Angular, quirky francophone postpunk Brussels combo (BE)
 
One of Crammed’s early signings, this original, endearing Brussels combo consisted of four strong individualities: sax/guitar player Bob Vanderbob (who went on to record two albums as Bobvan, and is now a creator of fascinating multimedia shows mixing visual art and spatialized sound), singer Catherine Jauniaux (who later moved to New York, got involved in the Downtown improvised music scene alongside Tom Cora, Ikue Mori, Marc Ribot et al, and became a celebrated improv vocalist), singer/bass player Fanchon Nuyens (who later formed Zap Mama with Marie Daulne and co-produced their first album), drummer Stéphane Karo (who would later travel to Romania in search of Rom musicians, with whom he would ‘invent’, organize and produce the famous Gypsy band Taraf de Haïdouks). Bob and Catherine had briefly been involved in Aksak Maboul. In other words: they were all part of the initial nucleus around Crammed, and would continue to be involved with the label for years.


Des Airs played lovely shows, audiences and the press loved them. They were together for a couple of years, and only ever recorded this mini-album of angular, quirky postpunk with jazz overtones, mostly sung in French (except for Lovely Lady of the Roses, a drunken love song written by Peter Cook & Dudley Moore). The A-side was recorded in Belgium, at the Hennuyères Studio (where Univers Zero, Minimal Compact and The Honeymoon Killers all did some work). The three songs on the B-side were produced in London by Family Fodder leader Alig.


The cover art is a photo of the band members, made by Daniele Cochard, who drew inspiration from a WWII shot of RAF pilots resting between raids. The band performed at several Crammed Discs nights in France, alongside The Honeymoon Killers, Minimal Compact and Hermine, including the Crammed event at the Rennes Transmusicales in 1982, following which French daily Libération published an extensive piece about Des Airs, and wrote “What a show! What a voice! What a look! What a story!”.