Hooverphonic -- Why no thred on them?

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Belgian Trip Hop also-rans, inarguably -- but certainly no worse than, say, Gus Gus or Morcheeba. I searched but found no thread. I have their first three discs and while they're maybe a bit samey, there's really some great (albeit dated) stuff here.

What sayeth you?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 19 December 2005 19:57 (7 years ago) Permalink

more like Whoverphonic?

― gear (gear), Monday, 19 December 2005 20:01 (7 years ago) Permalink

they're pretty good, though. I don't know much about them beyond their first album.

― gear (gear), Monday, 19 December 2005 20:01 (7 years ago) Permalink

are they the guys who did that track '2 wicky' ?
cause they are called HOOVER on the soundtrack to STEALING BEAUTY yet i'm sure it's the same band. fckin ace that song is.

― piscesboy, Monday, 19 December 2005 20:13 (7 years ago) Permalink

Here's my Hooverphonic POX:

Mad About You
Renaissance Affair
Every Time We Live Together We Die A Bit More
2wicky
Lung
Vinegar And Salt
Inhaler
Human Interest
The Last Thing I Need Is You
The World Is Mine

If nothing else, "Mad About You" is definitely one of the best post-trip-hop singles going. I like them a lot, generally, the best songs are generally on "The Magnificent Tree", but "Blue Wonder Powder Milk" is probably the most consistent, and lots of it veers away from trip-hop anyway, into sort of uptempo swinging 60s pop, of the kind Emma Bunton did after it. (especially "The World Is Mine", which Emma should cover).

― edward o (edwardo), Monday, 19 December 2005 20:25 (7 years ago) Permalink

First album was billed to Hoover in Europe, but they had to change it to Hooverphonic in the US because the vacuum cleaner co. threatened legal action. My wife is a fan.

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Monday, 19 December 2005 20:54 (7 years ago) Permalink

2wicky is great; it opens the SB soundtrack perfectly.

― DougD (DougD), Monday, 19 December 2005 23:50 (7 years ago) Permalink

Hooverphonic is great love-making music. Too bad there's no one to make love with.

-(713)553-1256

― Kate (wet 'djina) P., Tuesday, 20 December 2005 01:01 (7 years ago) Permalink

My brother likes them a lot. What other bands would you guys recommend for him?

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Tuesday, 20 December 2005 05:14 (7 years ago) Permalink

Frou Frou, maybe? Though one suspects he'd already know them.

― edward o (edwardo), Tuesday, 20 December 2005 05:16 (7 years ago) Permalink

my POX:
Battersea
Renaissance Affair
Barabas
Cinderella
The World Is Mine
The Magnificent Tree
Blue Wonder Power Milk
Magenta
Someone
Inhaler

I still find the first two albums consistently fantastic, but 'The Magnificent Tree' really disappointed me initially. I've kept it mainly for the title track, which steals the beauitiful opening guitar line from Crosby Stills + Nash's 'Guinnevere'. 'Jackie Cane' goes for big show tunes, and is a better album, but not as lovely as the first two, for my taste.

― derrick (derrick), Tuesday, 20 December 2005 06:17 (7 years ago) Permalink

My girlfriend got me into them, and they're a fine band. The first album is really consistent trip-hop, the second one has some weird additions to the formula, a lot of which works, but the third one kind of lost me, when they went sort of showtuney. I think I prefer them working in the ambient, spacious vein more. I can only pick nine that I really like - good enough?

Inhaler
2 Wicky
Wardrope
Plus Profond
Nr. 9
Renaissance Affair
Battersea
Autoharp
The Magnificent Tree (yeah, this song is beautiful)

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Tuesday, 20 December 2005 16:55 (7 years ago) Permalink

RIYL Hooverphonic - newer Autour de Lucie, perhaps, like the 3rd & 4th albums?

4th Hooverphonic - the _Jackie Cane_ concept album - is the spottiest. The 5th is a live disc, done w/ strings - "The World is Mine" and "Sometime" are particularly nice with different backgrounds.

6th (a 2cd) is out now in Belgium, comes out January in the UK. US date = ? Sound samples HERE. The _More Sweet Music_ version of "No More Sweet Music" is particularly enticing, with the Mancini strings. Seems like a return to the lusher earlier tunes.

Went to see them open for BT years ago. Much more rocking than I was expecting, incl. an AC/DC cover in their set. Great show.

