Great news for The Art Department!!!
Not only is Christophe Deckers moving his label to a new location with a professional recording studio in the Madrasstraat in Antwerp, celebrating it with the re-release of his fellow Toute Rancunean, Mario Abraham.
The Art Department has managed to buy back the rights to Toute Rancune's old back catalogue.

Christophe Deckers This feels like coming full circle again. Not only are the days of recording in my own living room and sharing files over the internet finally over and we can all work from one central location again. To be able to offer our fans the full spectrum of TR again, it's hard to describe how good that feels. We'll probably release them per two, starting somewhere during the course of this summer. For now, we've got Mario's old album and the debut-album of Could Care Less on the way.








01. Reasonable Men 4'13"
02. Mocassin 2'53"
03. Armstrong 3'24"
04. Who Is The Other One 5'02"
05. Spiegelmonster 3'27"
06. Still June In July 4'49"
07. 100 Hands 3'38"
08. Don't Give Up (featuring Jen Antonic) 5'56"
09. The Sinner In Me 6'16"
10. Terracotta 4'18"
11. Une Bonne Soirée. 0'49"
Total Running Time 44'45"

All songs written by Mario Abraham except track 05 written by Thé Lau & track 08 written by Peter Gabriel

Mario Abraham vocals, acoustic 12 string-guitar, electric guitar & thumb piano
Kevin Verborcht double bass
Ann Maerschalck cello
Liesbeth Schuppens piano & keyboards
Bavo Maximus drums & percussion

Produced and mixed by Mario Abraham
Recorded @ Monty, Antwerp

©2003 - The Art Department

Available on CD, LP and for download @ theartdepartment.be
Limited Edition 2LP (1000 copies, Individually numbered)

An interesting re-release from one of Toute Rancune's most prolific members, Mario Abraham. Interesting, because it sounds nothing like the electro-fused art pop these Belgians were creating at that time, let alone the ambient-tinted post rock they're playing today. It also shows us how essential this man is for the sound of that band. It's clear he's the one bringing the tenderness to the dissonant violence his partner in crime Christophe Deckers is known for.
Abraham is this charming kind of avant garde singer songwriter-album, that is best compared with Van Morrison's Astral Moon or Tim Buckley's Happy Sad with some touches of Talk Talk's later work.
This album excells in it's minimalism. Mostly it's just Mario Abraham by himself on an acoustic guitar, while the rest of his ensemble only sparsely adds a little colour here and there. It really makes the album blossom, the few moments it accelerates.
I was quite surprised by how touched I was to hear the late Jen Antonic in one of her final recordings before her tragic passing only one year later. I had completely forgotten she was on this album.
One would say this is for hardcore TR-completists only, but I tend to disagree. Even though it's not a masterpiece, it is still a charming atmospherical album that is maybe a little too pretentious to serve as background music.

76%

Abraham will perform at Hellhole Fest.





PS - There is music hidden in this post

Edited by user 19 June 2026 20:52:45(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Amy Meyer: This is an unexpected gem of a re-release, and I think The Art Department is a label I'm going to be searching out feverishly over the next few years. I'm loving the low-key singer-songwriter vibe on this record, it's the type of vinyl you put on and truly let consume you! Shit, it's the type of record I wish I was brave enough to make myself!