Joan as Policewoman live. Het Zonnehuis, Amsterdam Thursday 12 November 2026

Photo: WdN-vdB

Joan Wasser and her two band members Will Graefe (guitar, background vocals) and Jeremy Gustin (drums, background vocals) put a spell on Amsterdam-Tuindorp's Zonnehuis at the show celebrating the 20th anniversary of Joan as Policewoman's debut album 'Real Life'. The album  has gotten an iterative version this year under the name 'Real Life Evolution', which received a review on this blog on 12 June.

I listened to Real Life in 2006 soon after the review in 'Oor', at that time my only alert media to new music. Part of the attraction will have been Joan Wasser's link to the late Jeff Buckley. The introduction learned that her music was very much worthwhile getting acquainted with. 'Real Life' is a beautiful album but also one that kept growing on me and soon after also on the new woman in my life, now my wife. Come 2026, together we were able to see Joan as Policewoman again for the first time in well over a decade. Somehow she had faded from both our attention.

Until last night, I had never been to Tuindorp. It is in the north-western corner of Amsterdam Noord. All very small houses and streets of a size that are totally not made for today's traffic. Cars were parked everywhere and not a single one-way street. How is that possible? In the middle of this city village was a square with at its centre Het Zonnehuis (The Sun House). It is an early 1930s building in the Amsterdam School style and obviously designed as a civic centre of some sort with a stage for plays inside.

On that stage (note the beautiful decoration around it in the picture above!) stood Joan as Policewoman. The band played two sets, divided into 'Real Life' and other songs. My impression was very mixed. Not on the quality of the music and the evening as such. The band was in top form, the sound in the venue just perfect and an audience that was enraptured. No Dutch disease here in Het Zonnehuis. It was like being at a living room show but only a lot bigger.

Joan Wasser alternately played a bass synth, keyboard, grand piano and guitar. Always with supporting parts, except for when she played solo. Will Graefe just as easily plays a Spanish guitar classical style intro or conjures up the most bizarre sounds from his electric guitar, just Geoffrey Burton did for Sophie Hunger during the 'Supermoon' tour. Jeremy Gustin is able to play rhythms that would cause the drummer of my band breaking in two. It was as if he had a few extra hands to play with. All with these supersized brushes.

Several songs were so intricate and vulnerable that an unwilling audience would have torn the atmosphere apart. Luckily we were all there to listen and be enraptured by the quality on offer. There were a few moments also in which the band ripped it all up, with explosions in sound. Yet, I never needed my earplugs. It was simply perfect, with compliments to sound man Benjamin.

Photo: WdN-vdB

No, it was Joan Wasser who seemed not to be content. In the first set she seemed to be very unhappy. There was a lot of sighing and uttering of "oh, dear" The sound on stage was not right and yes, if that is the case, you have a problem as a musician. On the other hand there was some giggling as well, suggesting something else also. During the intermission a lot of work went into the testing of the monitors and it seemed things were better from there on.

'Real Life' is a beautiful album and all the songs came totally alive on stage. The last song played in the first set, was the first, title song on 'Real Life'. It was played solo by Joan Wasser and no one even dared to drop a pin. It was so quiet, as if time itself had stopped. An absolute highlight of the evening and of my live experiences ever.

In the second set not a single song was played that I recognised. I have never built up a relationship with a Joan as Policewoman album like I did with 'Real Life'. Why? Listening to the second set I can only wonder why. Somewhere in the 2010s I lost sight of the totally. During this set the tension on stage had ebbed away, the musicians seemed to come loose from what had bothered them and started playing for real. The set only got better and better. What songs, what albums?, I had no idea. What I did know however, this was an extremely good show. This trio performed as if there were six persons on stage but clearly did not need anybody else with them. From the audience's side this was perfection. "Scrumptious", as Joan Wasser said about her bandmates before playing 'Real Life'.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going. Squirrel Flower

Squirrel Flower leverde de afgelopen jaren drie hele mooie albums af, maar de rek is er nog niet uit, zoals is te horen op het in augustus verschenen album Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going, dat de lat nog wat hoger legt.

Iedereen die de muziek van Ella O’Connor Williams kent, weet dat ze als Squirrel Flower met I Was Born Swimming, Planet (i) en Tomorrow’s Fire al drie hele mooie albums maakte. Het in augustus verschenen Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going vind ik nog wat mooier. Naast de gruizige kant is ook de wat meer ingetogen kant van de muziek van Squirrel Flower wat meer uitgewerkt, wat prachtig klinkende songs oplevert. Het zijn songs die zich qua sfeer, muziek en zang makkelijk weten te onderscheiden binnen de indiescene van het moment, waardoor het alleen maar een kwestie van tijd is voordat Squirrel Flower in één adem wordt genoemd met de grote namen in het genre.

