The rough guide to Dutch music Dutch guide to rough The musicXport.nl
musicXport.nl The rough guide to Dutch music EuroSonic Noorderslag 2010 index
musicXport.nl
08. What Is Musicxport 12. News 16. Locator 18. The Mixtape 20. Label profile Dox 22. Special: in a cabin with 28. Laura Jansen 30. Destine 32. C-Mon & Kypski 34. De Staat 36. Promo 38. Wende Snijders 40. Moke 42. Mdungu 44. Eric Vloeimans 46. Applescal 48. Essential Album 50. Reviews 54. In the studio with Anton Pieete 56. Program EuroSonic Noorderslag 82. City map Groningen preface
musicXport.nl 4
Promoting the Dutch
During the last decade the EuroSonic Noorderslag weekend gradually became the ever more important and influential platform for discovering new and upcoming European talent. A constantly growing army of international talent seekers has Noorderslag in its agenda. Every year they reserve time for the second weekend of January to visit the city of Groningen in the north of the Netherlands. New talent from the UK to France, from Germany to Norway and from Moldavia to Finland is playing there on a growing number of stages. Festivals scout and book the new stars, labels are looking for new signings, artist managers are also on the prowl.
Among those hundreds of new talents from all over Europe are also the very best the Dutch have to offer themselves. A lot of them are on the bill for the Saturday night, for the actual Noorderslag Festival in the Oosterpoort venue, that contains eight different stages throughout the building. This gives them the opportunity to show what’s happening in the booming Dutch hiphop scene, the flourishing metal- and guitar rock scenes and in the world famous Dutch dance scene. And for those who prefer soul, jazz or singer/songwriters there’s also plenty to discover.
An increasing number of Dutch top talent is also ‘crossing the bridge’ from (Dutch talent only) Noorderslag to the EuroSonic Festival, as this European festival suits its international careers even better. They prefer this despite the fact this can cost them a live appearance on national Dutch television, which is broadcasting the Noorderslag Festival live!
This magazine is about all those Dutch acts mentioned above, acts who will be playing somewhere on one of all of those stages of EuroSonic Noorderslag, is presented to you by musicXport.nl as a guideline and help for you in discovering the best the Dutch have to offer you this year.
We wish you a very fruitful weekend and a lot of great (Dutch and/or European) gigs!
Sincerely, on behalf of the musicXport.nl-team,
Arjen Davidse colophon
musicXport.nl Publisher Victor Bakhuis ([email protected])
Executive editor Eric van den Bogaard ([email protected])
Editorial team Alfred Bos ([email protected]) Michael Oudman ([email protected]) Aron Friedman ([email protected]) Tijn Benedek ([email protected]) Nick van der Pijl ([email protected]) Swie Tio (background) Rieks Bakker ([email protected])
Design Maslow ([email protected])
Photography Anton Corbijn (cover) Wendy Oakes (Studio) Hans van den Bogaard (Index, What is musicXport?)
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MusicXport.nl Post address Rokin 111 1012 KN Amsterdam T +31 (0)20-344 60 00 F +31 (0)20-673 35 88
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Robbert Tilli T +31 (0)20 344 60 54 M +31(0)6 462 320 55 [email protected]
Rieks Bakker T +31 (0)20 344 60 56 M +31(0)6 131 391 40 [email protected] musicXport.nl 8
What is musicXport?
By Robbert Tilli
MusicXport.nl is an initiative of Buma Cultuur and Music Center the Netherlands (MCN) aiming to enhance the profile of Dutch artists abroad and therefore extend their prospects. The initiative works by establishing contact with and providing information to agents, promoters, festivals, record companies, and media and promotion agencies overseas. MusicXport.nl also supports shows at international showcase events with relevant forms of additional collective promotion, advice and analysis of plans with regard to the appropriate foreign market.
As of 2010 musicXport is completely renewed: on the one hand it is aimed at the international development of artist managers. On the other hand it is meant to promote and market their bands/ artists more professionally. Besides organizing master classes by international top managers, in-house workshops relating to taxes, copyrights and new revenue streams, the musicXport program also supports the participating managers in developing an international network by sending them out to international showcases and conventions. www.musicxport.nl | www.facebook.com/musicxport musicXport.nl 10
Buma Cultuur MusicXport and EuroSonic Noorderslag 2010 Buma Cultuur is the foundation dedicated to the promotion and support of Dutch music copyright. Founded by the Dutch collecting society Buma/Stemra, Buma Cultuur initiates, contributes to and sponsors a number of projects in the Netherlands and abroad. Buma Cultuur also promotes and supports Dutch music MusicXport.nl is omnipresent at the EuroSonic Noorderslag 2010 weekend. copyright abroad at conferences such as Midem and Popkomm Various dinners will be held under the musicXport signature, while the platform and hands out a number of awards for special contributions to also presents six prominent music managers, who are selected to fulfil their Dutch music. Several music initiatives are supported by Buma business plans in 2010. Cultuur in order to stimulate Dutch music, while the foundation is also involved with a number of educational projects. On the conference’s opening day, Thursday January 14th, there will be the traditional ETEP (European Talent Exchange Program) dinner for a wide range Several projects of Buma Cultuur of professionals active in the live music field such as bookers, agents and festival MusicXport.nl – EuroSonic Noorderslag - Amsterdam Dance directors. Not exactly a musicXport activity as such, but it’s the first big meeting Event (ADE) – ADE Next - Dutchsound.nl - Dutch Jazz Day - before the EuroSonic part of the event really takes off. And the musicXport team Toonzetters is heavily involved. www.bumacultuur.nl The next night, on Friday January 15th, there will be the annual musicXport Export dinner at the Schouwburg, presenting three artists/bands on stage while the invitees socialize, have a bite and a drink. This year they will be entertained by rock band De Staat, pop singer Laura Jansen and jazz crooner Wouter Hamel. Singer/ songwriter Lucky Fonz III will serve as MC who will sing a song or two in the breaks. While the bands play, their mangers will be available for a chat and the exchange of business cards and promos. Imagine you are on a cruise in the harbour. There’s plenty of great music and good food. What’s more: you won’t get seasick.
The last dinner the export platform will host is the annual musicXport trade dinner Music Center the Netherlands on Saturday January 16th , traditionally staged in restaurant De Pauw in the center Music Center the Netherlands (MCN) is the resource and of Groningen. It’s the night of the Dutch bands-only Noorderslag Festival. While promotion center for the professional music world. Its mission wining and dining, international agents, talent buyers at festivals and clubs get is to propagate and enhance the position of Dutch musical life, customized info about the Dutch bands on the bill that night. After dinner they both nationally and internationally. will walk together back to the convention center for the festival. Mind you, you’ll MCN plays a coordinating and stimulating role within the national never walk alone. In the Oosterpoort there’s a backstage bar for those who want and international music arena by supporting, communicating, to retreat between shows. Guides will pick you up when needed. Every year this and most importantly, by initiating activities. Home to many approach leads to numerous international bookings of Dutch bands. different partners active in the music sector, MCN forms a unifying factor in the chain of demand and supply. During the daytime conference in the Oosterpoort convention center, musicXport will also present which business plans are selected for execution in 2010. Six Several projects of MCN managers will be installed as official contenders in musicXport’s campaign for MusicXport.nl – Pop Media Prize - Dutch Chamber Music Meeting 2010. Four more will be added at a later stage. The sextet of frontrunners of a - Dutch Jazz Meeting - International Gaudeamus Music Week – grant for 2010 include: Arjo Klingens (De Staat), Karin Koopmans (Moke), Daniel Plastic Dreams - FRET Magazine and Jazz Bulletin Regan (Textures), Elselinda Schouten (Wende), Nancy Poleon (C-mon & Kypski) and Robert Swarts (Laura Jansen). www.mcn.nl news
musicXport.nl 12
Aux Raus starts franchise Amsterdam-based gabba punks Aux Raus (Bastiaan Bosma and Luuk Bouwman) have started a franchise. Every country can have its own Aux Raus, endorsed by Bosma and Bouwman. “It’s a new take on bands. It’s not about the people, it’s about the music”, Bosma states. Applicants must comply to various conditions, including: duos only; one Aux Raus per country; mandatory blog on auxrausfranchise.com; and a 20 % commission of performance fees. “The ultimate goal is finding a better Aux Raus.” Local renditions of Aux Raus will add the country of origin to the bandname. For their foreign tours, the Amsterdam duo will be billed as The Original Aux Raus. More info on the Aux Raus franchise website. www.auxrausfranchise.com
Popview Outdoor Expo For four weeks up till Sunday January 17, the cityscape of downtown Groningen will be decorated with huge blow-ups of photo portraits of musicians. Popview Outdoor exhibits the work of various music photographers from Europe, including Emma Svenson (Sweden), Angels & Ghosts (Belgium), Danny North (England), Annie Hoogendoorn and Tom Verburggen (both The Netherlands). Popview Outdoor is organised by Popview, an annual exhibition of music photography from Europe. Included in this year’s selection are Titia Hahne en Nick Helderman, who are nominated for the Lex van Rossen Award 2010, which will be awarded on Friday January 15 at EuroSonic Noorderslag. The Lex van Rossen Award, named after the Dutch photographer who died in 2007, is the only European music photography award. www.popview.eu news
musicXport.nl 14
Holland rocks SXSW A slew of bands from The Netherlands will perform at the upcoming South By Southwest (SXSW), the annual music industry fair in Austin, Texas. The Dutch contingent includes The Black Atlantic, Elle Bandita (photo), Drive Like Maria, Sabrina Starke, Lucky Fonz III, Nobody Beats The Drum, La Melodia and C-mon & Kypski. Moreover, the city of The Hague will present Music City The Hague at SXSW. John Dear Mowing Club, NiCad, The Deaf, So What and ReBelle will represent the royal residence. SXSW 2010 will run from March 12 till March 15. www.sxsw.com
Dutch dance showcases in Istanbul and Budapest Plastic Dreams is a project of Music Center the Nederlands and promotes upcoming Dutch dance talent with showcases and clubnights at various cities all over Europe. Last year, Plastic Dreams hosted clubnights in London, Paris and Berlin. For 2010, it will focus on Istanbul (Turkey) and Budapest (Hungary). Plastic Dreams cooperates with reputed party organisations from The Netherlands, who work in tandem with a local partner. The Budapest night (January 16 at A38) will be produced by Major League, known for their drum ‘n bass and dubstep parties at, among others, Amsterdam’s Milky Way. The bill includes Dutch dance talents Icicle, Lenzman (photo) and Pamb & Harsh. The Istanbul night (in March) will be hosted by Labyrint, which produces parties at Amsterdam clubs Paradiso and Sugar Factory. www.plasticdreams.nl locator
musicXport.nl 16 Simplon: northern pop temple
Even Dutch people who have never gone wild in Groningen know about the liberal opening hours of the bars and clubs of the city. Forget about Amsterdam; if you like your nights long and vibrant. Groningen is the place to be. You will most definitely get a taste of what the city is all about during this edition of EuroSonic Noorderslag. And be sure to pay Simplon a visit while you’re at it!
Simplon, right in the centre of town, has been making a name for itself in the Dutch music scene for a good 30 years now. The building was first used as a rain jacket factory (which should make up for a healthy business in this country), before it was turned into a youth centre. After a major rebuilding, Simplon got the official status of ‘Poppodium’ (Dutch for a subsidized stage for popular music), and that’s where it really took off.
Simplon is there for everyone, that’s the essence of the stage. Whether you are young or old, into pop, rock, techno, metal, hip-hop, urban, punk or house; Simplon has a night for you. The building holds two rooms and the Simplon Café, and is famous for its sound quality. The main room has place for 400 music lovers, while the second room can hold 200. On Thursdays Simplon is all about talented local musicians under the name of Perron Simplon. The best bands sometimes move on to the Friday nights that feature established bands, both local and international, to take care of the warm-up.
Saturdays evolve around progressive electronic music. Every technohead in the country knows about the Technootjes nights, although dubstep is definitely gaining popularity through the wonky Dub&Dwars parties. During EuroSonic Noorderslag, Simplon is booming as always, and you haven’t seen Groningen nightlife if you haven’t been to Simplon. Period.
Check out the program in the back to see what’s going on at Simplon during EuroSonic Noorderslag. mixtape
Kyteman - Une Seule Fois Destine - Stars musicXport.nl “Kyteman (Colin Benders) is a young dude with “Be prepared for Destine, a new group in 18 a ver y different approach to hip -hop: optimistic , the often copied Fall Out Boy tradition. But soulful and pushing the boundaries of jazzy, still: good songs, tight sound and marvellous lyrical hip-hop. He worked on his spectacular melodies. If Holland should have its own Fall debut for years and what a debut that was: sold Out Boy, Destine definitely claims this spot. out club tour, major spots on all Dutch summer This track already sounds like a hit-record!” festivals and on top of that he sold out the Heineken Music Hall at the end. This track is a Moss - I Apologize (Dear Simon) great example of the new style Colin invented: “When their new album was released it was kytehop extraordinaire.” like a new Moss had been born. The good songwritership stayed, but their songs had Bettie Serveert - Deny All grown above the line of just good songs. Like “Their new album Pharmacy Of Love reminds a grown up kid who didn’t lose the ability of me of the goosebumps I got when listening to being everything he’d like to be in his fantasy. their Palomine record. Bettie found back their Even if he wanted to be Fleet Foxes, in his own raw en pure sound!” way... like in ‘I Apologize’.”
