DAAU (short for Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung) is a classical, jazz, experimental and multi-genre music group from

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium. The band was founded in 1992 and borrowed its name from the novel ''

Der Steppenwolf ''Steppenwolf'' (originally ) is the tenth novel by German-Swiss author Hermann Hesse. Originally published in Germany in 1927, it was first translated into English in 1929. The novel was named after the German name for the steppe wolf. The st ...

'' (1927) by Hermann Hesse.Anarchists indeed
, Flanders Today, 14 April 2010. "...the tongue-twisting name – taken from the 1927 Herman Hesse novel Steppenwolf" The current line-up consists of Roel Van Camp (

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

), Han Stubbe (

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

), Hannes D'Hoine ( upright bass) and Jeroen Stevens (

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s, marimba). Founding members Buni Lenski ( violin) and Simon Lenski ( cello) left the band in 2006 and 2013. In the course of DAAU's history, other musicians have joined the quartet for a limited period: Adrian Lenski ( piano), Janek Kowalski (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

), Angélique Willkie ( vocals), Fré Madou (upright bass) and Geert Budts (drums). On record, the band also collaborated with

An Pierlé An Pierlé (born An Miel Mia Pierlé on 13 December 1974) is a Belgian pianist and singer-songwriter. Career She studied classical piano and enrolled at the age of 17 at the art school in Antwerp. In her third year there she made a solo progr ...

Ya Kid K Ya Kid K (born Manuela Barbara Kamosi Moaso Djogi, 26 January 1972) is a Congolese–Belgian hip hop recording artist. She was the rapper for the dance/house act Technotronic. Her sister is Karoline 'Leki' Kamosi. Early life At the age of 1 ...

( Technotronic) and David Bovée (Think of One).

Career

In 1994 they debuted with their acoustic self-titled album on the label Jack&Johnny, which also released the first material by Zita Swoon (back then called A Beatband) and

dEUS ''Deus'' (, ) is the Latin word for "god" or "deity". Latin ''deus'' and ''dīvus'' ("divine") are in turn descended from Proto-Indo-European *'' deiwos'', "celestial" or "shining", from the same root as '' *Dyēus'', the reconstructed chief g ...

. For dEUS, DAAU also recorded a version of the cult-hit "Suds & Soda". In 1996 Sony Classical signed the band, re-released the debut album, and released the follow-up ''We Need New Animals'' (1998). The album was recorded in the Spanish village Ronda and introduced vocals, electronics, drums and guitar to the sound of DAAU. The band was invited to support

16 Horsepower 16 Horsepower was an American band based in Denver, Colorado, United States. Their music often invoked religious imagery dealing with conflict, redemption, punishment, and guilt through David Eugene Edwards's lyrics and the heavy use of traditio ...

on tour in Europe. The record sold very few copies and Sony decided to shift the group to Columbia Records, which released their third album ''Life Transmission'' (2001) before sacking the group later that year. Even though record sales were once again below expectations, the group scored some small radio-hits and toured extensively in the Benelux and played for large crowds at

Rock Werchter Rock Werchter is an annual music festival held in the village of Werchter, near Leuven, Belgium, since 1976 and is a large sized rock music festival. The 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012 and 2014 festivals received the Arthur award for ''best festiv ...

and

Pukkelpop Pukkelpop is an annual music festival that takes place near the city of Hasselt, Belgium, in mid- to late August. It is held within a large enclosure of fields and woodland—adjacent to a dual carriageway called ''Kempische Steenweg''—in the ...

festivals. In 2002 the band set up a record label of their own, titled Radical Duke, and released an EP of music they composed for a dance play ''Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain'', also known as ''Colours''. Later a compilation of outtakes and alternative versions was released, titled ''Ghost Tracks''. Two years later the group returned to the acoustic approach of its early days and released their fourth record ''Tub Gurnard Goodness'', including a cover of

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

's "

2+2=5 "Two plus two equals five" (2 + 2 = 5) is a mathematically incorrect phrase used in the 1949 dystopian novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' by George Orwell. It appears as a possible statement of Ingsoc ( English Socialism) philosophy, like th ...

". On tour, DAAU expanded itself to a sextet with a new rhythm section. ''Tub Gurnard Goodness'' was released in Europe and the group played many concerts in Germany, Czech Republic and in France with electro dub crew Ez3kiel. In Hungary they were present at the Sziget festival, in Denmark at

Roskilde Festival The Roskilde Festival is a Danish music festival held annually south of Roskilde. It is one of the largest music festivals in Europe and the largest in the Nordic countries. It was created in 1971 by two high school students and a promoter. In 1 ...

. In 2006 the band released their first record as a sextet, ''Domestic Wildlife''. Shortly after, bass player Fré Madou decided to leave the band. In 2010 the band released ''The Shepherd's Dream'', now as a quartet. In 2011 Simon Lenski composed and recorded the soundtrack for the short movie ''Motor'' by Dutch movie maker

Simone Bennett Simone may refer to: * Simone (given name), a feminine (or Italian masculine) given name of Hebrew origin * Simone (surname), an Italian surname Simone may also refer to: * Simone (1918 film), ''Simone'' (1918 film), a French silent drama film * S ...

. For this musical piece a special electric twelve string violin was built for him by experimental luthier Yuri Landman. For their work in '' Last Winter'', they received a

Magritte Award A Magritte Award (french: ) is an accolade presented by the Académie André Delvaux of Belgium to recognize cinematic achievement in the film industry. Modelled after the French César Award, the formal ceremony at which the awards are presented ...

nomination in the category of Best Original Score.

Line-up

* Buni Lenski (violin) (1992–2006) * Simon Lenski (cello) (1992–2013) * Han Stubbe (clarinet) (1992–present) * Roel Van Camp (accordion) (1992–present) * Adrian Lenski (piano) (2001–2002) * Janek Kowalski (drums) (2001–2002) * Geert Budts (drums) (2004–2006) * Fré Madou (upright bass) (2004–2006) * Hannes D'Hoine (upright bass) (2006–present) * Jeroen Stevens (drums) (2013–present)

Discography

# ''Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung'' (1995) # ''We Need New Animals'' (1997) # ''Life Transmission'' (2001) # ''Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain'' (2002) # ''Ghost Tracks'' (2004) # ''Tub Gurnard Goodness'' (2004) # ''Domestic Wildlife'' (2006) # ''The Shepherd's Dream'' (2010) # ''Eight Definitions'' (2013) # ''Hineininterpretierung'' (2017)

Side-projects

* Simon Lenski with Bo Wiget * Bear Guts Quartet *

Donkey Diesel The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...

Kiss My Jazz A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attractio ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Belgian experimental musicians Musical groups established in 1992 Belgian alternative rock groups Belgian progressive rock groups Belgian folk music groups Belgian jazz ensembles Belgian orchestras Contemporary classical music performers Jazz fusion ensembles Avant-garde jazz ensembles