Search - Wim Mertens :: Jardin Clos

I've not heard all of Wim's music, but this is my favorite

J. C Clark | Overland Park, KS United States | 10/10/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The reviewer from Portugal may be a bit perfunctory, but the word is well-chosen. This is a wonderful collection, fun, surprising, entertaining and endlessly listenable.Wim Mertens has been cranking out his idiosyncratic music to a largely uninterested world for a long, long time. Sometimes he hits, sometimes he misses, sometimes you wonder if he even swung. But this is as solid a work as he's done. The playing is so tight and effective that the cacaphony of sounds becomes a collection of beauties only a real genius could audialize (if I may coin a word similar to visualize). And the singing is just gorgeous.If you've heard of Wim Mertens and wonder whether this is for you, this is a great intro. If you've only heard his solo work, this will be a surprise--more melodious, more textured, more full and better vocals. A solid winner worthy of a much wider audience!"

One of Merten's Bests

WJ Kington | Brisbane, Australia | 11/04/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wim Merten's music is notoriously difficult to describe, because it is unique; it lacks comparison, lacks labels and lacks genre.



Merten's music combines the listening ease of pop music with the sophistication of classical composition. Multiple musical parts interweave to create an enjoyable music. The music follows in the heels of the minimalists, who rejected the empty intellectualism of modernism to embrace a more austere music - limiting themselves to a restricted set of repetitive material. However, Wim Mertens allows himself a broader range of musical expression, development, melody and ornamentation; and has a keen instinct for the beautiful and sublime.



Jardin Clos is among the best of Wim Merten's work, combining ease of listening, interesting interwoven musical parts, fun and beauty; with swirling strings, thumping brass and clarion vocals. It was mentioned to me that Wim Mertens took some inspiration from an exhibition of artifacts from 'Cloistered Gardens', a kind of monestary for women in medieval Europe (thanks Joe Stokes); and the sleeve art consists of assemblages of found objects reminiscent of artifacts, that express well the peculiar lushness of the music.



I have a track by track review on my blog, which you can link to from my profile."