Black Cassette – CIRCO (Vinyl with CD or CD Digipack version)

blackcassette_circoBlack Cassette should need no introduction here but for any of you in the dark they are the brainchild of Sjoerd Bruil, guitar player from the dearly missed Sukilove but also guitar player for Gruppo Di Pawlowski, Hitsville Drunks, Dez Mona amongst other things… He’s joined by his old Sukilove boss Pascal Deweze on bass, Jereon Stevens (I Love Sarah/Gruppo Di Pawlowski/DAAU/i H8 Camera) drums and Hans Swolfs has now also joined the band live for keys… It’s a real departure from the first record and has a real krautrock/Prince kind of feel… It’s a great record… You can watch a great promo FEATURING MICHAEL JACKSON to make up your mind here and also read a more in depth analysis below… Jef Cuypers also did the artwork which means it LOOKS GREAT…

In 2014 there will be 6 releases that feature Sjoerd Bruil on them and in the meantime he’s made music for a romantic comedy called ‘Plan Bart’ which will premiere this summer. Out of all those things there is one band where he can do anything he pleases.

Besides playing on releases by Hitsville Drunks, Dez Mona, Gruppo Di Pawlowski, Magnus (release tbc) and Liesa Van Der Aa (release this fall) he finally found the time to record his own songs in a small chalet hidden in the woods near Tellin. These songs will appear on ‘CIRCO’, the new album by Black Cassette.

Together with Jeroen Stevens (I Love Sarah/iH8 Camera/Gruppo Di Pawlowski/DAAU) on drums and his old Sukilove boss Pascal Deweze on bass and supervised by Micha Volders (Vermin Twins, Chrome Brulée), 12 songs were recorded live to tape. No computers and no internet connection. They jammed until late in the evening and worked hard on sounds, effects and making clear decisions that could not be altered later on in the mix. For each song they searched for the sound they needed, recorded some live takes and then went outside for a smoke.

Since their debut album in 2011 the sound of the band has changed considerably. Less blues, more technicolor. Especially fewer guitars and more synthesizers. After years of acting tough on stage and surreptitiously listening to Prince and Michael Jackson at home it was decided to act a little less tough and focus more on the hipshake factor. To achieve this goal, Micha Volders turned out to be the perfect producer, coach and drinking buddy. While the band played live in the livingroom, mister Volders joined them by running around and twiddling knobs and faders that sometimes made the three-piece sound like a sixheaded monster. Because the sound of this record cannot be reproduced live by just three people they will be joined by the already legendary Han Swolfs (Hantrax) on keys. Martha Maieu (Flying Horseman, Blackie & The Oohoos) lent her vocals to the duet ‘Under The Blossom Tree’ and unless she has anything better to do in the evening she’ll join them live as well. 
‘CIRCO’ contains elements of Devo, Prince, krautrock, the film ‘Lady Terminator’ and excessive alcohol consumption.

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