Wim Mertens "Integer Valor Integrale"
(Les Disques du Crépuscule 1999, TWI 1080)
Songs (click on the -icons
for audio) Disc
I "To Fill in the Blank"
1. To obey
2. Leverage
3. Positively Imperative
4. Yes, I never did
5. Neither do I too
6. Collateral damage
7. Sidemen
8. To obey (reprise)
Disc II "Written Conversation"
1. Tout est visible
2. Au-delà de la fleuve
3. Tout est illuminé
4. Tout çà, c'est fini
5. La fin de la visite
6. Comme en dormant
7. Au fond, la mer
8. Si loin du centre
9. Hors-nature
Disc III "Full of Cobbles"
1. The way down
2. A feet maniac
3. And bring you back
4. In 3 or 4 days
5. Song 6
6. For quietness
7. The way up
All music composed, arranged & produced by Wim Mertens
c : Crépuscule
Musicians :
- Wim Mertens : Piano
- Xavier Claeys, Maurits Goossens, Stefaan Claeys, Claire Delplanque : violin
- Kris Van Severen, Paul Bervoets : viola
- Lieven vandewalle, Koen Lievens : cello
- Michel Vangheluwe, Etienne Siebens : bass
- Eric Mertens : flute
- Dirk Descheemaeker : clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone
- Wim Verdonck : alto saxophone
- Ward Hoornaert : trumpet
- Rick Vercruysse, Herman Lemahieu : horn
- Eddy Verdonck + : bass trombone
- Hugo Matthijssen : bass tuba
- Els Van Laethem : voice
- Brigitte Hertogs : harp
- Peter Verbraken : guitar
- Bart Quartier : percussion
Recorded at
Artwork : Benoît Hennebert
My opinion
It's very unlikely you'll ever catch me on my way coming from a Mertens-concert
wearing a bootleg t-shirt and playing "air-piano", or that you'll find
me almost peeing in my pants waiting in line for a signature at the exit, yet
I do have to admit : I'm a bit of a fan. Or at least : I have a large amount of
respect set aside for this man. Perhaps this blocks my view from seeing - like
a bunch of screeming Boyzone-teenagers - that the idol is just recycling preheated
air and selling it as a brand new cd to honour and respect his wallet. But that's
a chance I'll have to take - in the case of Mertens, not that of Boyzone, that
is.
CD sets off majestically with "To obey",
a sad march on which it's only fitting to bury a hero of some kind. "Colleteral
Damage" (sponsored by NATO) has a beautiful melody, but gets out of hand
at the end. Also "Sidemen"
has a surprising end, with something that seems like a visit to a Japanese-buddhist
percussion class or something. The reprise of "To Obey" contains the
same melody as the first track, but is given a New-Age-Richard-Clayderman approach.
CD 2 (Written Conversation", with all tracks bearing a french title) sets
of on a much more romantic and quiet foot with piano and violins, buth the vivid
"Tout ça, c'est fini" rescues us from fallling asleep just in
time. The best track of the album is also on this cd "La
fin de la visite"
- triumphant, catchy, repetitive yet not repeating itself, after six minutes you're
sorry it's over already.
CD3 (Full of cobbles) opens with the track "The way down" that has borrowed
the rhythm pattern of Ravel's Bolero. "A feet Maniac" takes you back
to the days when Mertens was still writing Greenaway-soundtracks. On "And
bring you back" he uses a more original combination of instruments (toy guitars,
triangles, horns), "In 3 or 4 days"gets
it's dark sound from a synth-clavinet and is the sort of composition that also
Jean-Michel Jarre could've written. "For Quieteness" is a minimal piece
of music with only the bare essentials, bald as a light bulb. And closing track
"The Way Up" is "vintage Mertens " again, moving without being
too emotional.
And your opinion?
Did I get it all wrong, or was I spot-on ? Do you want to share your opinion about
this cd ? Send it in, and I'll put it up here !
This Album in the Press
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me about it !
More about this group :
- Mertens-page in the Belgian Pop&Rock
Archives. - Contact : Les Disques du Crépuscule, Koningsgalerij 15, 1000 Brussel.
Tel 32-2-511.86.54
Where to buy this CD ?
You can order this CD from a number of locations (prices researched on April
29th, 1999, but nothing guarantees they still are the same when you read this).
The lowest price is in yellow, the highest in red. This price comparison doesn't
take things into account like deduction of shipping expenses when ordering more
than 1 cd, bonus points, differences in guarantees ... Shipping prices are those
for customers in Belgium.
Have you seen this record elsewhere on the net, do you own an online-CD-shop
with Belgian products in it, or if there's something wrong with my calculations
: let me know.
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