Exposé print issues (1993-2011)
Eclectic Maybe Band — Domestic Dragon
(Discus Music 214CD, 2026, CD / DL)
by Peter Thelen, Published 2026-09-21
Across this album’s eight tracks we have Guy Segers (bass, vocals on some tracks, guitar-synth, organ, bells, taiko drums, bongos, gamelan, keyboards, and floating sounds, all track depending) and no less than 33 other guest players including Morgan Ågren, Dave Newhouse, Daniel Denis, Tatsuya Yoshida, Rich O’Meara, Andy Kirk, Michel Delville, Michel Delory, Simon Steensland, Martin Archer, Geoff Leigh, Marianne Denoia, Fabienne Vandenplas, Dirk Descheemaeker, Mark Bogaerts, Jan Kuijken, Jean Pierre Soarez, Aura Grace Misimang, and at least a dozen more guests, all track depending, though every contribution seems essential in what is by far the most eclectic of all Eclectic Maybe Band releases to date. The first half — four cuts — seems to be a fairly consistent mash up of avant-garde, jazz, rock, and even a bit of psychedelic, some pieces with vocals, some purely instrumental, but most at least somewhat chaotic, from the opener “Cage” through “Conference of the Birds” to “Meek Monsters” and “Jonction Noyageuse.” The lyrics are mostly in English and easy to follow, but the music can go just about anywhere, and it’s always an interesting journey. “Conference...” in particular is a beautiful jazz arrangement of the Dave Holland piece recorded live at Botanique in Brussels, while the last two are collective improvisations. Moving on to the second half, “Just in Exact” begins life sounding like an electronic chamber piece adapted for piano, bass, and drums, though as additional instruments join in (cello, violins, horns, sax) the piece really comes to life, while “Inalteréble Offre” launches with a familiar sounding dirty blues riff, and then quickly moves out into stranger worlds, bringing together jazz, ambient, psychedelic sounds, and strange voices, with the vocal return just before the songs end sounding a little bit like “Fire” era Arther Brown on a bender. “Chateau Kafka” starts out as a great programmed rhythmic piece with Morgan Ågren providing live drums, lit up by flutes, saxes, and brass, getting crazier as it goes forward, while the fourteen-minute epic “Conquistadores” again relies on an interesting rhythm to support a constantly changing array of Middle-Eastern motifs carried out on winds, horns, violin, vibraphone, and more, including some near-spoken voice parts in one of the final sections. Overall, Domestic Dragon is by far one of the most ambitious offerings to date by Eclectic Maybe Band.
Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases
Related artist(s): Tatsuya Yoshida, Morgan Ågren, Geoff Leigh, Martin Archer, Simon Steensland, Daniel Denis, Dave Newhouse (Manna / Mirage), Michel Delville, Eclectic Maybe Band
More info
http://discusmusic.bandcamp.com/album/domestic-dragon-214cd-2026
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