- Aksak Maboul
Infobox musical artist |
Name = Aksak Maboul
Img_capt =
Background = group_or_band
Alias = Aqsak Maboul
Origin =Belgium
Genre =Avant-progressive rock
Years_active = 1977–1981
Label = Kamikaze, Crammed
Associated_acts =Henry Cow ,Art Bears , The Honeymoon Killers
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members =Marc Hollander Vincent Kenis Marc Moulin Chris Joris Catherine Jauniaux Frank Wuyts Michel Berckmans Denis van Hecke Aksak Maboul (also spelt Aqsak Maboul for a while¶) were a Belgian
avant-garde rock band founded in 1977 byMarc Hollander andVincent Kenis . They made two studio albums, "Onze Danses Pour Combattre la Migraine " (1977) and "Un Peu de l'Âme des Bandits " (1980), the last one with ex-Henry Cow membersChris Cutler andFred Frith . They were also active in theRock in Opposition movement. cite web |url=http://www.gepr.net/aa.html#AKSAKMAB |title=Aksak Maboul |work=The Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock |accessdate=2008-07-23 ] cite web |url=http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gbfuxq8hldhe |title=Un Peu de l'Ame des Bandits |first=Caleb | last=Deupree |work=All Music |accessdate=2008-07-23 ]History
Aksak Maboul began in 1977 as a
duo ofMarc Hollander (keyboards, reeds) andVincent Kenis (accordion, guitar, bass guitar).Marc Moulin (keyboards) andChris Joris (percussion, keyboards) joined later, and with this line-up, plus guestsCatherine Jauniaux (voice) and others, they recorded their first album, "Onze Danses Pour Combattre la Migraine " (French for "Eleven Dances for Fighting Migraine"). It was released in 1977 under the name Marc Hollander / Aksak Maboul on anindependent record label ,Kamikaze Records . cite web |url=http://www.crammed.be/crammed/101/index.htm |title=Aksak Maboul - Onze Danses Pour Combattre la Migraine |work=Crammed Discs |accessdate=2008-07-23 ]"Onze Danses Pour Combattre la Migraine" was a playful mix of
musical form s,culture s and genres. With drum machines and looping organ lines, it shuffled between improvisedjazz , ethnic music, electronics and classical music. It was largely aninstrumental album with snatches of singing and voices.In late 1977 Aksak Maboul started performing live, during which time
Frank Wuyts (percussion, keyboards) replaced Joris and Moulin, andDenis van Hecke (cello) andMichel Berckmans (bassoon, oboe) ofUnivers Zéro joined. cite web |url=http://www.crammed.be/crammed/002/index.htm |title=Aksak Maboul - Un Peu de l'Âme des Bandits |work=Crammed Discs |accessdate=2008-07-23 ] In early 1979, Hollander invitedChris Cutler andFred Frith of the recently defunctavant-garde rock groupHenry Cow to join Aksak Maboul on their next record. cite web |url=http://www.ccutler.com/ccutler/bands/group05.shtml |title=Aqsak Maboul / Marc Hollander |first=Chris, |last=Cutler |work=Chris Cutler homepage |accessdate=2008-07-23 ] They rehearsed together, performed in a few concerts and then went to Sunrise Studio, Kirchberg inSwitzerland to record their second album, "Un Peu de l'Âme des Bandits " (French for "A Little of the Bandit Spirit"). This was released in 1980 onCrammed Discs , a new independent record label Hollander had created to release the album."Un Peu de l'Ame des Bandits" was more intense and experimental than their first album. It contained complex written sections as well as improvised ambient pieces. It used sampling before samplers were invented and was a mixture of tangos, Turkish tunes,
chamber rock , noisypunk rock and pseudo-Varèse music. Like the first album, it wasinstrumental with a little singing and voices.Back on the road again, Aksak Maboul joined the
Rock in Opposition (RIO) movement and in April 1979 they performed at an RIO festival at the Teatro dell'Elfo inMilano ,Italy . Aksak Maboul were one of the last of the original RIO bands. [ cite web |url=http://www.squidco.com/rer/RIO.html |title=Rock in Opposition |first=Phil |last=Zampino |work=SquidCo |accessdate=2008-07-23 ]In early 1980, Hollander founded the
Crammed Discs independent record label . A few months later the original nucleus of Aksak Maboul (Hollander and Kenis) and the core of aBrussels band Les Tueurs de la Lune de Miel joined forces to become The Honeymoon Killers. They touredEurope between 1980 and 1981, although still under the name Aksak Maboul. "Bosses de Crosses", one of the first pieces they composed, was included on the CD re-issue of "Un Peu de l'Ame des Bandits". They later recorded an album "Tueurs de la Lune de Miel / Honeymoon Killers" and toured for a few months under that name.The last recorded work by Aksak Maboul appeared on a 1984
compilation album , "Made to Measure Vol. 1", where the original duo of Hollander and Kenis contributed seven tracks of new material composed for a play by Michel Gheude based on the life of Maïakovsky. [ cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/release/508518 |title=Various - Made To Measure Vol.1 |work=Discogs |accessdate=2008-07-23 ] The music here has been described as "minimalist rock" and is very different from their two studio albums. By the mid-1980s Aksak Maboul ceased to exist as a group, but Hollander and Kenis continued to play an active role in Crammed Discs' musical policies.Members
*
Marc Hollander – keyboards, reeds, percussion, drum machine
*Vincent Kenis – accordion, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, percussion
*Marc Moulin – keyboards
*Chris Joris – keyboards, soprano saxophone
*Catherine Jauniaux – singing
*Frank Wuyts – percussion, keyboards
*Michel Berckmans – bassoon, oboe
*Denis van Hecke – celloDiscography
tudio albums
*"
Onze Danses Pour Combattre la Migraine " (LP 1977,Kamikaze Records ,Belgium / CD 2003,Crammed Discs ,Belgium )
*"Un Peu de l'Âme des Bandits " (LP 1980,Crammed Discs ,Belgium / CD 1995,Crammed Discs ,Belgium )Appears on
*"Made to Measure Vol. 1" by
Various artists (LP 1984,Made To Measure ,Belgium ) – Aksak Maboul contribute seven tracks of new materialFootnotes
*¶ On their first album, the band's name was spelt Aksak Maboul, "Aksak" being a Turkish word for "walking with a limp" (and used to describe the band's uneven, asymmetrical rhythms), and "Maboul" being a French word from the Arabic meaning "insane". When their second album was first released, the band's name changed, for reasons unknown, to Aqsak Maboul, but reverted to the original spelling again when the album was re-issued on CD in 1995.
References
External links
* [http://www.ccutler.com/ccutler/bands/group05.shtml Aqsak Maboul / Marc Hollander] "Chris Cutler homepage".
*amg | id = 11:o8jieaz04x07 | label = Aksak Maboul.
* [http://www.crammed.be/crammed/101/index.htm Aksak Maboul] atCrammed Discs .
*Discogs artist | artist = Aksak+Maboul | name = Aksak Maboul .
*MySpace-music|aksakmaboul.
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