The Devils Blood - The Heavens Cry Out Aux Raus - Rasthof Deutschland “Did these guys sell their souls to the devil? “Would you believe me if I said the boys from The show does look like that and their success Aux Raus are real gentlemen after listening to is instant. The Devils Blood made some original them? Probably not. Aux Raus is pure energy, Jasper van den fresh sounding songs out of the rich sixties hardcore electro punk to the limit or something and seventies underground psychedelic rock like that. During their shows they tear every scene. And maybe a nice detail, they call their venue and it’s visitors apart. Luckily people like shows rituals, and they truly feel like that. The being torn apart by Aux Raus!” Dobbelsteen song I picked is ‘The Heavens Cry Out’. Listen Jasper van den Dobbelsteen used to work for the Dutch Rock how all pieces fit together.” Lucky Fonz III - Draw Me A River “I’m a huge fan of this guy. Once you’ve seen & Pop Institute, nowadays known as the Rock department of Sabrina Starke - Do For Love his show you will be too. His stage presence Music Center the Netherlands. At the moment he’s busy as a “Last June Blue Note released Sabrina Starke’s is enormous. And the girls? They all think he’s concertpromotor for Dutch venue Groene Engel in Oss (cap. debut Yellow Brick Road. When I worked with such a sweetie. And they are right! In ‘Draw 600) and managing director at the LAKEI venue in Helmond Sabrina at the Dutch Rock & Pop Institute on Me A River’ you can hear why.” (cap. 850). He’s also part of the organisation of the highly the new talent project Unsigned, it became respected Dutch festival Into The Great Wide Open. We asked clear that this is an extraordinarily talented Anne Soldaat - Teenage View Jasper to put together a mix tape for this special musicXport woman. The ease in her singing, forces you to “You might know him as one of the members listen to Sabrina and to like her. Just like that.” of Daryll-Ann. But let’s forget I said that. Anne guide, because of his seemingly unlimited knowledge of new released his second album in 2009 and won talent and music. De Staat - Wait For Evolution several awards. His somewhat eccentric voice “They listen to the strange name De Staat. But makes you want to uncover the secrets of the as their singer/guitarist/producer Torre Florim album. This song has a nice Neil Young hook.” says: ‘Even if they call us “the motherfuckers”, I don’t mind.’ When De Staat started they Kim Janssen - The Wages Of An Easy Life were often subscribed as a stonerband. The “A very talented singer/songwriter. Sorry; repetitive grooves do indeed sound like that, very, very talented! He plays acoustic folk with but I do hear a lot of other references. As their a nice indie twist. I really like the easy sound biography describes it: ‘Elvis, Tom Waits, and of his voice. In ‘The Wages Of An Easy Life’ he Masters of Reality on a holiday together.’” keeps it as simple as a Teitur-song. Beautiful.” label profile
musicXport.nl 20 dox records
Doxa is classic Greek for ‘idea’ or ‘opinion’ and Amsterdam-based Dox Records Dox Family puts its ideas into practice: helping a small yet closely-knit roster of songwriting The Dox label presents itself as the Dox Family. Singers and songwriters help out performers to develop an international career. “We help them to present their on recordings or tours of labelmates, bolstering the ‘family feel’ of the operation. creative products.” The label also sports a house band, Dox Orchestra. It all helps to keeps the business afloat. Says Tromp: “Frequently, the Dox artists are invited by outside parties to co- By Alfred Bos write or to co-produce. Benny Sings is Dox’s in-house producer; he’s in demand, which works for the label as well.” Dox is the brainchild of Bart Suèr. When his jazz outfit SFeQ failed to interest major Dox’s biggest success so far is simply it still being up and running and, in fact, labels for their contemporary street sounds, the bandleader set up a boutique expanding its activities. In terms of sales and media response, former big band label. From 1998 onwards , Dox released various albums by SFeQ and affiliated singer Wouter Hamel is leading the Dox pack. After releasing his first solo album, musicians. In 2003, the label expanded its scope and signed up jazzpop act Benny Hamel (2007), through Dox, his career boomed, nationally and internationally. Sings, the alias of Tim van Berkenstijn. The multi-instrumentalist and producer The album has been released in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, and last year the turned out to be the katalyst for Dox’s current mission: building a small yet closely- singer visited the Far East three times. Recently, he signed a deal with Universal, knit roster of performers who write their songs and frequently co-operate on which will release his future albums worldwide, expect for the Benelux. For his various in-house projects. home market, Hamel opted to continue his relationship with Dox. And it works. Singer Wouter Hamel has rapidly evolved into the darling of the For 2010, Dox has various album releases planned. Singer and multi-instrumentalist capuccino-sippings crowds of Japan and South Korea, while former backing Roos (Jonker) has concocted a remarkable fusion of jazz and psychedelics for vocalist Giovanca’s solo debut album proved to be a minor sensation in Japan. her debut album, out in February. Late March will see the follow-up to Giovanca’s Meanwhile, Benny Sings albums have been licensed to Berlin’s Sonar Kollektiv successful first outing, Subway Silence. New Cool Collective is working on a big and Dox signed up a major new talent, singer Charlene. The hardest working (and band record. And the new Benny Sings album is slated for a late Fall release. recording) jazz band from The Netherlands, New Cool Collective, has stepped-up Tromp: “When you believe in the future of good music, Dox is an interesting label. its co-operation with the label. In the long run, a label like Dox will be healthier than the majors, whatever their “Dox focusses on self-made artists, people who write and perform their own songs”, current power.” labelmanager Jochem Tromp (formerly of Warner Music Benelux) explains. “And in a sense, Dox is more than a label. It covers all the aspects of a professional career in Wouter Hamel: Friday 15 January @ Stadsschouwburg, 20:00 - 20:45 music: songs, records, concerts. It’s important Dox artists are songwriters, publishing Charlene: Saturday 16 January @ De Volkskrant Zaal, 01:00 - 01:45 is a crucial part of our revenues. Secondly, the records: Dox is involved in every Benjamin Herman: Saturday 16 January @ De Volkskrant Zaal, 22:00 - 22:45 aspect of the record-making process, from recording to marketing & promotion.” Knobsticker: Saturday 16 January @ Heineken Foyer, 21:15 - 22:00 And the Dox releases are supported by artist tours. “Touring is a major aspect of promoting a release”, Tromp says. “We have an in-house booking agency. So Dox www.doxrecords.com is built on three pillars, that’s our forte.” www.myspace.com/doxfamily special
musicXport.nl 22 In A Cabin With
In A Cabin With started in 2005 as an initiative by Maarten Besseling, who invited his good friend and producer Jesse Beuker to join the team in 2008. In general In A Cabin With is about international collaborations between musicians on a very special location. Every two months In A Cabin With is inviting one or more Dutch musicians to travel to a beautiful spot somewhere in the world to write, produce and record an album in collaboration with local musicians, in 10 to 14 days. This location could be a farmhouse in Sweden, a big wooden house just outside Chiang May Thailand, an apartment in New York or a church in Ottawa Canada. All the recorded material is mixed and mastered in The Green Motel studio in Utrecht or L.ParkWay Studios in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. For the album artwork they always invite an upcoming artist or graphic designer to create something exciting. After mastering and finishing the album artwork the records are fully available, as a free download, on the website inacabinwith.com. The actual CD’s are released and distributed by one of BeNeLux biggest distribution companies V2 music, and can also be ordered on the website.
Make sure you pay In A Cabin With a visit during EuroSonic Noorderslag, as the cabin will land on the Vismarkt in Groningen. Several musicians of this year’s program will be there to do their thing with some massively talented colleagues. special Australia October 2009… In A Cabin With set sail to Australia to start a in a cabin with road trip with Bettie Serveert’s Carol van Dijk and Peter Visser musicXport.nl by the Australian East Coast. Along the way they received help from Australians; Rusty Hopkinson (You Am I), Andrew Morris and 24 Ben Salter (The Gin Club). IACW normally produces its albums in makeshift portable studios. For this session an exception was made by recording parts of the album in proper recording studios in between visits to the beautiful Australian beaches and surf sessions. The album will be released in April 2010. special in a cabin with musicXport.nl 26
Canada Ottawa, Canada, minus 30 degrees Celsius… Steye & The Ottawanians was recorded in February last year. IACW travelled with Steye and Alvin Lewis (ex-Zuco 103, Seeka) followed by a film crew to a very cold Canada. There they recorded the album ‘Hum & Ears’ in a former courthouse, now a dance stage, transformed in a recording facility. The Ottawanians are members from People Project and Kelly Lee Evans and other Ottawa residents who helped the album take shape. A short documentary about their Canadian adventure was broadcasted on Dutch television last September. This documentary was supported by Buma Cultuur and Music Center the Netherlands. Album downloadable from the inacabinwith.com website and in stores February 2010. feature
musicXport.nl 28 Laura Jansen goes transatlantic
Laura Jansen (1977) divides her time between Holland and The States. Studying music, first in Rotterdam and from 2000 onwards at Berkley College of Music in Boston, she moved to Los Angeles and became involved in the singer-songwriter scene centred around Hollywood’s Hotel Café. Last year September, Universal released her debut album , B ells , which collec ts two privately released E Ps . Jansen carries two passports, since her father is Dutch and her mother is American.
By Alfred Bos
MXP: How much of your time do you spend in The States? Laura Jansen: “Before signing with Universal in The Netherlands, it had been about three years between visits. As a struggling waitress in LA during the day and a musician at night it was nearly impossible to pay for tickets or find time. I was working 19-20 hour days sometimes to get by and all my extra money was being put into finding cheap studio time and paying musicians to tour with me. All of that has changed last year and it’s been amazing. In 2009 I travelled about five times between Los Angeles and Holland. I’m getting used to the flight and the time difference and love the combined experience of being in both places so frequently. It keeps me firmly rooted to my foundations and I really do take the best of both cultures with me.” the arts that I think is lacking in the States. Holland also allows room for singer songwriters on the commercial level, something that is nearly impossible in the MXP: What is your average working day like? States. The beauty of living and working in Los Angeles as a musician is that I am “It really depends where I am. When I’m in Los Angeles you’ll find me in my surrounded by absolutely the best talents in the world. My own level of writing and wonderful Los Feliz neighbourhood. I wake up relatively early and head straight arranging has gone up so much because of the level of writing around me.” to my laptop. I’m madly obsessed with the power of the internet and what it can do for musicians. I’m not one of those disciplined writers that write for the sake MXP: Do you listen to singer-songwriters while at home? of writing and can treat it as a job. Los Angeles is a place where I can retreat “Ha! Goodness, no. For inspiration I tend to listen older music, usually from the into my own little bubble and I come out to play music with friends. The Hotel ‘70s. I’m also really inspired by bands. Taking elements from rock, hip hop, reggae, Cafe is my living room away from home and you can find me there a few times a electronica and synthi-pop and adding them to girly singer-songwriter stuff is week. Its where I see new and incredible songwriters, reconnect with my friends where I have the most fun.” as they come home from touring and it’s the only place in Hollywood where I feel completely at home. When I’m not home my workdays are so different. There’s no MXP: Will you perform at Noorderslag as a solo act or with a band? such thing as a typical day for musicians.” “The last club tour I did in Holland was completely solo. This time around, I’m bringing my fantastic band from Los Angeles. I’m really looking forward to playing MXP: How does the working climate for musicians in Europe differ from that in the at Noorderslag.” States? “There are huge differences; both have pros and cons. I left Holland nine years ago Saturday 16 January @ 3FM Zaal, 22:30 - 23:10 because I found myself getting stuck in a scene and a style that would have given me a very comfortable life financially, but was making me very unhappy musically. www.laurajansenmusic.com The pros of music in Europe in general is that there is an inherent appreciation for www.myspace.com/laurajansenmusic feature Five-piece Destine are singer/guitarist Robin van Loenen, guitarist Hubrecht Eversdijk, keyboard player Laurens Troost, bass player Tom Vorstius Kruijff and drummer Robin Faas – all in their early to mid-twenties. Singer Robin, Hubrecht and Laurens double as band managers, helped out by a non-band member. Three musicXport.nl years ago they decided to strike out as Destine. Their debut album will be released 30 in late January. Destine is a mixture of punkrock and pop. Bands like Paramore, Green Day and Fall Out Boy are their template. “We make a follow-up to the ‘90s punkrock sound”, singer Robin says.
MXP: How did you team up? Robin: “All of us had been playing in bands since our mid-teens. We are curious and eager people. At the age of 15, I was booking shows for my band. And I still do. The bands we had been playing in were slowly fading. All bands have pacesetters and followers, and the pacesetters from our former bands got together and started Destine. From day one our aim has been to play as many gigs as possible. And we did.”
MXP: You all had experience in working bands. What was your aim for Destine? “We were motivated and ambitious, and we figured it would be possible to do better than trawling for gigs in the Dutch rockclub circuit. We wrote songs and we gigged hard; it paid of. Last year Fall we’ve been touring Europe: six countries in 15 days. A very instructive experience. You have to be flexible, don’t make a fuss but adapt, even if the conditions leave a lot to desire. That’s the main thing. The key is to stay positive.”
MXP: Remarkable, a European tour for a band without an album in the shops. How did that came about? “I’ve mailed British bookers and got some replies. When we performed at the Lowlands festival, I met a booker from England. We stayed in touch and out of A start-up band with just one single and no album in the shops plays the reputed the blue came this offer. It goes to show how important personal contact is as Lowlands festival and tours Europe. Yes, it can be done and Dutch rock/pop opposed to virtual contact.” punk five-piece Destine shows how. Play as many gigs as possible, spread the bandname via social websites, build a fanbase. “Fans are most important, so MXP: Your album has been produced by James Paul Wisner in South Florida. How make yourself available for after show signature sessions.” did you select him? “We’re fans of his work for a slew of rockbands, like New Found Glory and By Alfred Bos Paramore. We started out with a list of our favourite albums. That produced a list of ten producers. We mailed them our demos and some returned a favourable response. We recorded our album in two sessions, the first one in February 2009, the second one in September. The singles that have been released so far, In Your Arms and Stars, are from the first session.”
MXP: Will your Noorderslag performance be a fair reflection of your stage show? “For us it’s a challenge to do what we are good at: playing an aggressive, energetic show.”
Destine will launch their debutalbum at Paradiso, Amsterdam: January 26 (sold out). It is the start of a 16-show Dutch tour.
Saturday 16 January @ Serious Talent Stage, 22:00 - 22:45
www.destinemusic.com www.myspace.com/destinedestine feature
musicXport.nl 32 C-Mon & Kypski cover all corners
C-mon & Kypski have many aces up their sleeve. The four-piece from Utrecht have performed at rock stages, jazz festivals and hip hop events. Eclecticism is their middle name. “We fit in everywhere. We don’t play jazz, we have the jazz attitude.”
