Welcome to you who are entering in the small big univers of ZOP HOPOP!

Let us introduce you the first band born from the label of Liège : SOUNDSTATION.

Coming from the alternative stage of Liège, Sacha Toroop first put on a tape songs he recorded from November 93 to January 94, under a roof where the wind blows him his stories.

Prefiguring the work of Beck, of The Palace Brothers, the demo will be soon in all cottages of the city. For the people who didn't know him, it's in a gig in L'escalier that they discover the talent of Sacha, who is descended from the Flemish painter Jan Toroop. Alone with his guitar, he conquers a public.

Although Sacha prefers to let his minds fly in the air and and on the roofs, he accepts to take the road with the french singer Dominique A and becomes his guitarist-bassist.

During a stay in Belgium, he signed on a new label in Liège, Soundstation, and recorded the 4 tracks "Welcome" under a roof where the wind tells others stories ...

Influences, references? How could we categorize an artist who appreciates as much Tom Waits and Gavin Friday as Dean Martin and The Jackson Five ?!

Nine months after the E.P " Welcome to the country "(SDS 001/ distr. Bang !), ZOP HOPOP, " alias Sacha Toorop ", releases an enthralling single, " No fears, no shame ", on which guitars and violins compete to produce an oppressive tempo. Also to be found on this E.P is an original version of " Trees upon the hill " with the singer Christine Slangen. These two titles announce a varied album with uttermost diverse atmospheres.
" Red Poppies " (SDS 004 / distr. Bang !) comes up with 13 titles, among which the lyrical songs " Trees upon the hill " and " By the light of the moon ", a follow up of " Welcome ", as well as moodier songs, like " No fears, no shame ", the first release of this album, the spellbounding " Silly days ", and the tribal " No escape " on which Sacha kind of vents his energy while strumming his guitar. Let's also be delighted by a totally unplugged swing version of " Ain't got no cure "; " Ici, l'exil " and " Qui tu es "that would make us think that Sacha Toorop was more influenced by TC MATIC than by dEUS ; " Don't care about shit " with its cabaret atmosphere; " Zip Zop " fake rap with authentic scratches, - a future hit ? ; " The King "and " El bato " as a hint and as a mockery; and finally, to launch this album, an instrumental piece of music directly confronting the listener with ZOP HOPOP's cinematographic like world. Release of " Red Poppies " expected for the 26th september.

Mysterious and enchanting at the same time, " Red Poppies ", coming just after the much appreciated EP " Welcome to the country " (SDS001) - 1st hit of ZOP HOPOP -, comes up as a smashing first album. Sacha Toorop, a talented all instruments playing artist who played with DOMINIQUE A and TED MILTON among others, proves to be one of the most creative song-writers at the moment . " Red Poppies ", alternating between spirited folk and dark or even sounds, can most of the time be compared with the cinema.
Recorded by Grumph at the Soundstation studio, and produced by Fabrice Lamproye, " Red Poppies " was released in three months. Sacha himself played most of the instruments. We'll notice though the appearance of some outstanding musicians from Liège, like Phil Corthouts (guitars, pedal steel, dobro, mandoline), Henry Graetz (violin), Jean-Pierre Borboux (violoncello), Eric de Raikem (bass), Danièle Hickman (piano), MGWL (harmonica, Jew's harp), Zac (bass), Paula Defresne (clarinet), and also two violinists from Quebec, Sylvie Renaud and Marie-Hélène Da Silva.

Recorded at
"l'escalier" ( Huy)

WELCOME 

Design  by Françoise Grisay

NO FEARS - NO SHAME

Discover the Zop Hopop world

RED POPPIES 

First experience in Germany

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Last update of this page : 21 october 1997 This page was created on 21 october 1997

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