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

1.Favoriete Beest
2. Vrijgezel
3. Moordenaar
4. Vroeger Nooit Bleker
5. Wakker naast jou
6. Kat en ik
7. Sorry, vlo!
8. Slaapliedje (10.u waarborg)
9. Mannen met
10. Wij houden stand
11. Pauvre Ruteboeuf

Lyrics & music: Jan De Wilde, Luc de Vos (10), Kries Roose (5), Ruteboeuf vertaald door Johan Daisne (11).

Musicians :
- Jan Dewilde (guitar, vocals, valiha)
- Jo Soetaert (drums, percussion)
- Jan Hulsens (upright bass)
- Pol Depooter (guitars, ukulele, mandolin)
- Raymond van het Groenewoud (backing vocals)
- Julien Deprez (tuba)
- Wim de Pauw (trombone)
- Johan van Neste (horn)
- Bart Coppé (bugle, trumpet)
- Jo Bogaert (electronic drums, percussion, guitar)
- Luc de Vos (guitar)
- Geert Maesschalck (bass)
- Jan Hautekiet (piano)
- Wim Claeys (diatonic accordion)
- Liesbeth de Lombaert (violin)
- Michael Schack (drums)
- Eddy Peremans (biwa, guitar)
- Frank vander Linden (backing vocals)
- Koen de Cauter (guitar)
- Paul van Loey (recorder)
- Bart Quartier (marimba)

Produced by Jo Bogaert
Recorden in Jo Bogaert's house

Cover art & photo : Rein van Berkel

My opinion

Christmas 2000: the first snow of the season is whirling down. The cat seems suprised and steps cautiously through the new landscape. Nephew, 10, stands in front of the window, cheeks aglow after a run throught the cold and aks "do you think it will still be there tomorrow?". The soundtrack to such a scene exists, since about ten years, and it was Jan de Wilde who wrote it. "De eerste sneeuw" is a perfect description and much more of such a moment, frozen in time. A song moves me any time I hear it. A song they may play it at my funeral.
11 songs, unobtrusively and patiently produced by Jo Bogaert - at first an unlikely marriage it seems, but one that has worked. If you know the oeuvre of Jan de Wilde, there's not a lot of news to report: "sorry vlo" is "golden retriever", "moordenaar!" is "hé hé", "Mannen met" is "de naakte man" enz ... enz ..., but that does not diminish their value, on the contrary.
The lyrics are noteworthy in almost all the songs: "vrijgezel" (bachelor) ask if "is er niemand die van 'm houden wil"; in "moordenaar!" (murderer!) he ironically steps up the popular anger in the Dutroux-case, calling out for extreme punishments, the most terryfying of that being "voor eeuwig en drie dagen met de bedelstaf ronddolen in Dendermonde"; in "Vroeger nooit bleker" (never more pale before) the singer looks at the day of his own death.
The most beautiful combinations of lyrics and music are revealed only at the end of the cd: gorgeous and poignant are "Wij houden stand" (written by and played with Gorki's Luc de Vos) and the song "Pauvre Ruteboeuf" with an effective marimba-accompaniment (the song is a song from the middle-ages in France, translated by writer Johan Daisne).
Nothing world-shattering. Impossible to hype. Just nice, warm, and sweet. Sentimental, making me all mushy, but never cheap. Indeed: 850 fr for 32 minutes of music is truly a case of a smashed window with a poster of "Don't Copy Music" hanging on to it. But EMI is forgiven because they managed to wake up Jan de Wilde from his lethargic state after almost 10 years. Let's hope he is on the way again ...

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.com : "Met "Oude Maan" is Jan De Wilde terug van weggeweest. Het is een mooie CD waaraan zowel tekstueel als muzikaal hard gewerkt is. De nummers bieden voldoende afwisseling. Maar toch moeten wij vaststellen dat deze ''full-CD'' maar half-vol staat en dat maar zeven songs van Jan zelf zijn. Het had na negen jaar toch wat meer mogen zijn".
- Peter Vantyghem in De Standaard : "Jan De Wilde moet het voorbije decennium zo om de twee jaar een liedje geschreven hebben. En toen hij het halfuur muziek naderde, kon er een plaat van af. Dat is Oude Maan geworden: een cd die klinkt alsof de jaren '80 en '90 nooit plaatsvonden, en waarop De Wilde zijn eigen dood al vertelt. Het liedje heet ,,Vroeger nooit bleker'' en Jan De Wilde, toch nog maar 56, beschrijft zijn eigen begrafenis. ,,Bel mij niet, ik zal jullie bellen'', zingt hij op het einde. Alsof intussen iedereen niet weet dat Jan nóóit iemand opbelt!"
- Ludo Dosogne in Gazet van Antwerpen : "In de Brusselse Ancienne Belgique stelde Jan de Wilde gisteren zijn nieuwe langspeler Oude Maan voor. Zijn vorige plaat dateert nota bene uit 1991! De huidige cd bevat elf ironische chansons, die opzettelijk onhandig worden vertolkt. ... De Wilde leunt dichter aan bij het zenboeddhisme dan bij Bob Dylan."

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 December 24, 2000, but nothing guarantees they still are the same when you read this).

Shop	Price of the CD	Shipping + other expenses	Total	Direct Link
Frontstage	859	0	859 Bef.	Frontstage
Azur	826	0	826 Bef.
Proxis	802	0	802 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 this group :

- jan-de-wilde.com, the official site
- Jan de Wilde bio and more in the Belgian Pop & Rock Archives
- "A new CD by Jan de Wilde is an event", article in De Standaard
- "The failed clown in Jan De Wilde", report in the same newspaper
- Booking agent: Walter Temmerman, 053/80.21.82. walter@jan-de-wilde.com.
 

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