01	Beyond The Mountains						10:04
	02	A L'ombre Du Zed						08:08
	03	Eastwave						05:41
	04	Sirius						06:55
	05	Strange Twist						07:41
	06	Fete Souterraine						07:16

Cuneiform Records - P.O. Box 6517, Wheaton, MD 20906-0517 USA
1991
RUNE 33

Belgian musician/composer Daniel Denis is best known as leader of chamber rock band Univers Zero. Denis founded Univers Zero with guitarist Roger Trigaux and served as the band's percussionist and main composer from 1974-1987. His solo work follows the sound of later Univers Zero. His work features a mix of acoustic and electric instruments, including piano, electric keyboards, cello, violin, reeds, guitar, bass, and drums. Denis released his first solo recording, Sirius and the Ghosts, in 1991, and followed it with the album Les Eaux Troubles. — Jim Dorsch


Sirius and the Ghosts
Date of Release 1991

Approximately four year after Heatwave, Univers Zero's last recording, their drummer and composer Daniel Denis released this solo CD, which displays some classic Univers Zero elements, but also demonstrates Denis's desire to try out some new musical possibilities. The biggest change, perhaps, is in Denis's more prominent appropriation of synthesized keyboards — which he played to a very limited extent only on the last two Univers Zero releases. The synthesizer, in particular, gives Denis a wider tonal palette to work with, and the diminished role of the drums on this CD reduces (although that's too negative a word) the unspeakable Lovecraftian terrors of Univers Zero's sound to a more subtle and playful sense of mystery. Wisely, Denis also surrounds himself with capable musicians and diverse instrumentation (clarinets, saxes, recorders, cellos, and bass), which dilutes the potential sterility of a generic synthesizer sound and allows the music to keep its distance from mere fake orchestral or fuzak jazz. Compositionally, the pieces are still heavily riff-oriented, as they were for the most part in Univers Zero, but Denis teases the ear with a greater variety of musical textures and moods. As always, though, the brooding, Gothic atmosphere is never too far beneath the surface, and is nicely highlighted by the CD's last selection, "Fete Souterraine (Subterranean Festival)," which consists of deep reverberating drones and a somber repeated theme on cathedral organ. — William Tilland

1. Beyond the Mountains (Denis) - 9:52
2. A L'Ombre du Zed (Denis) - 8:04
3. Eastwave (Denis) - 5:34
4. Sirius (Denis) - 6:52
5. Strange Twist (Denis) - 7:37
6. Fкte Souterraine (Denis) - 7:35


Daniel Denis - Percussion, Drums, Keyboards
Dirk Descheemaeker - Clarinet, Clarinet (Bass), Sax (Soprano)
Jan Kuijken - Cello, Electric Cello
Chantal Smets - Photography
Michel Hatzigeorgiou - Bass

CD Cuneiform RUNE-33-CD