The Weathermen - The Black Album According To (1988)

A mysterious group around Brussels synth-freak Jean-Marc Lederman and the American Bruce Geduldig.

After his love for Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze in the seventies, Lederman moved to London in the eighties to drink beers with The The (Matt Johnston) and Fad Gadget (Frank Tovey). When he came back to Brussels some years later, he founded the group Kid Montana together with John Cale fan - Dudley Kludt.

Some time later, Lederman announces a new American group a la the Residents: The Weathermen. A few years later it was discovered that the group was in fact a duo of Jean-Marc Lederman and Bruce Geduldig. Bruce was part of Tuxedomoon, the influential American band of which some members (at least him and Blaine L. Reiniger) came to reside in Brussels during the eighties. Rumours were going that their group stayed in Brussels because criminals had stolen their equipment.

The music of The Weathermen can be categorized under the heading "industrial" (as does Oor's Pop Encyclopedia). After the Weathermen, Jean-Marc Lederman has continued in music, composing themes for games, and he currently also has a project with Julianne Regan (once singer with acoustic goth-band All About Eve). Bruce Geduldig has been acting and directing afterward, and has been doing a project with Luc van Lieshout (another former member of Tuxedomoon).

The Black Album is heavier, harder and crazier, a rock record played on synthesizers that produce dinkybop squiggles as well as more aggressively weird noises. In place of the first LP's monotonous grooves, the music here moves around a lot, while the vocals run from a quietly kinky socio-sexual conversation between "Barbie and Ken" to the melodramatic sci-fi nightmare of "Twisting Doorknob" to the ominous whisper of "Punishment Park." Lurid fun that never stops grinning, The Black Album offers solace to those looking for new thrills.
The Weathermen