01	A Modern Lesson			Written and composed by: Marc Hollander Other Artists: Catherine Jauniaux: voice, pinball machine Fred Frith: guitars, violin, viola Marc Hollander: organ, piano, clarinet, bass clarinet, sax, drum machine Michel Berckmans: bassoon, oboe Denis Van Hecke: cello Frank Wuyts: drums (pt. 1), pinball machine, recorder Chris Cutler: drums (pt. 2) [Bo Diddley]			05:00
	02	Palmiers En Pots			Written and composed by: a: Andre Verchuren/b: Frank Wuyts & Marc Hollander Other Artists: Fred Frith: violin Frank Wuyts: piano Michel Berckmans: bassoon Denis Van Hecke: cello Marc Hollander: alto sax Chris Cutler: drums Track is in two parts: a: Trio [Nuits d'Argentine] (1:25) b: Tango (1:59) "Tango" was composed with a hat, scissors & glue.			03:24
	03	Geistige Nacht			Written and composed by: Fred Frith Other Artists: Michel Berckmans: bassoon, oboe Marc Hollander: soprano sax Denis Van Hecke: cello Frank Wuyts: piano, synthesizer Fred Frith: bass Chris Cutler: drums [Rondo]			05:20
	04	I Viaggi Formano La Gioventu			Written and composed by: Traditional, arr. by Vincent Kenis & Aksak Maboul Other Artists: Marc Hollander: dumbeg, organ, soprano sax, samples Denis Van Hecke: cello, electric cello, voice Michel Berckmans: oboe Frank Wuyts: piano, synthesizer Fred Frith: guitar [Truc Turc]			05:13
	05	Inoculating Rabies			Written and composed by: Denis Van Hecke & Frank Wuyts, arr. by Aksak Maboul Other Artists: Denis Van Hecke: electric cello, rhythm guitar, voice Michel Berckmans: bassoon Marc Hollander: bass clarinet Fred Frith: bass, guitar Chris Cutler: drums [Pogo]			01:59
	06	Cinema			Written and composed by: Marc Hollander & Frank Wuyts, arr. by Aksak Maboul plus Vincent Kenis on Part 2 Other Artists: Frank Wuyts: piano, synthesizer, percussion Michel Berckmans: bassoon, oboe Denis Van Hecke: cello, electric cello, voice Marc Hollander: organ, piano, bass clarinet, alto sax, xylophone and all percussion on Part 2 Catherine Jauniaux: voice Fred Frith: bass, guitar, prepared guitar Chris Cutler: drums, percusion, radio [Knokke] Although this is one long composition, it is listed in the CD booklet as being four separate tracks: 6: Ce Qu'on Peut Voir Avec Un Bon Microscope (7:25) 7: Alluvions (5:27) 8: Azinou Crapules (7:05) 9: Age Route Brra! [Radio Sofia] (2:48) Composed by Marc Hollander & Frank Wuyts, arr. by Aksak Maboul plus Vincent Kenis on "Alluvions"			23:03
	07	Bosses de Crosses			Written and composed by: Marc Hollander & Yvon Vromman, arr. by Honeymoon KIllers Other Artists: Yvon Vromman: guitar, vocals Veronique Vincent: vocals Gerald Fenerberg: guitar Marc Hollander: keyboards, bass clarinet, melodica, tapes Vincent Kenis: bass Jean F. Jones Jacob III: drums [Horreurs] This is a bonus track for the CD not on the original LP.			07:02

Crammed
Year: 1979
Catalog Number: Cram 002
Import
Produced by: Aksak Maboul
Engineered by: Etienne Conod (#7 engineered by Eric Faes)
Other Artists: Musicians on 1-6:

Michel Berckmans: bassoon, oboe
Chris Cutler: drums, percusion, radio
Fred Frith: guitar, prepared guitar, violin, viola, bass
Marc Hollander: organ, piano, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto sax, soprano sax, drum machine, samples, dumbeg, xylophone, percussion
Catherine Jauniaux: voice, pinball machine
Denis Van Hecke: cello, electric cello, rhythm guitar,voice
Frank Wuyts: drums, piano, synthesizer, percussion, pinball machine, recorder

