Sun Ok Papi K.o. / Orchestre Philharmonok

Sonig

With the freewheeling folk of “new weird America” currently the talk of the town and improv artists across the UK turning into underground heroes overnight, hardly anyone seems to have noticed a similarly vibrant scene emerging in Belgium, where the protagonists take themselves far less seriously. As evidence, consider recent releases by Uske Orchestra, Fan Club Orchestra, and the irrepressible brothers Laurent and Nicolas Baudoux. Known jointly as the mad geniuses behind Scratch Pet Land, these two have furthered their lunacy with a pair of solo releases. Nicolas led with a breathtaking debut in 2004 under the alias DJ Elephant Power and Laurent now follows with Sun Ok Papi K.O. It goes without saying that Orchestre Philharmonok (what is this Belgian obsession with orchestras?) presents music that has — seriously — never been heard before. Scratch Pet Land’s influences are never too far away, but Laurent Baudoux raises his cocktail of broad bass, game boys, metal guitars, trashy keyboards and cracking beats to the next level. Bizarre string instruments from the Far East twist and turn in the grooves yet most of the album sounds fabricated from some new synthetic miracle plastic.  A musical dilettante and professed non-virtuoso, Sun Ok Papi K.O. creates music with the innocent attitude of the enthusiast, free from any impulse to repeat or mimic. Orchestre Philharmonok is like club culture without the club or avant-garde without the music theory. It’s got the unmistakable, euphoric appeal of authentic fan admiration, unburdened by cliché or stylistic reference, probing ceaselessly for unexplored turns at an incredible speed.

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