By Alfred Bos
As a youngster in school, C-mon (Simon Akkermans) got into trouble for playing music over his headphones in class. What are you listening to, the teacher wanted to know. Eh, Adam’s Apple, Wayne Shorter’s ‘60s album on Blue Note. “My teacher was quite taken aback”, Akkermans says. “It changed our relationship.” C-mon (Akkermans) and Kypski (Thomas Elbers) met in school and shared a passion for skateboarding and hip-hop. They made mixtapes and realised a sampler was the way forward. The title of their 2002 debut album, Vinyl Voodoo, reads like a statement of intent. “Public Enemy’s first records still are an inspiration. Lots of layers and samples, particularly from odd sources. That way of making music appealed to us.” The schoolfriends evolved from two aspiring youngsters into a versatile four-piece band, completed by Daniel Rose (bass) and Jori Collignon (keyboards). C-mon & Kypski’s ravenous appetite for musical collaborations – any collaboration – turned them Their fourth album, We Are Square, was released last year Fall, after cleaning out into a mixtape on four pairs of legs. Their third album, 2006’s their backlog of recorded tracks via two compilations: The Rock Compilation and Where The Wild Things Are, is an eclecfest of odd guests and The Jazz Compilation. We Are Square finds the band singing, including three- weird pairings. It makes sense Prince, Mr. Eclectic, is one of their part harmonies. It’s a first for C-mon & Kypski. And it sets them free from guest heroes. vocalists. “That’s right, it’s a dimension we hadn’t yet developed. My idea was: if we “It all comes naturally”, Akkermans explains the band’s mishmash can write lyrics and sing them, we can do anything.” approach. “It’s not like we’re checking off some list of weird mash- And on We Are Square, they do. It is their most rounded, compact and consistent ups. It’s the result of the way we work, like a deejay. A proper dj record to date, offering a smorgasbord of mash-ups and style clashes. Flamenco drops various styles in his set. That’s the way we make music. guitars and dubstep beats – check. Chinese (pentatonic) melodies and hip hop We’re open to anything. We sample a wide array of music, from grooves – check. Catchy choruses and gabba kicks - check. Tasty strings and loud Bulgarian choirs to obscure dance.” guitars – check. The album is a wild ride through forty years of popular music, done with infectious fervour. Infectious “We want to keep growing. Success stops when you stop evolving as a band. That In 2007, the band toured the United States, playing thirty gigs in search for musical adventure is a reward in itself. We have so many ideas. We have two months. “Travelling the continent in a camper with just the a dozen more albums in us.” four of us, that worked up an appetite for an ‘in-house approach’. The four of us, that just felt great. It did miracles for the band as Saturday 16 January @ Buma Cultuur Zaal, 20:30 - 21:15 a band. It made us decide to do the follow-up to Where The Wild Things Are as a four-piece. To balance out all the collaborations. www.c-monandkypski.nl We are a band after all!” www.myspace.com/comonandkypski feature Last year, The Staat rocked Noorderslag 2009 in spectacular fashion, garnering rave reviews and generating an avalanche of word-of-mouth support. It lauched the quintet from Nijmegen right to the top of the Dutch rock scene; and turned Staat frontman, musicXport.nl singer and principle songwriter Torre Floris into a house-hold name. 34 Rock alert: So it comes as no surprise that ‘the Dutch rockband of last year’ will De Staat is coming play Noorderslag again for this year’s edition. MXP: What kind of year was 2009 for De Staat? Torre Florim: “The weirdest and one of the best years of my life; for all De Staat (‘The State’) is the most spectacular newcomer five of us, I suppose. It started at Noorderslag 2009. Life hasn’t been Dutch rock had to offer in 2009. Their debut album, Wait For the same since. It has turned us into nomads and I quite like that.” Evolution - which started out as a solo project by singer and songwriter Torre Florim, baffled critics and audiences alike, MXP: So what has changed? and the five-piece from Nijmegen performed for sold-out “Now my life is centred around making music. Obviously with De clubs all over Holland. “It’s a dream come true”, says Florim. Staat, but in collabaration with outside people as well – producing bands, writing songs with different partners.” By Alfred Bos MXP: You toured the UK in the Fall of 2008, supporting deus. How did that come about? “ I n 2 0 0 8 , we p laye d th e Lowla n ds fe s tiva l . I a p p ro a ch e d [d eus frontman] Tom Barman and gave him a De Staat button and later on a copy of our album, hoping we could support dEUS at Amsterdam’s Paradiso venue. To our surprise, they asked us to suppport them on dEUS’ UK tour.”
MXP: 2009 was a very succesful year for the band. How do you follow-up on that? “We aim to play more abroad. This year we will be playing the Glastonbury festival in Engeland. And we will be working on the second album. We recorded the first one at home. The new album should top that triple time, I’ll produce it myself. I will not use older and unrecorded songs, I’ll write new ones. The new album will be different from the first one.”
MXP: The sound of The Staat stands out from most Dutch and continental rock bands. Is that a frequently-heard comment? “It certainly is. People call our album ‘not Dutch’. I don’t know what that means. It’s a compliment, I suppose. It means we found a niche, which is a good thing. ‘Not of this world’ would be even better.”
MXP: Where do you find your inspiration for that ‘not Dutch’ sound? “People call our music stonerrock, which it isn’t. However, I have been drawing inspiration from bands and singers that have created their own niche, like Queens Of The Stone Age, Tom Waits, Howlin’ Wolf and Battles.”
MXP: Your expectations for 2010? “I have no idea. I hope we will be playing festivals all over the world. And I want to find a nice place to work on the second album. That’s my wishlist for now.”
Saturday 16 January @ Buma Cultuur Zaal, 01:00 - 01:45
www.destaat.net www.myspace.com/destaat feature
musicXport.nl 36
In terms of media attention, hardcore – or ‘gabber’ in Dutch – is an underground challenge. After doing hardcore phenomenon. However, Dutch hardcore producer, deejay, label manager and for 15 years, I’ve told my story allround hardcore honcho Promo (Sebastian Hoff, 1977) outspins many a famous more or less. I’ve always tried ‘name’ jock. Moreover, he doesn’t suffer from tunnelvision. His upcoming album to give hardcore more depth, to project Stijlloos (‘no style’) merges hardcore and hip hop. execute a bit of quality control. It’s fun to try a different tack. My By Alfred Bos productions for TopNotch touch upon hardcore, but it’s more MXP: In 2001, you left the ID&T organization to start The Third Movement, a label for song-orientated and appeals to all stripes of hardcore. How does hardcore appeal to you? a different audience. I want to Promo: “I like all kinds of dance music. In particular the tracks that blow off the roof push my limits. Can I do more and those are usually in a harder vein. I didn’t opt for hardcore, it just evolved that than hardcore? To me, music way. I became involved with house in the early ‘90s and there is no music more should always evolve. I respect explosive than hardcore. It’s the music for letting free the inner beast: its energy, its what TopNotch is doing and have power, its fullness so to speak. It doesn’t get more extreme than hardcore.” done so for years. My work for TopNotch has evolved out of the MXP: The name of your Third Movement label reads like a mission statement. What music, not some marketing plan.” is its mission? “After the 1997/1998 hardcore overkill, the bottom fell out of the Dutch gabber MXP: In April, TopNotch will scene: compilation series were dropped and sponsors stopped supporting release your next album, Stijlloos hardcore raves. I had just started producing myself and my reasoning was: if there (‘no style’). In what sense will it are some 600.000 hardcore fans in The Netherlands – as surveys pointed out – it differ from your previous output? must be possible to interest 10.000 hardcore aficionados for my music. The Third “Hardcore is frequently accused Movement (TTM) pays artists their fair share: half of the profits. All artist have of being ‘without style’. And the complete artistic freedom. Plus we advice acts before they sign up; all artists are record has no style in the literal aware of every Euro that comes in. TTM releases various kinds of hardcore music. sense: it showcases a wide Each producer has his or her sound and ditto fan base. That way you create music range of styles, from pop songs that’s fresh and adventurous. The first movement was the start of house in the mad punk tracks to hardcore, late ‘80s and the second movement was the hardcore implosion of 1997/1998. We hip hop, drum ‘n bass, dubstep, wanted to start a third movement.” whatever. If I can help it, the album will include a ballad or a MXP: Last October, your Boombox Op Duizend EP was released by Dutch hip-hop country tune. Twenty songs in label TopNotch. How did that came about? Promo style, so it will be loud.” “I create all my sounds for my productions. Occasionally I lend a bit of an US rap a capella to voice my message. It would be more fun to work with a rapper and create Saturday 16 January stories by ourselves, not sample them. So I have been on the look-out for a Dutch @ Bizon Zaal, 00:15 - 01:00 rapper. Early last year I met Willy (Willem de Bruin, rapper of The Opposites) and we clicked. Subsequently, Kees de Koning (label boss of Top Notch) was on the phone: www.djpromo.nl he wanted to expand his label, broaden its musical horizon. To me, that’s an inviting www.thirdmovement.nl feature
musicXport.nl 38 Wende Snijders When Wende Snijders (1978) dropped her debut album in 2004, she was instantly hailed as an outstanding talent. The polymath, schooled in music, acting and dance, is comfortable in a wide array of styles – from chansons and cabaret to blistering rock – and has scooped up a wealth of industry awards `I'm a mongrel' for virtually every move she’s made. Success hasn’t clouded her mind, though. “Acclaim can stifle creativity.”
By Alfred Bos
Snijders’ latest album, her fourth, is an English language singer-songwriter record; she learned to play the guitar for No. 9, released in October last year. It arrived after an album of French chansons (Quand Tu Dors, ‘When You Sleep’, 2004), a collection of torch songs – both Dutch and French - in contemporary arrangements (La Fille Noyée, ‘The Girl That Drowned’, 2005) and a compilation of live recordings of familiar and new songs (Chante!, 2008), which featured a bonus dvd of Wende Snijders’s one-off gig with the Metropool Orchestra that had been broadcasted live on Dutch television. It’s a stunning run of versatility and barely controlled assertiveness. And it begs the question: will the real Wende please stand up? “It’s all me”, she reacts. “I like to play with ‘identity’ as a concept. None of those stage personalities is a fraud. I don’t think any of them represents ‘the real Wende’. I don’t believe in identity. I’m not sure there is such a thing as ‘a core’; the core is a void. People at home are a different person from the one they are at work. That’s what I project on stage.” The many faces of Wende Snijders are not masks. “There all different sides of me”, she explains. “I’m not hiding behind a fabricated persona. I’m not aiming to expose my private life on stage. I’m a medium for communicating songs. My songs relate about fictional characters, not about myself. I’m very grateful success has created the opportunity to explore those different sides of me.”
Amsterdam Sinfonietta The success of Snijders’ French-language debut album was overwhelming, she admits. Fresh out of school (Academie voor kleinkunst, ‘Cabaret Academy’, finished in 2002) and still wet behind the ears, she was in danger of being typecast as a modern-day chansonnière. “Intuition told me something was off. I am more than a ‘chansonnière’. You have to actively fight being typecast. Success is great, just don’t accept it at face-value.” So two year after being handed an Edison (Dutch music industry award) for her chanson album, Wende Snijders accepted an Edison Jazz Award for her follow- up album. “I’m a bit of a mongrel”, Wende says. “I like many styles of music, I appreciate The Beatles for keeping re-inventing themselves. I think it’s important to think out of the box and push the envelope. So awards and acclaim are great, but they can stifle creativity.” At Noorderslag, Snijders will perform her latest album, backed by a rockband. Earlier that very night, she’ll sing chansons and torch songs backed by the 23-piece string ensemble Amsterdam Sinfonietta. It’s a surreal schedule, very Wende Snijders. “If you want two opposite sides on one night, here you have it.”
Saturday 16 January @ 3FM Zaal, 23:30 - 00:10 www.wende.nu feature Moke musicXport.nl 40 set their eyes on Germany
After their sold-out 26-date tour of The Netherlands, five-piece Moke are support slots with Keane and Razorlight. And we did the whole European tour with gearing up to play Germany. Their second album, The Long & Dangerous Sea, Paul Weller, playing venues of 7000/8000 capacity. We found that our sound could hit the # 2 spot of the Dutch album charts. It will be released in Germany by easily fill these venues. We have this really big sound. And that’s the sound we wanted Universal. “The band is a well-oiled machine, that gives a lot of confidence.” to put on our second album. We also wanted to work with an orchestra.” The Long & Dangerous Sea, released last year September, rock(et)ed into the By Alfred Bos Dutch album charts and settled at the # 2 position. It boasts a bigger and more sophisticated sound than Shorland, the result of some serious touring. “What “My interest in music began when I got interested in ‘60s beat bands: Stones, surprised me most after weeks on the tour bus with the band and the crew: no Yardbirds, The Who”, say Felix Maginn, singer, guitarist, songwriter and bandleader arguments”, Maginn relates. “On the road, you find out how good the band is. You of Moke. “I have been playing in bands since I was about 16 years old. Music is a big only have limited time to prepare as a support act. And the band got tighter and thing in Ireland. It’s part of growing up.” tighter. It’s a well-oiled machine. That gives you a lot of confidence.” Moke is named after Maginn’s favourite uncle; not after Mokum, the local name The secret is the chemistry of the bandmembers: apart from Maginn, guitarist Phil for Amsterdam. Maginn (Belfast, 1969) moved from Northern Ireland, by way of Tilli, keyboard player Eddy Steeneken, bass player Marcin Felis and drummer Rob London, to the Dutch capital in 1992. “When I was in London I met a girl from Klerkx. “Everyone has his little job”, Maginn explains. “We have a lot of success in Holland and she invited me to Amsterdam for Christmas. I came over not planning Holland and people might think it comes easy. But no, we all work very hard.” on staying very long and here I am, many years later.” 2010 is going to be quite a busy year for Moke. They’ll perform at Noorderslag. After recording several albums with the Amsterdam-based rock foursome Supersub, In February, they’ll play in Berlin at the Fashion Week (the band sports suits Maginn started Moke to record and perform his recently written songs. During the sponsored by Karl Lagerfeld) and there’s a German tour lined up, following the recording of Moke’s debut album, Shorland, the band met Paul Weller, who was German release of The Long & Dangerous Sea by Universal. recording his As Is Now album in the same Amsterdam studio. In December 2006, “Honestly, I can’t really complain”, says Maginn. “I’m doing what I always wanted to do. Moke played two shows at The Forum in London, supporting Weller. I am living my dreams. We’re very happy and I hope we can keep expanding the band.”
Big sound Friday 15 January @ Huize Maas, 22:00 - 22:45 Moke’s first album, Shorland, sold 30.000 copies upon its 2007 release and the band Saturday 16 January @ Buma Cultuur Zaal, 22:00 - 22:45 turned out to be a great live act. Last year Fall, they did a sold-out tour of 26 club dates www.mokemusic.com in The Netherlands. “The big test for us was to go to Germany”, Maginn says. “We did www.myspace.com/moketheband feature The Rhine-Maas delta is not exactly known as a hotspot of exuberant Afro- oriented grooves. However, in Mdungu (‘band of brothers’) The Netherlands boast an infectious Afro band of multi-cultural origin. “Some people find it odd to hear a musicXport.nl bunch of whiteys playing African grooves”, says bandleader Thijs van Milligem. 42 By Alfred Bos
“Mainly, our music originates from being frank about African styles”, says Van Milligem. “In Africa, music is tied to a particular culture or region. We, the band, lack that kind of background. We don’t play authentic music from Africa, we try to evoke the emotions and are inspired by its beats and its harmonies. African musicians don’t play the type of music we perform, which is a blend of various styles from Western Africa. We add our Western European roots. Music is emotion and that’s what we render. Rules can and may be broken.” Saxplayer Thijs van Milligem heard music from Africa via radio in the mid-‘90s and got hooked. In 2003, he decided to try his luck and start an Afro band with local (Dutch and non-Dutch) musicians. The nonet (nine-piece band) numbers players from diverging backgrounds, including a former grunge guitarist, a saxplayer who doubles in an Amsterdam klezmer band, a percussionist from Spain and a percussionist from Gambia, Ebou Gaye Mada. He is the only Mdungu member who hails from the Dark Continent. Van Tilligem: “Most of us had never played any music from Africa and we are not influenced by African musicians. And some of us still don’t listen to African music. If all of us would be hooked, we’d be some kind of cover band, something I try to avoid. We’ve developed our distinct style.”
