Review

[Google translated, apologies in advance]

The release of Lucht van een andere aarde was deliberately done during the edition of the famous annual Kraak festival that took place on March 8th and then the good listener immediately knows that we are not dealing with an average band or project here, but with “a special one”. Of course, that does not always mean that the music played at the festival always has to be noisy, extremely avelink, deafening or kadeil. If you don't believe us, try this album by the duo De Vlaamse Primitieven and you will believe us on our typed word from now on.

According to the label head of Pang Pang, this is the most difficult record he has ever released. However, we highly doubt this. We find this more of a treat for the ear, a record for ears capable of admiration and admiration that will immensely enjoy the music that Jan Boudart (6 and 12-string guitar, banjo, zither, percussion) and Freek Vreys (guitar, banjo, shruti-box and percussion) let flow from their pen to instruments to music.

The title is not just plucked out of thin air. The music, especially string instruments of course, seems to come from another universe. One where the playful dominates without lapsing into boorishness (we almost typed biertigheid, which also has its charm as a word). On the contrary. It is well-considered intellectual-sounding music without for a second coming across as high-flown.

We have now played the record about ten times and are always amazed by the simplicity and power of the pieces, which are at the same time very layered, inventive and at times somewhat more difficult to fathom. Due to the many spins, that unfathomableness is no longer an issue. We are completely involved in the story and soon notice, even though the duo is somewhat in the same vein as Venediktos Tempelboom ( Benoit Monsieurs ), why we seem to like this album more and more. This tends towards the perfection that legends such as John Fahey , Robbie Basho and Bert Jansch were always looking for. And let those be the great heroes of De Vlaamse Primitieven.

Where Venediktos Tempelboom sometimes sounds a bit too folky for our ears, and we do not detract from the quality of the man's work, the music of De Vlaamse Primitieven leans a lot closer to what we expect from this kind of tunes, personally. It is funny that Monsieurs was responsible for the recording and mixing of this album, just to show that he also has a lot to offer. It is heavenly strumming, full of variation, more infectious than most of what we have previously let pass our ears in this segment. Very strong album.