Haar mini-album Early Winter Songs from Middle America uit 2015 heb ik niet opgemerkt, maar sinds het begin van 2020 volg ik de muzikale verrichtingen van de Amerikaanse muzikante Ella O’Connor Williams op de voet. In de eerste maand van 2020 verscheen immers, aan de vooravond van de coronapandemie, het debuutalbum van de muzikante die destijds Boston, Massachusetts, als thuisbasis had. 

Onder de naam Squirrel Flower leverde Ella O’Connor Williams met I Was Born Swimming een prachtig debuutalbum af. Het is een album met een donkere of zelfs wat desolate sfeer, waarin verstilde passages worden afgewisseld met gruizige gitaren en de muziek vaak wat psychedelisch, maar soms ook folky klinkt. De fraaie klanken worden gecombineerd met de zeer overtuigende stem van Ella O’Connor Williams, die de dynamiek in de muziek doortrekt in haar geweldige zang. 

Ik noemde in 2020 Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers en Lera Lynn als vergelijkingsmateriaal en dat zijn alle drie persoonlijke favorieten. Met Planet (i) en Tomorrow’s Fire leverde Squirrel Flower in 2021 en 2023 nog twee uitstekende albums af, waarop ze af en toe opschoof richting indierock, maar ook de meer ingetogen songs en een zwak voor psychedelica niet vergat. 

De Amerikaanse muzikante erkende op haar eerste drie albums het belang van een goede producer en werkte achtereenvolgens met Gabe Wax, Ali Chant en de zeer gewilde Alex Farrar, die haar albums nog wat verder optilden. Ik vind de eerste drie albums van Squirrel Flower zo goed dat ik vorig jaar ook stilstond bij het live-album Live At Top Note Theatre, dat toch vooral als een tussendoortje moet worden gezien, maar door de uiterst sobere setting een extra dimensie toevoegde aan de songs van Squirrel Flower. 

Ella O’Connor Williams heeft inmiddels al een tijd Chicago, Illinois, als thuisbasis, maar nam ook haar nieuwe album weer op in Asheville, North Carolina, al werd de ruwe basis voor het album gelegd in Wisconsin. Ook op Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going is er een rol weggelegd voor Alex Farrar, die heeft bijgedragen aan de productie, maar ook een deel van de instrumentatie voor zijn rekening heeft genomen. 

Het nieuwe album van Squirrel Flower werd opgenomen met een redelijk compacte band en ligt grotendeels in het verlengde van de uitstekende voorganger Tomorrow’s Fire. Ook op haar nieuwe album wisselt Squirrel Flower wat stevigere en gruizige songs af met zeer ingetogen folky songs en ook dit keer zijn invloeden uit de psychedelica niet heel ver weg. De balans slaat dit keer wel overtuigend door in de richting van meer ingetogen en vaak bezwerende songs, die door Alex Farrar prachtig zijn opgenomen. 

Ik was zes jaar geleden al zeer gecharmeerd van de stem van Ella O’Connor Williams, maar de zang op Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going klinkt nog wat mooier dan die op de vorige albums. Het nieuwe album ligt zoals gezegd in het verlengde van zijn voorganger, maar ik hoor toch ook weer groei in de songs, die net als op de vorige albums zijn voorzien van een wat nevelige en vooral donkere sfeer. 

Squirrel Flower heeft nog niet dezelfde status als de grote namen in de indiescene van het moment, maar op basis van de kwaliteit van haar albums moet ze zeker worden gerekend tot de smaakmakers in het genre.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://squirrelflower.bandcamp.com/album/say-a-prayer-to-the-gods-of-getting-going

Lost In Motion. Moss

This blog was months old when Moss entered it for the first time, with the album 'Ornaments'. Today it is four years since we last reported on the band, a review of 'HX'. The silence is over with the release of Lost In Motion. Right away in the opening notes that typical plopping Moss bass presents itself. For a likeness think Air on 'Moon Safari' and Serge Gainsbourg and his daughters' solo albums before it. That bass puts me right in the mood for Moss.

A new album by a well-loved band is always a challenge. New music has to be laid over that what came before. Sometimes it is a perfect fit, like with the two recent The Rolling Stones albums, other albums have a harder time, like Lost In Motion and the latest Fontaines DC album 'Dopamine Chamber' and Bettie Serveert album, 'Beaucoup Bad'.