Album or quits It took the band six years to come up with their debut album. Afro What!? was released in May 2009 by Zimbraz, a label of Music And Words; it is available all over Europe. “At first, we were not particularly acquainted with the style”, Van Tilligem explains. “When you do a jazz album with jazz players, you give them sheet music and off you go. That’s not how it worked for us; it took some time to get a feel for the music. We had to develop our Mdungu sound.” Afro What!? was produced by the band and mixed by Justin Adams, producer of Tuareg band Timariwen and Robert Plant, among others. “I like the rawness of his sound”, Van Tilligem says. “Most world music sounds very produced, even slick. We recorded the songs in the same arrangements as we do them live; basically, it’s a live album with a studio sound. Afro What!? reflects our sound on stage and that’s the way we wanted it. The follow-up album could turn out to be rather different.” The album met with mere positive reviews, Van Tilligem has yet to read a negative one. “At first, we were surprised by the sound of the album, which turned out to be rather good. Subsequently, the reviews were rather good! That was a bit of a surprise. We had to make an album, to keep the band in a healthy state. It was an album or quits. The album has helped to professionalize the band as well. We had a great Summer of 2009 and did a lot of festivals.” The obvious next step is playing abroad. The band has been networking at Womax Fest, the world music business fair in Copenhagen, and has set up a foundation in order to get tour support. Mdungu is programmed for Noorderslag 2010, their first appearance at the festival.
Saturday 16 January @ Heineken Foyer, 01:45 - 02:30
www.mdungu.com www.myspace.com/mdungu feature
musicXport.nl 44 Eric Vloeimans likes adventure in music
Trumpet player Eric Vloeimans (1963) is a musician of many faces. Leading two the kind of jazz people in the States would vastly different groups and collaborating with numerous players in a staggering think of when they think of jazz. I was a array of styles - from symphonic orchestras and flamenco guitarists to avant- bit apprehensive at first, but it turned garde pioneers - he approaches music from the gut. “I believe in intuition.” out okay. The American audiences were very nice to us. The audiences in Europe By Alfred Bos can be a lot less welcoming. By the way, Photo: Peter Elenbaas I don’t see myself as a jazz musician. The borders between styles and genres are Eric Vloeimans performs with two regular bands, Fugimundi and Gatecrash. blurring.” The acoustic trio Fugimundi (trumpet, piano, guitar) plays soft-spoken, intimate He doesn’t favour one style over the music. “It’s some kind of chamber music,” Vloeimans says. Gatecrash is his electric other. “Whether I improvise with the outfit, a trumpet-keyboards-bass-drums quartet oriented on beats and grooves. Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra “Gatecrash could play a rockfestival, Fugimundi couldn’t.“ or play for a small club audience with Vloeimans picked up the trumpet in his early teens; he had a thing for brass Fugimundi, I enjoy it both. The musicians instruments. “Why the trumpet? I just had to choose between trumpet and I choose to work with are not dummies. trombone. The most important decisions of my life were made in a totally non- They are people, individuals with an rational fashion. I don’t believe in rationality. That’s why I find it hard to discuss individual sound and an individual music. I hardly reflect on it, I don’t analyze it. I know many musicians who live inside approach. Their musicality is not in their head and it shows in their music.” their instrument of choice, but in their His discography certainly reflects that attitude. Recording well over a dozen albums personality. If Anton Goudsmit [guitarist since his 1992 debut No Realistics, Vloeimans has built a multi-faceted catalogue. of Fugimundi] played the piccolo, I would Live recordings with one-off bands, studio albums with rotating sidemen in a probably still work with him.” variety of styles – it’s hard to pinpoint the ‘real’ Eric Vloeimans. However, over the Being a professional player for close to last couple of years he has (more or less) settled on two working bands, Fugimundi two decades, Eric Vloeimans has learned (with guitarist Anton Goudsmit and pianist Hermen Fraanje) and Gatecrash the value of the well-placed note. “The (drummer Jasper van Hulten, keyboardist Jeroen van Vliet and bass player Gulli older you get, the more stories you have Gudmundsson from Iceland). “The two bands can play the same song and it would to tell. Yet, you tell those stories in a more sound totally different. That’s exactly how I want it.” succinct fashion. You no longer have to prove yourself. You peel the onion and Voltage get closer to the core. That’s what I’m In the late 1980’s, Vloeimans travelled to New York City to study music at the New aiming for.” School for Jazz & Contemporary Music; Brad Mehldau was one of his classmates. “I learned what I did not want. At that time, New York was into the jazz tradition. Saturday 16 January @ Hilversum That’s not my thing. I like adventure and an original approach.” Mediastad Paviljoen, 00:15 - 01:00 Recently, he returned to the States for a Fugimundi tour. Why not Gatecrash? “For reasons of logistics. Fugimundi is just three people. Moreover, American voltage is www.ericvloeimans.com different, so an acoustic band would circumvent that particular issue. My music is not www.myspace.com/ericvloeimans feature From hometaping radioshows to performing overseas in just a few years: the career of Amsterdam-based producer Applescal has been evolving like a textbook case of How To Become A Successful Producer. “You’ve got to find your personal sound.” musicXport.nl 46 By Alfred Bos
Applescal is the nom de plume of 22 year-old Pascal Terstappen. Last year’s Summer, he released his debut album, A Slave’s Commitment, via Cologne’s Traum label. For Terstappen, it was a dream come true. As a youngster, music was his overriding passion. However, he never learned to read music or play an instrument. Instead, his downtime from school was filled with taping Top 40 radioshows and splicing them into primitive edits. At the age of 14, he borrowed music software from a friend and practised till his ears bled. “I’m an autodidact”, Applescal confesses. “After four years, I felt confident enough to send out demos of my productions.” Applescal’s very first demo received a favourable reaction by Paul Hazendonk, who runs the Manual Music label from his Rotterdam apartment. The Untitled Addict EP, a digital release on Manual, was Terstappen’s first release as Applescal; he had just turned twenty. In March 2009, he had his second platter out via Traum: Paul For President. That label released Applescal’s debut album in early August to rave reviews. It was hailed as an invigorating breeze in the somewhat stagnant minimal techno scene. “When I went through my files, I noticed I had enough material for an album”, Terstappen explains. “I added two new productions and offered it to Traum. They said yes right away. Their Applescal reasoning: an album shows better what I’m capable of than an EP does.” Performing live That reasoning proved to be sound. German magazine Debug called Applescal “one of the brightest hopes for 2010”. Moreover, since the release of A Slave’s Commitment, the Amsterdam-based producer has been performing is on a roll extensively, and in the upcoming months gigs are slated for Germany, Scotland and Japan; he’s a popular fixture at outdoor festivals as well. Mind you, not deejaying; playing live is Applescal’s forte. Applescal live means Terstappen and his laptop, doing remixes of his tracks on the fly in front of an audience. “I use Ableton, I run some 12 tracks: the kick, three layers of hi-hats, the bassline in four different parts, melodies and leads, all MIDI-connected to the original synthesizer sounds. The fun part is you can fiddle with the arrangement; expand the break or delay the climax. You create arcs of tension and release, that’s fun. It’s more fun than deejaying, you’re ‘in the moment’. I seriously doubt I will ever deejay.” Now the pressure’s on, Applescal doesn’t flinch. He regards all the praise for his album an endorsement to continue his chosen path. Currently, he’s on a roll: the follow-up album will be out on Traum this Spring, just eight months after his debut. “This time around, it will be a proper album, not a collection of tracks.” H e h a s p ut h is m e d ia a n d i nfo r m ati o n m a n a g e m e nt s tu d i e s o n h o l d to co n ce ntr ate on producing and performing. “Frankly speaking, I’m only interested in making music. My mood detoriates rapidly when I don’t. So I do music. Performing live, doing soundtrack music, producing other acts, I don’t care. As long as I can hear music.”
Saturday 16 January @ Kelder, 00:45 - 01:30
www.applescal.net www.myspace.com/applescal essential album Waylon Wicked Ways (Motown/Universal) musicXport.nl 48 Rock & soul rebel Wicked Ways, the title of Waylon’s debut album, is just that, an album title. However, it is an apt description of the twisting and at times depressing path that led the singer and songwriter to his current position as Holland’s most promising ‘new talent’. He is the first Dutch artist to be signed to the iconic Motown label and that’s no hype.
The proof is in eating the pudding and just a quickscan of Wicked Ways suffices to recognise a fluent songwriter blessed with a gritty voice to balance a vulnerable soul. His energy betrays a debutant, yet the weathered qualities of his voice hint at an eventful personal history. Waylon manages to sound youthful and worn at the same time.
Waylon (Willem Bijkerk) has named himself after country music outlaw Waylon Jennings, who invited the young and aspiring singer to Nashville after hearing his namesake’s (unsuccessful) EMI debut single. Waylon the outlaw recognised a kindred spirit in Waylon the youngster from the Lowlands and set him up as support act for Jennings’ upcoming tour. It wasn’t meant to be, for the Nashville legend died in February 2002.
Back in The Netherlands, young Waylon battled a severe depression and for seven years performed the vocal duties in a Top 40 cover band. His personal life in disarray after a messy divorce, Waylon signed on to Holland’s Got Talent, a TV talent contest. To the singer’s relief, he didn’t win. The second spot left him all the artistic freedom he craved while raising his profile.
Wicked Ways was written and recorded in London over a four month stretch in early 2009. Produced by Martin Terefe and Sacha Skarbek, the team behind James Morrison and Duffy, the album reveals a singer and songwriter who’s comfort zone includes both rock and soul. Waylon is part Otis Redding part Rod Stewart. And part Waylon: he not just sings his songs, he’s lived them. And his cover of Michael Jackson’s The Way You Make Me Feel holds up, no mean feat.
Blending rock’s punch with soul’s passion is Waylon’s forte. If his debut album falls short of greatness, it is simply because it plays it safe. Some songs on 13 track collection sound like soul-by-numbers. The majority, however , is a match to Waylon’s unmistakable power as a performer. With a little more daring, Waylon is capable of greatness. Just give the rebel in him his due and he will shine brightly. Rare talent, great kick-off record. 4/5 (Enrico Riva) www.waylon.nl www.myspace.com/waylonmusic reviews by Enrico Riva musicXport.nl 50
Daily Bread Kindred Spirits Ensemble Well, You're Not Invited Love Is Supreme (Excelsior) (Kindred Spirits/Rush Hour)
Trio Daily Bread, from northern Dutch town Leeuwarden, Kindred Spirits Ensemble is a 20+ congregation of blend ‘60s garage rock to ‘80s electro and spice it up with seasoned players, dedicated to celebrate the music of some Dada tactics. Their stripped-down sound – drums, jazz icon John Coltrane and his spiritual take on jazz and fuzz bass and a vintage ‘60s Philicorda organ – has a fe- music in general. This album contains a selection of live rocious attack, helped by the distortion of their home- performances, recorded at Amsterdam’s Paradiso (on made effect pedals and voicebox. It results in a genuinly the night of Coltrane 80th birthday, virtually of course), odd mash of retro and futuro elements, transcending the North Sea Jazz and Pure JazzFest. This is heady stuff, band’s instant novelty appeal. orchestrated (not big band) jazz meets jazz&poetry. ***** Some tracks come across as overly precious, however, Love Is Surpreme exudes good taste. *****
Moke MilkMoneyMaffia The Long & Dangerous Sea Milkshake (PIAS) (Basserk)
Amsterdam-based five-piece Moke never have been Last year, the Amsterdam-based Basserk label released the slouches and their second longplayer – the follow-up to Musik digital mini-album by MilkMoneyMaffia, Greenland’s 2007’s Shorland – finds them in full-tilt mode. The band hardest electrorocking producer – or so they want us to works from the Britpop template (part indie, part wave) believe. Three tracks of Musik – the best from the album, and channels its energy via arrangements that are a tad by the way - have been remixed by various producers for more intricate than on Shorland and its take-no-prisoners Milkshake, another digital mini-album release. The ‘Mr. approach. This time around, Moke’s big-hearted musings Oizo meets Uffie’ original tracks have been kicked around on big city life are wrapped in a big sound, beefed up by by the likes of Kid Goesting, 3-1, Boemklatsch and DJ orchestral flourishes. Donna Summer. The reworkings retain the sense of satire ***** and goofiness of MilkMoneyMaffia’s razor-like electropunk and dress it in weird party attire. *****
Knobsticker Moss Forest Fruit Never Be Scared/Don't Be A Hero (Dox) (Excelsior)
Synthi-pop duos usually are comprised of a singer and a Holland’s Excelsior label is a bedrock of guitar-oriented knobtwister stuck behind an ironing board. Knobsticker music and five-piece Moss fit that bill perfectly. What (Falco Torenstra and Wim van Dam) has cooked up a makes their debut platter – which rated high in the critics variation on the synthi-pop theme: a drums and synths polls for 2009 – stand out from the crowd is a certain duo, with occasional vocals by Benny Sings. Forest Fruit naivety. Never Be Scared is not a kaleidoscope of the best is a ragbag collection of weird tunes and even weirder bits from their aggregated record collections, but a dip arrangements, more Jean Jacques Perry than Pet Shop in uncharted waters. It fuses elements from fifty years of Boys. It scores high on novelty and will please deejays rock and moulds them into compact and catchy songs, looking for some off-beat relief. elevated by joyous harmonies. Fleet Foxes with added ***** punch, anyone? ***** reviews
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Flinke Namen Juju & Jordash Superstuntwerk Juju & Jordash (TopNotch) (Dekmantel) vinyl only
Flinke Namen (‘sturdy names’) are rappers Sef, Fit, Murth Israel-born Gal Aner and Jordan Czamanski (a.k.a. Juju and DJ The Flexican. Teaming up in 2004, the posse honed & Jordash) dropped this 8 track vinyl double album (out their skills for years before signing to TopNotch. Their via the Dekmantel label) after well over half a dozen club debut album, Superstuntwerk, made a splash, helped by releases. The Amsterdam-based Dekmantel organisation the seriously catchy single Als Zij Langs Loopt (‘When promotes techno-related club music, which matches fine She Walks By’). It proved to be a huge radio hit, made the with J&J’s studio concoctions. The album offers techno charts and was elected as Song of the Year. The rest of the of various stripes, from space disco to more subdued album flows by in the same relaxed vein, blending smart downtempo. Dance stallwarts Laurent Garnier, Osunlade raps to latin-, exotica- en jazz-derived beats. The bonus cd and Ellen Allien have been raving about it, understandably. Kunst en Vliegwerk is a mixtape of self-produced tracks with guest vocalist and rappers. ***** *****
The Mad Trist Mdungu Pay The Piper Afro What!? (PIAS) (Zimbraz/Music & Words)
After two EP’s, The Mad Trist drop their debut album Afro What!?, the debut album by nine-piece Mdungu, to great expectations. Pay The Piper is produced by De will appeal to open-minded worldmusic aficionados. Staat’s Torre Florim and the four-piece from Maastricht Although Mdungu sounds distinctly exotic, its music is cover similar musical terrain: stoner riffs, laced with catchy a virtual genre: a blend of various West-African styles hooks and choruses. The twin lead guitars build a wall of played by a collective of eight Western-Europeans plus scalpel-precision blocks of noise, or follow the melody of one Gambian. Mdungu’s sound is defined by its three-sax the vocals – occasionally at the same time. It makes for a horn section and total lack of cheesy synths. And since solid collection of stylized in-your-face mayhem, proofing the band includes not just one but two percussionists, the there’s still mileage in the classic two guitars plus rhythm grooves are served red hot. section rock line-up. ***** *****
Awkward I Eric Vloeimans/Gatecrash I Really Should Whisper Heaven's Above (Excelsior) (Challenge Jazz)
Playing their first ever live gigs at Eurosonic/Noorderslag Heaven’s Above is the first studio album of Eric Vloeimans 2009, Awkward I already had built a considerable live ‘electric’ quartet Gatecrash, following the live recordings reputation when its debut album hit the shops recently. Gatecrashin’ and Live At Yoshi’s. Vloeimans represents the The fluid band – members vary from gig to gig - is the current crop of West-European jazz musicans who draw vehicle for songwriter and bass player Djurre de Haan, inspiration from both the jazz tradition and electronic who divides his time between Awkward I and Excelsior experiments, expanding Weather Reports ‘70s fusion stable mates Alamo Race Track. I Really Should Whisper into 21st century post-jazz. His trumpet sound is crystal started as a home recording of De Haan’s songs (helped clear, the band fluid and driving. Imagine Heaven’s Above out by Diederik Nomden). De Haan frequently switches as a release by the reputed ECM label, it’s that good. his guitar for the mandolin, exemplifying the down-home, folksy vein of this warm and intimate album. ***** ***** studio “I started producing on an Atari and two Yamaha synthesizers,” Anton recalls. “These days, I musicXport.nl use Logic Pro and Ableton Live as my main 54 sequencing programs, plus some additional plug-ins.” For sound processing, Anton is extremely happy with his Waves bundle. “It’s probably the best purchase I’ve done in recent years. Waves has some of the finest plug-ins in my book.” Anton takes most of his sounds from soft synths and sample cd’s. “I rarely use any hardware these days. In fact, I just gave a bunch of synthesizers to a friend. All I have left now is this old Kurzweiler – catching dust.”
