OBX001 : P.V.Presents / The CK Theory
As Pierre is producing, discovering or playing with so many bands and as he was coming every two weeks with something new for Off label boss Alain to listen to, he suggested him to direct an exclusive serie where he could share all this music with the rest of the world, and not only him.
This time, he came with 4 different projects almost at the same time.
It seemed then quite logical to issue a box with those releases as they had the signature, the producing, the composing or the love of the mentor of the series !
Pierre Vervloesem is born in 1964 and has never stopped playing bass or guitar since he is 17.
His masters are Zappa, Adrian Belew and Robert Fripp, and you can definitively hear their influences here and there on all the albums that he has recorded.He is always saying that he doesn’t like jazz though there is evidently touches of it everywhere. He is a huge fan of John Barry (he did an entire album of improbable covers : ‘Plays John Barry’) Stravinsky, PIL, Godley&Creme, XTC, This heat, Fantomas and Perez Prado.
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The composing is without concession, like a rock, sometime out of tune, but ultimately ultra melodic and reaching at times some of the best John Barry ambiances.
Most of the musicians on the album (and live) are coming from the Jazz scene, which is also kind of fun for Pierre.
The music is an heritage from the New-york scene from the 70-80ties but has an instant modern echo which makes you want to move your frets on it!
Track listing :
1 : Twist
2 : Brajil
3 : Abracadabra
4 : Sweet
5 : Wobbling
6 : Exposé
7 : Nancy
8 : Strav
9 : Zgrol
10 : Jelly
11 : Koyaanisqaqatsi
Bonus tracks Bandcamp release only:
12: Dick Dogs
Bonus tracks Bandcamp release only:
12: Dick Dogs
And in Bandcamp:
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OPV003 : Codswallop / Grotesque ( in OBX001 or available separately)
Codswallop is the new concept of Pierre Vervloesem.
He wanted to record an album of songs for a change.
He spended a week composing the music and the basic trame of the voices, then
recorded the album with the help of faithful friends: Gilles Mortiaux on guitar, bass and
vocals, Didier Fontaine on drums and Joris Caluwaerts (Zita Swoon) on keyboards.
He then asked Richard Belgium to write the words and to sing on the album.
Richard is a singer and stage performer living in Belgium with Belgian and British
nationalities. He sings in French or English with equal sensuality and has been
performing since 1979 in many musical projects.
The music is a mixture of power pop, heavy rock and fun!
A bit like the Monty Pythons were singing on the Red Hot Chili Peppers 's music!
"Het tweede album in de box is van Codswallop, wat iets als “onzin” in een Engels dialect betekent. Pierre Vervloesem bevindt zich hier in goed gezelschap van drummer Didier Fontaine (A Group), gitarist/bassist Gilles Mortiaux, toetsenist Joris Caluwaerts (Zita Swoon) en zanger Richard Belgium. Richard is al sinds eind jaren 70 actief en heeft ontzettend veel verschillende muziek gemaakt. Pierre wil met dit nieuwe project meer songgerichte muziek maken. Op hun cd Grotesque maken ze een uiterst interessante dwarsdoorsnede van de wave uit de jaren tachtig, jazz muziek, avant-garde, noise en pop. De donkere stem van Richard roept associaties op met Nick Cave, Front 242, Mike Patton en zelfs Joy Division. De energieke en alsmaar variërende muziek er omheen laveert tussen de genoemde genres en doet denken aan zowel de Talking Heads, PIL, This Heat, Tuxedomoon en The Birthday Party als Uz Jsme Doma, Red Hot Chili Peppers en dEUS (luister maar eens naar “Dread Deus Rictus”). Ook hier getuigt een sample van schreeuwende apen al van een hoop humor. De muziek is in de basis best duister, maar wordt door de heerlijk opzwepende percussie en levendige muziek nooit echt somber. De groep brengt een geweldige en bovenal eigenzinnige mix van uiteenlopende energieke muziekstukken. Het beklijvende geheel kruipt al snel diep onder je huid om niet snel meer los te laten. Wederom een voltreffer!"
Track listing :
1 : Brain la la losers
2 : Chapeau bas
3 : Codswallop
4 : Diehard Dummies
5 : Dread deus rictus
6 : French Paradox
7 : Get laid in Tubize tonight
8 : Swine cellar
9 : Gospel grievance guidance
10 : Fat Freddy
Bonus track Bandcamp only release:
11: Tendance 2014 (bonus track)
Bonus track Bandcamp only release:
11: Tendance 2014 (bonus track)
And in Bandcamp:
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OPV004 : The Claude Zac Ensemble / SSSHHHTTTTT ( in OBX001 or available separately)
Everything started as a joke when Claude Zac mailed some demos to Pierre Vervloesem.
Pierre loved what he heard instantly and proposed to Claude to record his music properly
in his Fiasco studio.
Claude then left Belgium for Chili where he worked for a year and had time to think over
to theses recorded songs.
Back to Brussels, he definitively wanted to perform live and hired Didier Fontaine on
drums. The later introduced him to the talented Eric Dory (guitars), Laurent Stelleman
(guitars) and Gilles Mortiaux (bass).
The dream of Claude to have an instrumental band with three guitars, a bass and a drum
became then a reality.
They started playing amazing live shows with a mixture of rockabilly/punk/rock frenzy:
four boys in a line fronting a 'muppet show' like drummer!
Being a proper band now, they went to re record all the songs.
The result is a 17 tracks album of Michel Magne meets The Residents meet some of the
best surf music and film music!
The album was recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Pierre Vervloesem who's
happily presenting them in his P.V.Presents series.
Track listing :
1 : Subtract
2 : Casamance
3 : Cloques
4 : Bronze
5 : Hell of a night
6 : Fortuitous Hymn
7 : Rubella beach
8 : Italian bikers
9 : Ironmogerie
10 : Save me from Aldi
11 : Lovely life
12 : Les vacances de Mr. Ribot
13 : Dano the dum
14 : The taxi drive
15 : Shoelace
16 : Unauspicious Move
17 : Volkswagner
And on Bandcamp:
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John Koenig (born April 13, 1950 in Budapest Hungary), is a composer and conductor
from a family of musicians. His father, Teodor Koenig was a pianist and a conductor while
his mother was a writer and composer.
After having been awarded first prizes for violin and composition at the National
Conservatory of Budapest, he arrived in Brussels in 1969 and continued his studies at
the Conservatoire de Bruxelles. From 1974, he made a number of international tours as
a concert violinist and began to devote himself more to composing.
In 1978, he received his first commission to write the soundtrack of Julien Landeau's film
" Voyage sidéral". John Koenig has since composed more than one hundred scores for
feature films and TV series, most of them never ever showed as they were all
unsuccessful or directly became cult movies.
As he signed a contract with a Hungarian label which made bankrupt in the mid 90ties,
most of his music is now impossible to find.
Since the mid 70ties, Pierre Vervloesem became a huge fan of his work and succeeded
in February 2010 to find a copy of one of his most famous score that was composed in
1999.
It was commissioned by the NASA for a feature documentary, but ultimately and like
most of his other scores, was replaced by the music of another composer.
It is a privilege for the label to finally give the place that John Koenig deserves and to
give people all over the world the chance to discover his fantastic music.
Pierre Vervloesem is happily presenting him in his P.V. Presents series.
Track listing
1: Walkathon
2: Africans on the moon
3: To drive a carrot
4: Gallbladder
5: Zinc wheels
6: Simple rites
7: War games
8: Funambulism
9: Rubber life
And in Bandcamp:
