25 years of Praga Khan

We’re looking at a girl’s back as she sits on a swing, dreamily staring out in front of her. It is not an image one would spontaneously associate with Maurice Engelen’s explicit dance explosions. The Belgian producer, who was once one of the godfathers of new beat, was first to build an international fan base in the 1990s, with bands like Lords of Acid and Praga Khan, and only later achieved fame at home. When we tell you that the girl on the cover of Praga Khan’s new album – it is entitled SoulSplitter and will be released on 18 January – is sitting high up and looking out across a skyline filled with skyscrapers and bright sunlight, it should make more sense. Just like earlier albums that Engelen released under the Praga Khan name, SoulSplitter is brimming with escapism. Hard dance beats clash with rock, 1980s wave, psychedelica, and even reggae and Eastern influences. Six years after the last album SoundScraper, SoulSplitter sounds surprisingly diverse (you can listen to a few pre-release fragments on YouTube). The melancholic, almost nostalgic song parts and melodies, which suppress the euphoria several times, clearly indicate that Engelen has lost some of his wildness along the way. The band is celebrating its 25^th anniversary at the AB, though you have to take the year with a grain of salt.

The first Praga Khan single, “Bula Bula”, only appeared in 1989, though the name Praga had appeared in the small print of new beat productions like “I Sit on Acid” a year earlier. Strategically, of course, a premature birthday is a stroke of genius. Interest can be stimulated in the new material as part of the focus on the greatest hits repertoire. We wonder if Engelen has ever considered crossing the ocean again, after years working in the American underground scene. Now that dance has become mainstream in the States, there are certainly possibilities there. The Antwerp-based electronica project Psy’Aviah, the winner of Poppunt’s vi.be competition, will warm up the crowd for the jubilee.

25 years of Praga Khan 17/1, 20.00, €22/25, Ancienne Belgique, boulevard Anspachlaan 110, Brussel/Bruxelles, 02-548.24.24, info@abconcerts.be, www.abconcerts.be