Beyond Wires. Golden Hours

Today we present a little more darkness. Golden Hours obviously was inspired by gothrockers from the 80s, including tie-ins to bands like New Order and The Cult, while adding a lighter sounding guitar that lets light into Beyond Wires regularly. The mix works extremely well. It even leads to songs that are quite danceable, at least at the time that I frequneted dance evenings a long time ago and "the bats", Robert Smith hair, dark clothes, shoegazing, mixed with us dancers with less extreme if not exclusive, dance appetites.

Golden Hours only debuted on this blog late December in the singles section and I realise to know nothing about the band. Beyond Wires is the band's second album, yet we are not focusing on new kids on the block. The members have histories in bands like "Gang of Four, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Tricky, The Fuzztones, and more", to quote the bio. That is extremely diverse. From this wide mix comes Golden Hours, a band with many different sides to its goth. Of the members, based in a few European capitals, Hákon Aõalsteinsson, Wim Janssens, Tobias Humble and Rodrigo Fuentealba Palavacino, the first two are responsible for the vocals. Of course, you will be able to hear the difference, but both sing from that starting point of this band: goth.

It is all happening around the voices that make the band far more attractive for a listener wanting to listen to more than just darkness. That may lead to the loss of "bats", but to be honest, I haven't seen many of them since the summer of 1987. Why that was, is a totally different story, but let me suffice to write that it was in that summer our then crown prince, now king, entered Leiden's university and elite student club and how that affected the membership and outlook of all the other student clubs.

Promo photo

Personally, I have always liked the mix in music. Slowly but surely I was leaving behind my 1970s heroes. No, that is wrong. I started to add bands to the roster, but mostly singles. At the time there were very little albums that impressed me as a whole. My body, dancing, was won over first before my brain, listening. I learned to dance, to let go and that was possible with 'A Forest' or 'Pale Shelter' and 'Burning Down The House (live)'.. etc.

Beyond Wires brings elements from that era but that is only part of the story. It is the singing that put me on the goth track. When listening deeper, I started to notice all the other elements. This band allows a lot of light in, through the sound of the guitars, that have a nice reverb to it. Also, there can be a different shade of darkness with New Order synths woven through or underneath the fabric of a song.

When listening to 'Heading For The Moon', I wondered whether I would like a whole album by Golden Hours. That questions has been answered with a wholehearted yes.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Beyond Wires here:

https://goldenhours1.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-wires 

Moonflowers. Constant Smiles

De Amerikaanse band Constant Smiles leverde vier jaar geleden een prachtig 90’s album af, kwam twee jaar geleden met een heerlijk 80s album op de proppen en maakt deze week indruk met een fraai album met een vleugje 70s.

Constant Smiles had al een enorme stapel albums op haar naam staan toen het terecht een plekje in de spotlights kreeg met het uitstekende album Paragons. Die spotlights waren er ook toen twee jaar geleden het album Kenneth Anger verscheen en wederom viel er niets af te dingen op de aandacht voor de Amerikaanse band. Hopelijk kan ook het deze week verschenen Moonflowers weer op aandacht rekenen, want het is wederom een sterk album. Het is bovendien wederom een album dat anders klinkt dan zijn voorganger, want de synths van het vorige album hebben plaats gemaakt voor een organischer en folkier geluid. Het levert wederom een bijzond fraai album op.

Bijna precies vier jaar geleden kwam ik voor het eerst in aanraking met de muziek van de Amerikaanse band Constant Smiles. Paragons werd hier en daar aangeprezen als het officiële debuutalbum van de band uit Queens, New York, maar dat voelde een beetje raar bij een band die al meer dan vijftien albums op haar naam bleek te hebben staan. 

Paragons was ook het eerste dat ik hoorde van Constant Smiles, maar het was wel liefde op het eerste gehoor. Ik vergeleek Paragons onder andere met de muziek van de Australische band The Go-Betweens en dat is een van de grootste complimenten die ik een band kan maken. 

Constant Smiles verwerkte op Paragons invloeden uit een aantal decennia popmuziek, maar ik hoorde de meeste raakvlakken met de wat zweverige gitaarmuziek uit de jaren 90 van bijvoorbeeld bands als Yo La Tengo en Luna. Het leverde uiteindelijk een van de mooiste herfstalbums van 2021 op, al was ik het album helaas vergeten toen ik mijn jaarlijstje een paar maanden later maakte. 

In het prille voorjaar van 2023 keerde Constant Smiles terug met het album Kenneth Anger en het was wederom een album waarop de Amerikaanse band uiteenlopende invloeden verwerkte. Waar ik bij beluistering van Paragons vooral associaties had met licht psychedelische gitaaralbums uit de jaren 90, nam Kenneth Anger me vooral mee terug naar de elektronische popmuziek uit de jaren 80 en naar legendarische albums van bands als China Crisis en The Lotus Eaters en het was weer prachtig. 

Deze week is de opvolger van het album uit 2023 verschenen en logischerwijs zou Constant Smiles op Moonflowers terug moeten grijpen op muziek uit de jaren 70. Het nieuwe album van de band uit New York klinkt in ieder geval weer flink anders dan zijn twee voorgangers, dus wat dat betreft voldoet Moonflowers aan de verwachtingen. 

Constant Smiles omschrijft de muziek op het nieuwe album zelf als ambient pop, maar zelf hoor ik ook flink wat invloeden uit de folkrock, met inderdaad meer dan eens een jaren 70 vibe. Moonflowers heeft af en toe misschien een jaren 70 sfeertje, maar het is ook absoluut een indiefolk album van deze tijd. 

