Songs (click on the -icons
for audio) 1.
Kemmelberg 1983 AD
2. Bus ommegangk
3. Mag et ntwa mjir zin
4. Le mental en métal
5. Kust noa kust noa kust
6. Situoatie 666
7. Gele stylo
8. De zeune van nboas
9. De doagn van plezier
10. Nostalgie wereldbeker
11. De zommer van 98
12. Bol
13. Alphonse en de bjistjes
14. Ze woare der nog nie grji voarn
15. Ik e de zunne
16. De boane noa de zunne
Layout : Little Mutant Elvis
Illustraties : Serge Bza
My opinion
De teksten zjin zwoar achteruit geleid
de beat es machtig in elkoar gebreid
hou oe klaar voor een nieuw hip-hop beleid
g'hè te moaken met de heilige drievuldigheid
as they say in "Kust noa kust noa
kust"(coast
to coast to coast). And with that, 't Hof immedeately summarizes - totally objectively
of course - their own cd. So I probably have misunderstood that once again.
What I do know for sure is that "Kust noa kust noa kust", together with
the hiphop-meets-twin-peaks on "Situaotie 666", the dirty-talk-giggling
choir of "Bol",
the musical rap of "de zeune van nbaos" and the mighty bass of the first
single "Mag et ntwa mjir zin",
make up for the strongest moments on ".herman".
With "De doagn van plezier" there are some political themes creeping
into the hof-universe (de doagn van plezier zjin gedoan, der vloeit een troan,
de witte mars : een grote farce, ze kommen op stroate, mor al vjil te loate, al
vjil te loate). And in "Nostalgie wereldbeker" bza & filip compete
in bringing up youth memories (woar zjin de joaren da we kleine woaren, da
we ons bezig hielden mè marbles vergoaren .. es toch woar, es t toch woar,
da onze jeugd is vergoan?). On "De zommer van 98" they talk about
their adventures during the festivals they played last year.
Sadly enough, not everything is just as well-done on ".herman" : although
almost all the songs have good sound idea at the base, the raps are often a too
long to keep me interested for five minutes or more (about the mean duration of
a track on this cd). And "Gele Stylo" is an easy-listening campfire
song that would perhaps keep a log interested, but not me. I hope this is not
an omen for the solo-cd that Flip plans to bring out later.
t Hof van Commerce have surpassed the gimmick with .herman. What remains : one
of the most creative hiphopcrews of this small country. Maybe they have concentrated
on the "scene" a bit too much with this cd, but as they themselve say
:
Ge zit te kloagen da je ons nie verstoat
ge kunt ze kussen
als ge peist dat het daarover goat
't es triestig als je d'r stille bie stoat
ge kunt dus collectief ons kloten kussen
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:
- Jempi Samyn in Stage : "The success-formula
of "En in Izegem" gets a sequel, with once again attention to two important
details : they still rap in the local dialect without giving in an inch to language-purifactors,
and they never moralize or step in the easy trap of using clichés."
- Mike Engels in Rif-Raf : "Herman
is the logical consequence of "En in Izegem" : de sound of the first
cd was developed somewhat more, without losing the rawness of it. The lightness
of the first album is taking to a higher leve, and the atmosphere sometimes is
a bit more serious.... The album is a series of inventive sounds & patterns.
Very musical too. Keeping it real as they do it in West-Vlaanderen does bring
about good things".
- Tom Peeters in Teek : "On the sleeve
there is a pig. It's called Herman, it is pink, it has a curly tail and sharp
teeth. If you want, that is a sort of summary of the music of 't Hof van Commerce
: pink is for the lazy tempo, the curly tail is for the ingenious scratch-word
of 4T4, and the sharp teeth are the lyrics. Altough it really could "mocht
gerust ntwa mjir zjin" (more would've been better) ".
Did you see a good (or bad) review of this album ? Tell
me about it !
You can order this CD from a number of locations (prices researched on August
30th, 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.
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