Musicians on 7:

Yvon Vromman: guitar, vocals
Veronique Vincent: vocals
Gerald Fenerberg: guitar
Marc Hollander: keyboards, bass clarinet, melodica, tapes
Vincent Kenis: bass
Jean F. Jones Jacob III: drums
Web Links:
http://www.crammed.be
http://www.dtmgallery.com


Recorded in 1979 at Sunrise Studios, Kirchberg (Switzerland)
Mixed by Etienne Conod, Fred Frith & Aksak Maboul

Track 7 (which is really Track 10; see the notes for Track 6) recorded in 1981 at Hennuyeres (Belgium)

All pieces arranged by Aksak Maboul (Hollander/Wuyts/Frith/Van Hecke/Berckmans/Cutler) except 4 and Part 2 of 6 (which is really Track 7; see the notes for Track 6) by Aksak Maboul and Vincent Kenis, 1 by Hollander/Frith/Jauniaux, 3 by Frith, and 7 (which is really Track 10; see the notes for Track 6) by The Honeymoon Killers.

Archaeological Notes:

Founded in 1977 by Marc Hollander and Vincent Kenis, Aksak Maboul already contained some of the key elements of the Crammed aesthetics: eclecticism, internationalism, deliberate and playful mixing of forms, cultures and genres.

"Onze Danses Pour Combattre La Migraine" (1977) is somewhat like an assortment of musical sushis. Very peculiar charm and atmosphere, despite (or thanks to) its diversity: mischievous winks to Thelonious Monk, Robert Wyatt, Satie, Ellington, nino Rota, Eric Dolphy, Kraftwerk, Ravel and the American Minimalists; tributes to Pygmy, Berber and Romanian Gypsy music; primitive drum machines and demented "human sequencer" organ lines, along with assorted snatches of fake ethnic, fake jazz or fake classical music. It also contains a characteristic keyboard stab pattern which mysteriously re-appeared some twelve years later on dozens of techno tracks, from Detroit and elsewhere... It can be said without too much exaggeration that this record's freshness and originality made it a cult album since its release.

Shortly after the recording of "Onze Danses...", Aksak Maboul became a performing band in the autumn of 1977. A percussionist (Chris Joris) and a keyboard player (Marc Moulin of Telex fame, soon to be replaced by Frank Wuyts) joined the original nucleus of Hollander & Kenis, while guests were more and more frequently added: vocalist Catherine Jauniaux, bassoon/oboe player Michel Berckmans, cellist Denis van Hecke, sax player Geoff Leigh, drummer Guigou Chenevier, etc.

"Un Peu De L'Ame Des Bandits" (1980) was recorded by a band featuring English musicians Fred Frith and Chris Cutler. More intense and "experimental" than the first one, this album's music contains complex, completely written sections as well as totally improvised hardcore ambient pieces, not to mention drum machines, bassoons, sampling before samplers existed, Bulgarian, Pygmy, Polynesian and Delta Blues voices, tango, a Turkish tune, crypto-punk or pseudo-Varese music... Even the most ambitious moments of "L'Ame Des Bandits" are infused with Aksak Maboul's customary playfullness: "Tango" for example is based on various existing tangos, the scores of which were cut-up, shuffled and randomly glued back together; the musicians then proceeded to learn the resulting "opus," and actually performed it live in one take; "A Modern Lesson" contains recorded fragments taken from every single other track on the album; the last section of "Cinema" is an improvised impression of a l


Reviews

Aksak Maboul
Un Peu de l'Ame des Bandits
Crammed Discs (cram002)
Netherlands/Belgium/UK/etc 1979

Catherine Jauniqux, voice, pinball machine; Fred Frith, guitars, violin, viola, bass; Marc Hollander, organ, piano, clarinets, saxophones, drum machine, dumbeg, samples, xylophone, percussion; Michel Berckmans, bassoon, oboe; Denis Van Hecke, cello, electric cello, voice, guitar; Frank Wuyts, piano, synthesizer, drums, pinball machine, recorder, percussion; Chris Cutler, drums

