Dominique Lawalree - Vice-Versa (1980) {LP Editions Walrus WLS10} (Released on VINYL but not CD)

Lawalree is the world’s best kept secret. Playing a Bosendorfer piano, he creates an astonishing world of soundscapes, some of it clearly in the Minimal vein, but there is also a large streak of Satie that runs through a great deal of his music, often melancholy, but sometimes humorous as well, and all of his music feels like a journey of discovery that takes you to some really interesting places.

Some of this even feels a bit like early Genesis from around “Foxtrot”, and I’m not making this up, but also a bit like the stranger sounds towards the end of “Strawberry Fields Forever”. And just when you think you know where the music is going, he veers off in a different and equally interesting path. Also, he often used the Brian Eno/Peter Schmidt “Oblique Strategies” card set to create some of his compositions. “Vice-Versa”, printed on a gorgeous textured stock, has some really striking jacket art, and gets my vote as just about one of the most interesting jackets out there.
From what little I have been able to find about this composer is that he taught music theory at a college in Brussels, and these releases were private pressings, which makes them especially difficult to locate. He’s one of those individuals who’s well loved and respected in Brussels and parts of Europe, but almost nobody has heard of him over here. He chose “Walrus Records” because he’s a huge fan of The Beatles and in fact recently published a musical analysis of their music (in French).