― scamperingalpaca (Chris Hill), Tuesday, 20 December 2005 17:18 (7 years ago) Permalink

No More Sweet Music has been my album of choice lately for the train ride into work and it fits pretty well. Difficult for me to get into the albums as a whole, but you could put together a pretty cracking D.I.Y. "best of" album from it. Faves:

"Club Montepulciano"
"We All Float"
"Jackie Cane"
"You Love Me To The Death"

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 20 December 2005 18:47 (7 years ago) Permalink

"Renaissance Affair" was featured in a beautiful commercial for the VW Beetle that just showed time-lapsed clouds reflected in one of the car's wheel fairings (it was for a special light blue color IIRC). It's a wonderful song.

― ghost of olde, Tuesday, 20 December 2005 18:56 (7 years ago) Permalink

It's funny... even when we were in high school (I'm from Poperinge, Belgium, the same town where Geike, who is now the singer and lived in Westouter at the time, went to school when she was like 12 to 18 - didn't know her personally but was aware of her) everyone instinctively knew she was going to be famous one day. She just had that star quality/self confidence thing none of us provincial losers had...

Anyway. Unnecessary namedrop over. They're very big around here, but I haven't really checked them out other than hearing them on the radio all the time.

― StanM (StanM), Tuesday, 20 December 2005 19:13 (7 years ago) Permalink

2 years pass...

Reviving because I finally got around to listening to The President of the LSD Golf Club (which came out in 2007 apparently) and it's a pretty cracking great pop album. The Autour de Lucie comparison upthread is OTM... I'd add comparison points to Ivy, Monade.

― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 19:45 (4 years ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

Geike (their singer) is leaving at the end of the year, wants a solo thing, rest of band to continue, don't know if they're going to look for another singer immediately.

― StanM, Friday, 10 October 2008 16:59 (4 years ago) Permalink

Too bad. I was hoping that they could get around to touring the US.

― Chris Barrus (Elvis Telecom), Friday, 10 October 2008 18:03 (4 years ago) Permalink

So it's not a hiatus, but a split? Checked the Hooverphonic website, but the forum isn't aware of the change yet, and there's no news announcement on the main page.

Autour de Lucie's Valerie Leulliot put out a fairly lowkey solo album. Would be interested to hear what Geike's got in mind for hers.

If you've never seen them live, the Singles 96-06 Ltd Edition has a bonus DVD of 17 videos plus an entire concert. Doesn't include the LSD videos, but is still one of the best bonuses I've seen, and only $6 or so more than the standard version.

― scampering alpaca, Friday, 10 October 2008 19:43 (4 years ago) Permalink

It's only been announced a couple of hours ago. All in Dutch (unfortunately) :

http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=DMF10102008_104

http://deredactie.be/cm/de.redactie/cultuur%2Ben%2Bmedia/081010GeikeWeg

http://www.stubru.be/node/69564

― StanM, Friday, 10 October 2008 20:12 (4 years ago) Permalink

Just got an email from the Hooverphonic news list...

Hooverphonic is sad to announce you that Geike will leave the band by the end of 2008.
Alex and Raymond will definitely go on with Hooverphonic!
They are therefore looking for a new singer (male or female).
If you're interested, please send us your updated CV, as well as an MP3 and a recent picture of yourself
Candidates do not necessarily have to come from Belgium, we are open to cross-border collaborations.

― Chris Barrus (Elvis Telecom), Monday, 20 October 2008 17:35 (4 years ago) Permalink

Here's that lovely VW commercial:

"Renaissance Affair" is one of my favorite songs ever.

― Spencer Chow, Monday, 20 October 2008 19:01 (4 years ago) Permalink

It is great! "Blue Wonder Powder Milk" is so sexy an album.

― Abbott, Monday, 20 October 2008 22:26 (4 years ago) Permalink

2 years pass...

Revive!

New album, new singer, new website: http://www.hooverphonic.com

Kinda like the new album so far... Makes up for not having a new Ivy album.

― Stockhausen's Ekranoplan Quartet (Elvis Telecom), Saturday, 11 December 2010 01:29 (2 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

This morning I've been hearing the first four albums after almost 8 years of not touching them and they've aged better than I thought. I find it interesting that they never stick to a particular kind of sound but they don't sound like a different band either (best band from the 'era' that pulls this trick effectively too is Groove Armada, imho).

In the first album they mimic Portishead (2wicky), Slowdive (Cinderella, Someone), St. Etienne (Inhaler, Wardrope) and Lush (Revolver) to drop some references and 3 albums later they sound like Julee Cruise, Stereolab, The Boo Radleys, Goldfrapp and the Cardigans.

― Moka, Sunday, 23 September 2012 16:52 (7 months ago) Permalink

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