It always makes me a little annoyed when we Americans get a clue
\nlater than anyone else (that seems to be going on a lot
\nlately).<\/p>\n
For example, let’s talk about the American debut from Belgium’s
\nLunascape,
\nReminiscence<\/i>. Magnificent, ethereal vocals, a la Cocteau
\nTwins; check. Great musicianship; check. Tight beats and cool
\nsampling and loops; check. Attractive lead vocalist Kyoko
\nBaertsoen; check. Why have we missed this band for eight years? Who
\ndo we have to smack upside the head?<\/p>\n
Well, give credit to Noir Records for catching a clue. (They do
\nthat a lot lately; I’m beginning to like this label.) They have
\nbrought us a tasty sampling of Lunascape’s work, and I look forward
\nto more. The duo of Baertsoen and Walter Hilhorst create a
\ntranscendental, groove-laden pop music that is not to be
\nmissed.<\/p>\n
Baertsoen credits Liz Fraser of the Cocteau Twins as an
\ninfluence, and it’s easy to see why; the layered vocals, enigmatic
\nlyrics, and strong feminine nature to Lunascape’s work is
\nunmistakeable. Where Lunascape goes beyond the Cocteaus is in their
\nability to lay down a groove and stay grounded; while my exposure
\nto them is admittedly limited, I don’t recall ever having an urge
\nto get up and dance to
\nThe Pink Opaque<\/i>. Lunascape, on the other hand, manages to
\nstrike a careful and well-produced balance between the aether and
\nthe ground.<\/p>\n
The CD starts off with the powerful, thrumming “Mindstalking,”
\nwhich is currently working its way up the dance charts in a remix.
\nIt is rare a first song grabs you as hard as this one does; by the
\ntime you’re thirty seconds into the track, you’re transported into
\na world of shadows and smoke, Baertsoen’s voice leading you down
\ndark corridors. In a lot of ways, “Mindstalking” is reminiscent of
\nPeter Gabriel’s “Intruder” or Kate Bush’s “Watching You Without
\nMe;” there is a faint edge to it, something that leaves you
\ndrained, unsettled, yet oddly content. I can’t say enough about
\nthis track, except to say that yes, it’s that damned good.<\/p>\n
The rest of
\nReminiscence<\/i> is as powerful. “Tears From The Moon” is
\nbrilliant, rich, and string-laden; it’s no surprise that part of
\nwhat brought Lunascape to international prominence is Sinead
\nO’Connor’s decision to cover this track with Rhys Fulber in Conjure
\nOne. “Lane Navachi” is a tour-de-force for Baertsoen’s arching,
\necstatic vocals. “State Of Mind” then turns around and goes funk,
\nwith a spoken-word intro and an almost R&B backbeat. “Yairo” is
\nimmensely danceable, with synthesizer that was giving me flashbacks
\nto the Alan Parsons Project’s “You Don’t Believe;” funky electronic
\nguitar laid over a throbbing drum line.<\/p>\n
As a counterpoint, “Inferno” is almost a Gregorian chant; spare
\nand simple, almost a cappella, at odds with the heat inherent in
\nthe track’s title. “Severed Heart” is almost rock in its driving
\nguitar, and “SOS Planet” closes the CD with delicate harmonies.<\/p>\n
If I have one small disagreement with
\nReminiscence<\/i>, it’s that Noir has chosen to release a
\ncompilation rather than releasing the two European Lunascape CDs
\nseparately. While I understand the mentality behind the import
\ncompilation CD — it’s a quick snapshot of a band’s work in an
\neasy-to-buy format for American audiences — I think that if you
\nonly have two CDs it’s kind of a waste of time to boil them into
\none. (Unfortunately, 2002’s
\nReflecting Seyelence<\/i> and 2004’s
\nMindstalking<\/i> are only available as expensive imports.)<\/p>\n
That niggling point aside, Lunascape is an incredible experience
\nand a band to watch.
\nReminiscence<\/i> is just the beginning of what I hope to be a
\nwonderful and long career, and is definitely worth your time,
\nmoney, and attention.<\/p>\n
For more information or to order the CD, check out
\nwww.noir-records.com<\/a> or
\nwww.lunascape.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":27284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7240],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-38645","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-lunascape","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38645"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}