Niels Van Heertum
Felt Like Old Folk
**LP comes in screen printed open sleeve on heavy 630 gsm kraft stock, insert and heavy PVC outer sleeve. LP art comes in A, B and C-varieties A, B and C are cut out of one whole screen printed work by artist Ante Timmermans. LP edition includes complimentary CD (disk only). Edition of 167 ** The music of Linus does not have a fixed trajectory which stifles the imagination. Nor does the duo engage in obvious grandeur or cheap effects. On the contrary, the music is sketched, patiently and with d…
Sea Legs / Hum Back
**300 copies** Belgian label Aspes Edities brings us an interesting split album by American multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ali Ismaily - who has played for Tom Waits, Ceramic Dog and Laurie Anderson - and Belgian euphonium player and improviser Niels Van Heertum, who is having his second release on the label. The deep blue is the common denominator on this LP. On the first side - entitled Sea Legs - Ismaily offers one long and sparse composition that prominently features guitar and banjo, but als…
Mono No Aware
The first release on the new Belgian label Aspen, mono no aware is clearly the product of a carefully refined aesthetic. From the Cy Twombly-like cover art provided by Ante Timmermans to the peculiar lineup listed on the back — among other instruments listed are baritone guitar, banjo, alto clarinet, hardanger fiddle and euphonium — it is evident before one even hears the album that this is going to be a unique and thoughtful experience. Mono no aware (pronounced: moh-noh noh ah-wah-ray) is a …
JK's Kamer +50.92509° +03.84800°
At +50.92509° latitude and +03.84800° longtitude Niels Van Heertum recorded his first solo record, in the familiar warmth of his living room in a windmill in the East of Flanders. On the one hand the record explores the sonic possibilities of the euphonium, tuba and trumpet. On the other hand it creates a place without haste. Pure intervals are superposed and moved in order to avoid tension and agitation. Meanwhile the amplified horns circle around the rounded windmill room forming a dense …