VELMA
This Swiss experimental band starts its concert by three minutes of silence. Straight like Justice eyes staring in the void. Dressed like 70's accountants these Swiss have a fake Gilbert and George look [...] Long silence in the Palais du Grand-Large. Then laughs, a guy salutes the Swiss " Deschiens ". Audience laughs, and laughs, and then a lot less when the coocoos get out of their box. The guitar sound of Christian Garcia becomes quickly very hard. Because Velma music is dark, fake funny, nearly sick. There is something fishy about them, something wrong. And it's for the best.
Not to be missed the Swiss band Velma whose album Ludwig is sadly not available in France yet develops an electronic pop, the blackness of which is delightful.
Liberation, May 17th and 18th, 2003, Alexis Bernier
Velma universe
is quite different. Punk minded, arrogant, the Swiss combo plays thoughtful
provocation. A first violent track followed by a four minutes silence serve
as an appetiser for a concert marked by its singularity [...]
Powerful and extravagant.
Ouest France, August 14th, 2004
Velma's music is cuddled with loops, haunted by samples or playful sound effects, evokes instinctively Can at its peak. Poetry and liberty constitute the dominant features of a canvass of classical or electronic resounding samples working for elegant and refined melodies.
Jean-Philippe Bernard, La Liberte, January 15th 2000 (Fribourg / Suisse)
It's high-concept, exploratory electro-art, courtesy of the adventurous folks at Emperor Norton - the same label that brought us Arling & Cameron and Fantastic Plastic Machine.
T'Cha Dunlevy & David Kristian, The Gazette (Montreal), December 16th 1999, (Montreal / Canada)
Finally, from Switzerland,
the "anti-rock" record Billy Corgan promised before we realized he
just meant "slow."
Jeff Salomon, American Statesman, November 18, 1999 (Austin, Texas / USA)
THE VELMA COLLECTIVE
Christophe Jaquet (voice)
Christian Garcia (guitar & electronics)
Stephane Vecchione (drums)
Olivier Mariette (films & multimedia)
MORE ZVUKOV AGENCY__ -----__ _based in Rottedam, The Netherlands __ -----__ _Contact E-mail: natashaXmorezvukov.nl
