Exposé Online banner

Slapp Happy — Acnalbasac Noom
(Tapete TR356, 1973/2016, CD/LP)

by Jon Davis, 2007-03-01:

Acnalbasac Noom Cover art Dagmar Krause’s singing tends to be one of those divisive factors in music. A lot of people really detest her voice, mostly due to what they’ve heard on later recordings like Art Bears. For those people, the good news is that she’s less extreme on this album. She does most of the singing on the tunes of Anthony Moore and Peter Blegvad, and I feel her intonation is a bit off at times, and her delivery sometimes awkward (not surprising given the often tricky lyrics and unusual melodies). But there’s something oddly appealing about the overall result. Admittedly that’s a very subjective statement, but this is after all a review, not a news item. The style here runs a fair gamut, from twisted cabaret to art rock to pseudo-bossa-nova and near-tango to what you could describe as 60s girl group parody. The instrumental parts are played somewhat sloppily, an intentional choice I expect. While this music is by no means epic, a lot of craft went into the compositions, which take established pop conventions and turn them on their sides. Four bonus tracks are added: the throwaway disco exercise joke “Everybody’s Slimmin’”; a pair of tracks that later ended up on Blegvad solo albums; and a single Krause composition, the odd and intriguing “Messages.” As a Henry Cow and Peter Blegvad fan, this album had been on my wish list for many years, and it’s nice to finally have a copy. Worthy if not essential.

by Henry Schneider, 2017-01-21:

After recording Sort Of, a second album emerged but Polydor pulled the plug and Uwe Nettelbeck signed both Faust and Slapp Happy to the burgeoning Virgin label in the UK. They re-recorded the music with UK musicians along with all the studio bells and whistles for the 1974 release Slapp Happy aka Casablanca Moon. The original tapes were buried in the vault, eventually seeing the light of day in 1980 as Acnalbasac Noom. 36 years later Tapete Records is reissuing this album as both an LP and CD with four bonus tracks on the CD. As with Sort Of, I believe that the Tapete reissue is the same as the earlier Voiceprint reissue. A big difference between Sort Of, where the vocal duties were equally shared across the disc, and Acnalbasac Noom is that Dagmar Krause sings lead on all but the bonus tracks. Dagmar’s voice is rightly noted as an acquired taste, but on Acnalbasac Noom her vocal stylings are still “mainstream” and easy on the ears, reminding me of Annisette Koppel from The Savage Rose. The songs on the album are a continuation of Anthony Moore’s take on the music of the time. The lyrics on some of the songs are so dense with words that they must have been extremely challenging to sing and be satisfied with the take. Once again there is a mixture of cabaret, Euro-pop, country rock, rockabilly, and prog rock. There is even a 16 second track of silence “Blank” that must be a reference to John Cage. The one track that seems really out of place is the bonus track “Everybody’s Slimmin’.” This is a pseudo-disco / New Wave / Hip Hop / Rap song with crazy twisted lyrics with a great dance beat, somewhat in the style of M and “Pop Music.” Of these two albums, Sort Of is the better. While not an essential album from the early 70s, any fan of Slapp Happy, Henry Cow, Art Bears, etc. would find Acnalbasac Noom a welcome addition to their collection.

Filed under: Reissues , 2016 releases, 1973 releases

Related artist(s): Peter Blegvad, Anthony Moore, Slapp Happy

More info

Latest news

2021-04-01
New Aristocrats Live Album on the Way – No foolin'! These supreme musicians toured Europe early in 2020, just before touring ceased to be a thing musicians could do, and there were some hot performances captured. On May 7, some of these will be releases as Freeze! Live in Europe 2020. » Read more

2021-03-25
Return of Jerry Lucky's Progressive Rock Files – After much consideration and surprisingly, positive feedback, Jerry Lucky is announcing the launch of the progressive Rock Files podcast, featuring the latest progressive rock music from around the world. » Read more

2021-03-14
Jewlia Eisenberg RIP – The sad news has come out that Jewlia Eisenberg has died. As a founding member of Charming Hostess, Eisenberg changed the face of music, bringing together Balkan klezmer, American folk, and experimental rock in a distinctive blend that garnered much praise. » Read more

2021-03-11
RIP Roger Trigaux – The sad news has come to our attention that Roger Trigaux, the guiding force of Present and former member of Univers Zero, passed away on the evening of March 10, 2021 after a long ilness. » Read more

2021-02-14
SoundQuest Fest 2021 – SoundQuest Fest, first experienced as a live festival in Tucson Arizona in 2010 was created by ambient music pioneer Steve Roach. This 2021 event will unite a worldwide gathering of artists and audience members together for a 3-day online event unique in the realm of ambient music. From March 26-28th a continuous flow of streamed performances, audio-video wonder worlds and deep immersion zones will burn bright on Roach’s YouTube channel. » Read more

More news

Previously in Exposé...

Steve Howe - Skyline – This solo release finds the Yes guitarist in a rather mellow mood, favoring light latin sounds with only sparse percussion. Paul Sutin’s keyboards and percussion provide relatively basic...  (2003) » Read more

Carreg Lafar - Profiad – The traditional music of Wales doesn’t get as much attention as that from other parts of the British Isles. That’s a shame because the country’s musical tradition is rich, diverse,...  (2006) » Read more

Squonk Opera - Howandever – Ready for something different and very original? First off, forget the Squonk, it's not a reference – these guys sound nothing like Genesis! In fact they are a totally new six-piece from the...  (1995) » Read more

Percy Jones / Scott McGill / Ritchie DeCarlo - Percy Jones / Scott McGill / Ritchie DeCarlo – Fasten your seat belts prior to starting the opening track “Menagerie Animato” – it clocks in at only a little under five minutes, but it’ll leave you out of breath and in need...  (2011) » Read more

Bill Nelson - Atom Shop – According to the DGM catalogue, Bill Nelson’s latest release is a product of some "retro-future Frankenstein’s lab." That’s true from the surface that the conceptual aspect...  (1999) » Read more

Random review

Listen & discover

Simone Beneventi Performs Lang's Scraping Song

More recommendations
The Eighteenth Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival 2019

Print issues