X-Legged Sally - Slow Up (expanded / SHM-CD / mini-lp sleeve)
SKU
Belle Antique 152338
Led by composer/reed player Peter Vermeersch, X-Legged Sally was a part of the fairly amazing Belgium avant-progressive scene all through the 90s. It was Verloesem's first ensemble to really gain attention and it also can be looked at as the precursor to his current (very large) band, the also amazing Flat Earth Society.
All of X-Legged Sally's albums have been unavailable for many years, and these Japanese issues will be greatly appreciated by the many folks who have been looking for them. If you don't know them, you need at least one of them (at least one!)
"It's easy to see why Bill Laswell was impressed when Peter Vermeersch sent him the demo from Belgium. This band was hot, hotter in fact than pretty much anyone the big, bad N.Y.C. producer/bassist was working with at the time. So X-Legged Sally was invited to record at Laswell's Greenpoint Studio in Brooklyn, and Slow-Up is the result. The band's debut full-length nearly overflows with energy, a sax-driven riff feast with full-tilt forward momentum from the rhythm section and no-holds-barred solos from reeds, guitar, and keys -- all packaged in 15 concise tunes (mainly instrumental and mainly penned by bandleader/clarinetist/saxophonist Vermeersch) that reveal how hooks, melodies, and straightforward harmonic and rhythmic foundations can be an asset even in the jazz-rock or avant-prog worlds. The band's avant tendencies are balanced expertly with the plain satisfaction of nimbly executed unison and harmony lines, memorable themes, and the oft-displayed ability to accelerate from a standstill to light speed (and vice versa) in the blink of an eye. And while Vermeersch and company bring a certain Euro-style artfulness and serious avant jazz chops to the proceedings, the down and dirty influences of funk, blues, and even screamin' rock & roll (check out manic shredder guitarist Pierre Vervloesem's lung-tearing vocals on "Bacon & Eggs") crop up all over the place. Envision the members of Parliament/Funkadelic suddenly finding themselves on-stage with King Crimson running through those crazy stop-and-start unison passages in "21st Century Schizoid Man.'"-Dave Lynch/All Music Guide
- LabelBelle Antique
- UPC4527516601720