Tracklist:
1. a modern lesson - 5:00
2. palmiers en pots - 3:24
a. trio
b. tango
3. geistige nacht - 5:20
4. I viaggi formano la gioventu - 5:13
5. inoculating rabies - 1:47
6. cinema - 23:03
a. ce qu'on peut voir avec un bon microscope
b. alluvions
c. azinou crapules
d. age route brra!
7. bosses de crosses (bonus track) - 7:02

total time 51:05


gary n

In my explorations of RIO, I went ape and bought a stack of random CDs spawned by the genre. Not a single one of them put me off, and a few even got played quite often. Only Un Peu de l'Вme des Bandits incited the magic of music, however, and gave me chills.
I was remotely aware that Chris Cutler and Fred Frith were involved in the project, and was pleased to hear moments which practically sounded like excerpts from a missing Henry Cow or Art Bears album. Cutler's drums sound as good as ever, and Frith's guitar and violin are evident in the most passionate moments throughout this work, supporting Van Hecke's cello. The strings add an Eastern European or even Middle Eastern twist to the already twisted tempest. At points, the sounds are nostalgic and historical, and at others completely warped. I was actually surprised to find Univers Zero alumnus Michel Berckmans participating, with his oboe and bassoon lending a smooth texture to the abrasive styles of the other musicians. Catherine Jauniaux's vocals at the beginning are grating and sporadic and totally pleased me. It brought to mind frightened children running around a broken piano containing a wounded cat and a television showing footage of fire engines following each other off of a cliff, sirens blaring.

The best moments of the album fall within the final track (not including the bonus track by post-Aksak band The Honeymoon Killers), "Cinema", a 23 minute long movement. A catchy groove surfaces from a somber broth and before long, Frith is off on a guitar tear. As that winds down, quiet piano accompanied by the most beautiful cello solo (with vocal accompaniment by the cellist himself) emerges and the matter of which my body is composed turns back into energy and then back into matter. Thousands of times.

I don't think I would have been as captivated by this album just based on my fandom of Cutler and Frith. The turkish influence and keyboard infused multi-instrumentalism strayed away from the cohesion of Henry Cow and some chaotic moments capture the essense that instituted the late dawn of RIO. My ventures in American RIO and other post-Cow and Univers Zero European bands helped me understand this better. I'd recommend this strongly for fans, but not as a starting point for those interested in the quirks of opposition.

1-24-03



Aksak Maboul - Un Peu de l'Ame des Bandits (1980)

Aksak Maboul were sort of an "odd man out" among the original RIO bands, caught somewhere in between the more humorous faction (Etron Fou Leloublan) and the darker, more serious groups (Univers Zero). The excellent first track of Un Peu de l'Ame des Bandits, "A Modern Lesson," is a perfect midpoint: groovy, catchy, spiky, witty, and un-self-consciously modernistic. In the first half, a beautifully ugly, muddy-sounding groove is established as an underpinning for Catherine Jauniaux's hysterical gibberish vocals (somewhere in between Kukl-era Bjork and Yoko Ono) and Marc Hollander's writhing saxophone flourishes. In the second half, the chamber element comes to the fore: Fred Frith's bowed strings, Michel Berckmans' reeds and Hollander's keyboards play short fragments that fit together to produce long, elaborately convoluted, jumpy lines that somehow can stick in your head for days. And somewhere underneath the playful experimentation and subtle wit is an elegant charm that strikes me as extremely French. This was the first Aksak Maboul piece I heard, and it made a big impression.

Unfortunately, after that it's downhill for the rest of side one. This is not to say that any of the album is bad -- in fact, it's pretty enjoyable -- but the next four songs lack what it takes to be truly great. "Palmiers en Pots" is a bit of out-of-tune Polish lounge music and a tango created out of scraps of existing tangos: interesting and fun, but hardly mind-blowing. Frith's "Gestige Nacht" starts out as a nice driving piece with syncopated saxes and clunking drums, but it seems to lose steam a bit, and the avant-jazz sax solo in the middle seems kind of pointless. "I Viaggi Formano la Gioventu," Aksak Maboul's arrangement of a Turkish folk song, just goes on a bit too long, although it does contain some absolutely delicious synthesizers. And "Inoculating Rabies," while it deserves some credit for being the only piece of music ever recorded that can accurately be referred to as "angry bassoon punk," is just too shrill to listen to without getting a migraine.

