Artist: Rodolphe Burger
Album: Cheval-Mouvement
Label: Believe
Year: 1993
Reviewed By: Woodstock Slim
Rodolphe Burger, 45, founder of Kat Onoma, mixing rock and contemporary philosophy.
Nov. 26, 1957: Born in Colmar.
1980: DEA philosophy.
1980-1988: Professor of philosophy and member of the group Last Band, which
deviendra Kat Onoma. Kat become Onoma.
1988: "Cupid", the first album with Kat Onoma.
1993: "Horse-Movement," the first solo album.
2001: "Kat Onoma", the sixth album for the group and "On n'est pas des
Indians, it's a pity "made with Olivier Cadiot.
2002: Creates its label, Last Band, which produces his album "Hotel Robinson "with Olivier Cadiot.
July 20, 2003; For Vieilles Charrues of Carhaix. The festival since 2001.
Cheval-Mouvement, I guess was laying in the tall grass until now. It would otherwise never be unearthed... until now of course that the Bill Callahan junkies need to fill their pipes with the occasional other blend. I find this album a treat and am almost afraid of what it will do to me. I approached it carefully. There is something unsettling about this album. the kilter is just off. I say that's why it has largely gone unnoticed. And will be overseen many times more in the years to come. (Unless the fat cats in New York decide that "stripped" is the new genre and start pumping them out like Buddah Bar CD's and god knows what, oi! ) In 1993 I was listening to Bally Sagoo and John McLaughlin and getting my fill of Bungrah and giving Grunge to wide bertha and waited around for the then Grunge to leap into Americana. There was nothing to listen to in the 90's we all know that but the eastern stuff was good and the dance hall stuff came out steady and even the Jungle Beats were great and made us look elsewhere for a while and let Rock die one last time. The early 90's gave us Skyclad and that was enough for me. All I needed was one good band that whole century. Only to find now that the early 90's also gave us Rodolphe Burger. Two greats to remember now. If I listened to this album then, I can't say for sure how it would have altered my life, I know it would have been better, for sure!
There are no surprises on this record it's all one big abyss of sound you know nothing about and can't anticipate. It creeps for the most and haunts now and then here and there.The melancholy is different than say, Mark Mulcahy (whose last album "Fathering" was poor and unimaginative and boring and predictable and shallow, shame on you Mark, you were doing so well there...for a while....) He's worked with so many top bands and artists both in France and in Europe and the rest of the world that it's a hard to imagine him having the time to sit down and write songs and arrange music. I believe his latest album "No Sport" contains mostly Francoise Hardy songs also featuring the great Rachid Taha and James Blood Ulmer.
