King Shiloh Sound System

A terrific reggae sound system yesterday at my hometown that received massive response by a super-enthusiastic crowd. Majestic music indeed!

Les Amants Réguliers

The ones who don't like it call those who do "pseudo-intellectuals" but to hell with those dumb-asses; Philippe Garrel's latest film is a true masterpiece!

Saturday Night Fever !!!

picture by Joost Dierick

Saturday was a crazy night!! First there was that funny guy from Bordeaux who made some great trashy rock 'n roll dance music under the moniker FREDOVITCH. Dressed up as a knight, he freaked out on drums, organ and guitar and spiced things up with exciting samples. Mix the rawness of King Louie's One Man Band with the freakishness of Mr. Quintron, add mucho enthusiasm and some neat song writing and you get an idea of the amazing sounds of FREDOVITCH. Bingo!

THE KING KHAN & BBQ SHOW was scheduled next at The Pit's and expectations were very high since this two-man band released a killer of an album last year. Their 45 minutes show was great fun : King Khan wore a sexy pink dress and made us dance like fools with his delicious licks while BBQ rocked the hell out of his rudimental drum set and added some great & raw vocals. Party!!!

When I heard that my favourite rhythm & blues blasters THE SEATSNIFFERS were playing at my hometown on the same evening as The King Khan & BBQ Show at The Pit's, I panicked for a few seconds but soon realised that shows at the Pit's must end at 10 PM and that I could probably make it in time for Belgium's finest. So after the King Khan & BBQ Show, I jumped into my car and rushed back to my hometown while some black rock 'n roll blasted out of my car hifi. Last year, The Seatsniffers had played their 10th anniversary show and since I hadn't seen these guys in about two years I was anxious to witness if they could still tear the house down. My god, they drove me to delirium! The place was sold-out (thanks Jan!) but fortunately I managed to seize a place in front of Roel, the hard-blowing sax maniac. The band blasted out one amazing song after the other : steaming hot rhythm & blues, a crazy ska-tune, savage rockabilly, a hot-blooded polka... unbelievable how tight and to the point this fabulous band was! Even the Link Wray cover "Run Chicken Run" sent chills down my spine! Did I already tell you how I danced like a fool since this probably IS the best fuckin' dance band in the world?!! Totally incredible how a Belgian roots band rivals its American idols and leaves everybody KO. Don't miss them when they're in town or don't mind driving 3 hours to see this truly unique band!

The Wayward Cloud

Beste Steven De Foer,

Ik heb mij weeral eens mateloos geërgerd aan één van uw filmbesprekingen in De Standaard van woensdag 11 januari jl. Het komt er op neer dat iedereen die van "The Wayward Cloud" houdt een intellectuele snob is die te veel films gezien heeft en dus alleen nog maar bevredigd kan worden door exotische arty-farty experimenten. De film staat volgende week op mijn programma dus kan ik er mij nog niet echt over uitspreken maar Tsai Ming-Liang's vorige films, die u blijkbaar ook allemaal slecht vindt (lees : te moeilijk), belandden steevast bovenaan mijn jaarlijstjes.

Over film valt veel te discussiëren, alleen irriteren uw besprekingen mij vaak omdat een duidelijke verhaallijn voor u een absolute noodzaak schijnt te zijn zodat u zelf niet te veel inspanningen hoeft te leveren om een film te begrijpen. Jo Smets formuleerde het destijds mooi in Knack bij zijn bespreking van Bruno Dumont's "Twentynine Palms" : "De gemakkelijkste reactie is geeuwen, de zaal verlaten en uw als anti-intellectualisme vermomde mentale luiheid gaan ventileren."

Gaat u in het vervolg aub dit soort films niet zien en bespaar ons uw simplistisch geleuter.

Groeten,
Luc O.

IT'S ALIVE!!! (I mean, it's supposed to be...)

