Human Flesh - Songs for the Victims (From a Decaying Country)
Artist: Human Flesh
Rating: EXCELLENT
Genres: Industrial Minimal Synth,  Modern Classical
Released: 2006
Type: Album
Label: EE Tapes
Link: Bandcamp
A long, long time ago, in 1985 I took the train to Belgium, to Nivelles, not far away from Waterloo and met a very sympathetic couple: Alain Neffe and Nadine Bal. Together they were Bene Gesserit, they’d run Insane Music, and Alain was also in Pseudo Code, I Scream, Cortex and Human Flesh. They were my heroes and I saw their collection of tapes, records and in the basement their studio, which impressed me a lot. Years after I followed whatever they released, but in the nineties things seemed to have stopped and it was hard to find information on their music on the internet. These days Alain Neffe is back, re-mastered some of his cassettes and made them available on CDR. In each of his musical projects, Neffe did put something specific: Pseudo Code was sort of industrial, I Scream floating synthesizer ambience and Human Flesh was a group that wasn’t a group. Recordings were made on an eight track recorder, where Alain Neffe played other musicians that came to his studio or he would dub in recordings send by people. It was more about the concept of music making, than that it has a strict musical concept of it’s own. It borrows elements from his projects. When the recordings are made, Neffe leaves the tracks and starts mixing them much later, when he forgot what it sounded like and in a more or less improvised way. On this CD there are fifteen tracks, recorded in the period 1985-1995 and one long bonus track built with elements from the last twenty three years. Participating artists are people who are perhaps lesser known these days, such as Daniel Malempre (aka MAL), Cor Gout (Tresspassers W), Hessel Veldman (Y Create), Deborah Jaffe (Master/Slave Relationship), Xavier S (Pseudo Code, and the track he appears on, sounds very much like Pseudo Code), Lydia Tomkiw (Algreba Suicide) and the for me unknown Magali Cupak, Darline Victor and Judy Timpa. Human Flesh plays music that is best described as a cross-over between pop-music and experimental music, with a strong sense of the darker, atmospherical edges. Highly moody, with a strong emphasis on text, synthesizers and guitars. Like the title indicates, this is not exactly songs about love and happiness, but rather of desolation, loneliness and introspection. Perhaps the music sounds by now a bit dated, but it’s nevertheless well made and certainly needs a lot of attention. Then, perhaps, the entire catalogue of Neffe’s works should be made to proper CDR releases. Anyone cares to step in? (FdW)...

Tracks 1 to 15 recorded and mixed at home between 1985 and 1995, using an old analog TEAC 8-track and second-hand equipment. All technical imperfections are a result of the process involved. Voices on 2, 6 and 12 recorded on cro2 or ferro cassettes by the singers, mostly at home. Voice and bass synthesizer on 10 recorded at Newbury Sound, Boston, USA. Track 16 recorded and mixed on FOSTEX digital 8-track with elements from 1982 to 2005.

released April 1, 2006
Editions:
2006 Original Release
EE Tapes | EE01 | CD/Vinyl
  01. Shake It Up! (4:30)
  02. Predators (3:25)
03. Tomorrow (3:58)
  04. La Loi du Plus Fort (4:06)
05. Eerzame Burgers (3:58)
  06. God Must Not Cry (3:46)
  07. Why Are We Silent? (1:39)
  08. Dead Babies (1:15)
09. ... Et le Vieil Homme Chante Encore Son Rock and Roll (3:29)
  10. Bullet (4:41)
  11. Two Little Ghosts (On a Bridge Over the Highway) (5:58)
  12. To Sharon (4:03)
  13. The Tragical Box (2:28)
14. Cities (4:31)
  15. La Chape de Plomb (2:41)
16. Meditation and Fears: The Fourth Day (16:19)