Ah, but then there's "Cinema"! This could be one of the best album sides in the history of rock music. If you can call it rock music, that is -- at times it sounds more like contemporary chamber music than anything else. Whatever you call it, it's certainly a great moment for RIO. In a way, it epitomizes everything great about the movement, from its meticulous construction to its passages of freewheeling improvisation to its experimentation with tone color. The sound is very similar to Henry Cow's Western Culture, but less gloomy and somewhat less single-minded. There are dissonant woodwind passages, atonal psychedelic rock-outs, and snatches of Middle Eastern music. In one very strange and very beautiful passage, a piano quietly repeats the same French-sounding, slightly angular motif while a man, presumably Marc Hollander, occasionally gasps in wonder. Another section consists mostly of primitive synthesizer whistles, accompanied by scraps of tuned percussion and sul ponticello violin scrapes. The piece ends with a section subtitled "Radio Sofia," which seems to be an attempt to imitate a Bulgarian talk show. But what really makes "Cinema" great is not the variety of material used, but how deliciously /right/ it feels. There is an incredible economy of material here, so that nearly everything in the piece is somehow related to something else. Motifs are manipulated and recombined in ways that keep the listener in a constant state of half-recognition. The piece is simply brilliant, and more than makes up for the shortcomings of the first side of the album. Simply put, anyone with any interest in RIO or 20th century classical music has to hear this.

...and the bonus track. A lot of people don't like it. I do. It's from a later incarnation of the band, and it sounds kind of like Aksak Maboul gone pop -- quite similar to "A Modern Lesson," but with real vocals. Very French-sounding vocals. Something about it reminds me of Kukl. Whatever. After "Cinema," nothing else matters. - Alex Temple [December 2001]


All Music Guide
The late 1970s were a heady time in European progressive rock circles. Chris Cutler, drummer of the leading group Henry Cow and unrepentant leftist seeking to distance himself from both major label and American rock influences, found similarly minded groups in France, Sweden, Belgium, and Italy, and brought them together for a British tour under the banner of Rock in Opposition (RIO). New musical influences and adventures gave rise to more short term formations for Cutler and Fred Frith (Cow's guitarist), including this venture with a Belgian duo, Aksak Maboul, comprised at the time of Marc Hollander and Vincent Kenis. This group had recorded an album in 1977, Onze Danses Pour Combattre le Migraine, which became a cult album in its own right. As Aksak toured, their paths crossed with the various RIO groups, which led to this album in 1980. Cutler and Frith brought a solid rhythm section, but ready to make terrific noise when appropriate (as on the backing tracks of Inoculating Rabies). Michel Berckmans, wind player from Univers Zero (one of the Belgian RIO groups), and Hollander were the wind and reed section. Frank Wuyts and Denis Van Hecke rounded out the group on keyboards and strings. Stylistically the album is all over the board. For example, the opening track, featuring Catherine Jauniaux on vocals, launches into a twisted blues number, with the singer freely improvising and trading licks with Van Hecke's cello and Hollander's sax. The second part of Modern Lesson features extremely intricate horn writing, with different players rapidly trading different elements of the lines. "I Viaggi" uses a Middle Eastern scale, with cello and voice doubling the melody line. "Palmiersen Pots is a classical piece for string trio, followed by a tango composed from several popular pieces cut up with scissors and reassembled at random. The album culminates with a long suite (originally all of side two on the vinyl release) based on a shorter peggiated figure, composed sections alternating with solos on bass, cello, electric cello, and synthesizer. On top of all of the great musicianship, Frith and lead engineer Etienne Conod performed significant studio wizardry after the sessions. Modern Lesson contains sounds from a pinball machine as well as bits from every other track (and this is well before the age of samplers). The lead bassoon/oboe lines of Inoculating Rabies would be inaudible over the guitar and percussion noise in a live situation, but the contrast makes the piece. The CD reissue includes a track by a later Hollander/Kenis group, which unfortunately only magnifies the greatness of this Aksak Maboul lineup and this album, which remains a pinnacle of the RIO movement. ~ Caleb Deupree, All Music Guide

