An interesting newcomer in the 'Chamber Music Rock' subgenre, this is a Belgian five piece featuring a lineup of dual violins, keyboards, alto and baritone saxes, and bass. Naturally, as might be expected, their sound draws heavily on classical, and lightly on jazz, folk, and rock themes. They are essentially drummerless, but still rhythmically very powerful - although on a few tracks (most notably "Kongo") there are drums/percussion (..but no credits are given - could be sampled). Their music is entirely instrumental. Their basic sound could be likened to Art Zoyd meets Miriodor meets Penguin Cafe Orchestra; they share much in common with these bands - The melodious sax-driven and angular approach of Miriodor, the warm romanticism of Penguin Cafe, and the stark, foreboding chamber-music stylings of Art Zoyd, but in the end they sound more like none of these, being truly a case where the whole is much greater than the sum of any of the element parts. All in all, an outstanding release, hopefully the first of many.
(Originally published in Exposé #1, p. 9, Edited for Gnosis 1/20/01)
