Songs (click on the -icons for a small audio-sample)
1. Exit
2. Telephone
3. Mud Stories
4. Goddess
5. Tower
6. Sad Lover
7. Siamese Twins
8. Nebraska
9. Fish
10. God in a cage
11. Mad Dog Watch
12. Pleasant Times

Musicians :
- An Pierlé : vocals, piano

All music & lyrics by An Pierlé (except 12 : lyrics An Pierlé & Julee Cruise)

Recorded at Victoria, Gent and The Castle, Moortsele
Produced by Karel de Bakker & Jo Bogaert

Artwork : An Pierlé & Mathilde Geens

My opinion

"To bring you my love" by PJ Harvey, "The Silos" by The Silos, "Live, Alone in America" by Graham Parker, "Engelberg" by Stephane Eicher, "From here to Eternity" by Nick Cave, "OK Computer" by Radiohead, "Mud Stories" by An Pierlé. Musically speaking, these albums are about as far apart as two nuclear plants in the ideal landscape of a greenpeace-activist, but the thing these albums all have in common is that they have found a way to my highly personal shelve with "masterpieces". They all have found a shortcut to the place where my cold shivers of musical enjoyment start.

An Pierlé did it with a headstart : a year or three ago she rolled into my life with her well-known Tubeway Army-cover, with a voice that could hardly be heard past the third row and then suddenly was so loud you couldn't make your "wow!" heard by the people surrounding you, with an attitude towards her piano equal to that of a bull-fighter in a corrida, and with a smile so tiny, but so sweet that my (buy not only my) heart melted there and then.
Over the years, that soft spot had hardened somewhat (album kept on being postponed, a bad gig at Marktrock, a fast but devasting review when the album finally was released ...), but that was only until the day "Mud Stories" finally landed in my cd-player. And now I am a man in love, and I want to tell everybody who wants to hear it : An Pierlé has made the most beautiful, most touching and simply the best cd that I've heard all year.

Perfection is not of this world, and also not in this case : for me "Fish" (not really a song), "Nebraska" and "Mad Dog Watch" (too much) weren't really necessary. But all the rest is dazzling, simple, honest, sweet, theatrical, raw, furious, horny and wild.
With a first listening, each song does have a passage that makes you go "hmm, I wonder where this is going", but after a few times this seems to be there with a purpose : first she builds up a delicate tower of cards, then she starts banging on the table, and then lets you look triumphantly at the parts that are still standing. This angel has an axe instead of a bow-and-arrow to get to your heart.

Let the rest of Belgium fall in love with Mathilde, my choice is made : "Leve An Pierlé!! Vive An Pierlé !!".

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

- Dirk Steenhaut in Metro, De Morgen, 6 okober 1999 : "Mud Stories is just as sober as it is mature, with emphasis on nothing but her voice and percussive piano-playing. So nothing impedes the songs of speaking for themselves. They sound at times hectic, energetic and wild, and at times meditative and subdued. A colourful fairy tale with a dark edge.".
- KPW in Stage, november '99 : "We have had to wait much too long for this debut of An Pierlé. ... Wij have been under her spell for a long time, and her repertoire is well-known to us ... but since then, there hasn't been much of change, and we would've liked to see an evolution ... Live it all fits her like a glove (dancing on a tight atmospheric rope), but on cd we wanted more than what's on it. Naked is fine, but a little dres here and there could've been even better".
- MVS in Humo, 19 oktober '99 : "Mud Stories didn't exactly caught our attention in the most compelling way. Although it certainly tries to put it's tiny claws in your memory and soul. Maybe she even tries too hard. She shrieks and snorts and scratches and jumps onto the wallpaper like a cat with a badly digested mouse on it's stomach. ... This is the kind of artist we usually run away from as hard as we can."
- jl in Rif-Raf, november '99 : "One moment held-back and nice like a kitten, and the other moment restless and scratching like a cat. This playing with emotions and melodies that leave a lasting impression, makes Mud Stories an intriguing album. Especially Siamese Twins, Tower and Pleasant Times carressed (jl)s ears. And that's something Tori Amos has never been able to."
- Tim Coene in Teek, november 1999 : "The constant changes in tempo could possibly get to the nerves of listeners who are unfamiliar with this material, but will be cherished all life long by the more adventurous types because of the passion that speaks from the songs. Nice debut."

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 December 11th, 1999, 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.

More about this group :

- An Pierlé in the Belgian Pop & Rock Archives
- Contact management : Teddy@Rockwerchter.be

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