- About : Spock Jr. with Acid Alien b/w Ion (12-inch) on the R&S label
- Origin : Fabiola magazine, issue 29 - November 1988
- Author: Jan Landuydt
- Translation : the webmaster
There's one record, more specifically "Acid Alien/Ion" from a certain Spock Jr., that was able to knock me off my feet. Better than house, garage, techno and body beat put together! Especially the B-side, "Ion", in a Boccaccio-edit, is pure pleasure for your ears. This is hard, energetic, ruthless, without compassion. The sounds are cracked out of the speakers, float upwards, shoot all over the place, fill up your head with a floaty feeling and open up your pupils to their fullest extend. An actual orgasm! Please, please more of this and all the other New Beat wankers can crawl back underneath the rock they came from.
- About : New Beat releases in general
- Origin : Fabiola magazine, issue 31 - January/February 1989
- Author : Jan Landuydt
- Translation : the webmaster
According to some people, who already know from experience, the days of New Beat are almost numbered. There is an assured continuation however... Belgium is doing quite well on the international market. In London and Detroit New Beat is being called the music of the future. In leading magazines like "NME" and "The Face" our little country is getting a lot of attention. Also foreign record companies are sending their "little men" to see which lucrative opportunities can be found overhere.
I'm afraid those good times will not last very long though. I listen to dozens of New Beat-records every week but the level of quality is saddening, some very few exceptions not included. Most of the time nothing more than copying and imitating happens (e.g. the Belgian versions of "Baby Wants To Ride" and "Rock To The Beat"), with very lame tracks as a result. And even when the impressive sounds (because they actually are like that most of the time) do get some content, the only thing it usually gives me is nausea. I mean : is there really nothing more to be found than "Move your ass and feel the beat" and other coarse material ?
New Beat could get some substance if the more experimental bands that are operating as so called "Body Music" would aim for dancefloor material without any scruples. By now they have learned the tricks of the trade and, what's more, they actually have something to say. In my opinion the best New Beat record ever is still "Colonial Discharge" by A Split Second, and also Poésie Noire have created some potential dance-floor hits on their EP "En Grande Colère". "Beat About The Bush" and "Restraint" are resourceful and exciting, they burst out of the speakers violently and make themselves very unique compared to the same old New Beat sludge they're presenting us with nowadays.
The folks from Poésie Noire are certainly capable of raising the New Beat standards, so I'm really wondering why they keep spreading around silly tunes, while using the names Morton, Sherman & Bellucci. Sure, those things might sell a bit better but whether they can guarantee a long life for New Beat is something I'm really doubtful about.
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- About : Moments Of Ecstasy with You and Me (12-inch) on Kaos/PIAS, Nasty Thoughts with Acid Sex (12-inch) on Kaos/PIAS & King George with Saigon Nightmare (12-inch) on white label
- Origin : Fabiola magazine, issue 30 - December 1988
- Author : Jan Landuydt
- Translation : the webmaster
Where the physical impact is really present is in the New Beat genre. I regret to admit it because it is a pre-fabricated fad with sheeply followers, who has the tendency to jam other, more valuable music in a corner. DJ-shops are neglecting rap, house and funk because New Beat sells in large quantities and with lesser effort (they are Belgian products after all). And there really is a lot of garbage among the releases, easy music with idiotic titles and nothing more than a very vague dancibility-factor.
But there are exciting releases as well however, which can lead the listener to a rare form of blind extasy. The Antler label kept itself busy for a while with Belgian body music (on the sub-label Subway), but has noticed that salvation needs to be looked for elsewehere and jumped into the New Beat market with a new sublabel called Kaos. The results are amazing : just out of curiosity I've purchased two 12-inches and in both cases I was truly amazed by the focused energy. "You and Me" by Moments Of Ecstacy and "Acid Sex" by Nasty Thoughts have an enormous power. The rhythm keeps hammering away and weird soundscapes rush over you. You're dragged into a pool of excitement and lust. Behind both productions hides a certain Chris Inger, and that guy seems to be capable of quite a lot, because also his 12-inch "Saigon Nightmare" <as King George> is an irresistible hit. If they keep working in this direction, and if they break out of being clumsy and superficial like in the beginning (The Confetti's & Erotic Dissidents : yuk!) we might be able to expect at least something from the New Beat regions.
- About : New Acid House Techno Beat Compilation (LP) on Subway/PIAS and The Brothers On Acid (LP) on Brainwar/PIAS
- Origin : Fabiola magazine, issue 33 - April 1989
- Author : Jan Landuydt
- Translation : the webmaster
And in Belgium ? Well, the New Beat keeps rushing ahead without loosing its speed and even gets new energy-impulses due to the growing interest by both the U.K. and the U.S.A. It's just that I think if the genre really wants to survive they need to get rid of those silly melodies and idiotic bits of text and replace those for a real tough approach without any amusing or frivolous trades. The tone for that kind of approach is already being set on two LP's filled with very heavy rhythms, whimsical effects and severe energy rushes. Strangely enough both "The Brothers On Acid" as "New Acid House Techno Beat Compilation" have been composed by Morton, Sherman & Bellucci, who were the original promotion team of light-heartedness. The records almost sound industrial, and make an already spoken of link between New Beat and punk actually plausible. I can only cheer on this producers-threesome in their new ventures and hope that those haven't been unique projects (because silly and trivial stuff like "Edelweiss" and the likes naturally sells better).
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