FEEËRIEËN 2018: A MUSICAL GUIDE
Why complain about the state of contemporary pop music? Those who go looking, and dig around, in the margin will see that there is actually quite a lot going on. In the broadest sense. Every year, the Feeërieën attempts to reveal a piece of that (untamed) beauty. Deliberately presenting lesser known acts and sorting them neatly into particular themes. Because discovering music is what really ensures an experience, more than the decor does. The natural beauty of the Warande Park is unmistakably a 100% part of Feeërieën though too, of course. Experience2!

THE COLORIST FEAT. EMILIANA TORRINI (b/isd)
Far too few artists are drawn out of their comfort zone. So all due respect for Iceland’s Emiliana Torrini  who was asked to leave her regular backing band at home and be surrounded by eight-member chamber ensemble The Colorist. The Colorist – still based around pivotal figures Aarich Jespers (Zita Swoon Group) and Kobe Proesmans (Gabriel Ríos) – reworked Torrini’s oeuvre with instruments of their own making. England’s Rough Trade fell for this approach and released the result worldwide. The reviews were highly approving on the other side of the Channel. Uncut: ‘The Colorist added warmth, texture and elegance’. The Guardian: **** The Independent: 8/10. To describe the Colorist as a sort of ‘live-remix-upfront-backing band’ doesn’t actually sound so crazy. Surprising and yet familiar.

THE GOLDEN GLOWS PRESENT ‘THE ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC’ (b)
AB launches the (ambitious) plan to, over the coming years, once again shine a spotlikght on the masterful compiliation ‘The Anthology Of American Folk Music’ (Folkways Records, 1952). ‘The Anthology’ was compiled by the American eccentric and 78 rpm collector Harry Smith and is considered to be the bible of American folk. In other words: the equivalent of ‘The Great American Songbook’.

Every year, AB will invite one (inter)national artist who has been influenced by or is inspired by this masterful collective work that, by the way, also abundantly breathes blues, cajun, gospel, jazz and hillbilly. The full evening programme will be a deep dive into ‘The Anthology’ with personal interpretations of songs from Harry Smith’s epos.

The start signal will be given by Antwerp trio The Golden Glows. No wonder really, as the Glows have been specialising in pop music from bygone times since ‘05 and in Americana from the ’20s and ’30s in particular. They have been our guests in AB a number of times over the course of the years (including at the invitation of Zita Swoon), with as highlight to date: the performance of Alan Lomax’ ‘Prison Songs’ in ‘09. Not coincidentally, he was a kindred spirit of Harry Smith. One guitar and three radiant voices interpret the material as if it were 1928. Purity is the magic word, acoustically and emotionally.

Soundtrack by Kurt Smith