Album Credits
Aksak Maboul Primary Artist
Michel Berckmans Wind, Bassoon, Oboe, Arranger
Chris Cutler Drums, Percussion, Arranger, Radio
Marc Hollander Percussion, Wind, Bass Clarinet, Clarinet, Dumbek, Keyboards, Melodica, Organ, Piano, Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Xylophone, Arranger, drum machine, Tapes, Sampling
Catherine Jauniaux Vocals, Voices, Arranger
Denis VanHecke Strings, Guitar
Veronique Vincent Vocals
Yvon Vromman Vocals, Guitar
Frank Wuyts Drums, Percussion, Piano, Recorder, Synthesizer, Violin, Arranger
Gerald Fenerberg Guitar
Fred Frith Bass, Electric Guitar, Guitar, Viola, Violin, Arranger, Mixing
Vincent Kenis Bass, Arranger
Honeymoon Killers Arranger
Pat Andrea Cover Painting, Illustrations
Eric Faes Engineer
M.M.C. Octave Design



Tom Hayes 14-April-2001 Un Peu de L'Ame des Bandits

Rock in Opposition (RIO), it is often said, is hard to typecast but you know it when you hear it. Aksak Maboul are a walking definition of the movement, yet they sound like no other band as a whole. However, bits and pieces of dozens of styles and groups are obvious. This is the milieu mail-order houses like Wayside favor. And for me Aksak Maboul makes for a fun, and at times, exhilarating listen.
Un Peu de L'ame des Bandits, Aksak Maboul's second effort, contains nine tracks which are all over the map musically. The opener, "A Modern Lesson", has that unique This Heat rocked-out feel with a loose, improvisatory, female vocal style similar to Gutura (an obscure French avant progressive act). This is followed by the two-part "Palmiers en Pots", a relatively traditional homage to 1920's Polish living room dance parties. "Geistage Nacht" is the requisite Zeuhl number with great throbbing bass by Fred Frith and excellent winds work from Michel Berckmans and leader Marc Hollander. Also noticeable here is a pioneering version of what would later be known as "Drums N'Bass" music. A great track! "I Viaggi Formano la Gioventu" is a trip to the Middle East with dumbeg and cello playing traditional scales. Similar in some ways to Agitation Free circa Malesch without the psychedelic guitar. So naturally a distorted noisy punk number ("Inoculating Rabies") would follow, although all through the mayhem are some nice composed bassoon and bass clarinet work. It's all about contrasts with Aksak Maboul! And finally the four part "Cinema" closes with a fantastic early Univers Zero-like chamber rock workout. However Aksak Maboul experiment more with free noise than U.Z. ever did. Also worth noting is the inclusion of some fabulous tortured Heldonish guitar from Frith. The CD release contains a bonus track which recalls the opening track. Overall a very good album and one that is considered de rigueur for RIO fans.





Aksak Maboul


Michel Berckmans - духовые инструменты
Chris Cutler - ударные
Fred Frith - гитара, скрипка, бас-гитара
Marc Holander - клавишные, духовые инструменты
Catherine Jauniaux - вокал
Denis van Hecke - струнные инструменты, гитара
Frank Wuyts - ударные


Квазиавангардная интернациональная коалиция музыкантов, поставивших себе целью на основе симфонической музыки конца двадцатого века и опередившего свое время интеллектуального рока объединить усилия, чтобы вырваться за рамки подтачивавших "чистое искусство" упаднических тенденций, цинизма, декадентского самокопания и доктринерства.

