Aksak Maboul

★★★

Redrawn Figures 1 & 2 CRAMMED DISCS. DL/LP

Marc Hollander/Veronique Vincent’s 2020 comeback album Figures rebooted.

Resurgent Belgian experimentalists Aksak Maboul always did contain multitudes. Perhaps that’s one reason why this enjoyable lucky dip of covers and remixes is perplexingly credited to the band itself, rather than the ‘Various Artists’ which might be a more accurate pointer to its diffuse provenance. Among those taking the Maboul by the horns are Vanishing Twin (a nifty remix of Silhouettes), The Notwist (bassoon-heavy chamber pop twist on Toute A Une Fin), Cate Le Bon, who gives Sophie La Bevue the full Stereolab B-side treatment, and Nihiloxica’s Spooky-J who sands down Un Caid to make a practical paperweight. You need to get the original album first, but once you’ve completed stage one then hope to find this valuable companion piece somewhere in Santa’s Aksak. Ben Thompson