frozen ducks: s/t

Frozen Ducks were the two brothers Hans Grauwen and Lex Grauwen. The short-lived duo had Hans behind the mic and playing synths, Lex also played synths and did the production of the tracks. The nine electro/new wave songs sound a lot like Tranquil Eyes' 1985 Walks album and this release can in many ways be seen as the accompanying release to that album. The line-up of the bands is almost the same, the bass and the overall production is just as deep, rich and poignant; only this time the drum patterns are more apparent and the sphere is much darker with lyrics about a troubling childhood and a vague view on what the future will bring. During the mid-'80s Hans & Lex produced 15 tracks of early electro/new wave songs of which only two ever got released. "Beginnings" and "Lost Freedom" were released on the legendary Dutch experimental compilations Contactdisc 4 and Contactdisc 5, which included bands such as X-Ray Pop, Twilight Ritual, Tranquil Eyes, Kapotte Muziek, and De Fabriek. All other tracks on this album are previously-unreleased and come from the vaults of Lex Grauwen. With much dedication and joy, these tracks have been unearthed and compiled into this posthumous album. A true pleasure to listen to and a must for every minimal synth, new wave and lo-fi Italo disco fan. Some words by Lex Grauwen: "Even though Hans and me had been recording since 1970, things didn't really start out until 1980, when the Korg MS-20 synthesizer entered my living-room. A living-room that would soon turn into a studio. A MFB 501 drum-machine was added, an Electro Harmonix Instant Replay sampler, bucket-brigade delays, chorus, flanger, phaser, reel-to-reel recorders, cassette-decks, a Portastudio, and of course, guitars, bass, sitar, and percussion. The tracks made were usually not destined to be Tranquil Eyes, Frozen Ducks or Cheiron. This usually depended on who came by and who was in the mood to sing. Hans was a steady visitor, who lived close by, so, he did a lot of the singing. I played all the instruments, often helped by friends such as Ruud Braumuller, and did the production. Not everything Hans and I recorded fell into the line of Frozen Ducks. We did different styles as well. Hans could do a fine falsetto, too, so we recorded some tracks leaning more towards 1960s psychedelia. That project was named Lemon Dust and is all unreleased. So, throughout the 80's and 90's we kept buying lots of equipment, recorded and re-recorded our material, until it slowly came to a halt. Of course there had been the Contactdisc releases, but there never was any feedback, no reviews, nothing." Frozen Ducks was never a band as such, they never performed. Hans was not the kind of guy to be on stage. Way too shy, introverted, troubled and burdened. The lyrics say it all.