Biography
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Years Active
2001 – present (24 years)
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Founded In
Antwerp, Antwerpen, Flanders, Belgium
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Members
- Chris Wauters
- Elko Blijweert
- Jan Stoop
- Thomas Noppe
Ow started existing late 2001 when Chris & Thomas, who kept playing together since the split of Zen Torpedo, met bass player stefan through mutual friend Elko, who also joined a few months later. in the fall of 2003 Stefan left and Jan Stoop joined the band.
Ow tries to play naïve, dreamy instrumental music, sometimes inexplicably happy, often hard and sad .
Ow consists of:
Chris Wauters ( drums, bells)
Jan Stoop (bass, big muff)
Elko Blijweert (keyboard, melodica, chinese balls)
Thomas Noppe (guitar, memory man)
Ow has the pretence that, although without lyrics, their music is actually about something, namely, everyday things like loneliness, confusion, alienation,depression, being lost , snails, lost love, snowboarding, the decline of western civilisation, evil women (on tv) , food and alcohol abuse, loss of memory.
You can listen to 4 of their songs in the download section. They recorded their first CD 'Nowhere' with the help of Dimitri and Geert (ghosttown studio's) which is released on Heavenhotel.
OW finally released their second CD on 05/10/2007: Moon Tan. It's well over an hour of dark trance divided over 8 songs, none of these under 5 minutes. The cover is as pretty if not prettier as their first CD.
The CD should be available in the better CD shops around as Lowlands will take care of the general distribution. For those not in the vincinity of one of those their is a limited amount for sale on the site: http://www.heavenhotel.be/
Moon Tan, the second CD of OW will be officially released in the UK mid-october by The Jezus Factory, our friendly oversees label who recently released the Pawlowski/Trouvé/Ward CD.
The CD will be distibuted by Shellshock, and will be available in the better UK record shops thanks to them.
There is some Live video footage released which can be seen on our download pages.. More releases of Heaven Hotel are due for releas in the UK through the Jezus Factory in the coming months as they really seem to like us there.
A review from 'Moon Tan' in: Plastic Ashtray UK.
‘Moon Tan’ is the second LP by Antwerp’s Ow who have come together as collective whole after all being in a range of other weird & wonderful bands. The first thing noticeable about Ow is how diverse and endearing their music is. You’d be right to say they are experimental to some extent, contemporary & innovative yet completely psychedelic and often retro. Likened to Slint, Ow have some great influences which come across here. In the nine minutes of opening track, ‘Black Hole’ we see them surf through psychedelic landscapes, showing shifts and turns which take us on new directions and places. Ow have the drama and attitude of early Sonic Youth yet mix it with the atmospherics and sonic mood of contemporary electro genius’s Boards Of Canada.
Album title track ‘Moon Tan’ is zippy and light yet totally grinding and angular. The shifts between the two are breath taking resulting in the downright euphoric. Jan Stoop’s caustic, fiery bass work grinds out the immense chorus melodies as he strums away chord shapes pitted against the Casio keyboard sound. There are shades of space-rock and the dreamy brilliance last seen on Mansun’s Six lp here with the escalating vocal harmonies at its five minute mark. ‘Butterfly Tattoo’ is a different affair with its jazzy drumming and frothy day dream melodies it haunts the listener. Again shades of simple electronica add an heir of the mystic and create depth to their already complex song writing.
‘Drop’ really stands out with its beautiful sax and early Pink Floyd-esqe Hammond organ sound. Think Dark Side Of The Moon meets Indie rock in a jazz bar. Each song here has a crafted feel. Measured electronics, shifts in sound and melody but hardly any noticeable change in tempo which is surely a great thing. I have seen many ruin their experimental work with over complicating the music, trying to be too clever often takes the shine off what could be great music. Ow are immense. The 20 minute finale of ‘Slow Boat’ shows off Ow as willing to push the boat out (no pun intended) whilst steering clear of pretentiousness. Some may be put off by lengthy songs but the band are keen to stretch the listener’s attention out along with the structure. There are Middle Eastern vibes in the brassy textures layered over gently pattered cymbals in Slow Boat. It takes what seems forever to rise to the surface but musically it is worth the wait, like the rest of ‘Moon Tan’ which is adventurous, atmospheric and musically awakening. Everything seems to be right here, the arrangements lush, the musicianship like that of a band who have played together for countless years, even the balance of instruments used give a real diverse and textured array of music. Ow are something of a revelation. They create contemporary experimental music in the most forward and musically pleasing way possible, and this is how they will win you over. Stunning.
Pete Stanley
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