Univers Zero – Ceux Du Dehors

I can understand why in 1978 Chris Cutler called his music festival "Rock in Opposition". It was a rock festival that opposed mainstream fads and trends of the days. Belgium's Univers Zero is one of these type of groups. While conventional prog rock bands had disappeared or went commercial, that's not what these RIO acts did, they made very challenging and complex material (even well into the 1980s and beyond) that might actually strain the attention spans of many listeners (that's why RIO is often maligned in many circles). But also it's a big shock to see an album like Ceux de Dehors, which came out in 1981, totally refusing to give into current fads and trends. They were not going to dumb down their music for mass appeal or to line the pockets of record companies. What you have is very challenging music, lots of wind instruments and violin, plus Harmonium, and even a little Mellotron was used (which is great, because so few musicians were recording with one in 1981). It's a bit like King Crimson and Henry Cow at their most experimental. Not as rock-oriented as Crimson, nor as jazzy as Cow could be at times, it's probably just that Univers Zero listened to the same kind of classical as Crimson or Cow (like Bartok or Stravinsky). You won't find tuneful melodies meant for Top 40 radio airplay. Should you buy this? If you love Univers Zero or this kind of music, this is a must have. More mainstream listeners would probably be scared away.

Original subscription copies from Recommended came with a limited edition one-sided 7" single 'Triomphe Des Mouches'. These singles were hand numbered out of 500 and dedicated to the subscriber. The blank side of the vinyl was silk-screened with artwork depicting flies. The gatefold single artwork depicted a close-up of a flies leg.