October 28, 1999

BELGIAN ARTISTS AGAINST INTERNET MUSIC PIRACY
A number of Belgian artists are given their support to a campaign IFPI-Belgium is launching against the illegal use of music on the net, forging an unlikely coalition between such artists as Adamo, dEUS, Helmut Lotti, Will Tura, Clouseau, Raymond van het Groenewoud and Praga Kahn.
IFPI, the international trade organisation of the recording industry, organises this action worldwide. They estimate that that there are presently some 1 million illegal music files posted on the Internet at any one time.
The action taken will go against two groups : people who are uploading infringing material on to the internet – commonly in the MP3 format - to be downloaded for free or for payment; and Internet Service Providers who may be hosting illegal web-sites and ignoring warning letters informing them that these sites are infringing copyright.
The musicians and industry want to stress that this is not an action against music on the net, since they are supporting the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI), a standard which should allow legal (and paid for) distribution of music on the net.
More info :
- IFPI international press release
- Belga article

LILL' MILL' DEBUT ON KINKY STAR
Lill' Mill' is a four-piece band from Ghent who have just released their first six-track cd on the independent label Kinky Star. The title of the cd is "NoFo", and consists of short, melodic, powerful guitar songs. "More" was already picked up on the radio as a "Pulshit".
As the bio says : "Lill'Mill will give you popmusic that is pure and timeless. 'noFo' consists of six real songs, this means: beautiful melodies, gripping vocals, catchy refrains, and the right hooks to stay in your head for a long time. Listening to the irresistible opener 'More' (a potential radiohit!) or the wonderful title track 'noFo' should persuade everybody with sensible ears of the talent and skills of Lill' Mill!"
More info : Kinky Star

NEW OOR POP ENCYCLOPEDIA DEDICATED TO JACKY HUYS
The newest edition of "Oors Popencyclopedie", the bi-annual reference work covering the field of contemporary pop & rock - the only one in Dutch, will be dedicated to the memory of Jacky Huys. Huys, a journalist for De Morgen and later Knack, was a regular contributor to the encyclopedia, until his unexpected death in 1998.
De Melkweg, the Radio 1 programme who have just started a new service posting daily popnews on their website, already had a chance to glance into the new edition and found out that the new Belgian entries in the book are Neeka, DobroJean, Hauman & De Moeite, Soul Sucker, Marjan Debaene and Jo Vervaet.
More info : de Melkweg

October 25, 1999

WHAT IS THE BEST BELGIAN ROCK VIDEO ??
Is a question that will be asked for the very first time, during the short-film festival "Leuven Kort" that will be held in Leuven from November 22 to 28.
The nominees, which will be shown on November 25 at 22:30 and November 26 at 20:00 in 't Stuk are :
- "Disco" (Zita swoon) Regie : Joeri Meij
- "Big Red Balloon"(Wizards of Ooze). Regie : Wim Tops
- "Instant Street "(dEUS). Regie : Tom Barman
- "Too Many DJ's "(Soulwax). Regie : Stephen Dewaele / Luc Martens
- "Club Montepulciano"(Hooverphonic). Regie : Christophe Van Rompaey
- "Star "(Eden). Regie : Serge Leurs.
- "Go Fuck Yourself "(Ashbury Faith). Regie : Bjorn Tagemose
- "I Spy (Cinerex). Regie : Pieter Van Hees
- "Too Late Tonight "(Arid). Regie : Patrice Toye
- "Radio "(Ozark Henry). Regie : Jan Bultheel
- "B.A.B.Y."(Evil Superstars). Regie : Ibbe Daniëls
- "50% "(Daan). Regie : Alexander Adams
- "Maria "(Zita Swoon). Regie : Bart Verstockt
- "Freak on This " (Lowpass). regie: Lieven Van Baele
- "Pretentious Moi "(Noordkaap). Regie : Stijn Meuris
More info about the short-film festival at their website.

