HEATWAVE

This album was my first from Univers Zero, and I love it even more for that. In the musical doldrums of the 1980s a group of album was shipped to my store that contained this gem, and Doctor Nerve, and it changed my life.

Now that I've gone back and collected the previous albums, I understand that the album doesn't have quite as much of the chamber classical overtones as what came before, but it is great nonetheless.

Daniel Denis' two compositions, Chinavox and Bruit Dans Les Murs are almost dirgelike, but with a grandiosity that still makes me smile.But its Andy Kirk's two pieces that really come alive here. Heatwave to me sounds the most like earier UZ, while The Funeral Plain is a more abstract piece, that builds into a masterwork.

How bad could it be, as it made me search for all of their previous records?