The Eyes Of Mars

 

Solis Lacus - Solis Lacus [SDBANSELECTION06 BEL 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC]

Originally released on the Selection Records label, back in 1975, Solis Lacus were a Brussels based jazz/soul/fusion band who released just one album. Sdban Records, out of Ghent, have just secured the rights to a re-press, so let's take it for a spin. This version replicates the library-style sleeve of the original rather than the more garish French repress.

I've mentioned before that I believe Belgium to be the home of European jazz (sorry Paris), with a thriving scene that has lasted & continued to grow over the decades. With a sound close to the fusion period of Herbie Hancock and as experimental as Marc Moulin's Placebo, this five piece ensemble revolved around the keyboard skills of Michael Herr. The bass is funky and tight like the drums which are let loose on a fabulous solo during Little Green Man (around the two minute fifty mark, should you be feeling lazy).

This is very much a seventies album, whilst not a timeless as some of the classics, this a time when the hair was big, the beards were bushy and the trousers were flared. We were all there, right?

A1 Utopic Cities

A2 Peace Please

A3 Open Air

B1 Little Green Man

B2 Sea Of Tranquility

B3 Remake