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Awaken (band)

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Awaken

Awaken is an underground rock band / indie music project based in Belgium, Europe. They released two official albums and numerous demo tapes and web-only singles since their early days in 1988. Not related to the modern Belgian scene at all (dEUS, Eté 67, Girls in Hawaii), Awaken gained interest from Vietnamese people since the release of a Vietnamese song and legend, "Chú Mèo Ngủ Quên", and in Japan with the virtual EP "別府NIGHTS". Recently, a cover of a Vietnamese children song "Rửa Mặt Như Mèo" has been recorded and has been heard on Vietnamese internet, though not officially released. Since 2005, Awaken is part of the team of the indies Japanese label It's Oh! Music based in Miyazaki city.

The name

Though looking like a tribute to a Yes song, the name AWAKEN means "a matter of bubbles", according to the Japanese translation :

Genre

AWAKEN's style is hard to define, though their roots are clearly inside the eighties and seventies, mixing disco beats and progressive structures, karaoke arrangements and heavy sounds, Belgian New Beat rhythms and romantic New Wave [1] [2]. The instrumentation is often focussed on keyboards and electronic sounds [3] though electric guitar and bass guitar are more audible in recent songs. AWAKEN's latest songs have been influenced by various places in Japan, Vietnam and the rest of the world : "The Train Is Leaving Kokura" mentions Kokura (小倉) and Usa (宇佐), "Beppu Nights" happens in Beppu (別府), known for its hot springs, "Wasabi Kiss" describes the peninsula of Shuzenji, "Yanagigaura" (柳ヶ浦) evoques the feeling of loneliness in the small city of Yanagigaura and "As A Start : Cà Phê And Pizza" is an imaginary trip from Italy, Vietnam and Japan[4]. The 2009 single "My Last Evening In 大分" / "Chase Around 大分駅" is based on Gilles Snowcat's own memories of the city of Ôita, Japan.[5]

Musicians

Being a project more than a band, different musicians appear following the recordings of the band, some as members and some as guests.

Present musicians (members and guests)

  • Trịnh Thanh Duyên : lead voice
  • PatLap : lead voice and electroacoustic guitar
  • Paul G : electric guitar and lead voice
  • Sébastien Bournier (from band SOUSBOCK) : voice and drums
  • 日向逸夫先生 : programming
  • トゥイちゃん : harmony voice and FX
  • Gilles Snowcat (雪猫ジル): keyboards, programming, electric guitar, bass guitar, percussion, add.flute, lead voice

Past musicians (members and guests)

  • Fabien Remblier : lead voice and bass guitar
  • Ced Mattys : bass guitar
  • Zoé de York, Cedric Hamelrijck, Mike Wolf and Yves Larivierre : guitar
  • Karo VR : guitar and voice
  • 小西順子さん, Ptit Bout, Julie Absil, Lionel Meessen, Amy Kay, Jenny Quinn, Gautier Elocman, Joëlle Yana, Ambre and Bridge : lead voice
  • Gina Mainardi, 猪瀬悠理さん, みゆさん, 五味田敬子さん, 福地麗さん, 森紀和子さん, Sophie de York, Evelyne, Anna-Maria and Orely : harmony voice
  • Floris VDV, Laetitia VDV and Carla : spoken voice
  • Socre : rap voice
  • Greg Revel : programming
  • Hervé Gilles : keyboards
  • Aurélia Thirion : keyboards and harmony voice
  • Vincent Trouble : accordion
  • Philippe Tasquin : violin
  • Elke P : drums
  • Pol X : guitar, drums and drum machine

Collaboration

  • Though independent, AWAKEN is collaborating with Japanese label It's Oh! Music and appears on J-pop singer Koiko's CD "Vitamin!".
  • In 1999, AWAKEN was invited twice on stage to perform the song "Last Days Of The Century" with its creator Al Stewart (Al Stewart and Awaken pics).[6]
  • French TV actor Fabien Remblier recorded several songs with AWAKEN in 2000 and was supposed to be part of the 20st anniversary single in 2008.

Repertoire (original songs and covers)

AWAKEN mixes original songs and covers, a similar attitude to Manfred Mann and Vanilla Fudge earlier. Artists that have been covered by AWAKEN include:

Nekokawa (猫川 - Dòng Sông Mèo)

AWAKEN has a side-project named NEKOKAWA since 2002, focussing on the ambient side of its music. NEKOKAWA is 猫川 in Japanese and Dòng Sông Mèo in Vietnamese.

Discography

web-EP

  • Beppu Nights (『別府NIGHTS』) (online mini-album) (2006)
  • This Mouth... (nhạc cho Em Mèo) (under the name of Gilles Snowcat) (2008)

CD albums

web-singles (non-exhaustive listing)

  • One Wild War (2002)
  • 『山葵ＫＩＳＳ』 (Wasabi Kiss) (2003)
  • 『五本木の星』 (Gohongi No Hoshi) (2003)
  • 『ＤＲＵＮＫＥＮ熊』 (Drunken Kuma) (2004)
  • When Alena Entered The Quiet Room (2004)
  • Chú Mèo Ngủ Quên (2005)
  • As A Start : Cà Phê & Pizza (2006)
  • Áo Dài Màu Hồng / Xúp Sô-Cô-La (2007)
  • I Know Time Is Passing By... / 『別府NIGHTS』 -disco take- (2008)
  • Riding The Yellow Line Gives Vibrations (2008)
  • The Blue Hanger (pink disco yellow mix) / Don't Worry Em Mèo (on the pops) / Riding The Yellow Line Gives Vibrations (still shaking mix) (2009)
  • 『My Last Evening In 大分』 / 『Chase Around 大分駅』 (2009)

tapes

  • Numb (March 1993)
  • Phase 2 : Scrappy (September 1993)
  • Zéro Sur Dix, Encore Raté ! (Gilles Snowcat solo, August 1994)
  • Awaken 3 : Blurp ! (January 1995)

vintage and rare songs (non-exhaustive listing)

  • Polygonal Mirror (2/1988)
  • Sandrine (rough piano version) (7/1988)
  • Interlude 6 (6/1988)
  • Memories Of A Teenage Cat (original studio version) (3/1989)
  • Misty Conclusion (live en studio, Beppu, Japan) (5/2007)

References

  1. ^ Gabor Kleinbloesem, AOR Reviews, http://www.angelfire.com/ma/strutteraor/NEWREVIEWS99.htm
  2. ^ Kevin Julie, Universal Wheels, http://www.travellersintime.com/UniversalWheels/0602revs.html
  3. ^ David, Forces Parallèles, http://fp.nightfall.fr/index_101_awaken-party-lyceum.html
  4. ^ Jamendo : Cà Phê and Pizza
  5. ^ It's Oh! Music Blog : 大分について歌
  6. ^ Al Stewart jams with Gilles Snowcat from Awaken & Nekokawa: love music ~ magnetic soul

Reviews

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