Songs (click on the -icons
for a small audio-sample)
1. Fun for free
2. Hot hotter hottest
3. People are like slamming doors
4. My heart belongs to someone else (i wish it was mine)
5. Teacher
6. The bananaqueen
7. The quiet place in my city mind
8. Nice
9. Josiewitchgirl
10. Moving through life as prey
Songs :
Stef Kamil Carlens, Bjorn Eriksson, Tom Pintens, Tomas de Smet, Aarich Jespers Lyrics :
Stef Kamil Carlens
Musicians:
- Stef Kamil Carlens (vocals, piano, guitars, midi programming)
- Tomas de Smet (bass, upright bass, percussion, synth, drums, vocals)
- Aarich Jespers (drums, precussions, sampling, organ)
- Tom Pintens (grand piano, guitar, synths, programming, bass, clarinet, vocals)
- Bjorn Eriksson (guitars, keyboards, vocals)
gasten:
- Bart Maris & Eric Morel (horns - on track 2)
- Tine Reymer (vocals - on track 4)
- Ilse neeka Govaerts (vocals - on track 7)
- Lol B (vocals - on track 10)
Produced : Zita Swoon Recorded at Ringtheater Borgerhout (Antwerp), Studio Rat & Kabel (Aalst)
Artwork : Bjorn Eriksson & Tom Hautekiet Coverconcept: Sarah van de Put
My opinion
The
key sentence on "Life is a Sexy Sanctuary" is for me in the song "The
Quiet Place in My Mind" : "It's like an aspirine for blues, like
an umbrella for dark moods". Too bad, but this describes exactly why
this 5th Moondog JR/Zita Swoon CD hasn't
become a high in their career.
The difference between "Life=A Sexy Sanctuary" and the fantastic
"Everyday I paint Pictures on a Wedding Dress", is not that the
title is so much shorter, or that the band is looking more whore-like to a continuation
of the success that "D.I.S.C.O." brought them, nor that Stef Kamil was
so much nicer looking when he had his long hair instead of a Bowie-hairdo, nor
that Zita Swoon has suddenly become "clueless in Antwerp". No, for me
the difference is that the previous CD brought me three or four pieces of pure
unadulterated goosebumps. And on "Life=a sexy sanctuary" that doesn't
happen. Not even close.
THe main suspect in my eyes is the (over)production. Of course, this is a matter
of taste and feeling, so it's easy to hold a different opinion. Maybe an example
can clarify my stand: during the promocampaign that came with the release of this
CD, the band streamed a concert in the FNAC. One of the songs being played was
an almost acoustic version of "My Heart Belongs To Someone Else".
And I was thinking: "I can't wait to get a hold on this CD, this is magic".
But when I did get the CD a couple of days later, I didn't even notice the song,
as if it wasn't there. The emotion -what I was looking for- wasn't there.
And so "Life = a Sexy Sanctuary" finds itself somewhat too full with
songs that "don't do anything" (even though there's only a meagre 10
songs on it). "Teacher", "People are like slamming doors",
"Fun For Free", "Josie Witch Girl". If Zita
Swoon really had the intention of making a poppy album, why didn't they choose
resolutely to go for the playful disco of "Bananaqueen" and "Hot
hotter hottest": at least that would have become a partyrecord that would've
been so much more difficult to neglect.
Only towards the end of the album, there are some songs that didn't get such an
overintensive production and do manage to carry across some emotion: "The
Quiet place in my Mind", "Nice" and the wonderful "Moving
through life as prey".
"Hey, My Life is OK", it had the possibility of becoming a sort of mantra
for a new conquest of the low countries (and far beyond), but that LSP-ish stuff
certainly didn't work on me.
Don't get me wrong: on a scale of "ridiculous - sucks - bad - waste-of-time-
fine - good - great", Zita Swoon still finds itself comfortably in the
category "good" with this "Life=a sexy sanctuary". So what.
Ain't good enough, for a band that has a masterpiece in it.
This Album in the Press
- Jub in Humo
: "De opzet was een popplaat maken, en daar knelt het schoentje.
Niet alle tien songs op Life = A sexy Sanctuary zijn namelijk ongehavend
uit de suikerspinbehandeling gekomen. Maar bij de eerste beluistering zal aan
uw enthousiasme niet getornd worden: de eerste dip volgt pas na vier nummers,
en tegen die tijd bent u in zulke hoge sferen dat u er ongetwijfeld niets van
merkt. ... Laat u dus vooral niets wijsmaken: Life = A sexy Sanctuary
is wel degelijk de moeite waard. Het is alleen nog niet de absolute klassieker
geworden die we van Zita Swoon zeker nog mogen verwachten."
- Oor : "The whole album seems to be aimed at elevating SKCs
melodramatically vibrating voice. If this had happened against the background
of a darker sound decorage, it wouldve certainly provided a more emotional
result. But now you just sit around, waiting for the moment for Zita Swoon to
grab you by the throat or even by your bollocks. ... It is by no means a bad album,
you must chew through the superficial layers to understand the meaning of the
album. The album aims to give the listener aspirin for the blues, but if the "patient"
had just been a bit more feverish, the cure wouldve been "better"."