It’s not that Anton doesn’t care for the beauty of analogue sounds. He’s just concerned more with dancefloor sufficiency. “I can imagine intelligent techno producers longing for a hardware feel, because they believe it sounds more authentic. But my music isn’t meant for home listening. What matters most, is that it sounds good in clubs.” He achieves this by simple measures. “I’m not one to use many complicated processors. All I need is a proper equalizer like the Q 10 by Forget thousands of dollars worth of hardware. Waves, a good reverb and a solid compressor.” Hits these days are made with just a laptop and some midi-interfaces. Blasphemy to many a Anton tends to spend the most effort on separate conventional dance producer; blessing to the sounds, and even more on mixing them. “Making aspiring artist, who finds even the biggest chart music is a lot like cooking. When you make a topper produced with the most affordable perfectly delicious soup and you throw in a rotten software. Anton Pieëte is a perfect example of carrot, you’re going to spoil the whole dish. With this digital new school. Solid techno tracks like producing it’s much the same: throw in a lousy Players, Siberian and Dub Crystal have not only bassline, and a great track can go to shit. Every put him on the global map; they also earned element has to be fine-tuned just perfectly. him a lot of respect among fellow studiogeeks. A good result can only be achieved by giving Time to see where the magic happens. everything its right place in the stereo spectrum. That’s why a good mixdown is essential.” By Aron Friedman Photo: Wendy Oakes From the looks of it, 2010 will be a prosperous year for Anton Pieëte. Next to confirmed “Are you sure you want to visit my studio?” On bookings across Europe and North-America, the phone, Anton sounds almost apologetic. he’s ready to storm the Dutch stages these “There’s really not that much to see. The coming months, starting with Noorderslag. As instruments lying around are not even mine.” for producing: “I’ve rejected a couple of remix Coming from a long line of sound engineers – requests for the beginning of this year, because both his father and grandfather were in the I want to focus on my album, which should be trade – Anton has surely seen more impressive out next winter.” He doesn’t have plans to buy audio set-ups. But in fact the most remarkable any new gear for that task. “When I’m older, I’d part of the story is, he’s made a No. 1 Beatport love to get back to the old knob-twitching. But hit (Players on Intacto, 2008) on nothing but a for now I’m perfectly happy with the software on Mac Book Pro, an RME Fireface soundcard and my computer.” two Genelec 1030a speakers. How’s that for cost efficiency? Saturday 16 January @ Kelder, 02:15 - 03:00 thursday 14 january EuroSonic
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19:45-20:00 Mari Boine(No) Adiam Grand Theatre Lucy Love (Dk) Sliimy (Fr) main 20:00-20:45 Wardruna (No) Dymott (Se) 19:45-20:00 Lee Everton & Grand Theatre Vuk (Fin) up Mari Boine(No) The Scrucialists (Ch)
Vindicat Turzi (Fra) Manna (Fin) Harrys Gym (No) The Megaphonic Thrift (No)
Muziekschool De Läb (Lux) Stevans (Ch) Name The Pet Kreisky (Au)
Vera I Was A King (No) Kilians (De) Gösta Berlings Saga (Se) Joensuu 1685 (Fi)
Schouwburg The Xx (Uk) Pony The Pirate (No) La Pegatina (Es) Wickeda (Bg)
Huize Maas Marina & The Diamonds (Uk) Imelda May (Ire) Love Amongst Ruin (Uk) Customs (Be) Dans Le Rock main Chapel Huize Maas Jon Allen (Uk) The Chapman Family (Uk) Goldhawks (Uk) front Club (Uk) We Were Promised Royal Republic (Se) Monolitic (No) Long Distance Calling (De) De Beurs Jetpacks (Uk)
De Spieghel The Leisure Society (Uk) Nicolai Dunger (Se) Seabear (Ice) Team Monster (De)
De Spieghel Jaw Lesson (Se) Isbells (Be) Callmekat (Dk) Piano Club (Be) Pintandwefall (Fin) up We Can’t Sleep Shadrak Mazgani (Por) Sometree (De) Heike Has The Giggles (Ita) main At Night (Slo)
Shadrak Oceana Company (Nl) Kleazer (Nl) Cords (Nl) up 19:00 - 19:40 Daily Bread (NL) Kaizers Agua De Annique (Nl) Admiral Freebee (Be) De Opera 20:00-20:45 Bettie Serveert (Nl) Orchestra (No)
Ebbingekwartier Radio Barkas (Nl)
Three Trapped Tigers Simplon Jamaica (Fra) Maskinen (Se) Diskjokke (No) Dj Set Hermanos Inglesos (Be) main (Uk)
Simplon Foreign Beggars (Uk) Yeti Lane (Fr) Meneo (Es) Jesse (Fin) up
Paleis Steve Cradock (Uk) Mintzkov (Be) Thus:owls (Se) main
Paleis Kartasan (Be) Klein (Nl) Tommigun (Be) Blue Flamingo (Nl) up
Platformtheater 19.00 - 22.00 Met Michiel (3fm) Nieuwjaarsreceptie Paul Spymania (Uk) Slugabed (Uk) Loops Haunt (Uk) 2562 (Nl) Appleblim (Uk) Scuba (Uk)
Odilo Girod / Chop The Cosmic Carnival Dret & Eefje (Nl) Lpg / Despeech (Nl) Stan Diego (Nl) Pitto (Nl) Plaza Danza Wood (Nl) (Nl) Krulle (Nl)
Machinefabriek 65daysofstatic (Uk) Keep Of Kalessin (No) Shining (No)
Le Roi Mort Soulburn (Nl) Nuclear Driven Animals (Nl) Pakhuis Et Les Lentilles Rouges (Nl)
Koster Colligan (Nl) Dudettes (Nl)
De Kar Long Way Down (Nl) Cosmic Spring (Nl)
Buckshot Roos (Nl) Spotrockers (Nl)
De Toeter Sexton Creeps (Nl) Makebelieve (Nl) indexbackground
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Oceana Company
They have nobody to compare with, they find themselves. Where have we heard that before? But in the case of Oceana Company
that might well be true. In any case in the 2562 Netherlands, where their woven carpet of prog rock, psychedelia, indie/post rock and Agua de Annique stoner metal hasn’t been displayed before, and certainly not in the original and organic There are still people who associate Anneke way they proceed. van Giersbergen with The Gathering, the progressive rock/metal which she led for thirteen years. And a great thirteen years they Kleazer were, but they are over. Since two years the Brabant singer is the proud front woman of This year they did cry victory at the Grote her own Agua De Annique, a band in which Prijs van Twente, while one festival or club the rock heart still beats somewhat but audience after the other were left behind with where everything revolves around passionate
mouths hanging open. Anyway, EuroSonic will Bettie Serveert pop melodies and Van Giersbergen’s voice, be in for devilish, almost surreal stoner rock, which has become only more beautiful over but moulded into songs with heads and tails. the years. Indiepop with an edge. Meanwhile Who would have thought otherwise from a Bettie Serveert Agua De Annique has also been touring the band who has a Jeroen Bosch in its ranks. world and received an international warm Life can run the strangest course. Tennis star welcome for the three so far released albums,
Betty Stöve is long served out, but Bettie of which ‘In Your Room’ is still warm. Time for Odilo Girod Serveert far from it. Okay, the Amsterdam Groningen applause! indie rock band led by singer Carol van Dyk did take it easy in recent years, but is now gearing up for a new blitzkrieg, which will Klein ruthlessly run 2010 through with their guitars: 2562 a new cd, the ninth and apparently toughest Sometimes jazzy, sometimes folky, largely in the nearly 20-year history of the group, acoustic, and also on the enthusiastically If you want to know where dubstep producer followed by a full-blown club tour of three received debut album ‘A Devil’s Bargain’, Dave Huismans lives, just look at his stage months, starting at Noorderslag. Yes, that’s despite the solid guest line-up there, always name, which not coincidentally resembles a Cords the way we like to hear it. Carol’s seductive small and intimate. May they become very big. postcode from The Hague. A little joke that voice, the loud guitars, that bittersweet has nothing to do with his music, or it should Cords sound, please come on in! be its skippiness, a feature that can’t be traced Blue Flamingo back to the garage roots of dubstep. Rather If the name Cords rings a (deci)bel(l): that’s 2562 seems influenced by broken beats and right. In the nineties the illustrious Deventer Daily Bread Blue flamingos don’t exist, but Ziya Ertekin even the imperturbable four-to-the-floor of noise rock band already swept through the does. And in Ziya you have to want to believe techno. The latter is not surprising, given the Netherlands, toured Europe, the USA and If Daily Bread was our daily bread, you would too: a Dutch collector of 78 rpm records who deep house and techno parties of Huismans’ Australia and garnered some due success, not hear us complaining. No wonder, with these as a dj lets you make a miraculous journey other alter ego A Made Up Sound. So, with until the band split up late in 1999. But the holy young Frisian Flevo dogs, who bark and bite, through time: back to the thirties, forties and 2562 Huismans is also out for the dance floor. noise fire is glowing again! Cords has risen with their guerrilla punky-electro sound and fifties. The years of oriental jazz-exotica, palm again and the explosive musical chemistry singer Kimberly’s voice, changing colour from music of the Caribbean and Latin American of the band centered around singer Simone Siouxsie Sioux to PJ Harvey. Spearheading is dance styles like mambo and rumba, which Odilo Girod Holsbeek doesn’t appear to have handed in Kimberly’s authentic Philicorda-organ, with mixed with rhythm & blues. From Sidney an ounce of urgency. Better even: there is a help from noisebox and other accessories, and Bechet and Duke Ellington through Jelly Imagine Nick Drake being still alive and inviting new album coming up, ‘Collage’, and live the who only gives away its toy tone at unguarded Roll Morton and Alphonso et son Orchestre Jamie Lidell, Beck and Eels over for dinner. band is good again for a swirling trip along moments. Combined with banging drums and Typique Antillais to Charles Brown, Otis That’s more or less the sound of Chop Wood, a haunting psychedelia, brooding silences and fuzz bass, arises the sexy garage dance sound Blackwell and Big Maybelle. Many a festival solo project of Amsterdam-based songwriter seething guitar storms - in short: Cords fever with which Daily Bread explicitly claims the audience already literally knuckled under, Odilo Girod, known as frontman of the widely guaranteed. Dutch organ rock crown. EuroSonic will surely follow suit. acclaimed indie rock band Coparck. background Soulburn
Stadium power rock, that’s what Soulburn plays, in their own words. What they mean is: musicXport.nl music in the footsteps of their heroes, bands 60 like Alter Bridge, Nickelback and Black Stone Cherry. Tough, muscular but melodic hard rock, that you really can fill stadiums with. Eefje The Cosmic Carnival
Light-hearted, but melancholy too. Whimsical, They’re fresh-looking boys (and often a girl, Nuclear Driven Animals dreamy and always personal. That’s what the unofficial singer Marlies Kroon) from the here Dutch-language songs of Eefje de Visser, and now. Only classically trained keyboardist A rock band, louder, more energetic and from Gouda, are. Songs about being outside Gerben van Etten seems to be beamed up melancholy than previous bands added or staying inside. About the seasons and from the era wherein the music of The Cosmic together. Inspired by heroes like Foo Fighters, being in love. About difficulty and easiness. Carnival is firmly rooted: the sixties. From Deftones and Kyuss. Based on discontent, And then she sings them, with a clear voice, beautiful Beatle-esque tunes sung in close frustration and hedonism in everyday life. accompanied by her acoustic guitar and if the harmony to long drawn-out acid jams in the Been there, done that? Yes, but it never gloves are off also a bassist and a drummer. tradition of The Grateful Dead, the musical sounded this good. People who hear them, fall for them like bees time machine from Rotterdam thinks little for honey. That happened in the Grote Prijs of it. Adding to that, it also grooves like the van Nederland, the winning of it was a long proverbial motherfucker, and a melancholy Le Roi Mort... cherished dream. And now? Play a lot, she flourish of trumpet regularly brings another hopes, and make a lot of great albums. We twist to the whole concept. So, that’s how you You would not tell when you hear their think she will succeed. win the Grote Prijs van Nederland. authentic bouillabaisse of cheerful French (language) polka punk and melodramatic chansons, but Le Roi Mort et les Lentilles LPG / DeSpeech Dret & Krulle Rouges are simply coming from the Drenthe countryside. In fact, this crazy bunch is Wayward, glorious melodious pop songs with That was some sick final, that of the Grote comprised of punk rock veterans and their vocal harmonies and unexpected turns, that’s Prijs van Nederland, hip hop category, on Soulburn offspring. what indie band LPG from Groningen lives last December 12. All potential winners, one on. In 2010 they’ll start DeSpeech, a project by one. Tastic, Dope D.O.D., Kraantje fuckin’ realized by handicraft. DeSpeech-subscribers Pappie, and two more. Until lastly Dret & will receive by mail three authentic handmade Krulle stormed the stage and everyone knew: editions. this is it. Hard, dark beats, raps like a machine gun round, a staggering presentation, this was hip hop Bijlmer style and they were sure to win. Gangsta rap from The Netherlands’ most famous black ghetto. All bangers, one by one. But no retro. “No oldskool niggers,” as they themselves rap, “no, this is music for tomorrow.” (from ‘Verder’). Duly noted.
