Onze Danses Pour Combattre la Migraine  

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Onze Danses Pour Combattre la Migraine is the debut album by Belgian avant-rock band Aksak Maboul. It was largely the work of one of the band's co-founders, Marc Hollander and was credited to Marc Hollander/Aksak Maboul. It was released on LP in 1977 on a Belgian independent record label, Kamikaze Records, and later re-released twice on Hollander's own Crammed Discs label: on LP in 1981, and on CD in 2003.

Content and reception

Onze Danses Pour Combattre la Migraine comprises 17 tracks that draw on a mix of musical forms, cultures and genres. With drum machines and looping organ lines, they shuffle between improvised jazz, ethnic music, electronics and classical music. It is largely an instrumental album with snatches of singing and voices.

After the success of Aksak Maboul's second album, Un Peu de l'Âme des Bandits (1980), Onze Danses Pour Combattre la Migraine "became a cult album in its own right." The Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock described the album as "a masterpiece. The pieces range from Satie-esque to structured Zappa-inspired rock, to very loose improv-jazz, and the execution in these diverse musical areas is extremely successful. Overall, the music has a certain lightness and humorous approach that I find all too rare in most prog and jazz."

Track listing

All tracks are composed by Marc Hollander, except where noted.

Side A

1. "Mercredi Matin" – 0:22
2. "(Mit 1) Saure Gurke (Aus 1 Urwald Gelockt)" – 2:25
3. "Animaux Velpeau" – 0:34
4. "Milano per Caso" (Paolo Radoni) – 3:18
5. "Fausto Coppi Arrive!" – 1:08
6. "Chanter est Sain" – 3:09
7. "Son of l'Idiot" – 3:20
8. "DBB (Double Bind Baby)" – 3:25
9. "Cuic Steppe" – 4:20
10. "Tout les Trucs qu'il y a là dehors" – 1:55

Side B

1. "Ciobane" (trad. - arr. Marc Hollander) – 0:21
2. "The Mooche" (Duke Ellington) – 1:35
3. "Vapona, Not Glue" (Vincent Kenis/Marc Hollander) – 6:40
4. "Glympz" (Vincent Kenis/Marc Hollander) – 4:49
5. "Three Epileptic Folk Dances" – 2:16
6. "Mastoul Alakefak" – 6:14
7. "Comme on a dit" (Chris Joris/Marc Hollander) – 1:15

Personnel

• Marc Hollander – keyboards, percussion, drum machine, xylophone, mandolin, alto saxophone, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet
• Vincent Kenis – accordion, guitar, slide guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, percussion
• Chris Joris – keyboards, soprano saxophone

Guests

• Paolo Radoni – guitars on "Milano per Caso"
• Jeannot Gillis – violin on "Milano per Caso"
• Catherine Jauniaux – voice on "Milano per Caso" and "Mastoul Alakefak"
• Lucy Grauman – voice on "Chanter est Sain"
• Ilona Chale – voice on "Chanter est Sain"
• "Juliette" – voice on "Tout les Trucs Qu'il y a là Dehors"
• Lee Schloss – soprano saxophone on "Comme on a Dit"

Production

• Recorded April to May 1977 by Dan Lacksman and Vincent Kenis
• Mixed by Dan Lacksman
• Produced by Marc Hollander, Marc Moulin and Vincent Kenis

Re-issues

In 1981 Onze Danses Pour Combattre la Migraine was re-issued on LP on Marc Hollander's Crammed Discs label. It contained an extra track, "Mastoul, One Year Later (live)" that was appended seamlessly to the end of "Mastoul Alakefak". The following guest musicians played on this live recording:

• Frank Wuyts – keyboards
• Denis Van Hecke – electric cello
• Michel Berckmans – bassoon
• Geoff Leigh – saxophone

In 2003 Crammed Discs released Onze Danses Pour Combattre la Migraine on CD. The linked tracks "Mastoul Alakefak" and "Mastoul, One Year Later (live)" were listed as a single track: "Mastoul Alakefak" – 9:16.

References