Univers Zéro — n/t

When cd's entered the scene many lp's were released on the new medium rather carelessly, if at all. Years after that launch, even on the brink of the demise of it (as some claim), many recordings are given a proper treatment of remastering and repackaging.

I've have never seen a cd-release of this album so I can't really comment on how that was done the first round, but right here Cuneiform does a really good job in reissuing this 'RIO' classic. This record was originally released in 1977. Over time it was rereleased a couple of times, also by Cuneiform in 1989, and sometimes named to 1313, which was the catalogue number of the first, untitled and independent, release. This time Cuneiform (un)titles it again, but reinstalled the catalogue number '1313'. A 16-page booklet with historical pictures and extensive linernotes top if off nicely and certainly anyone that doesn't have this in any form now has a good excuse to change that situation.

The music with which Belgium-based Univers Zéro debuted in 1977 is quite something. Fitting in the yet to be established traditions of Rock In Opposition (RIO) or 'chamber rock', music made by rock musicians but that owes more to Stravinsky and Bartók than to Hendrix and Cream. Having a permanent bassoon player in the band is quite telling in that respect. Besides that you'll find violin, cello, spinet and harmonium together with classic bass, drums and guitar. The instrumental music consists of many breaks, different moods and segments. The energy and power come from rock and Univers Zéro, although they remind of other RIO bands like Henry Cow, have a darker edge to them. The music has a strong sense of being old, archaic even. Even though rooted in early 20th century traditions, the atmosphere extends further into history. Perhaps you could blame the spinet but I think it's not just that. This music sounds like it's born old, that it comes from times long past, in spite of its decidedly modern nature when it came unto the scene, back in the seventies.

This is an excellent rerelease of a true classic. Anyone into the more adventurous side of rock should be aware of this group and this album. As an extra teaser, this pressing comes with a bonus track (La Faulx) of no less than 28 minutes which sounds even darker and almost medieval with its heavy harmonium chords and monk-like vocals that grows into an even more scary ritual, which almost seems a mix of Italian dark-proggers Jacula meets Laibach's Macbeth. All in all this is a cd-release that totally justifies spending money on a record again.