Produced by Nicholas Vandooren & Yves Barbiieux Recorded at Studio Caraïbes (Brussel)
Artwork : Boîte à clous Prod. asbl
My opinion
Urban Trad. has delivered with their debut cd "One O Four"
thé folk-CD of the year 2000 ... That pretty much says it all, the
rest is a mere clumsy attempt at explaining why this is so:
Urban Trad is 80 percent traditional music, mostly Celtic by descent. Folk, in
short. What makes Urban Trad rise above the rest of the folk-production, and has
made this a very interesting release for more than the groupies of the genre,
is:
- the 20 per cent "urban" that has been blended in this "trad".
The keyboards, beats, trumpets etc... give this traditional music and merry melodies
a drive that rumbling pot & viol do not usually produce. Listen for instance
to "Vodka Time", and hear how a rather simple rural dance could end
up in a discotheque.
- the variation and the combination of the gang of musicians that has cooperated
in this project. For Yves Barbieux (Coïncidence)
did manage to interest a fine flock of folkies in Urban Trad (which grew out of
the desire of Universal-A&R-person Wilfried Brits for a modern versionof André
Bialek's "La Belle Gigue"), and they did justice to his compositions:
from the poppy vocals of Mieke De Langhe & Perry Rose on Rap-a-doo
(this should've been a summer hit), to the ladies of the Galician Ialma
who manage to make La Belle Gigue both unrecognizable and irresistable,
from the melancholic accordion on Waltzing Dranouter (not a coincidence
that Urban Trad made their stage debut au grand complèt at this festival
ground) to the filmic quality of the brass on "Brass Corto":
they all add extra value to what are in essence light songs.
Of course this cd is not perfect (I keep hoping). The closing track Mecanix, for
example, with personal greetings of all the 20 or so musicians had perhaps better
remained a hidden track. And not all flutes, bagpipes and accordions are kept
so tightly on the leash on tracks such as "bamboo" and "free
wheel". But this is merely criticism of details, as Urban Trad has brought
us a very accessible and even catchy CD that I hope will get a following inside
and outside the genre.
With bands as Laïs and Ambrozijn
and this Urban Trad, "folk" definitely ain't an abusive term anymore.
When preceded by the the word "Belgian", it's quickly growing into a
quality label.
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
- Dieter van den Bergh in Oor : "Terwijl Folk in Nederland nog
immer visioenen oproept van klompendansen en bierdrinkende mannen met baarden
en sandalen, zijn de Belgen dit stadium reeds gepasseerd. New folk is dé trend.
Urban Trad ... mixt op een ijzersterke manier Keltische folk met dance en rock
en krijgt de steun van gerenommerde folkies uit Belgïe, Finland en Schotland."
- Het Volk : "Samen hebben ze een erg hoogstaande CD uitgebracht
: One o Four. Het is een pareltje en voor wie even wil kennismaken met het begrip
"the New Tradition" een must. De CD bevat 12 nummers en steekt vol variatie."
- Het Bourdonske : "... Het gaat nog verder dan wat Kadril in Vlaanderen
of Coïncidence in Wallonië doen. De Skandinavische folkrock en moderne traditionalisten
als Hevia en Manau hebben hier duidelijk inspirerend gewerk, al wil dit Belgisch
collectief toch minder ernstig overkomen. Zo'n holderdebolder technofolk-sound
hadden wij nog niet in Belgenland."
- De Morgen : "De leden van Afro Celt Sound System bewezen al dat
dance en traditionele folk best hand in hand kunnen gaan, en hun voorbeeld wordt
nu gevolgd door Yves Barbieux ... De avontuurlijke bewerking van Andre Bialecs
'La Belle Jigue" is ronduit briljant."
- Tijd Cultuur : "... Niet dat 'One o Four' meteen bestemd is voor
dansvloer van een hippe discotheek, daarvoor alles te melodieus en eist Barbieux'
liefde voor de Keltische muziek een te prominente plaats op. Wat de CD bijzonder
maakt, is dat je door de geprogrammeerde ritmes de hartslag van een drukke stad
voelt maar dat je ook kan wegdromen op de tonen van een fluit, doedelzak, viool,
tuba of accordeon: het platteland ligt binnen handbereik. 'Grootstedelijk traditionalisme'
- wat de naam Urban Trad al suggereert- lijkt een gepaste omschrijving voor dit
geslaagde huwelijk tussen dance en folk, een gegeven waarmee ook bands als hevia
of Afro Celt Sound System succes oogsten."
- Music & Media : "With Interest in (traditional) folk music
currently booming in Belgium, Urban Trad have managed to combine the best in local
folk with modern dance rythms to create "techno-ambient influenced folk". ...
The result is nothing less than astonishing"
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
6, 2000, 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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