Pseudocode* ‎– Europa

A weeks ago I was in heaven about the CD re-issue of Mekanik Kommando's first LP, now its time to raise the same flag (but with less words probably) for the one and only LP ever by Pseudo Code. This trio from Belgium consisted of Alain Neffe, head of Insane Music, and as such also the man from Human Flesh, Bene Gesserit, I Scream, Cortex and Subject on synthesizers, strings organ, rhythm box, soprano saxophone. Also in the band is Xavier S on vocals and Guy Marc Hinant on electric guitar and pianet. He's now the man behind Sub Rosa. I always thought Pseudo Code was the most interesting band of the Insane Music label. Their cassettes were always great: the rhythm box in the middle, the instruments in free mode around it, and on top Xavier's voice which sounded like wounded deer (as someone once described it). Alienation music, but somehow always also accessible. Certainly not 'easy' music but filled paranoia and strangeness. Yet I always thought that 'Europa' was also a record of some lighter approach, and still think it is. What delights me even further is that their two 7"s are also enclosed on this re-issue, and what saddens me is that one piece has a new mix and one was omitted. Somehow there is always such a thing with re-issues. I once dabbled with the idea of approaching Alain Neffe to do a boxset of the complete work of Pseudo Code, but always was thinking: who would want to have 7 or so CDs by them, other than myself? A complete boxset is now no longer an option, but its great to see their most accessible work on CD. Its time to dig out the old cassettes and play those again. A pity that so much of their work is scattered over compilation tapes, maybe its time to transfer them all onto a fresh new tape. Following Mekanik Kommando the second best re-issue of this year. Oh wonderful life!

(FdW) Vital Weekly 733 (01.06.10)

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This is Belgian experimental new wave/noise circa 1980 – and Europa is strictly limited to 500 copies. Spoken word sing-song stylings of Alain Neffe with a band including Guy Marc Hinant and Xavier Stenmans filling all musical slots from percussion to woodwinds to guitar and tapes. Tracks like Addis Abeba and No More Groan recall productions by Daniel Miller of Mute fame, dark vocals with the Cabaret Voltaire-like vocoder and elongated timing. Similar industrial improvisations in the same era were omnipresent in much more formally known works by SPK and Einzurstende Neubauten. Sub Rosa – The Last Hole is a hypnotic theme in kinship with the best episode of Dr. Who or a flashback from a Legendary Pink Dots midnight show. It’s slurred with ripe attitude: what could only be sampled throat singing, perfect static and rambling synths. This release also compiles their first and second EPs, eight additional tracks from two earlier recordings. The best of which is the sly Moon Effect where Neffe comes off as a much less pop version of Peter Murphy or Stiv Bators. It’s great that there are still worthy cataloguers such as eetapes out there willing to be bold enough to dig up incredible nuggets like this one from the annals of the era that brought us Liquid Sky, The Decline of the Western Civilization, Lydia Lunch and so much more — fitting snuggly ‘tween those visual bookends for sure!

Toneshift (TJ Norris)

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They're Pseudo, and They're Spectacular

