Berntholer - A History of Berntholer (1981-1985)

A History of Bernholer is a compendium of their work, mostly songs taken from Merry Lines in the Sky and various singles. Their sound is hard to classify. It's very European and a musical cauldron with various genres brewed together: post-punk, jazz, synth-pop, psychedelic, with some minimal and oriental influences thrown in as well. The result is quite original and far from kitschy, like much of the music from this period. Some songs are almost danceable, but most serve as good background music for practical things....creating art or cooking or simply sitting around drinking wine. In short, mesmeric and spellbinding. Drita Kotaj's accent fuses well with the narcotic music and makes for some unique, loungy Belgian pop. "My Suitor" is an inspiring ode to a lover, with gorgeous string instruments and accompanying piano. A very lovely song - one of my favorites.

Rating: 8.5/10

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Fairly minimal TV performance of "My Suitor":



Pretty cool, semi-psychedelic video for "Japanese Garden"