iH8 Camera – Volume 1 (Sold Out)
“You can’t say that i H8 Camera’s music resembles any one style due to its randomly-inspired nature, but there are traces of Beefheart and the Velvet Underground – two common reference points for many of these musicians’ bands. Volume 1 also has Sonic Youth-style guitar freakouts embellished with a brass section, and that comparison brings Nels Cline’s jazzier work and collaborations with Mike Watt to mind, too. One piece even sounds like Robert Fripp’s turned up to unleash an aural tornado with his boxes of guitar tricks.
For those who are already familiar with some of the Belgian bands I mentioned, i H8 Camera reuse elements of Kiss My Jazz and certainly some of the funk of Zita Swoon. The crazier times of early dEUS are also evoked: I’m particularly reminded of My Sister=My Clock, another single track LP. Fans of those bands’ experimental moments will most likely be fans of i H8 Camera by the time they’ve given this album a spin or two, whereas other listeners who favour a more predictable pop song structure might take a while to acclimatise to it… and some might not bond with it at all.
Musicians:
Rudy Trouve
Mauro Pawlowski
Thomass Noppe
Elko Blijweert
Bert Lenaerts
Michiel Thijs
Mark Meyers
Craig Ward
Jereon Stevens
Adriaan van Aken
Miguel Sosa
Heyme Langbroek
Teuk Henri
Yuri van Uffelen
Ephraim Cielen
Pascal Deweze
Frans van Isacker
Aarich Jespers
Personally, I’ve grown rather fond of Volume 1. At first it seemed to be a mad idea but it’s managed to pull me back time and time again. Give i H8 Camera a listen; you’d be surprised how quickly 53 minutes can pass while you’re playing air dustbin-lid in time to the sound of all hell breaking loose” The Dreaded Press
“The press release proclaims this disc “free and fun to listen to”. It’s absolutely right” Is This Music?
“A chaos ridden mess” Glasswerk
“Yet another sumptuous artefact from the Jezuz Factory camp” Mudkiss