Given the financial disincentives created by the instant downloadability of just about any rare old recording in the age of the MP3, it’s worth celebrating the fact that there are still labels out there releasing nicely packaged and properly remastered reissues. One such label is the fine Belgian imprint EE Tapes, which focuses on various types of experimental music, both old and new. (Despite the label name, most recent EE titles are on CD.) I’ve been particularly thrilled by a series of releases devoted to some of the various projects of Belgian musician—or, as he would have it, non-musician—Alain Neffe.
Neffe has been in many bands over the years, stretching back to at least the mid-’70s, most of which bear the strong imprint of his personality and sound despite their stylistic differences and the input of other members. Of these bands, the three best known (relatively speaking!) are Bene Gesserit, Human Flesh, and Pseudo Code, whose complete ‘80s-era vinyl catalog of one LP and two EPs has been compiled on the new CD collection Europa. (Several additional archival vinyl releases have appeared in recent years, and there are also four Pseudo Code cassettes from the ’80s that have yet to be reissued.)
Several of Neffe’s projects have lately gotten some attention, primarily in Europe, but they have generally been inaccurately shoehorned into the minimal-synth category, based on the presence of genre signifiers like rhythm boxes and primitive synthesizers. (Focusing on gear seems silly; after all, the fact that two bands both use rhythm machines and analog synths doesn’t really say much more about musical similarities than that two bands both use guitars and drums.) That said, Pseudo Code does come closer to fitting the minimal-synth bill than Neffe’s other two best-known groups do, as the rhythm box is front and center and there is a general aura of cold-wave-ish gloom. However, Pseudo Code doesn’t deal in man-as-machine poses; rather, their focus is on expressing emotion through sound. Likewise, the brooding gloominess that pervades much of their music is entirely devoid of affectation.
Pseudo Code is also unlike the other two projects mentioned above in being more of a “regular” band. (Human Flesh is just Neffe, plus guest collaborators, while Bene Gesserit is a duo with vocalist Nadine Bal.) Active from 1979 to 1982, Pseudo Code was the trio of Xavier Stenmans (a k a Xavier S.; texts, vocals), Neffe (synthesizers, strings organ, rhythm box, soprano sax, vocoder), and Guy-Marc Hinant (Pianet, guitar, percussion). All three contributed substantially, though Neffe, who overdubbed multiple parts and mixed the recordings, was most responsible for the overall sound.
That sound is hard to explain and rather mysterious: built out of short, simple melodic phrases and lurching and slightly awkward rhythms, colored and disrupted by unexpected harmonic underpinning and bursts of noise, it seems both willfully primitive and aesthetically sophisticated. The mood is intense, dark, and bitter—and thus certainly less playful than the music of Bene Gesserit can sometimes be—but there’s also an underlying tenderness and innocence, along with occasional flashes of oblique humor: this is not creepy death-culture industrial music. The lyrics are mostly in English, but Xavier S.’s heavily accented and slurred delivery makes them only fleetingly comprehensible (to these ears, at least). What lyrics I can make out seem suitably anguished; in any case, their quasi-intelligibility only adds to the slightly surreal and ritualistic atmosphere.

While Xavier S. contributes most of the lyrics and vocals, and it is Guy-Marc Hinant who often plays the core melody on his Pianet electric piano, it is Neffe’s contributions that are particularly noteworthy throughout, as he weaves together the bulk of the sonic cloth through overdubbing and mixing. None of his parts are remotely virtuosic (hence his self-identification as a non-musician), but they are always unexpected and perfect in and of themselves, emotionally and sonically, and in that sense they are deeply musical. On a side-note, one interesting aspect of Neffe’s arrangements here is the way he uses the vocoder not as a robotic stand-in for lead vocals, but to create mutated “instrumental” lines deep in the mix.
Today, Neffe continues to produce unique and wonderful music, particularly with the duo Bene Gesserit: He should in no way be relegated to the ’80s. As for the other two, Xavier S. is currently a programmer on the Belgian national radio network, while Guy-Marc Hinant is running the Sub Rosa label, which he co-founded in 1984. Even if all three are doing well, here’s hoping EE Tapes’s new CD will allow more people to discover the remarkable music they once made together as Pseudo Code.

Tony Coulter - THE BROOKLYN RAIL (USA) 10-2010

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The Belgian label EE Tapes has mainly used us to dive into the deepest realms of experimental music, but the release of Pseudocode can be considered as an exception to the rule! Pseudocode is a Belgian combo that was active between 1979 and 1982. To be honest with you, I never heard from this band before, but back in time distribution and promotion was hard to find while internet facilities didn't even exist. "Europa" is a kind of anthology bringing the "Europa"-LP and 2 EP's back to life as a full length CD featuring 19 songs. The songs smell like the good-old spirit of the early 80s electronic experiments. It's easily recognizable and most of the songs still make sense! The debut cuts "She's Got Blue Eyes Wow" and "Addis Abeba" will for sure evoke some good-old memories. Today we would call it minimalist electronics, but back in time this band was active at the same time as famous pioneers like Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle ao. I even perceived a few songs (cf. "Sub-Rosa - The Last Hole", "Far Away From My Own Land", "Suffering" and "Memories") reminding me of the more experimental style of Throbbing Gristle. Pseudocode seems to have moved in between more 'classical' electronics and experimental forms. In a more explicit electro style a song like "Simulation (To The Blue Eyed Boy)" is a pretty short, but efficient song. I think it's a very good initiative of EE Tapes to bring this unknown Belgian band back to life. This album is a limited release available in 2 cover versions.

(DP:7)DP. SIDE-LINE 13-10-2010