AND THE WINNERS WERE ...
Last friday, TMF awarded 22 bands/artists with one of their first "TMF awards" in a show plagues by absenteïsm in the Antwerp Discotheque Zillion. The people (viewers of the tv-chain) have spoken and these were the results :
- best female singer : Sarah Bettens / Britney Spears
- best male singer : Koen Wauters / Robbie Williams
- Best pop band : Clouseau / Steps
- Best rock band : Soulwax / U2
- Best live-act : Praga Khan / Live
- Best rap-act : Hof Van commerce / Will Smith
- Best dance-act: Milk Inc / Vengaboys
- Most promising new act : Eden / Westlife
- Best album : Angel of McKenzie ft. Jessy / Americana by Offspring
- Best Single : House of Doom by Nunca / If you believe by Sasha
- Best video : Too Many Deejay's by Soulwax / Wild Wild West by Will Smith

October 24, 1999

WANTED : TALENTED BANDS
There seems to be a high demand for beginning, talented bands these days. While Limbomania is in the pre-qualifying stages and the provinces of Antwerp and Vlaams-Brabant are organizing a similar event, the big talent contests are also getting on the way :
- Humo is getting to the first stage of the Rock Rally 2000. This is Belgium's most famous talent contest and has prize-money of 750.000 Bef (that's about 20,000$) for the first three. Participate by sending in a demo on K7 with maximum three songs (at most 1 cover, maximum 10 minutes of music) to Humo's Rock Rally, PB 300, 1200 Brussel. Include a sheet with the name & adress of all the band members and a phone for at least one contact, before december 10th.
- Debuutrock is awaiting demo's (K7, CD with three songs, 1st one should be the best) before November 22, 1999. The selected bands will be visited in their rehearsal rooms by a delegation of the organizers. 8 of them will ge to play at the Debuutrock-podium in April 2000 and get to record one song at Motormusic that will be included on a compilation CD. Contact : Debuutrock 2000, Sint-Andrieslaan 1, 9960 ASSENEDE.
- Nekka, the organisation promoting Dutch-sung music, is seeking new talent. The winners get to play as a 'surprise-guest' on Nekka (a gig with over 10,000 people). Demo's before December 15th to Secratariaat Nekka-Wedstrijd, C. Huysmanslaan 93 2020 Antwerpen. Info : tel. 03/237 93 92 or Fax 03/248 16 05.
More info can also be found at Poppunt.

October 20, 1999

"VERGETEN STRAAT"
On Monday, a new flemish film held its première in Ghent. "Vergeten Straat" (a forgotten street) is a film by Luc Pien based on a novel by Louis-Paul Boon and tells the story of a small dead-end street that resists plans for demolition.
More relevant for these archives is that the film also has a soundtrack by Ad Cominotto (see Charles et Les Lulus, Arno, also known as the house-pianist for radio programs such as "Levende Lijven" ...). Interestingly enough there are also other songs on it, such as a brand new composition by Jan De Wilde (how many years has it been?) with "Mannen met Baarden". Also on the soundtrack is the strange collaboration between the folk-girls of Laïs, and the lyrical talents of Frank - Mens - Vander Linden in "De Ballade van Boon".

JO LEMAIRE SINGS PIAF
Jo Lemaire, the singer who started off in the punk-movement and went with the stream towards wave, rock and chanson, has now landed in the arms of the legendary Parisian singer Edith Piaf. Together with pianist Michel Biscegila, she has been adapting the songs of "la môme" for a while now, and now there's a cd "Une Vie" with a registration of the concerts she gave on May 8th at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels.
There's also a television-documentary on Jo Lemaire's Piaf Project that contains images and sounds from the concert, as well as an impression of a voyage from Jo to Paris in search of the Piaf legacy (she visits the birthplace, le Bar Bidou, le Moulin Rouge ... and meets people who worked with Piaf such as her orchestrator Michel Rivegauche and the manager of l'Olympia).
Cd : "Une Vie", out on Universal
TV : Saturday October 23 at 23:15 on Canvas.