NEWSARCHIVE

Period : January 19-23 1999
In this issue : dEUS, Philippe Swan, The Confetti's, Mauro Pawlowski, BJ Scottt, ZAMU-awards, NIKO, Das Pop.

Saturday January 23, 1999

dEUS
dEUS have completely finished up their upcoming album (recorded in Ronda, Spain, finished off in London, in a production of Dave Botrill). It will be called "The Ideal Crash" and is set for release March 15th. Somewhere in the middle of February, a first single will come out named "Instant Street".
They are already trying-out some of the song in their live act. Last Tuesday, they did a gig for the Flemish Government (invitation only) in the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels. Surprisingly enough, weirdo Tim Vanhamel (another very active ex-Evil Superstars) played guitar & percussion during the show. It is not clear if he will join the group.

PHILIPPE SWAN
De Mens (with their brilliant new single "Het Einde Van De Eeuw" - The end of the century) are no longer the only Belgian group singing about the imminent millennium-lapse : french-singing "chansonnier" Philippe Swan (remember "Dans Ma Rue"and his writing for youngster Mélanie Cohl on her Eurovision-song hit "Dis Oui") has just released a new record called "Troisième Millénaire".
In an interview with Télé-Moustique he told the title of the album is about "Au malaise de l'an 2000 qu'on voyait très futuriste et qui est plutôt désespérant, j'ai voulu répondre par un conseil : profitez de l'amour pendant que c'est encore possible" - "I wanted to respond with an advice to the malaise around the year 2,000 - that was first seen as something very futuristic but now is seen as something discouraging : enjoy love as long as it's still possible". In a musical sense, the singer has gone back to his old love "chanson", after the more contemporary excursions on his former album "Hip-pop" of '94.

Friday January 22, 1999

CONFETTI'S
If you were planning on entering a Flemish discotheque in the near future, you have to be warned of a danger that lurks just around the corner : The Confetti's are back in business again. Not that it is exactly a reunion : the tall singer/signpost of the group has put on his canadian mounty-suit again for a playback in the VTM-show "Het gevoel van ...". However, according to Gazet van Antwerpen, he was so pleased with the result that he now is thinking about giving more shows, and possibly releasing a new single by the summer. The Confetti's were one of the most successful commercial exponents of New Beat, with hitsingles such as "The Sound of C"and "C in China".

MAURO PAWLOWSKI
Those who have difficulties controlling their unsatiable thirst to see Mauro Pawlowski (ex-Evil Superstars) doing his thing live on stage, had a chance during "De Nachten" when he played guitar at the side of John Parrish (soundtrack to Patrice Toye's "Rosie"). But that's not all : Mauro also has teamed up with Mark Maillard of Theater Froe Froe for the play "Zippo".
This piece is a combination of absurdist humor and visual & musical poetry and actually is about a plastic fun fair duck. Mauro scratches, plays melodica and guitar and imitates the sound on stage through a megaphone, with music by Daan Stuyven of Dead Man Ray. "As a live-musician and soundimitator he provides a complete auditive counterpart to the visual treats on the stage", as "De Morgen" said.
Info : Theatre Froe Froe, +32.(0)3/202.83.60.

Wednesday January 20, 1999

BJ SCOTT
- BJ Scott will be releasing new material shortly. The album is completely ready, will be called "Amnesty for Eve" and will be released in the first week of February.
- On it there's a unusual duet with that other Belgian giant Arno called "Jean-Balthasar"". The song, a mix of French and English, is a cover of two songs that blend in beautifully : "Jean-Balthazar" of Jacques Dutronc and "The Jean Genie" of David Bowie.
- She will be in concert on 11 & 12 February in the Club of the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels.

ZAMU-AWARDS 1998
- Yesterday evening, the annual Zamu-awards (the Belgian Grammy's) were handed out to Belgium's most valued singers, bands and musicians . Some of the award-winners that I picked up on the radio :
- Best Producer : Jean Blaute
- Best Group : K's Choice
- Best Singer : Axelle Red
- Best Group (singing in dutch) : Gorki
- Best Singer (singing in dutch) : Raymond van het Groenewoud
- Best Musician : Vincent Pierins
- Author / Composer : Raymond van het Groenewoud
- Live-act : El Fish
- Radio-programma : Cucamonga (Radio 1)
- Rock Journalist : Jan Delvaux
A very special price was handed out to Roland : the life-time achievement award.

Tuesday January 19, 1999

NIKO
- Niko has a new single called "Breathe" (available in the flavours "Rap" & "Blue").
- Fans of this young singer/songwriter/drummer/bass-/piano-/guitarplayer have more to look forward to : on Sunday the 24th of January he will perform live on television ("De Zevende Dag", VRT-television, 11:00h.). In a surprising duet with English singer Tom Robinson (remember "2-4-6-8 Motorway", "War Baby", "Back in the old country" and "Listen to the radio") he will bring two songs : the new single and a version of Flemish evergreen "Eenzaam zonder jou" (of Will Tura).
- The night before, these two artists will perform in "De Schuur" in Izegem.
Source : Ilse Everaert - Bang Productions / Great American Nude

DAS POP
- Early in January Das Pop have signed - after months of negotiations - a record deal with Play It Again Sam. It's a solid deal with long term prospects.
- The first product of this coöperation is hitting the airwaves at about this time : the second single of Das Pop "The Little Boy". The production was done by David Dewaele (Soulwax). The single will hit the stores on the 1st of February.
- The next months the group will begin preparing for their first full-cd. As the plans look now, this can be expected somewhere in the fall of this year.
Source : Jeroen Vereecke, Rock'O Co vzw

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