Значительное влияние на них оказали как композиторы-минималисты, экспериментировавшие с академической стороной этого явления, так и представители нью-йоркской "никакой волны" (No Wave) - направления, апологеты которого даже панк признавали слишком консервативным. Каждый из двух превосходных альбомов AKSAK MABOUL соответствует определенной эпохе и является ценным историческим документом. Марк Холландер начинал в 1976 году в качестве клавишника группы COS (LP Viva Bomma - 1976 IBC). Затем при содействии Паоло Родоми (Paolo Rodomi- гитара), Жанно Жилли (Jeannot Gillis - скрипка), Криса Жориса (Chris Joris - клавишные, саксофон), Винсента Кениса (Vincent Kenis - аккордеон), Дэвида Ли Шлосса (David Lee Schloss - cаксофон) и двух вокалисток - Катрин Жанио и Люси Грауман (Lucy Grauman) записал сольный альбом Onze Dances Pour Combattre La Migraine (1977 Kamikaze), который считается первым диском группы.

С помощью тесного кружка соратников его творение превратилось в стилизацию под камерную музыку с вкраплениями органа, фортепьяно, саксофонов, кларнета и перкуссий, что несколько меняет ритмический строй пластинки, равноудаляя ее как от Эрика Сати, так и от Фрэнка Заппы. Честь создания оркестровки принадлежит маэстро Холландеру.

Год спустя присутствие Холландера было замечено на диске Доминика Лаварли (Dominique Lawarlee) Traces (1978 Walrus) - трио клавишных, на котором вместе с Чарльзом Лусом (Charles Loos) он исполнил партии фортепьяно, а Лаварли сыграл на всех остальных инструментах. Мишель Беркман прошел школу ART ZOYD (LP Musique Pour L'Odyssey - 1979 Atem), играл также в JULVERNE (LP A Neuf - 1979 Crammed Discs).

В 1978 году незадолго до выхода альбома Western Culture Ф.Фрит, К.Катлер и П.Блегвад (Peter Blegvad), получив приглашение от Джорджио Гомельски (Giorgio Gomelsky), работавшего с THE ROLLING STONES, BRIAN AUGER TRINITY, GONG и менеджера группы MAGMA, впервые посетили США, где выступили в Нью-Йорке на фестивале прогрессивной музыки Zu Manifestival. На создававшемся с помощью коллег из шведской группы SAMLA MAMMA и американской THE MUFFINS диске Фреда Фрита Gravity (1979 Ralph) встретились будущие помощники Холландера Катрин Жанио, Франк Витс и Деннис ван Хеккер.

Подобное смешение стилей, языков и традиций под руководством многопытного Фрита и непредсказуемого Холландера (изменив одну букву, на втором лонг-плее он переименовал группу в AQSAK MABOUL) дало свои плоды. Музыка приобрела неожиданную крепость и заблестела смелыми демаршами, сталкивая противоположности и попирая авторитеты в лучших традициях HENRY COW - бросаясь из фри-джаза к вкраплениям фольклора, от академизма UNIVERS ZERO к бесшабашности, в которой чувствуется влияние Фрэнка Заппы, в итоге заложив основы собственного музыкального течения.



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Дискография:



Marc Hollander соло:



Aksak Maboul (Onze Dances Pour combattre La Migraine) (LP) - 1977 (Crammed Discs - Belgium)

Mercredi Matin/Animaux Velpeau/Milano Per Caso/Fausto Coppi Arrive/Chanter Est Sain/Son Of L'Idiot/DBB/Cuic Steppe/Tous Les Trucs Qu'ily A La Dehors/Ciobane/The Mooche/Vapona, Not Glue/Glympz/Three Epileptic Folk Dances/Mastoul Alakefak/Mastoul/Comme On A Dit





AQSAK MABOUL



1. Un Peu De L'Ame Des Bandits (LP) - 1979 (Atem - Belgium)

A Modern Lesson/Palmiers En Pots/Geistige Nacht/I Viaggi Formana La Gioventu/Inoculating Rabies/Cinema: a)Ce Qu'on Peut Voir Avec Un Bon Microscope b)Alluvions c)Azinou Crapules d)Age Routte Brra! (Radio Sofia)