Dijf Sanders
To Be A Bob

The air of Antwerp must surely be good for music, since DIJF has started to make a name for itself on the streets of this city, which has now become a reference point. My latest discovery is indeed Mr. Sanders, initially devoted exclusively to electronics, and then evidently falling deeply in love with atmospheres akin to "Romeo Is Bleeding," but not only that, perhaps also the more modern Tom Waits. What emerges is an incredibly fascinating potpourri, where every musical stimulus from the past peeks through without ever becoming the real protagonist.

Each track transports you to different atmospheres, so with Swamp Boulevard we are projected into a kind of futuristic Cotton Club, while with the opening Cheerleader Memorial we are in realms of ethereal and dreamy non-danceable electronics. Rats In Automatz is an irresistible and complex jazz piece but with a pronounced love for dance. Yet, the multifaceted and difficult tendencies of this CD do not ultimately create a work so disconnected, but rather, you would never think there is more than one brain behind managing this immense amount of musical data. The very present trumpet, alternated with electronic effects, somewhat recalls the late Miles Davis, but with a less standard, less black percussive line, and more projected towards the new millennium.

Soundtracks for geographical documentaries alternate with kisses in the rain, or runs along the winter sea shore. One of those albums that pushes even further beyond, assuming there was a need, the limit of electronic expressiveness. The work closes with Tombstone Blues, the track that most of all synthesizes the complexity of DIJF's thought and message, a melancholic and entrancing bass line with dissonant keyboards and electronic matrix, excellent for focusing both at work and in solitude.

In short, a sort of multifaceted Saint Germain.