Bloem de Ligny
Country of origin:
The Netherlands
Type of music generally:
Alternative pop with ectronic elements
Status:
Final release as Bloem de Ligny, Bloemleg (live double CD, 2001). She now plays under various different names for various projects. Current work (2014) is under the name, Bloom.
See also:
AllMusic's Bloem de Ligny's info
Comparisons:
Anja Garbarek, Björk
Covers/own material:
Own
General comments:
Bloem de Ligny has been around for a couple of years now even though she's only 20 years old. I saw her on tv once, and she was funny and very nervous and above all very original. At that time she was only thinking of maybe recording an album, but there were no definite plans yet, and I sort of forgot about her. But she released her first cd in 1998, called Zink. Musically she is very original; she reminds me a bit of Anja Garbarek but her music is more melodic and less patchy, though there are funny sounds and instruments all over (a clavinet for example). Her singing is original too, though her voice and her style remind me very much of Björk in some places. Her name Bloem means 'flower' by the way. (c. 1998, Marion)Wow, she's great. Vocally she sounds so much like Björk, but the music is quite different—more like inventive alternative art/altrock than Björk's dancier material. I love it! (Neile)
Recommended first album:
Zink
Recordings:
- Zink (1998)
- Bloem Ongeplukt (1999)
- Bloemleg (live double CD, 2001)
Zink
Release info:
1998—Columbia—COL491907 2
Availability:
Widely available in the Netherlands (Europe)
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
Bloem de Ligny—vocals, keyboards, guitar, dirty organ, dictasamps, organ
Martijn Bosman—drums, percussion
Wiboud Burkens—Hohner D6 clavinet, sampler, sample loop
Maarten Veldhuis—guitar, guitar samples, drums, bass
Thijs Vermeulen—bass, double bass
Guest artists:
Pete Briquette—bass, keyboards
Amaury de Bruyn—dictasamps
Les Claypool—vocal
Bob Loveday—violin
Perry Melius—drums
Geoffrey Richardson—viola
John Turnbull—thumb piano, guitar, guitar sample
Dave Willis—arco bass
Produced by:
Pete Briquette
Comments:
The first impression is Björk gone berserk, but after listening to the album some more I find it's very varied. A couple of songs are quiet, just Bloem and her acoustic guitar, but most feature sounds and noises and funny instruments (like a clavinet). The album was produced by Pete Briquette (of Tricky fame), but it's not dance music or trip hop. It's just original. Her music is mostly melodic. Her singing is original too, though her voice and her style remind me of Björk very much. After a while her voice begins to stand out more on its own though. Some songs ("Pirates") are so childlike cheerful you just have to smile at her, she makes me think of Pippi Longstocking. :-) But other songs are almost scary (like "Amberine"). My favourite tracks so far are the opening track "Blue Nix" (with the clavinet) and "Capsule". (Marion)For a long time I've been obsessed with this wonderful album by Björk's vocal twin, bloem de ligny from The Netherlands. There's one dancey tune here, but overall it's what Björk would sound like if she were doing less dancey more odd alterna-pop-electro-rock stuff. I worry that I should be more disturbed how much her vocal style imitates Björk—I mean, I can't imagine a review of this that wouldn't discuss the similarity—but I find myself just enjoying the album, maybe as much as I enjoy Björk's work. Her songs are very darn good, and I agree with Marion's comments above about the range of songs on this album and how her voice gradually stands out on its own. (Neile)
Thanks to Marion Kippers for work on this entry.
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