Songs (click on the -icons for audio)
1. The gardener
2. This is not my home
3. Legacy
4. Sunset
5. Eve
6. Blueprint
7. Patti
8. Fight of the night
9. Listen to the radio
10. Killing ace
11. No medecine

Produced by Staf Verbeeck
All songs by Ilse Goovaert (Manta Ray Publishing) except 9. : Robinson/Gabriel

Musicians :
- Ilse Goovaerts (vocals, guitars)
- Roland Van Campenhout (guitars, bells)
- "Lange Polle" Van Bruystegem (guitars)
- Bart Meeus (drums, percussion)
- Bart De Nolf (bass)
- Bieke Segaert (backing vocals)

Recorded at Jet Studio, Brussels

Artwork : Krist Debusschere (Bosteels & Bosteels), photograph : Dirk Kerstens.

My opinion

There was an ad in the paper today, saying : "Teek goes nuts. This month a free cd of folkwonder neeka with Teek !!!". Well, Teek isn't exactly a novice to the game of excessive adjectives, but apparently this Neeka is a "folkwonder" then. Folkmusic is in very high esteem at the moment over here and cd's of women-folkies (see Laïs) sell like UCK-badges in a refugee camp. So being a folkwonder could be a good thing. Alas, it's not.
Personally, I think this debut of Neeka is about as "folk" as cricket is exciting. She doesn't even wear woolen socks, but plays guitar on her bare feet. This is a singer-songwriter navigating between the lines that diamond ladies such as BJ Scott, Ricky Lee Jones, Kirstin Hersh an mainly Joni Mitchell have drawn for her.
Unfortunately, also the "wonder" part doesn't really fit her. In fairness we have to face the fact that Ilse Goovaerts never climbs to the level of the mentioned examples. This is not so much due to her singing (very beautiful in the quiet parts, a bit overly tense in the loud bits) or the production & band (a lot of class in there), but mainly due to the songs which are a bit mediocre. The knife rarely cuts deep, rarely does emotion strike hard. The main exception for me is the clever "This is not my home" and also "The Gardener", "Legacy" and the firm-rocking "Fight of the night" and "Killing Ace" surpass the average.
So, it's not a folk-wonder. Neeka-boo. But, considering this is a debut, this looks like a very good acquisition for the Belgian rockscene.

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

- Weekend-Knack, 4/17/99, "Although this may sound like a contradiction, Neeka is at her most strong when she appears to be most fragile. If you peel away the layer of rock, you get a rhythm and phrasing à la Joni Mitchell. Hopefully she'll get the time to grow."
- Bart Steenhaut in Metro (De Morgen) "A female singer-songwriter, indeed, but not a wallflower. Because from time to time the guitars, played by among others Roland, get the chance to go wild. A nice voice, sound songs ... There's eh ... music to this."

Did you see a good (or bad) review of this album ? Tell me about it !

More about this group :

- For all Neeka-info on the web you can get to the impressive Oyster Records-site.
- Contact : Manta Ray Publishing. Tel : 0032.2.414.13.33

Where to buy this CD ?

You can order this CD from a number of locations (prices researched on May 5th, 1999, but nothing guarantees they still are the same when you read this).

Shop	Price of the CD	Shipping + other expenses	Total	Direct Link
Frontstage	---	50	---
Azur	713	0	713 fr.
HVH-Megastore	698	54	748 fr.
Proxis	561	95	656 fr.	Proxis

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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