Violent Disco. Jan Verstraeten

If there ever was an artwork more in discord with the actual record containing it, it must be Violent Disco by Jan Verstraeten. It was only because I had received the record physically that I put it on, bracing myself for the worst in music. For me that is, among other genres, death metal or something like it. A violent dog, snarling, salivating, all its huge teeth bared, nothing more than an assistant of the hoofed one himself, in a sexual frenzy at that with a human being, told me all I needed about the music inside. Or so I thought.

What a surprise that the first notes pointed in a totally different direction. Even then I suspected the music to take a turn for the worst within a few seconds, but no, it doesn't; a whole record long. Intrigued? Come along and venture with me into Violent Disco some more.

Jan Verstraeten debuts with a full-length album that is as wide as it is deep. In a way it's timeless. It holds hints at music from an era, where musicians and original fans have mostly left this world. It just as easily hints at the music of Belgian bands like A Judas and Recorders but with a huge orchestration behind the songs. You will even hear music inspired by the original 'Star Trek' soundtrack come by. Finally don't be surprised to hear some moderns rhythms underneath it all. Ah, well, modern, triphop is out fashion for over a decade now, isn't it?

This amalgam of musical styles makes it hard for me to truly make heads or tails of Violent Disco. The music is all over the place, without necessarily drawing outside of the pre-drawn lines. Verstraeten simply loves orchestrated music and uses it for his album. The spoken word little thingies in between, "I don't want to be a human", are estranging. To be followed by one of the deepest tracks on Violent Disco, 'Cry Baby'. Undeniably, everything comes together in this track. The orchestra plays low, but in an all sweeping way, accompanied by bass and drums and a piano that uses more and more keys, just like the string section does in the crescendo near the end. 'Cry Baby' is a track that makes this album worth my while already.

Verstraeten wrote the whole album and plays all keyboards. Together with producer Nicholas Rombouts, who also played bass and mellotron, he created an album that is rich in sound, but rather dark in its mood.

This is expressed in some of the lyrics, that make the artwork have more sense too. Vampires comes by, as does sucking blood, of course and not surprisingly a violent disco. All sung by Verstraeten with his highish voice, with a typical waiver it in, making it stand apart from the average singer. Typical, but far from unpleasant. I don't mind for a second to be taken for a ride called Violent Disco.

On that ride, the listener gets surprised several times, as Verstraeten does not always opt for the easy way out. Not every song is as easy to digest. Estranging string parts make for a listening experience, like for example in 'Flu', where 'Bad Bad Baby' takes you free sailing again like 'Cry Baby' did before.

People can say a lot about Britney Spears but her first hit single, '... Baby One More Time' has had several high quality cover versions already and Jan Verstraeten adds one titled 'Hit Me Baby'. Deep dark, but showing the quality of the song. He turns it totally into his own song.

All in all, I remain a bit mixed. Mainly because Frank Sinatra and triphop are not really my kind of thing. That said, I've played the album several times and always enjoy listening to it. It surprises, holds a lot of quality and, yes, stands far from my daily musical choices. Variation always does the trick, so I'll give Violent Disco more than the benefit of the doubt.

By the way, the artwork is by Jan Verstraeten. The man seems to be able to do everything. In the information I found on this album, all comments talk about how different Violent Disco is from Verstraeten's debut EP. As I do not know it, I do not have an opinion. If it is better than this album, it has to be one of the greatest missed gems out there. I better sign off and start listening.

Wout de Natris