Like the latter album, Lost In Motion started to grow on me. In both cases because I understood that they are not bad albums, just a little more relaxed or introspective than the songs that always pop up in my mind thinking of in this case Moss. Playing Lost In Motion more regularly has put me in its mood more and more. Moss presents an album that was created to listen to seriously, attentively. Do so, and its well thought out details reveal themselves one by one. Musically it is a rich album, with sounds coming from everywhere, including electronics and keyboards.

Promo photo

The album is all about the things we leave behind, take with us and asks the question "can we still grow when we grow old?" Personally, I can add from experience that the answer is yes. Listening to Lost In Motion it seems the album provides its own answer for Marien Dorleijn. He may still "just" be making music, the album contains a level of maturity and introspection Moss had not reached so far. In 'Love' he sings "it's never too late". That is another answer.

Moss' music always has had different layers in it and more so over time. With Lost In Motion another layer has been added to what was already there. It is going to be extremely interesting to see how this unwinds itself live. Moss will tour NL in late winter, early spring 2027. Expect me to be at one of the shows.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can order Lost In Motion here:

https://excelsior-recordings.com/en/products/moss-lost-in-motion 

Beaucoup Bad. Bettie Serveert

Totally out of the blue I read about a new album by Bettie Serveert. After over ten years and having read about all band members having had to take jobs, leaving little time for playing music live, I had given up hope to ever hear new music by one of my favourite Dutch bands from the 1990s and beyond. Right up to 'Damaged Good' (2016) Bettie Serveert had delivered albums that were always between above average to very good. And here's Beaucoup Bad.

I'll admit right away, that after the opening trio songs I was disappointed in what I was hearing. It seems a bit bland and devoid of the grit Bettie Serveert was so good in adding to its songs. The album where that was mostly missing, 'Private Suit' is my least favourite of the twelve records (including the The Velvet Undergound live album).

Having listened more often, because this is not a band that deserves giving up on immediately, I have totally rescinded my earliest judgement. Beaucoup Bad may differ from the three albums that came before, it is growing and growing. We are all moving on life, no longer in our thirties, forties and even fifties, the music changes with life as well.

First of all, I love hearing Peter Visser play guitar. He is a total ADHD kind of player, who manages to play within limits anyway. His style of playing is extremely play- and colourful. He always finds little melodies, licks and notes that embellish a song no little. You can find them in all ten songs on Beaucoup Bad. The album is directly ahead of the competition because of Visser's contribution.

Next is Carol van Dijk's voice. She's a singer that I like listening to. Her voice has aged somewhat, giving it a little edge it did not have in the past. It is more mature and utterly convincing in a song like 'Pray For The Living'. There are more references to prayer on the album by the way. It is so good to hear her voice in new songs.

After all these years, the line up remains the same, except for the drumseat. This is now filled by Stephan van der Meijden. This means the extreme power Joppe Molenaar delivered since 2010 is gone, but it may well be that his style of playing would not have fitted the new songs. There is some classic Betties but also more of The Velvet Underground inspired songs. This requires a higher level of subtlety. Further down the line there is a mix of Bettie Serveert style indie with more classical pop going back to the 1950s before Elvis put everything upside down. Don't worry, there's no Doris Day or Frankie Laine here, but wisps of their music can be traced. Take a listen to 'Sig O' to hear what I mean. The album even ends with a ballad called 'So Long', a rather ominous sounding title for a fan of three decades, but at some point there will be an end to all good things.

For goodbyes, Beaucoup Bad is far too good. Bettie Serveert returns with an extremely strong album, I am very glad to be listening to. In 9 days time, I'll be seeing them in Patronaat, Haarlem. The band will be touring the country, in a leisurely fashion well into 2027. Go out and watch them, as this is one of the best Dutch indie bands of the previous decades.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can order Beaucoup Bad on Bettie Serveert's website:

https://www.bettieserveert.com/store.html 

 

Bowie For Dummies, #43

Today we present a new rendition of David Bowie For Dummies with new items found on the internet, compiled by Tineke Guise.

This post remains popular with people visiting this blog. It has by far the most views, for years on end. Chances are that there is a lot of new items to be discovered there. This is the 43rd version since we published the first one on 8 January 2017. In this post you find all Tineke's explorations on Bowie on the Internet with the links to music, clips, news, and what not.

Here is the link to the original but updated post where all is revealed:

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2017/01/bowie-for-dummies.html

 

As the post has gotten too large, it is now cut in two. Here's the link to the second part:

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2017/01/david-bowie-for-dummies-2.html