Pitto
Patience is a virtue, even in the fast world of dance. Just ask brand new Grote Prijs winner Pitto. The import Utrechter is under the spell of house since 1995, dj since 1998 and party Stan Diego organizer since 2000. Three years later he began producing his own music. In 2008 he Stan Diego had his first international club hit, ‘Sexy Vibe’, last year his second, ‘Feelin’’. And next spring Singer and songwriter Stan Diego is one his debut album ‘Green’ will be released. No amongst many fallen angels in the music wonder he is known for his superior mastery of business who, leaving a black period of self- climax-building. All that experience has brought loathing and depression behind, moved into him a unique style, in which house, techno, the small Mexican village of Tonatico to record electro and minimal are fighting for a bone, a brand new album. Our anti-hero is back, and and his distinctive funky, sexy sound is running
he is not alone. away with it. Hey, winning is an art form. Nuclear Driven Animals background
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Sexton Creeps
Combine Sixteen Horsepower with Sonic Youth and Nick Cave and what you get is something like Sexton Creeps. This collective from Groningen wallows in folk and psychedelia in a dark and theatrical way. Its cast varies from three to eleven members and is characterized by divergent collaborations, which accordingly lets a lost piano, scratching violin, swampy organ, wailing harmonica, raging guitar storm, black romantic accordion or possessed front Dudettes man J.C. dominate the sound palette.
MakeBelieve
Colligan A golden mix of emo, rock and powerpop with which the stages of the Low Countries are What do you do as a band when the members’ being stormed week after week. That work music tastes range from Jeff Buckley to ethic already helped the fivesome to secure Switchfoot and from Luka Bloom to Arctic support slots for major bands like 30 Seconds Monkeys? Then you create your own sound. To Mars and Paramore, and also to numerous Neat and tidy does it and you instantly make band contests and radio stations, and of a fresh impression. For that’s what this course in the studio, from which already a Groningen band does, also thanks to light- number of EPs saw the light of day. voiced and playful singer Ayla Boonstoppel.
Dudettes
The four strings in this female band are assigned Colligan to the only dude in the group. However, the attention catchers in this Groningen quartet then feels nicely sultry, thanks to their languid are singer Zjoly Onrust, equipped with the Cosmic Spring springtime songs which sometimes provide voice of the devil, and star guitarplayer Cynthia an endearingly light look on life. Songs with Weiss, who both propel the energetic and a These Groningen space dudes weave a strong jazzy feel, here and there a lick of little cheeky Dudettes rock to a higher level. hallucinatory trance carpets full of bleeps Latin, a dash of soul or a funky groove and and beeps and dreamy melodies to swing to, the equally relaxed as perfectly timed vocals weightless. On the basis of vintage analog of Roos Plaatsman, a Dutch Billie Holiday in Long Way Down synthesizers, obscure sound fx, subliminal the making. bass lines, unflappable beats and hypnotic Raging guitar riffs, relentless jumping around, guitar repetitions, the fivesome takes you the energy of a particle accelerator gone wild, with them on a musical journey, discovering Spotrockers pop hooks from the national gold reserves, unknown places in your inner universe. close-harmony singing as sweet as a kiss, pop A band calling themselves ‘the new Dutch- punk slash punk rock band Long Way Down language super band’ without batting an is doing everything by the book, but just that Roos eyelid is either arrogant or really the new little bit more. Or less, such as daring to step Dutch-language super band. Spotrockers off the gas in the quite brilliant ‘Wake Up’. If during Euro- and GrunnSonic it would be get every benefit of the doubt, ’cause the Since three years the Groningen five infest freezing cold in the streets of Groningen, dead funky hip hop of this almost three year town and country with it, following in the just flee inside to witness ROOS. gets your old band from Leeuwarden and Groningen skate tracks of examples such as Lagwagon, temperature back up again in no time. Not only grooves like a mother and blows all the
Pulley and No Use For A Name. physically, but also between the ears, where it skeptics upside down. MakeBelieve friday 15 january EuroSonic
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Everything Grand Theatre Orka (Fo) Svjata Vatra (Ee) Izia (Fr) main Everything (Uk)
Grand Theatre Deolinda (Pt) Bernhoft (No) Kirtana Rasa (Ee) up Creature With The Atom Glamour Of The Kill (Uk) Audrey Horne (No) Young Guns (Uk) Vindicat Brain (Be)
Muziekschool Negrita (It) Kill The Dandies! (Cz) Diskjokke (No) Mvsc (Be)
News Café Robin Tom Rink (De) Major Parkinson (No) Daniel Norgren (Swe) Hokie Joint (Uk)
And So I Watch You From The Low Frequency In Agent Fresco (Ic) The Hickey Underworld (Be) Vera Afar (Ir) Stereo (No) Choir Of Young Believers Wouter Hamel (Nl) Jasper Erkens (Be) Sivert Höyem (No) Schouwburg (Dk)
Huize Maas Donkeyboy (No) Moke (Nl) Charlie Winston (Uk) De Staat (Nl) Dj St. Paul (Nl) main
Huize Maas Pony Pony Run Run (F) Pegasus (Ch) Catpeople (Es) Óriás (Hu) front
De Beurs The Golden Glows (Be) Noora Noor (No) Calibro 35 (Ita) La Caravane Passe (Fra)
Nive Nielsen & The Deer Beth Jeans Rockettothesky (No) Stornoway (Uk) USVA Children (Gr) Houghton (Uk)
De Spieghel Cosmo Jarvis (Uk) Soma (Fr) The Bookhouse Boys (Uk) Ungdomskulen (No)
The De Spieghel Grant Campbell (Uk) Delorentos (Ire) Maria Timm (Dk) up Popopopops (Fr) Crystal Shadrak Clara Clara (Fra) Jaakko & Jay (Fin) Fm Belfast (Ice) Mum Dj’s (Ice) main Fighters (Esp)
Shadrak Greyline (Nl) Ilanois (Nl) De Basis (Nl) up
De Opera Lucy Love (Dk) Krause (Nl) C-Mon & Kypski (Nl) Boemklatsch (Nl)
Ebbingekwartier Radio Barkas (Nl)
Los Campesinos Simplon Ellie Goulding (Uk) Fagget Fairys (Dk) Adam Tensta (Se) Schlachthofbronx (De) main (Uk) Ou Est Le Swimming Simplon Post War Years (Uk) Frittenbude (De) Wareika (De) up Pool (Uk) The Bony King Of Nowhere Paleis Sophie Hunger (Ch) Jenny Wilson (Se) main (Be)
Paleis Villagers (Ire) Ben Howard (Uk) De Anale Fase (Be) up Christiaan Hof All Missing Jenny Lane (Nl) Marit Larsen (No) Dennis (Nl) Di-Rect (Nl) Stereo (Nl) Platformtheater (Nl) Pieces (Nl) Dj Lowpro (Nl), Fotosynthese (Nl), Dj Lowpro (Nl), Danskie, Nzovoort, Kas-M & Wenki, Dope D.O.D. Plaza Danza Cartes & Kleine Jay (Nl), Amo-Lab (Nl), Hef (Nl) (Nl), Dj Irie (Nl), Kingzmen (Nl), Us (Nl), Vice Verzen (Nl) Serena Joe Worricker (Uk) Broken Records (Uk) Rox (Uk) Machinefabriek Maneesh (No) We Swim Flux (Nl) The Black Atlantic (Nl) Pakhuis You Jump (Nl)
Koster Gravediggers (Nl) Noir (Nl)
Audiotransparent Kelin (Nl) De Kar (Nl) Growlin’ Love & Pain Rosy Lee (Nl) Buckshot (Nl)
De Toeter Two Of A Kind (Nl) Corijn (Nl) background Krause
Wilder than La Roux, poppier than Elle Bandita, that’s Krause, the alter ego of Susanne musicXport.nl Clermonts, who fuses catchy synthpop and 66 hysterical electro punk together for a sound that sends your trouser legs flying. She does so on her brand new debut album, produced by Moke her Groningen drum ‘n’ bass fellow townsmen Noisia. Last september, when Moke was handed a gold record for its debut album ‘Shorland’, it suddenly started to dawn: the Amsterdam C-mon & Kypski britrock band had slowly but surely climbed up to the highest echelons of Dutch pop music. Time flies when you’re having fun. Holland’s No mean feat for a band that is only been genre-bending pride C-Mon & Kypski, grown doing it for a good three years. They deserve from electronics and hiphop led turntablism it, and certainly frontman Felix Maginn, the duo sent to makers of eclectic pop music with Irish expat whose previous band Supersub, a capital E, is ten years old in 2010. Reason playing almost the same kind of music, never for a party. Expect a true rollercoaster ride got out of the margin. On their new album through all corners of pop music, brimming ‘The Long & Dangerous Sea’ Moke once again with dazzling samples and at full speed shows that their patron Paul Weller’s trust is through the style barrier. more than just: big gestures, but a small heart. And nothing but top material. De Basis
De Staat Ilanois
You know the phenomenon? That some words Being ambitious as a band is tricky, especially change meaning over time? Like here by De in the calvinist Netherlands. But Frisian Staat (= The State) we no longer mean the band Ilanois has to be, their music calls for it. State of the Netherlands, but the rock band Accessible indie rock of panoramic dimensions, from Nijmegen who, as a T.C. Matic of the where emotions always brim over, following
Stone Age, in one year’s time has shoved the the example of artists like Coldplay, Chris Isaak Krause country in its back pocket. Raw, fiery and and Jeff Buckley. They already secured national passionate. Statesman Torre Florim (vocals/ fame, through the Top 20 hit ‘Pouring Rain’, the guitar) and his merry men were the discovery accompanying album ‘Do You Hear Me’ and of the previous Noorderslag edition and since their publicity stunt ‘24 gigs in 24 hours’. then didn’t need to look back anymore. In the meantime they have played all over The Netherlands and their debut album ‘Wait For Evolution’ is the cool calling card of Holland De Basis indie rock land. In short: De Staat is always ready. And a must-see for all Saturday Night You know, everything ultimately goes back
Live fans who demand more cowbell! to the basis. Without basis, life is nothing. Boemklatsch Therefore this Frisian hiphop fivesome couldn’t think of a better name for their band. Having started out less than a year Greyline ago supporting Rico & Sticks, there now has grown something beautiful at De Basis. A solid Boemklatsch There is a grey line between brutal metal and sound, built from a variety of styles, from soul melodic rock, and it’s called Greyline. Four and funk through rock to even prog, played Boem, klatsch. Kick, snare. It can be that sturdy blokes from up North - Groningen to by a tight band using organic instruments simple. In fact, it was that simple when be exact - who in recent years have won over a together with synths, samplers and other Boemklatsch was founded in U-town, in 2001. lot of souls. At home and abroad, at Wâldrock electronics. And then on top flow the smooth A boat party, twenty euros, free booze and and EuroSonic, and at the same stages as raps of frontman Ico Balt. Compressed into spinning hip hop records. Eight years later, metal gods like Slayer and Dillinger Escape an awesome live show, which already won the the group of partying friends has become a Plan. After two albums, of which one self- quintet the Kleine Prijs van Fryslân (the Small colourful and energetic dance collective that released, the new ‘Behind The Masquerade’ is Prize of Friesland). Logical really, because you won’t hesitate to give a house-coming-down
already hanging out to dry. know it’s the basis! Ilanois guarantee. background Stereo The Black Atlantic
For a band with two guitarists (of course, The acoustic chamber pop of this quartet stereo), Stereo sometimes sound a bit cautious. from Groningen is often justly compared musicXport.nl At least on their debut album ‘Monogamy’, to acts like Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes and Sigur 68 released last summer. Live the house just Rós. The calm beauty of their soft waving comes down with this sextet, which late in chants, rustic piano playing and soft-focus 2008 arose from the television programme guitars and percussion is mesmerizing and Jenny Lane Rock Nation, a kind of Pop Idol for rockers. seduced already 50,000 fans to download This reads like a motley crew, but Stereo their critically acclaimed debut album before A white girl from Purmerend, Noord-Holland, sounds remarkably solid, something the Rock it was even in the shops. After American and who gets the legendary black Apollo Theater Nation-required living together undoubtedly European tours The Black Atlantic is now in New York on its knees, it should not get any helped with. Just as the past of the band back where it started three years ago: at crazier. Yet that’s what happened to Jenny members, in rock, hardcore and hip hop EuroSonic. Lane in 2007, when she participated in the groups, and in studios, on rock academies
Apollo’s weekly amateur night and sent all her Flux and music schools. With the slightly husky competitors homeward. A tentative climax power singer Astrid Kunst as figurehead, We Swim You Jump in the career of the singer, who by the way emphasis will be clearly on soul, with the these twenty-somethings just go for gold! already lives in Amsterdam for a long time help of a.o. Kraak & Smaak and soul producer There’s a lot to hear in the indie pop of the and has permanently traded her days as a Commissioner Gordon (Lauryn Hill, Aretha Groningen quintet based around singer/ background vocalist for a.o. Postman ánd Franklin). That’s gonna be a fantastic gig in Flux guitarist Richard Oosterbaan and singer/ Anouk for life as a soloist. Rightly so, as shown Groningen, with or without guests. keyboardist Niek Verwey. Influences of the late by her unique amalgam of pop and soul that Is pop music art? Listen to Flux and you singer/songwriter Elliott Smith for example, has already yielded a spectacular debut suppose it is. Nothing elitist, mind you, but and of catchy (power) pop bands like The album and hits like ‘Say Say Say’ and ‘You Di-rect yet something more than just a collection of Posies and Nada Surf. But also intriguing Start A Fire’. Now see her live and imagine songs. Flux, the alter ego of the Groningen arrangements, which lift the band above you’re at the Apollo. Who is Di-rect? A rhetorical question, for last singer/keyboardist Irene Wiersma, crafts sheer epigonism. autumn that was the title of the successful miraculous Dutch-language pop music with television program in which the rock band surreal lyrics. Songs like dreams, of light Christiaan Hof from The Hague went searching for a new disrupting signature, that lead you to an singer before the eyes of the nation. They often grim, mostly personal world full of Christiaan Hof - not a name that makes you found him: Marcel Veenendaal, with whom Di- controversy. sit up. Until his songs do, and they do. Dutch- rect after ten years, five albums, thirteen hits, language songs in the tradition of Bløf and each and every stage in the Netherlands and a Marco Borsato, songs that hit you right in mantelpiece full of prizes will step on the gas the heart, with a phrase that stays with you. once again for a new series of successes, but “Security is a thing that is not so sure” for now in a higher gear. Therefore co-composer example, from ‘Alleen Is Maar Alleen’ (Alone Is and keyboardist Vince van Reeken was also Just Alone), his first single. His first own single, offered a permanent contract and with their to be exact. Because Christiaan is not new in new single ‘Times Are Changing’ the band di- the business. He composed for Kinderen Voor rectly slammed into the national charts. New Kinderen, sang in the band of Alain Clark and targets: to conquer Europe ánd the alternative produced albums by Boris and Jim. But the music snob, starting in Groningen. desire to own a place in the spotlight himself was uncontrollable. And see: Christiaan Hof is now himself a star in the making. Maybe it’s All Missing Pieces time to start remembering that name. In the fall of 2007 they surprised the whole of the Netherlands as a rough version of the The Black Atlantic Dennis Hanson brothers from the nineties. With an average age of 12 years, The Hague-based All Not everything is what it seems. The fans Missing Pieces were really just too sweet to be of Dennis know that. That Dennis is no real able to assess their music on their own merits, Dennis for example, but a Denise, daughter of however great that music was. Real, raw famous Dutch producer Rob van Donselaar. garage rock with which they totally burned Those who didn’t know Dennis yet, now down many a festival (only in the holidays), know as well, which comes in handy. A good including Noorderslag 2008. Two years later SwimWe Up You opportunity to also tell them that Dennis they are back with new songs and a richer debuted three years ago with an album full sound, thanks to the purchase of an authentic of dance, rock, soul and pop, but that on Philicorda-organ. Forget those old songs, the the follow-up, set for a January release, the new ones are better. All Missing Pieces are at singer will sound a lot more mature and the it again! background
musicXport.nl 70
Noir
On November 9 this year Groningen band Noir and 170 guitarists and bassists travelled to Berlin to commemorate the fall of the Wall. That initiative alone already shows what a special band Noir is, and then we yet have to start about their own music. We can be short about it: it is fantastic, in more than one sense. Inspired by progressive rock and metal bands like Tool, Deftones and Isis, Noir paints a universe of hypnotic, highly original songs, freakish as a mountain landscape, impenetrable like a primeval forest and dangerous as rattlesnakes in the desert.
