Aranis (B,2005)****
'...This is a successful and perfectly disciplined ‘soft chamber music rock’ project, with professionally worked out tracks in a R.I.O. style, which became almost like a typical Belgian style possibility. The tracks flow with rich melodic freshness from one to the other. There’s a lightness combined with a more heavy bass and rhythmic improvisational rock drive embedded in a classical structure. The subtle vocal/choir arrangements on "Yosu" give the music an extra higher dimension. Here and there, like in “Oyma” a few folk element touches or improvisations are carefully almost unnoticeable swallowed in the musical structure, but perhaps these few elements are simply coincidental. Last few tracks, but especially "Pantra" and "Labyrinth" are more like tango chamber music...'
door Gerald Van Waes (November 2005)
http://progressive.homestead.com/belgium2.html
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Aranis (B,2005)****
'...This is a successful and perfectly disciplined ‘soft chamber music rock’ project, with professionally worked out tracks in a R.I.O. style, which became almost like a typical Belgian style possibility. The tracks flow with rich melodic freshness from one to the other. There’s a lightness combined with a more heavy bass and rhythmic improvisational rock drive embedded in a classical structure. The subtle vocal/choir arrangements on "Yosu" give the music an extra higher dimension. Here and there, like in “Oyma” a few folk element touches or improvisations are carefully almost unnoticeable swallowed in the musical structure, but perhaps these few elements are simply coincidental. Last few tracks, but especially "Pantra" and "Labyrinth" are more like tango chamber music...'
door Gerald Van Waes (November 2005)
http://progressive.homestead.com/belgium2.html
Wayside Music USA
For a very small country, Belgium certainly has a easily identifiable
sounding style of new music, and Aranis, a septet of fantastic young
players, fits right into the chamber-rock sound that we all know from fellow
country-groups like Louise Avenue, Cro Magnon, Julverne and Univers Zero, as
well as other European bands such as DAAU, Noetra, Silence IV, Penguin Cafe
Orchestra and Gatto Marte. The band consists of 2 violinists, accordion,
piano, guitar, flute and double bass, with the flautist and one of the
violinists also contributing some vocals. For fans of this sound, this will
will thrill and amaze, and as it was self-released on a tiny label in
Antwerp, don't delay too long in getting this, if it seems interesting to you.
http://www.waysidemusic.com/default.asp
Belgien ist offenhörlich ein gutes Pflaster, was ungewöhnliche Klänge im Grenzbereich von Rock, Jazz, Klassik und Avantgarde anbelangt. Gruppen wie Univers Zero, Present, Cro Magnon, X-Legged Sally, Aksak Maboul und Finnegans Wake, oder das Soloschaffen von Musikern wie Daniel Denis, Henry Krutzen, Pierre Vervloesem oder Jan Kuijken haben in diesem Bereich Glanzpunkte gesetzt und gehören zu den wichtigen Formationen und Musikern, die mit oder nach dem Ende des klassischen Progs der 70er neue Ansätze und Konzepte für wirklich progressive Rockmusik gefunden und umgesetzt haben. Aranis ist eine junge, erfreulich gemischtgeschlechtlich besetzte Formation aus dem kleinen Land, welche beeindruckend diese belgische Tradition fortsetzt...
http://www.babyblaue-seiten.de/album_7059.html#oben
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