- NetParque (Portugal)
: ""Life = A Sexy Sanctuary"vai servindo para matar saudades
dos tempos em que o projecto se chamava Moondog Jr. e para acalmar a espera por
um novo álbum de dEUS (anunciado pelos próprios para 2002). ...
"Life = A Sexy Sanctuary" é um pequeno e modesto álbum
que se ouve sem complexos, com momentos altos em boas histórias como "My
Heart Belongs To Someone Else (I Wish It Was Mine)", "Teacher"ou
"The Quiet Place In My City Mind".
- lg in Rif-Raf (ed.fr) : "Si l'on prend Zita Swoon au sérieux,
ils sont pratiquement inaudibles. Par contre (ils sont les premiers à le
faire) si l'on considère la part de second degré et d'absurde que
leur musique contient, ils font apparaître la figure improbable et réjouissante
d'un Beck né à Borgerhout."
- Reinout Vangeel voor Uptomusic
: "... De muzikale basis van de groep wordt nog steeds gevormd door fijne
rock- en poptextuurtjes in functie van Stef Kamil Carlens' uit de duizend herkenbare
neusvocalen, maar er mag ook al eens uitgewaaierd worden naar verdere horizonten.
... 'Life = A Sexy Sanctuary' is een nieuw pareltje aan de kroon van Koning Belpop,
wiens troon tot nader order nog steeds in Antwerpen staat."
- RamDam : "Le
nouveau Zita Swoon est donc différent
des opus précédents mais l'essentiel est malgré tout préservé:
les arrangements sont toujours aussi riches et recherchés. Cependant, Zita
Swoon devra s'attendre à voir ses anciens fans déçus et à
connaître la substitution de son public par un nouveau, sans doute moins
attiré par la recherche musicale permanente et par les albums que l'on
ne découvre vraiment qu'après quelques dizaines d'écoutes
mais que l'on apprécie toute la vie."
- Paris
Première : "L'identité de Zita Swoon est assez troublante
: véritable collectif qui semble aujourdhui sêtre trouvé,
ce groupe anversois privilégie la confrontation musicale et limprovisation
avec le souci permanent de voir le visuel venir soutenir le propos musical. Un
ensemble en perpétuelle évolution, y compris sur scène".
- Dirk Steenhaut in De Morgen : "De muziek van Zita Swoon blijft
rijk aan details en is minder eenduidig dan je op het eerste gehoor zou vermoeden.
Ze balanceert voortdurend op de scheidingslijn tussen uitbundig en ingetogen,
en verliest veel van haar lichtvoetigheid zodra je je op de teksten concentreert.
... conclusie: deze cd is voor Zita Swoon wat The Ideal Crash
was voor dEUS. Wantrouw dus je aanvankelijke
teleurstelling en blijf vooral luisteren. Nadat je weerstand is gebroken, zullen
tien prachtsongs je deel zijn."
- Zicline :
"La célèbre richesse de compositions et d'interprétation
est toujours omni-présente, avec une multitude de facettes sonores passant
par pop, rock, jazz imprégnée de beaucoup de sensibilité.
Chaque titre a sa propre identité comme Hot hotter hottest, The bananaqueen,
Josiewitchgirl.Sita Zwoon est un groupe atypique qui continue à élargir
son horizon ..."
- ow in Rif-Raf (ned.editie) : "Op zoek naar een groter publiek
heeft Zita Swoon geopteerd om een popplaat uit te brengen. En dan hou je je hart
vast. ... Net als de vorige is ook deze cd een groeiplaat. Niet zo straf als de
vorige, wat ook niet kan want dat is de strafste plaat die in België ooit
is gemaakt. Maar pop of niet, er staat op "life = a sexy sanctuary"
genoeg om voor te vallen."
- Le
Monde : "Stef Kamil Carlens, Zita Swoon en chef, a préféré
cette fois à la fragmentation dadaïste des structures et des mélodies
plus classiquement pop, perverties par des arrangements hérétiques
ne s'interdisant aucun territoire : reggae avec des rythmiques sautillantes, latino
avec des cuivres rutilants (Hot Hotter Hottest), new wave avec des synthés
sortis des années 1980, rock avec des guitares nerveuses et un piano étincelant.
Aussi charnels que cérébraux, les plaisirs dispensés par
Zita Swoon en font un héritier caché et très spirituel de
David Bowie."
- Peter van Dyck in Focus (Knack) : "Op basis van de heerlijke
single Hot Hotter Hottest had ik een sexy plaat verwacht, die resoluut de popkaart
zou trekken ... Het dilemma van de Antwerpse groep is dat hij goed is in funky,
aanstekelijke nummer, én in hoekig, donker spul. SKC komt in de problemen
wanneer hij, zoals op deze cd, de middenweg probeert te vinden."
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 September
20, 2001, 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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