Monday, October 12, 2009

KIEM-YOU SHOULD TRY, LP, 1987, NETHERLANDS


Heed the title here, folks. 1987 may seem damn late for synth pop with serious artistic credibility, but someone forgot to tell these Dutch cats to dial back their innovative instincts. There's some musical simpatico here with fellow Dutch synth travellers Mekanik Kommando in the giddy song structures and production-intensive atmosphere and also a strong whiff of Severed Heads circa "Rotund For Success" at times in their rhythmic structures though it's the vocals that are the real deal sealers here, alternately dishing out the sort of delicious arched-eyebrow loungy stylizations that I thought were the sole preserve of Australia's godly No Night Sweats or reaching for the perfect bug eyed bit of exaggerated Danny Elfman-like histrionics. A major discovery for me.

Get it via Megaupload Here

Get it via Rapidshare Here


9 comments:

mb40 said...

hey,

yeah Kiem is great. being belgian myself i knew the band from when they got founded. actually owned an earlier release of them. a self-titled album released in 1984 with some great tracks like 'Behind', 'A few things', 'It's working' (this one is my favourite) and another great song called 'April afternoon'.

i always loved the saxophone and the fresh drumming sound. and then there r the use of bells, ahhhh those bells!! and indeed that voice is mesmerizing to say the least. i'll gladly take this album and add in to my library as i didn't know of it's existence. i always thought the one i had was their only release.

another band i want to point out is the belgian band "Bedtime for Bonzo". i think they made 3 releases between '84 and '86, not sure. check 'em out and u'll c i'm not kidding.

tnx for this post. keep up the, good work we love u for it,

cheerz mb40

Tom said...

Many thanks fhanks for this.
Btw, the Rapidshare link doesn't link to Kiem but to Toni Esposito's Rosso Napoletano (which I planned on downloading anyway, so no harm done if you ask me) :)
Cheers!

Anonymous said...

This an extraordinary find. Very cool, and even more appreciated. I went soul-seeking and found the others by them too. Great stuff. I also came across bedtime for bonzo music. All 3, in fact. The rips were a little quiet, but the music was very good post-punk too. Thank-you people for the suggestions and the finds. It is always great to come across something you really dig ;)

Anonymous said...

do you have scatterbrains album musical marriage?

fuzztunnel said...

The LP Jim posted ages ago is really spectacular, so I can't wait to hear this one. Much thanks!

fuzztunnel said...

(also, I think the RS link in this post directs to the wrong file)

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much for paying attention to this Kiem album. It is our final one.

Huub Kentie (synths & vocals)
www.kiemrotterdam.nl

Anonymous said...

Made my day! I'd given up on ever finding this album to go along with the first two. Thanks! Can't wait to listen to it.

Anonymous said...

Lots of live Kiem concerts on the band's website: www.kiemrotterdam.nl