Songs (Click the -icons for some small realaudio-samples)

1. Pluis
2. Het Parfum van de chique sleur
3. Kinderen van de regen
4. Doe maar alsof
5. De dood mijn vriendin
6. Fragment Pessoa
7. Lisboa
8. Arm angstig meisje
9. Loop naar de maan
10. Golgota
11. Pomme d'amour
12. Doordeweekse dag
13. So long, goodbye
14. De grens
15. Onder zeil

Alle songs & teksten Bert de Coninck,
behalve 6, van de hand van Pessoa zelf

Muzikanten:
- Bert de Coninck (zang en gitaar)
- Eric Neels (gitaar)
- Mirco Banovic (bas)
- Josephine Nightingale (backing vocals)
- Catherine Mys (backing vocals)
- Fapy Lafertin (guitarra, gitaar)
- Lode Verkampt (cello)
- Philippe de Chaffoy (viool, keyboard)
- Jeroen Misschaert (piano)
- Jamie Jamerz (udu)

Producer : Jeroen Misschaert
Recorded in Studio Flip-Flap, Gent

Design : Jamz (Jastastiel)

My opinion

The "dutch song, made in Flanders" seems to be having a problem these days: it's been years now since there has stepped an impassible new talent on the scene. Steady values enough (Raymond, Verminnen, Mens, Gorki, Jan de Wilde, Clouseau, Kris de Bruyne ...), but where are the new young Turks?
I can imagine Bert de Coninck will have given a f*ck about this state of affairs, from his seclusion in Portugal, but there must have been a moment when he realized that 3/4 of the generation that is "in power" here was already active at the time he released two venemous cd's as Crapule de Luxe in the seventies. The "cunning plan" for his come-back started last year with the release of "Best-Of" to re-awaken the memory of his early work, and then saw this release a few months later of a batch of fresh, new songs. I don't believe the "masterplan" is totally going as planned (it doesn't seem to pass the boundaries of VRT-Radio1), but as a consequence, the "dutch song" has re-found its lost son.
The years seem to have taken away the sharp edges from the man's music. Instead of sharp rock'n'roll with biting lyrics, "Pomme d'Amour" is full of radio-friendly and easy listening tracks ("de kinderen van de regen", "Pluis", "Loop naar de maan", "Doordeweekse dag", "So long, goodbye"), all song that gently shuffle towards their end, to be situatued musically between the repertoire of Wigbert- and Jan de Wilde. Who had hoped for an injection of saudade or fado is also not served, because the Portuguese info is very discrete in the form of the gitarra of one Fapy Lafertin and one song about Lisboa. The end-result of all this is less extreme or inconstant than his seventies work, but it is unfortunate that only one track did manage to grab my full attention : titeltrack "Pomme d'Amour". On the level of the lyrics, less compromises were made, as witnessed for example by "de dood mijn vriendin" (death is my girl-friend), with the pitch-black lines "De dood, la muerte, a morte, die Tot, mooiere woorden heb ik nooit gehoord. Gedaan met d'ellende en over de pijn. Ik zal pas goed slapen als ik dood zal zijn".
So, Bert de Coninck doesn't bring in "fresh new blood" into the pool of the "dutch song", but he certainly gave it a warm welcomed injection with his talent.

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

- Harry de Bock voor KKunst : "Pomme d'Amour is een prachtige CD vol afwisseling met mooie melodietjes, waarbij de gitaarklanken primeren. Dat instrument is ook na al die jaren duidelijk nog steeds de grote liefde van Bert De Coninck. ... één van de mooiste CD's van Vlaamse oorsprong die wij de jongste tijd te horen kregen."
- Peter van Dijck in Focus (Knack) : "De rock'n roll heeft hij intussen achter zich gelaten. Op Pomme d'Amour geven bossanova, blues en fado de toon. De zuiderse zon heeft De Coninck duidelijk verlicht. Hij is van een exorcist naar een scherpe observator geëvolueerd."

Did you see a good (or bad) review of this album ? Tell me about it !

Where to buy this CD ?

You can order this CD from a number of locations (prices researched on June 4, 2001, but nothing guarantees they still are the same when you read this).

Shop	Price of the CD	Shipping + other expenses	Total	Direct Link
Frontstage	759	0	759 Bef.	Frontstage
Azur	743	40	783 Bef.	Azur
Proxis	681	0	681 Bef.	Proxis
Atrecordings	--	3$	--
Netbeat	--	2,77 euro	--

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.

More about Bert de Coninck:

- my attempt at a bio of Bert de Coninck in the Belgian Pop & Rock Archives
- interview with Bert de Coninck by het Doosje
- "Vlaamse songschrijvers, het mysterie van de muze", article from Knack, on a Gorki-site, with in it also Bert de Coninck about Pomme d'Amour.
- contact: through Parsifal - info@parsifal.be - www.parsifal.be

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