Klein
See page 59.
Audiotransparent
Audiotransparent is a lot less transparent Rosy Lee Growlin’ Love & Pain than before. Rather, the formerly quiet, melancholy sound image of the Groningen indie band is now full of scratches, cracks and buts. Ominous clouds of electronics Growlin' Love & Pain Two of a Kind and glitches serve as backdrop for songs that creak and squeak, and certainly could An Italian band that trades Rome for Groningen, Two sisters, two guitars (although they only be called dark and swampy. As if the band purely for the music. Can it get any crazier? Yet play one live), voices that colour together like deliberately positioned itself in times of crisis this way they hoped to find a healthier breeding the sun and the summer, Sofie (19) and Robin and depression, as we currently experience. ground for their English-language band (18) IJzerman are indeed Two Of A Kind. It’s But the songs remain unchangeably beautiful Growlin’ Love & Pain. Take note: EuroSonic those voices that count, in the collection elf- (and certainly melancholy and sometimes factor alert! Indeed, their sturdy stew of funky like indie folk pop songs with which the duo even Beatle-esque) and it’s not only to the soul and (blues) rock is widely appreciated. from Groningen makes a name for themselves, wounded voice of singer Bart Looman that Also the debut album ‘Slightly Tasteful’, plus a choice of covers (Graham Nash, The you will stick as to a fly strip. recorded in Rome, goes down well. So, high Weepers) that reveals a mind of their own. time for the European stage of GrunnSonic with special guest Tollak Ollestadt (Jewel, Rosy Lee Seal, Andrea Bocelli). Corijn Corijn From sixties celebrities like The Beatles and He is young and he wants something: to The Kinks through modfather Paul Weller combine the popularity of a modern singer/ and Madchester stars The Stone Roses to songwriter like John Mayer with the artistry Britpop kings Oasis and The Kooks from here of his musical examples, such as Nick Drake and now, from each of them there must be and Bob Dylan. Well then, Corijn van Mazijk is a song embedded in the drinking-water of well under way. Thus the Groninger, decked the Groningen neighbourhood where Rosy out with an impressive afro and an attractive, Lee is resident. However, the band can pride semi-husky voice, won this year’s singer/ themselves on a sound of their own: well-kept songwriter contest Nootuitgang, performs all and nimble, with bright, catchy songs that’ll over the country and already released a single
do the heart good. Audiotransparent and an EP, which didn’t do bad at all. saturday 16 january Noorderslag
20:00 20:45 21:30 22:15 23:00 23:45 00:30 01:15 02:00 02:45
Typhoon Ft Moss Waylon Laura Jansen Wende Dio Flinke Namen 3FM Zaal New Cool Collective
De Volkskrant Elske Dewall Benjamin Herman Diggy Dex Caro Emerald Zaal Charlene
Heineken Foyer 19:45 The Madd Knobsticker Daily Bread Dewolff Mdungu
C-Mon & Kypski Vs Metro- Buma Cultuur Moke Popprijs De Staat Zaal pole Orkest
Kelder Skinto Kraantje Pappie Zwart Licht Knalpot Juju & Jordash / Darko Applescal Makam Anton Pieëte
Serious Talent Valerius Destine Rigby Go Back To The Zoo Want Want Stage
Bizon Zaal The Mad Trist Drive Like Maria Promo (Live) & Guests Aux Raus Deluxe
Diggy The Rigby Di-Rect Nl 3 Zaal Dex Madd
Hilversum Media- Tim Knol Awkward I Eric Vloeimans Gatecrash stad Paviljoen 0ne Trick Shaking Bettie Serveert Lola Kite Noah’s Ark Anne Soldaat 3voor12 Zaal Pony Godspeed
Moss Laura Jansen wondrously beautiful. Who would have thought so of the Amsterdammer, whose French- Not to be confused with umpteen other name- An artist’s life can run the strangest course. language songs career certainly seemed nailed. sakes, but if their quality curve keeps moving Laura Jansen studied at the Rotterdam Especially for her singer/songwriter album ‘No. up as fast as it does now, the Amsterdam guys school of music, went through it again in 9’ Wende also learned to play guitar, with which from Moss soon won’t have to worry about Boston, discovered in Nashville that she had she now tours the pop venues, much to the that any longer. The indiepop band of singer/ no country blood and ended up in singer/ delight of both her old and her new audience. guitarist Marien Dorleijn debuted a few years songwriter circles in L.A., after which she Of course Noorderslag can’t stay behind then. back with some old-fashioned, solid song- was temporarily imported back to Holland writership, and real songs still are the bottom by Marco Borsato’s composer John Ewbank, under Moss. But now adventure is growing to have her breakthrough here via daily talk Dio on top; the Moss of today are more intense, show De Wereld Draait Door and a successful rhythmic, playful and at the same time in the debut album. And rightly so. Her characteristic If there’s one Dutch rapper who has made his grip of a vague melancholia, also thanks to the piano songs from the womb of Tori Amos and mark last year, it’s Dio, the comical Amster- wonderful vocals, solo and close-harmony. A Regina Spektor sparkle like fireflies on a hot dammer whose career gained momentum band of wild desire, as vulnerable as elusive. summer night. Something we can put to good after winning the audience prize in the finals Pick them. use at Noorderslag! of the Grote Prijs van Nederland in 2007. Hit Moss singles as guest of The Opposites and The Party Squad, followed by an album of his own Waylon (that’s right), the debut album ‘Wicked Wende and hits of his own, also invariably in collabo- Ways’ and his phenomenal appearance at ration with others, like Voicst, Sef and last but Waylon? Ain’t that the country dude, Waylon the Michael Jackson Tribute in Paradiso. And Wende, that’s our national chansonnier, isn’t not least, The Madd. Everybody knows them, Jennings? That’s right, that’s who Willem that’s just being picky. Sporting Chris Isaak’s she? Yes and no. She was, absolutely, but that instant nederhop classics like ‘Het Is Je Boy’, Bijkerk named himself after, being his big monster quiff, the looks of El Vez, a killer voice was before the ‘Wende’, the Turning Point. ‘Tijdmachine’’, ‘Aye’ and ‘Baby’, super-catchy idol. Yet for some time he’s known as one of that’s midway between those of Terence The revolution that led to her new identity as songs in a variety of styles, and of course the Holland’s very biggest soul singers. Strange Trent D’Arby and Otis Redding, and being the a full-blooded singer/songwriter of emotionally always swinging, often joyous, sometimes se- but true, as already proven by his second first Dutch signing on the legendary Motown- profound songs about loneliness and longing, in rious raps from Dio himself . Not stupid, rude place in the tv show ‘Holland’s Got Talent’ label, his future seems set. Wicked! the spirit of an icon like Janis Ian. In English, and or famous, but only Rock & Roll! background Caro Emerald singer Kimberly’s voice, changing colour from Siouxsie Sioux to PJ Harvey. Spearheading New year’s eve is coming, or has just been, is Kimberly’s authentic Philicorda-organ, depending on when you read this. A moment upgraded to a roaring, grunting and sputtering musicXport.nl of looking back to the old, with the promise of monster with help from noisebox and other 74 the new. A good time to also reflect on Caro accessories, and who only gives away its toy Emerald, a new Dutch star with an irresistibly tone at unguarded moments. Combined with seductive but powerful voice, who does banging drums and fuzz bass, arises the sexy Flinke Namen exactly the same with her music. Music that garage dance sound with which Daily Bread takes its hat off for the ballroom jazz, tangos explicitly claims the Dutch organ rock crown. The hip hop world knows super groups too, and mambos from the Hollywood of the though usually retroactively. Think NWA forties and fifties, but wrapped in smoky beats or Wu-Tang Clan. The masterfully swinging and groovy songs of today. Unlikely catchy Flinke Namen also existed before rapper Sef singles like ‘Back It Up’ and ‘A Night Like This’ and dj The Flexican got individually known, make you very curious about Emerald’s debut but it took until this year before the quartet, Caro Emerald album, to be released by the end of January, also comprising of MC Fit and Murth, dropped splendidly soulful pop songs, with influences and her appearance at Noorderslag – we its first real album, a smash hit. Live they’re from roots, gospel, folk and modern country. know we can’t wait! already much longer successful: Flinke Her debut album, recorded in America, is dying Namen didn’t reach the finals of the Grote to be released; her band – which includes her Prijs music contest of 2005 for nothing. Now sister – is likewise dying to conquer Noorderslag The Madd they finally appear at Noorderslag too, where with her. all and sundry will see and hear that the age Being retro and yet not outdated, that is gap between veteran Murth (also known as an art. And the Rotterdam beat group The comedian and presenter) and the others Benjamin Herman Madd lives that art to perfection. Not only by doesn’t cause a generation gap but rather reviving the glorious sound of the sixties, but super stunt work! Ask an average Dutch pop music lover to also by enhancing it with a dose of streamlined name a well-known Dutch jazz musician, and power pop and the energy and urgency of the chances are big that it will be Benjamin the here and now. Main Maddman Dave von Typhoon feat. New Cool Collective Herman. No wonder, the Hilversum alto Raven and his buddies have earlier been saxophonist of British descent is and plays turning Noorderslag upside down with it; now Rappers and bands together, that’s old hat. everywhere. Be it as band leader of New Cool that we’re a fist full of radio hits, a successful From Run-D.M.C. & Aerosmith to Dio & The Collective (jazz/soul/latin), as a guest musician album and hundreds of performances (both Madd, it ain’t no surprise anymore. But a rapper with all from Candy Dulfer to C-Mon & Kypski, also in close collaboration with rapper Dio) and a jazz formation, that was unprecedented. or with his own 4tet, as now at Noorderslag. further, and The Madd are more popular than That is, up until 2007, when Dutch-speaking Then the music is tighter, funkier and more ever, we can no longer take responsibility for wordsmith extraordinaire Typhoon and jazz progressive, without losing an ounce of jazz. the consequences. combo ultra moderne New Cool Collective Moreover, the sharply dressed Herman, of all got joined up at the Amsterdam Uitmarkt. the Noorderslag artists probably the one with Later there was a legendary gig in Paradiso, the most records under his belt and the most Knobsticker an appearance in the tv program Raymann prizes in the closet, always tightly bears the Is Laat and now there is a real EP from this dance floor in mind. I t ’s a g r e a t s t o r y : o n o n e o f t h e i r j o u r n e y s t h r o u g h special combination, ‘Chocolate’. That should the former Eastern Bloc, two music lovers
be celebrated, of course. After the official from Utrecht come across two music making The Madd presentation in the Milky Way, the next logical Charlene lumberjacks in the woods of Rekçitsbonk. festive location is Noorderslag. Let the party They then drag them home, where the strange begin! It’s the same with Idols (Dutch version of Pop duo (drums and synthesizers) is offered a DeWolff Idol) as with the Grote Prijs van Nederland record deal. Pity that origin can’t be heard (biggest Dutch band contest): you don’t have in the music, but that contract is justified: Dutch rock & roll godfather Peter Koelewijn Elske DeWall to win to make a profit of it. And so the star Knobsticker creates fresh, funky disco soul once already sang: “Here comes the wolf / I am of 21 year-old Charlene Meulenberg, who last with a futuristic twist, which at first fills the the wolf / you better surrender to me.” With Right, how do these things come about? You year had to leave the Idols stage as second dance floor, to rub against easy tune later, a telepathic glance into the future, he must let your child have piano lessons, hoping to before last, is ever rising. So far her self aided by local string players and songbirds, have spoken of DeWolff, three teenagers from provide her with a bit of culture. The child likes composed cocktail mix of pop, soul and R&B, including Benny Sings. Can we keep them? Geleen who relive the hard blues-rock sound it, after piano saxophone and guitar follow, and in which also a pinch of rock AND her past as a of the late sixties in a fantastic way. Complete eventually she ends up at the Academy for Pop gospel singer resound, has been recorded on with Hammond tsunami, long jams, lyrical Culture in Leeuwarden, studying singing. One two singles (‘Take Me Away’ and ‘Too Bright’) Daily Bread guitar work and soulful vocals. Deep Purple teacher sees something special in her, records and a self-titled debut album, together with meets Taste meets Vanilla Fudge, if you know a demo with her and sends it to a major label, her equally tight and smooth band and If Daily Bread was our daily bread, you would who they are. Otherwise: google those bands, that’s already offering her a contract the next produced by the triumvirate of Dean Tippett, not hear us complaining. No wonder, with these and then play their MP3s all together. Then it day. And so Elske de Walle became star in Bart Suèr and Benny Sings. Sounds like it’s in young Frisian Flevo dogs, who bark and bite, immediately strikes you that DeWolff plays a the making Elske DeWall, singer/songwriter of the bag, and that’s it live too. with their guerrilla punky-electro sound and lot tighter. Welcome in the tens. Just surrender. background Zwart Licht
Black light. You know, that funny club light that lights up your teeth. But Zwart Licht (Dutch for musicXport.nl ‘black light’), that’s a different story. They set 76 your whole body aglow. Leave that to beat baker Hayzee and rappers Akwasi and young buddy Leeroy, who with Zwart Licht finally Mdungu De Staat give Dutch hip hop in Amsterdam some street credibility. Their debut album ‘Bliksemschicht’, What you get from far is tasty, reads a good You know the phenomenon? That some words of course released on the Top Notch label, is Dutch proverb. The VOC knew all about it. But change meaning over time? Like here by De full of grime beats and grim lyrics, although in why would you get from afar, what’s playing Staat (= The State) we no longer mean the some tracks there is also room for some nice right under your nose as if the World Cup State of the Netherlands, but the rock band old school braggin’ & boastin’. Whichever way has to be won? For the Amsterdam-based from Nijmegen who, as a T.C. Matic of the you look at it, with Zwart Licht you definitely Mdungu thinks nothing of creating a highly Stone Age, in one year’s time has shoved the see sharper. infectious mash-up of West African pop music country in its back pocket. Raw, fiery and such as the Senegalese mbalax, the Nigerian passionate. Statesman Torre Florim (vocals/ afrobeat and the legacy of Malinese griots, guitar) and his merry men were the discovery Knalpot mixed with western styles like jazz, funk and of the previous Noorderslag edition and since rock, with spectacular results. Not bad for a then didn’t need to look back anymore. In Let’s not hope that your own knalpot (= bunch of white boys from the Netherlands, the meantime they have played all over The exhaust) sounds like it, but in musical terms Luxembourg and Spain, complemented by Netherlands and their debut album ‘Wait For this Amsterdam experimental duo is a real a Gambian percussionist. Hypnotic rhythms, Evolution’ is the cool calling card of Holland treat. Consisting of a drummer, a guitarist howling guitar solos, three saxophonists and indie rock land. In short: De Staat is always who simultaneously plays casio, plus a pile every venue upside down! ready. And a must-see for all Saturday Night of effect-boxes, Knalpot stumbles like a Live fans who demand more cowbell! sputtering tractor in a messed-up music shop. Juggling with time signatures, song structures and music styles, with stuttering C-mon & Kypski vs Metropole Orkest Skinto grooves, distorted riffs and bleeps and beeps everywhere, but always 100% live. And despite Genre-benders C-Mon & Kypski, accompanied ‘Now I am nothing, but soon I am the shit!’, references to jazz, dub, improvisation and the by the Metropole Orchestra conducted by reads the MySpace of rapper Skinto. We sound of the English Warp label, also made Jules Buckley, while there will also be a family gladly believe that. In fact, we’re as sure with 100% rock attitude. Eat that, rock gods. pack full of guests at the table: Jiggy Djé, about that as the talking machine gun from Benjamin Herman & Jules Deelder, Giovanca, Amsterdam-Zuidoost himself. Because Skinto Florim Torre (De Staat), Dio, Janne Schra is gruesomely good and doesn’t resemble any (Room Eleven) and Anneke van Giersbergen other Dutch hip hopper. Over boiling grime (Agua de Annique). and dubstep beats he bangs his way to the top with aggressive street raps in which Dutch and English fight for supremacy. Moke Knalpot
