Songs (click on the -icons for a small audio-sample)
1. Dust
2. Embraced You
3. Lullaby
4. Ready To Go
5. The Real Thing
6. Show Me
7. My Daily Bread
8. Smile
9. Paralysed
10. It's Over
11. Between Love and Pain
12. When Did We Fall

All songs written and composed by Anton Walgrave
Musicians :
- Anton Walgrave (zang, akoestische gitaar, piano, sitar ...)
- Kevin Armstrong (gitaren, piano, keyboards, mandoline ...)
- Soul (bass)
- Neil Conti / Simon Hanson (drums)
- Aram van Ballaert (banjo, nylon string, backing vocals)
- Freek Boey (backing vocals)
- Olivia Armstrong (engelenstemmetje)
- Arif Durvesh (tabla)
- Blair Mackichan (mouth rhythm box)
- Earl Oakins (mouth trumpet surdu)

Producer : Kevin Armstrong
Recorded at Laylow Studio, London.

Cover pic : K. Walgrave
Artwork : Seven Productions

My opinion

Anton o Anton, why didst thou choose the month February in the Year of Our Lord 2000 to release thine first CD? Knoweth not thee and thine record-society that the talented young minstrel Joost Zweegers and his outfit Novastar were to enlighten us with their album in the very same period? O Anton, which other outcome would faith had'th bestowed on thine songbook "The Hum", if thee had only waited for the months of May or June, as those were still virginlike blanc in thee Belgian release-calender. Thine finely cut portion of songwritingcraft and singing talent with thine Englisch friends, wouldn't have been hastily expelled to one small column in thee newspapers. What kind of a luxury situation is this in our parts of thee globe, when an album that sports songs such as "It's Over", "Show Me", "My Daily Bread" or the heavnly "When did we fall", all of outstanding quality, manages to almost completely elude the attention span of the inhabitants?
To the disadvantige of thine album, some arguments can also be proclaimed : thine voice sometimes sound like soury cream (not unlike the honourable John Watts); from thine lyrics rise soury fumes of bitterness and wrath (the magazine Humo knighted thee with the title "Tristus of Nazareth" - Sadnus of Nazareth); and some people might get a soury feeling in the stomach from some of the instrumentations (Yes was a thing of the 70's, and can safely remain there). More importantly, thine fine record (measured about 1,2 mm) does not seem to contain one so-called "single" (yes, "Embraced You" was released as a promo, and now there's "Ready To Go", but both are about as radio-friendly as a lute-player with three broken strings), because almost all the songs contain some surprising twist & turns or take forever to get to the refrain.
Anton, O Anton. Our heart wept when we heard thee sing. Thou surely deserves half of the attention that Lord Zweegers has received. If both were chocolate, then Novastar would be the white variety, good for everyman with a sweet tooth, and thee would be the black, bitter variety, best suited for those with character. In short, the point I was trying to make here : "The Hum" of Anton Walgrave is an oldfashioned good album of an upcoming singer-songwriter, not without flaws, but a feast for every true music-lover.

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

- Kurt Blondeel in De Morgen : "Muzikaal nestelt The Hum zich ergens tussen de ingetogen pracht van Ben Christophers en de brede uithalen van Live, al vallen ook brokjes latin, folk en progressieve rock te rapen ... Een wondermooie plaat".
- 6 Bears : "Premier album solo .. "The Hum" à tout d'une carte de visite réussie. S'inspirant d'une ambiance très seventies, l'auteur nous propose des titres plutôt sages qui nous font parfois penser aux Beatles, aux Stones ou encore aux Led Zeppelin, la magie et la force en moins."
- Tom Peeters in Teek : "Geef dit plaatje toch maar wat tijd om open te bloeien, want al vond je de eerste single "Embraced You", nogal gewoontjes, van de elf andere zijn er minstens vijf bijzonder fraai ... een voorproefje ook van wat mogelijk nog komen kan".
- mvs in Humo : "Anton is veelzijdig : "The Hum" bevat pop, rock, blues, soul, jazz, funk, zelfs folk, en dat kan een probleem zijn in een tijdvak waarin vooral de radio elke muziekstijl in z'n eigen enge hokje wil brengen. ... Anton is vooral goed in het blijven verrassen van de luisteraar, maar die sterkte is ook zijn zwakte : in sommige nummers zijn té veel goede ideeën versmolten tot een cocktail die meer vermoeit dan imponeert".
- D.F. in Stage : "Wanneer het rockgevoel even de kop opsteekt in "Ready to go" en "The Real Thing" treedt er wel eens een krak in de spanningsboog op, maar bescheiden met heel wat seventies-invloeden en psychedelica doordrenkte juweeltjes als "Show me" (wat een refrein!) ... brengen pas het echte talent van Walgrave naar boven. The Hum is een debuut waarmee rekening moet gehouden worden."
- Dirk Steenhaut in Metro : "Groeit Belgisch poptalent dan toch aan de bomen? ... Referenties? Een gespierde R.E.M., een mannelijke Suzanne Vega, of een glamrockversie van Nick Drake".

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 April 11, 2000, but nothing guarantees they still are the same when you read this).

Shop	Price of the CD	Shipping + other expenses	Total	Direct Link
Frontstage	699	0	699 Bef.	Frontstage
Azur	799	0	799 Bef.
Proxis	690	0	690 Bef.	Proxis
Atrecordings	---	3$	---
Netbeat	---	3,51€	---

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.

More about this group :

- contact : HUM bvba +32 2.242.04.21
Sylviane Lefèvre, Avenue Rogier 238, 1030 Brussel

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