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LP
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STRLP 019LP
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48 Cameras was the brainchild and life project of self-proclaimed non-musician Jean-Marie Mathoul, a social worker born and raised in Huy who carefully conducted 48C towards cult status. The name of the collective references photographer Eadweard Muybridge and a poem by Jim Morrison; "Muybridge derived his animal subjects from the Philadelphia Zoological Garden, male performers from the University. The women were professional artists' models, also actresses and dancers, parading nude before the 48 cameras". It is important to note that 48C is somewhat of a non-band. The musicians and collaborators never actually recorded together, and to this day some haven't even met each other. Before starting the recording process, J-M built an album in his mind: choice of album and song titles, who was to collaborate, even the artwork was clear long before the first note was played, leaving little room for surprises. Throughout the years, collaborators sent their parts by snail mail on tape, DAT, or even MiniDisc, and with the arrival of the internet some began to upload their contributions. Jean-Marie even refused to recognize one album and a rare live show as being 48C, stating: "That's not 48 Cameras." Yves Tassin: "I remember one time being in a record shop with J-M, and I stumbled upon the second album we had released, however, J-M had told me that particular album no longer existed. In his typical stubborn style, he told me: 'Buy the album, but I'm leaving.' It's still not clear what his problem with that particular album was, but he didn't want to acknowledge it. Of course when I was holding it in my hand he had to admit that it existed." J-M welcomed new collaborators by saying: "You are here, thanks to the Domino Principle: you'll meet someone, who will allow you to meet a next person, after that one, another, etcetera." This principle he held dearly, almost as a life philosophy. Which is not to say that all encounters were fructuous. Calo: "One day I introduced J-M to Tucker Zimmerman, so they could maybe collaborate, but nothing happened. On a photo taken on that particular day, you see J-M and Tucker silently sitting next to each other in the garden, not really talking to each other. Both personalities too strong to collaborate." Stubborn leaders demand to be tested, so at times some of the members of the collective decided to challenge J-M, telling him they'd sneak in melodies of popular hit songs. Features a remix by Vesica Piscis.
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