano n'en a pas moins déjà livré un remarquable premier album. Dans son boîtier illustré par un panneau de signalisation, l'album de Grandpiano suggère le détour. Genre : « Sur l'autoroute du rock made in Belgique, offrez-vous une petite halte à Bruxelles. » « Turn » (c'est le titre de cette autoproduction issue du studio de Duke, le sonorisateur de Venus) est une manière de promenade sinueuse entre pop et rock..."
- Muziekkrant : "Turn is een plaat geworden met mooie, rustig opgebouwde nummers met vaak kleine verassingen in de arrangementen (goede blazers in o.a. Story’s in the air): Giant Sand, Gomez en het stemtimbre van Daan Struyven (om in de buurt te blijven) zijn slechts enkele referentiekaders waarin Grandpiano zich beweegt. ... Turn mag een fijne aanrader heten voor mensen die in België meer zoeken dan dEUS, Soulwax en andere Arids."

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 April 2nd, 2001, but nothing guarantees they still are the same when you read this).

Shop	Price of the CD	Shipping + other expenses	Total	Direct Link
Frontstage	699	0	699 Bef.	Frontstage
Azur	680	80	760 Bef.
Proxis	709	70	779 Bef.	Proxis
Atrecordings	10$	3$	611 Bef.
Netbeat	---	2,77 euro	---

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.

More about this group :

- the official site of the is developing steadily at www.thegrandpiano.net
- Baron Samedi : surf.to/baronsamedi
- Management : Fiction Music ( tel : 0476-799505 - fax: 010-419694 - mail management@fiction-music.be - site : www.fiction-music.be )
- Pre-listening to entire tracks can be done at Atrecordings
- Booking agency for the Grandpiano : Toutpartout
 

Other recent CD's
Do you want to announce your record here? It's easy (and free) ! Click here for the conditions.