Story behind the record cover - Sand (2021) - BALTHAZAR
"When my son showed me this record cover of the Belgian band Balthazar, I was sold immediately. This should also be part of my record collection, was my initial reaction. Just a few clicks on the laptop, from the couch, and the next day a courier delivered the package to my home. Quite a difference compared to my youth, when you had to cycle to the record store once a week to buy an LP. The risk of all that ordering from the sofa is that you start to resemble the Homunculus Loxodontus, the statue of the young Dutch artist Margriet van Breevort, currently in the university hospital in Leiden. Literally, the homunculus loxodontus is an elephant-like mythical creature, but it is best known as "the one who waits". The image is a true hype in Russia, where it has been nicknamed "Waiting". It has been photo shopped thousands of times as a symbol of bureaucracy and long waiting times. A bit like the phrase we have in the Netherlands, the so called 'purple crocodile'.
The relationship between painters and record sleeves has a long history. Pictures of paintings are used regularly. Take the cover of "Another Green World" (1975) by musician and producer Brian Eno. The cover shows a detail from the painting "After Raphael" by artist Tom Phillips. Pop art painter Andy Warhol created a number of iconic record covers such as "The banana" by Velvet Underground, "The Zipper" ("Sticky fingers") by the Rolling Stones and a portrait of Diana Ross ("Silk"). Painter Hans Ruedi Giger made covers for Emerson Lake & Palmer ("Brain Salad Surgery") and for the solo LP of singer Debby Harry from Blondie. (these could be questions for a pub quiz; please reader, I am open to suggestions, because I know quite a lot, but certainly not all, record covers by heart).
Back to this Balthazar cover. It unambiguously shows the appeal of a record cover. Cassette tapes have disappeared, CD's fade into the background. Streaming is the in thing now, but then you have nothing tangible in hand. Therefore, the young generation of music lovers is reverting to the LP phenomenon. This is also a reason for groups like Balthazar to pay a lot of attention to the cover design. See also the album cover of Dutch musician Spinvis' "Trein Vuur Dageraad". (2017). The record has ten inserts by artist Doris Konings. This way you can decide for yourself how you want the album to look. By the way, this is not entirely new: Genesis already did that with the LP "Abacab" in 1981. This one is available in four different color combinations. Nice for the enthusiast. Any true record collector has all four of them in his/her record cabinet.
Oh yes, and then there is the music of Balthazar. I almost forgot. Perhaps some readers are not familiar with this band. It is beautiful independent music. Atmospheric melodies and occasionally very danceable. True festival music. I saw them perform live three years ago at a festival in Germany. As an 'elderly young person' I stayed at the back a bit. The average age of the audience was somewhere around thirty. But soon I was caught by the beats and before I knew it I was dancing with a young girl. And me dancing really means a lot.
Belgian music is not bad at all. In my early years I was a fan of TC Matic and singer Arno Hintjes, and a little later of dEUS. The latter is still one of my favorite bands. Back to Balthazar. This way you stay young at heart. I can't wait for the festival season to kick off again. Allow yourself be immersed in discovering this kind of new music for three days, but also enjoying the 'old' megastars. But first I want to find out if the Homunculus Loxodontus is still residing in this hospital in Leiden. I want to see it for real. As a visitor, of course."
Gerrit-Jan Vrielink
By Gerrit-Jan Vrielink
Translation: Alex Driessen
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