Tonight, I am going to THE KING KHAN & BBQ SHOW at The Pit's and I'm really looking forward to it 'cuz their record will probably end on top position in my best-of 2005 list. Kris 'Demolition Derby' Verreth will be there too with a bunch of records I ordered through his excellent mailorder service during the last couple of months. Consequently, I will be able to give you my list of favourite records, 7-inches & reissues of 2005 one of these days. In the meantime, here are my favourite shows of the past year :

1. THE LOST SOUNDS at The Pit's "a total mindfuck - keine schönheit ohne Gefahr nicht?"
2. THE REATARDS/TOKYO ELECTRON/ANGRY ANGLES at The Pit's "the Tokyo Electron bass guitar that got blasted into my face couldn't spoil the fun that night - Jay Reatard was simply devastating"
3. THE FATALS at The Pit's "a real surprise - amazing psychotic blues sludge"
4. THE BLACK LIPS/RIVER CITY TANLINES/GHETTO WAYS at The Lintfabriek "3 x bingo - Oh what a night!"
5. TEXT OF LIGHT : A Live Musical Homage to Stan Brakhage featuring LEE RANALDO, WILLIAM HOOKER, DJ OLIVE, ALAN LICHT, AND ULRICH KRIEGER at De Vooruit "A great project and a mesmerizing way to enjoy the avant-garde films of Stan Brakhage"
6. THE EX at the N9 Villa "still going strong after all these years - it made me realise how influential The Ex was and still is"
7. TH' LOSIN' STREAKS at The Pit's "ex-Trouble Makers - these guys know how to party!!!"
8. THE MOJOMATICS at The Pit's "2 Italian gentlemen - these guys know how to rock in style!!!"
9. SOUTH FILTHY at 't Oud Liefken "A last minute show I organised at a great place at the countryside - a night to remember!"
10. THE BASEBALL FURIES at the 4AD "A great show but lofi punkrock bands should be seen at a small joint like The Pit's instead of on a 1 meter high stage"

I also enjoyed two reunion shows in 2005 : THE STOOGES in Lokeren and PERE UBU in Brussels. I think I missed 3 great bands last year being the DEMON'S CLAWS (snow blizzard), CRASH NORMAL (those damn Derwishes!) & THE MIGHTY GO-GO PLAYERS (dead-beat). The worst shows were those by ROCK CITY MORGUE (ex-White Zombie - bweurk!), BAMBU STATION (very mediocre reggae band from the Virgin Islands), THE WHIRLING DERVISHES OF KONYA (I missed them in Konya last year - their show in Antwerp however turned out to be very artificial (read : downright boring!)), DIE ROTZZ (C'mon guys, a little effort please? A show is not supposed to be a sloppy rehearsal!) and some Flemish art school shithead band called HARKER that fucked up the immense beauty of The Goddess (1934) at the Cinema Novo Film Festival in Bruges.

My yearly favourite shows list used to be much more varied but nothing much seems to happen outside the punkrock scene nowadays. The end of the Bluesestafette in Utrecht means no more exciting soul & blues shows. Reggae has always been a dubious live thing with more letdowns than revelations. World Music is doomed to fartsy Art Centres. I could go on. At our little punkrock scene however, things actually happen if you know what I mean so here's another thumbs-up to everybody's favourite club the mighty Pit's. I hope the cops won't bother us again before 10 PM...

I would like to end this post with a quote from Peter Guralnick's essential book "Feel Like Going Home". Sadly, nothing has changed ever since and I'm not talking about the blues scene alone.

These were, in fact, many of the same problems which have plagued every blues "concert" I have attended since I first saw Lightnin' Hopkins at Harvard twelve years ago : a stiff, unnatural atmosphere, an unbridgeable gulf between performer and audience, and a tendency to treat the blues as a kind of museum piece, to be pored over by scholars, to be admired perhaps but to be stifled at the same time by the press of formal attention. It was a depressing realization and one that left me on the whole with the feeling that even in its own backyard blues had ceased to be a living experience.

Good Night, And Good Luck (finding an exciting non-punkrock show in 2006!)

Good Night, And Good Luck

An intelligent American movie that impresses deeply and will most likely end up in my Top 10 of 2006. Already!