''RoqueForte'' is a 2010 studio album by

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

acoustic

avant-rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

and neo-classical chamber music group

Aranis Aranis are a Flemish acoustic avant-rock, experimental and neo-classical chamber music group led by composer and contrabass player Joris Vanvinckenroye. Their music has been described as a blend of "chamber classical and rock", "Chamber Music R ...

, led by composer and contrabass player

Joris Vanvinckenroye Joris Vanvinckenroye (born 1977), also known by his solo moniker BASta!, is a Flemish avant-rock and experimental double bass musician and composer. He is best known for Aranis, a neo-classical chamber rock group he founded and leads, and for h ...

. It is their fourth album and was released in Belgium by Home Records. The album includes guest musicians

Dave Kerman David Kerman (born August 24, 1959), better known as Dave Kerman, is an American experimental rock drummer and composer, best known as the founder and member of the Los Angeles avant-rock group 5uu's. He is also a member of the Belgian progressi ...

(drums) from

Thinking Plague Thinking Plague is an American avant-garde progressive rock group founded in 1982 by guitarist/composer Mike Johnson and bass guitarist/drummer Bob Drake. Based in Denver, Colorado, the band has been active off and on since 1982, taking on a ...

and

Present The present (or here'' and ''now) is the time that is associated with the events perception, perceived directly and in the first time, not as a recollection (perceived more than once) or a speculation (predicted, hypothesis, uncertain). It is ...

, and Pierre Chevalier (keyboards) from

Univers Zero Univers Zero (also known as Univers Zéro and Univers-Zero) are an instrumental Belgium, Belgian band formed in 1974 by drummer Daniel Denis. The band is known for its dark style of progressive rock, heavily influenced by 20th-century chamber musi ...

and Present. The inclusion of a drummer on ''RoqueForte'' is a departure from Aranis' previous "signature drummerless acoustic sound".

Reception

In a review at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Dave Lynch called ''RoqueForte'' Aranis' "finest recording thus far", and described the music as their "most varied … to date". He said that

's compositions here are "uniquely beautiful and powerful", and complimented rock drummer

's restraint on this "chamberesque – and at times nearly orchestral" album. Writing at Progressor, Vitaly Menshikov described the album as "truly astonishing", and "highly recommended to all 'serious' progressive music lovers". A reviewer in ''The Rocktologist'' magazine was a little more critical of the album, saying that while he has enjoyed Aranis' music, he felt that some of the compositions on ''RoqueForte'' tend to be similar in structure to their earlier work, and that the arrangements are often a little "too condensed", leaving "hardly any spaces for the music to take on more atmosphere".

Track listing

Source: Liner notes,

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

Personnel

– composer, double bass *Jana Arns – flutes *Liesbeth Lambrecht – violin *Stefan Wellens – viola *Marjolein Cools – accordion *Pierre Chevalier – piano *Stijn Denys – guitar *

– drums, percussion Source: Liner notes,

Recording notes

Recorded March–April 2010 at Madam Fortuna,

Borgerhout Borgerhout () is the smallest district of Antwerp, Belgium. , the district houses 45,769 inhabitants on 3,93 km². It was an independent municipality until January 1983. The postal area code for Borgerhout is 2140. Geography Borgerhout is divided ...

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 *Pieter Thys – engineer *Flavio Marredda – mastering, mixing *Joris En Jana – mastering, mixing *Liesbeth Lambrecht – layout *Iris Thissen – photography Source: Liner notes,

References

External links

RoqueForte
at Home Records {{Authority control 2010 albums Aranis albums