Palais Des Bauzards - In The Grassfield

Palais Des Bauzards pursued an industrial and electronic variant of the sound that swept into vogue during the first half of the '80s. This compilation digs into the original material provided by the band and offers an amazing selection from start to finish. The sometimes rudimentary though gripping tracks on the first side are emblematic of their early period, for example, "Money," a song driven by a screeching rhythm box, distant guitar lines, and a nonchalant voice. Cabaret Voltaire comes to mind. They’re not afraid to experiment and to explore new horizons (the track "Lies").

The second side shows a more developed dark wave sound with "In The Grassfield" and "Knowing Too Much," both produced by legendary Belgian producer Ludo Camberlin. On top of this, there are two dark goth rock stompers hidden in the selection; they hide by the names "My Life Is A Sin" & "Eat Out Of My Hands." Overall, it’s a broad selection of tracks which show the capability of the band to do something different with the new wave genre.

Initially, the group was formed in 1983 in the Belgian city of Leuven by Danny Jacobs, Dirk Van Regenmortel, Chris Serré (+2006), Frank De Wit, and Rudy Stuyckens. In 1983, they released two tracks on the Mask Live LP together with Front 242. In the three following years, many of their home-recorded tracks were published on a bunch of cassette labels. Since the beginning of the 21st century, many Palais Des Bauzards tracks can be found on playlists around Europe and the USA and are being reissued on LPs. Most recently on the compilation albums Underground Wave Vol. 4 and Distant Waves.

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