See page 66. Kraantje Pappie Applescal Juju & Jordash
Kraantje Pappie: if that isn’t a West Indian. Juju & Jordash A dance producer who’s working with such Wrong! Kraantje Pappie is white as cream concentration that he almost plunges into (OK, with a dash of Moluccan blood) and the Jazz, post-rock, avant-garde, world music, his laptop. There won’t be much more to see main representative of the city of Groningen behold the wondrous roots of the Amsterdam abou the live set of Applescal, in 2008 the in the Dutch-speaking hip hop scene. A nice dance producers duo Juju & Jordash. Roots winner of the Grote Prijs (the biggest Dutch entrance as the new kid on the block, but of that still shine through in their multilayered live music contest) in the category Dance/ course it’s the music that counts. Humor and sound paintings, where the beat usually is Producers. Why, that’s not necessary at all. energy are Pappie’s strengths, and backed by elastic, and not very prominent, rating by Just close your eyes, and the most amazing two backup mc’s and one imaginative beat dance floor standards. But there is so much dreams appear to the intelligent dance music master, he gladly puts them into action on the going on in this richly decorated deep house, of the 21-year old from Amsterdam. Techno stages of the Low Countries. And of course including shifts to Detroit techno, that as a ain’t a four-to-the-floor format to him, but on his new debut EP ‘Boulimia’, released on listener you better abandon any standard. The pure modelling clay. He moulds the most Noah’s Ark, the label of colleague and hero music of Juju & Jordash, recently recorded colourful creations from it, while grazing the Jiggy Djé. So Noorderslag will be a home on a debut album on the label of the hip entire dance spectrum: from minimal to acid, game, but first there’s the finals of the Grote Dekmantel collective, you have to undergo from clicks ‘n’ cuts to ambient, everything Zwart Licht Prijs, in December. Will you keep your fingers with a blank mind. Those legs will move of finds its place in Applescal’s techno works of crossed with us? themselves. art. And yes, it is excellent music to dance to. background Go Back To The Zoo
When, as a young band, you let yourself be influenced by both The Beatles and the Stones, musicXport.nl you already did good before you actually 78 started. That’s not to say this Amsterdam quartet, centred around the hiply bearded, curly wurly brothers Cas (vocals) and Teun Makam Destine (guitar) Hieltjes, is a retro band. In fact they’re a modern rocking indie combo, above all Makam is putting his own unique take on house Dutch emo bands are a rare breed. Not so guided by the music of more contemporary music, which can be infectiously pumping & strange, because emo’s a dirty word in the heroes such as The Strokes and Kings Of Drive Like Maria raw, carefully mixed that sweet touch of old Netherlands. Not in America, where they very Leon, while aforementioned classic influences school, but also truly soulful, slow moving & well know where emo comes from. And even primarily translate into a catchy britpop edge. sexy. Guy Blanken started producing in 2002. if emo-pop bands like Fall Out Boy, Paramore Their single ‘Beam Me Up’ already figured in band competition. And of course their music In 2006 Guy started his Makam project and and All-American Rejects sound far from an international Nike commercial, so the zoo with catchy melodies and mesmerizing vocals this is where he currently stands. Releasing emo’s origins, they are treated with respect. can forget about it! into addictively good songs with the correct music on Soweso and Sushitech and an album So all will turn out well for our own Destine, reference points (Cream, Masters Of Reality) planned for late 2009, Makam is ready to who didn’t replace Fall Out Boy for no reason, and an exciting dose of rock & roll madness. show his distinct perception of house music. last summer at the Lowlands festival, and With their debut album on the shelves the week A makam, more than simply a selection of who already went to Florida to record their after, Noorderslag will be the moment of truth notes and intervals, is essentially a guide to forthcoming debut album. Meanwhile, their for The Mad Trist. Make sure you’re there. compositional structure: any composition in cheerful, catchy pop-punk has spread across a given makam will move through the notes of Western Europe like the plague, because the that makam in a more or less ordered way (in boys like touring a lot, and long, without caring Drive Like Maria this, it resembles a tone row à la Schoenberg for borders. High time for Noorderslag. or Weber). To drive drunk isn’t allowed, but Drive Like Maria is. Fortunately, otherwise Noorderslag had to make do without the most exciting rock Valerius trio that underlined the relationship between the Netherlands and Belgium this year. Young
Adriaen Valerius was a famous poet and Go Back The Zoo To musicians, including a singing drummer and a composer at the time of the Eighty Years War, lioness of a guitarist, who create rudimentary, which he also wrote Sea Beggars songs for. blues-based hard rock, following in the So, a hero, after whom the Valeriusplein in Want Want footsteps of peers like Wolfmother and The Amsterdam was named, the square where the Answer. In doing so they call big boys like Led boys of Valerius got their band name from. One would almost believe that these days only Zeppelin and Queens Of The Stone Age in Thus, also heroes a little bit, and no wonder hip hop is being made in Zwolle, but nothing is mind, but thanks to a velvet coating and its that the young foursome around the Nambiar further from the truth. The former Hanseatic supple flow, Drive Like Maria mostly reminds brothers were lucky prize collectors ever city is in fact also the base for Want Want, a of cult legends Masters Of Reality. You can’t since the start of their musical career: literally young quartet that takes its inspiration from praise them any higher. as recipients of awards like TMF Superclip and nineties power pop in the tradition of bands
3FM Serious Talent, figuratively as support act Rigby such as Weezer and Fountains Of Wayne. of the Jonas Brothers and Van Velzen. Makes Granted, with Dutch lyrics, a feature that Promo (live) & Guests sense, with such perfectly crafted radio pop, Rigby makes Want Want stand out from the crowd and even funky too! in advance, although the quality of the songs Sometimes it’s time for something else. After He probably doesn’t want to remember, but gives them every reason to. Live the band also 17 years of only gabba, celebrated hardcore without his earlier experiences in showbizz plays hard, tight and fast, like a power pop dj Promo gave in to his old love, hip hop. (a finalist in Idols and member of successful band should. But not so fast that you can’t He signed with biggest Dutch hip hop label Dutch-British hit makers XYP), singer/pianist/ sing along at the top of your lungs. TopNotch and went live at Lowlands 2009, songwriter Christon Kloosterboer wouldn’t with TopNotch guests, including, in addition have been so determined as he now is with his to rappers like The Opposites and Zwart own band Rigby. Only the best is good enough The Mad Trist Licht, gabba punk act Aux Raus, who is also for the erstwhile conservatory student, and incorporated by the label. An EP, ‘Boombox that has brought grist to Rigby’s mill. Not yet Yes, it is mad and sad that bands from Op Duizend’, was released, and in April 2010 two years old, the group already’s got a pack Maastricht never before enjoyed a nationwide a full-length will follow, ‘Stijlloos’: freedom for of hits and a good selling debut album in its breakthrough. High time for The Mad Trist, all, no boundaries. We can expect the same pocket, with its solid, super catchy pop rock. young rockers who have everything in them now. Promo live is a musical cross-fertilization Plus, this season they’re the house band of to show the world a trick or two. They are of unexpected proportions, taking the man’s popular tv-program ‘De Wereld Draait Door’. well under way, amongst others through their trademark kick drum to get reinforcement Last year they already played EuroSonic, now participation in the Popronde and by achieving from ... that’s a surprise. One thing is certain:
Valerius they’re promoted to Noorderslag! second place in the international Emergenza this is gonna be hard! background Bettie Serveert Shaking Godspeed
See page 58. The Achterhoek (a rural region in the far east of The Netherlands) was always synonymous musicXport.nl with Normaal (Achterhoek’s most famous 80 Lola Kite band, and a national treasure). Until a few years back, The Bloody Honkies wiped Lola Kite sounds like Cola Light. We don’t themselves dry behind the ears with an oil Aux Raus Deluxe make that up ourselves, you can read it cloth and boxed the whole nation’s ears with on their MySpace. So that we understand their swampy garage blues, drawn straight Swine flu, so what? The Aux Raus virus, now where their name comes from, because the from the Achterhoek clay. Unfortunately, The that is deadly contagious. The recipe of music of this Amsterdam trio sounds more Bloody Honkies exhausted themselves, but this Amsterdam duo is well-known, also for like Hawkwind light: psychedelic space rock never mind: from their ashes rose Shaking Noorderslag punters from two years back: with an eighties pop streak. Or the other way Godspeed, the only true heir to the Honkies. fucking loud, ruthless, pent-up gabber punk round of course: like a psychedelic Orchestral And, as befits an heir: Shaking Godspeed spewed from decrepit drum machines and a Manoeuvres In The Dark. Also contemporary picks up where The Bloody Honkies left. The heavily distorted guitar, but packaged in genuine electronic bands such as Air, Phoenix and The idiom is the same, but the music is hungrier pop songs: songs with a beginning and an end Knife echo in the ever catchy and danceable and more angular. Live is the influence of and a catchy chorus in-between. Additional songs of Lola Kite, who moreover loves to blues really felt, a real increased bluesband. fun-enhancing elements: vocals with a thick jazz up something or other with a dive into The play at quarter past two at Noorderslag! Dutch accent and scenes so overheated that the dress-up box. Sonic richness, uninhibited the pants are coming off regularly. Last summer ecstasy, bear suits, Lola Kite is a treat for eyes at Lowlands they were one of Promo’s guests, Awkward I and ears. this time Aux Raus throw a party themselves. Exactly who will come along remains secret for now, but one thing is certain: it will be clearing Awkward I up the mess deluxe! Noah's Ark Rest assured: there is nothing awkward to Awkward I, the brainchild of Groningen singer/ Do you remember, the Ark of Noah? The songwriter Djurre de Haan. On the contrary, biblical vessel built to survive the Flood? Of Awkward I’s indie folk, soft as a whisper each species on earth two copies signed on. and recently registered on the appropriately Not so with Amersfoort hip hop king Jiggy titled debut album ‘I Really Should Whisper’, Djé’s red hot record label of the same name. immediately sets you at ease. With the Here everybody is unique. How unique, emphasis on immediately, the reason why De is demonstrated by two of Noah’s Ark’s Haan & co. got themselves a slot at famous thoroughbreds: Turk and Kraantje Pappie, who showcase festivals such as SXSW (Austin), each do a short gig under the watchful eye of CMJ (New York) and our own EuroSonic, at hosts SpaceKees and Jiggy Djé himself. Be on a time when they didn’t have a record out the lookout for Turk, who will undoubtedly yet. So, moving on to Noorderslag this year provide a taste of his forthcoming debut isn’t more than logical. Prepare yourself for album, while Kraantje gets an extra boost
Tim Knol intimate songs about life, love and conscience, next to his own Noorderslag-appearance. We and surrender to the power of I. say: cast off and go! Tim Knol
Predictions are always dangerous in the Eric Vloeimans Gatecrash Anne Soldaat wondrous world of pop music, but it seems Shaking Godspeed plain as day that just 20-year old singer/ In love with a trumpet. That’s what you’re Once upon a time Anne Soldaat (Dutch for songwriter Tim Knol is heading towards a automatically in for when witnessing jazz ‘soldier’) served in the Ermelo-based guitar golden future. A talent the complete Dutch maestro Eric Vloeimans and his quartet elite corps Daryll-Ann. After the break he roots community has been waiting for. When Gatecrash (pianist Jeroen van Vliet, bassist formed his own army Do-The-Undo, and now it’s time for the remarkably battered-voiced Gulli Gudmunsson and drummer Jasper van Anne fights his own battle, as a musical Rambo. Tim to appear at Noorderslag, his debut Hulten). The man from Rotterdam isn’t seen as In name at least, for the widely acclaimed album on the ever so alert Excelsior-label will the best jazz trumpeter of the Netherlands and solo album ‘In Another Life’ on the Excelsior be out, and we’re telling you: that’s gonna be its surroundings for nothing, and internationally label was created together with his American a record we’ll still be talking about in years to put on the same pedestal as a Chet Baker or soul mate Jason Falkner, and on stage he is come. Those who won’t believe that his songs Wynton Marsalis. The most important thing surrounded by a four-piece band of friends. are at least as good as those of examples such from a Noorderslag point of view however, is Anyway, Soldaat’s love for Californian pop as Steve Earle, Gram Parsons, Rod Picott and that his lyrical, velvety sound makes also non- music from the sixties and seventies results Ron Sexsmith, are invited to check him out this jazz fans melt like snow in the sun. It is sultry, in magnificent, colourful songs, from acoustic autumn as the support act on Johan’s farewell sensual music. Exciting too, and swinging, but singer/songwriter ballads to sunny powerpop
tour. Killing three birds with one stone! especially stunningly beautiful. and all the beauty in between. Forward! Anne Soldaat citymap groningen
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