Is this still an album or now a radio play? It’s a good question that reveals a lot about our consumption of music today. We have long since become accustomed to perceiving tracks and songs exclusively as autonomous units and no longer as part of a larger whole. LP formats in particular have a hard time in these times of streaming, but so do countless mixes and podcasts. Exceptions confirm the rule here, too, no question about it. But it is not without reason that a work like ‘Une aventure de VV (Songspiel)’ attracts positive attention: a story in 15 parts that unfolds over a period of about an hour. The term opera prohibits itself, but why? The Belgian band project Aksak Maboul by Crammed Disc operator Marc Hollander does well to swim uncompromisingly against the tide. Hypnotic and captivating, the fairy tale is recounted by VV, who goes out in search of her own voice and encounters all kinds of ghosts along the way. The theatrical-poetic work was penned by long-time collaborator Véronique Vincent, who also narrates the text. Musically, Hollander realises his concept of a post-modern sound without frontiers here: New music, post-punk, electronic pop and avant-garde, modern street sound, jazz, Kraut, minimal disco and, and, and. Everything is in flux – yes, maybe more of a radio play, but it’s groovy and danceable like no other before.
Helen Island
Silence Is Priceless
Knekelhuis