Awaken (band)
Awaken is an underground rock band / indie music project based in Belgium. They released two official albums and numerous demo tapes and web-only singles since their early days in 1988. Not related to the modern Belgian scene at all (dEUS, Eté 67, Girls in Hawaii), Awaken gained interest from Vietnamese people since the release of a Vietnamese song and legend, "Chú Mèo Ngủ Quên", and in Japan with the virtual EP "別府NIGHTS". Recently, a cover of a Vietnamese children song "Rửa Mặt Như Mèo" has been recorded and has been heard on Vietnamese internet, though not officially  released. Since 2005, Awaken is part of the team of the indies Japanese label It's Oh! Music based in Miyazaki city. The name. The name AWAKEN means "a matter of bubbles", according to the Japanese translation: Genre. AWAKEN's style mixes disco beats and progressive structures, karaoke arrangements and heavy sounds, Belgian New Beat rhythms and romantic new wave. The instrumentation is often focussed on keyboards and electronic sounds though electric guitar and bass guitar are more audible in recent songs. AWAKEN's latest songs have been influenced by various places in Japan, Vietnam and the rest of the  world : "The Train Is Leaving Kokura" mentions Kokura (小倉) and Usa (宇佐), "Beppu Nights" happens in Beppu (別府), known for its hot springs, "Wasabi Kiss" describes the peninsula of Shuzenji, "Yanagigaura" (柳ヶ浦) evoques the feeling of loneliness in the small city of and "As A Start : Cà Phê And Pizza" is an imaginary trip from Italy, Vietnam and Japan. The 2009 single "My Last Evening In 大分" / "Chase Around 大分駅" is based on Gilles Snowcat's own memories of the city of Ôita, Japan. Musicians. Being a project more than a band, different musicians appear following the recordings of the  band, some as members and some as guests. Repertoire (original songs and covers). AWAKEN mixes original songs and covers, a similar attitude to Manfred Mann and Vanilla Fudge earlier. Artists that have been covered by AWAKEN include: Nekokawa (猫川 - Dòng Sông Mèo). AWAKEN has a side-project named NEKOKAWA since 2002, focussing on the ambient side of its music. NEKOKAWA is 猫川 in Japanese and Dòng Sông Mèo in Vietnamese. Section::::"Party In Lyceum's Toilets". "Party In Lyceum's Toilets" is the second album by the music project Awaken, released in 2001. This double CD features original songs (volume 1 ) and covers (volume 2). History. While its predecessor, "Tales Of Acid Ice Cream", was completed in one studio only, "Party In Lyceum's Toilets" was recorded on a portable studio that was brought along to meet several musicians in Belgium and France. The first takes come from 1999, as the album was recorded rather slowly. Controversy. Despite his efforts to introduce the new Awaken as a band, leader Gilles Snowcat fails, as the booklet details show that the quartet hardly plays together on more than 6 of the 41 tracks. The main band is then dubbed by 12 additional musicians . In some songs Snowcat plays alone or only with guest musicians, which caused anger from the main singer and the lead guitarist. Apart from the keyboardist, none of the musicians had played on the previous album "Tales Of Acid Ice Cream". Design. Gilles Snowcat, Awaken, Patrick Laplagne, 1030 (Socre), Peter Clasen. Availability. Online. Catalog number : awalp-002 Outtakes. Three songs had been completely recorded but finally dumped : Other songs have been worked but never fully recorded : a cover version of Marillion's "The Party" and Yes' "Big Generator" being on the list. Other Awaken songs were planned to appear but not  chosen on the final list and not even recorded at all. Most of the tapes have been deleted, which means a future remix without the songs fading out has become impossible to do.