Na de psychedelische 90s gitaren van Paragons en de 80s synths van Kenneth Anger kiest Constant Smiles op haar nieuwe album voor een organischer en wat meer ingetogen geluid. Het is een geluid dat best als folky mag worden omschreven, maar het wordt gecombineerd met bijzondere klankentapijten van synths op de achtergrond, waardoor het geen standaard 70s folkrock is.

Net als de vorige albums van de Amerikaanse band wordt ook Moonflowers weer gekenmerkt door een serie aansprekende songs. Het zijn songs die je eigenlijk direct wilt omarmen, maar die ook makkelijk blijven hangen. In muzikaal opzicht is het allemaal weer dik in orde en ook de zang op Moonflowers is weer prima. Het is zang die af en toe is voorzien van fraaie aanvullingen van vrouwenstemmen, waarvoor onder andere Cassandra Jenkins en Katie von Schleicher naar de studio kwamen. 

Constant Smiles is helaas nog altijd behoorlijk onbekend, maar met Paragons, Kenneth Anger en Moonflowers heeft de band nu een fraai stapeltje albums op haar naam staan. Het is lastig kiezen tussen drie totaal verschillende albums, maar Moonflowers is zeker niet minder dan de terecht door mij geprezen voorgangers. Leuke band, uitstekend album.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt Moonflowers hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://constantsmiles.bandcamp.com/album/moonflowers 

Stunt Double. Queen's Pleasure

Queen's Pleasure debuted on this blog with its EP, followed by its debut album 'Words To Live By, Suits To Die In', which even made it to number 17 in my year's end list of 2021. After that things went near silent, as I did not really like the band's second album. In almost all cases, I refrain from writing. And here is album number three, 'Stunt Double', released on a new label, Mattan Records.

With this switch the Amsterdam based band enters a new phase in its career and does so with an album that makes a statement, not unlike on its debut album. It is easy to lump Queen's Pleasure into the alternative rock/postpunk echelon of rock music in the 2020s. In its bio it makes the comparison itself by mentioning Fontaines DC and The Murder Capital, both from Dublin originally. Stunt Double shows that Queen's Pleasure has followed the progression these bands made. It also sets itself firmly apart from the postpunkers leading the pack, as far as I'm concerned in the Netherlands, Tramhaus and Marathon.

The music on Stunt Double is far more varied. Heck, a song like 'Eva' even makes me think of about the only Direct song I like, 'Through The Looking Glass'. It has that same strong pace, but rocks far harder, so moves into a loud rock version of The War on Drugs. These kind of surprises are what makes this album fun, attractive and adventurous to listen to. In 2025, there are several sides to Queen's Pleasure and it wants to show them all. From the real bangers at the start, to a ballad, with strings and all, at the end, the band takes you by the ears and does not let go them.

Promo photo

This is why the comparison to Fontaines DC is justified. This band has left its origins almost behind and went exploring what more it is capable of creating ('Romance'). Opposed e.g. to Shame, that came with the same kind of album last year, just a lot better this time ('Cutthroat'). Stunt Double deserves to be somewhere in between the two. It is not a complete different route but shows the intention, while it is a better version of its previous self.

I can't judge whether this is because the band left Excelsior or it was heading in this direction anyway. Fact is, this would have been a very loud album for the Amsterdam label. It fits better with Rotterdam's attitude "no words, just deeds". Stunt Double totally subscribes to this motto. This album is a beast that Queen's Pleasure in some of the songs can hardly contain. The fact that it does, shows growth and strength. Time will have to tell, but my first impression is that Stunt Double is a small step for mankind but a giant step for Queen's Pleasure. One that I am quite happy with.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

 

2026, week 3. 10 singles: Ladies Day

Today, I am doing something very different. With one exception, none of these singles were sent to me in one way or another. Today's items are written from a thought that occurred to me somewhere before Christmas and stuck in my head. Here I'm testing that idea a little.

But, before going into details. Yes, I'm an older male, listening today to music that was not made with someone like me in mind, but that every once in a while I am exposed to. Mostly through the morning show on Radio 2, that my wife likes to listen to before leaving for work and some other odd times when I come down from working upstairs. At Radio 2 they play mostly older music, but with sometimes something new thrown in. Quite often we are looking to each other and wondering, so this is the number 1 record at this moment, but when is this song finally starting? And then one song came by and I knew instantly why this was a hit (read the tenth post). Hence, this week's singles post focuses on young(er) female singers that are popular at this point in time, starting with the current number 1 over here. Let me apologies to fans, that not all I write may be to your liking, but, hey, even in 2026 tastes are allowed to differ.

The Fate Of Ophelia. Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is one of the biggest if not the biggest artist(s) at the moment. And still, she never scored that BIG hit in The Netherlands. I always wondered how that is possible. In 2025-26 that has changed. She has her first number 1 hit. Now, I do not know a lot of Swift songs, so can't really compare. When listening to The Fate Of Ophelia, what I'm hearing is a decent pop track, one that sort of does everything right. It shows a lot of restraint as well, right up to the point that it has me wishing that it would go off at some point. The video clip starts with the recreation of a painting that apparently makes young women and girls go to the museum where the original hangs. Besides that, it recreates show movies that I saw on TV when I was young, Marilyn, Esther Williams, etc. Movies I did not really like, but nostalgia does a lot when watching the video in 2026. The Fate Of Ophelia is a nice track, no doubts there, but, The Netherlands, is this her best track yet or is it finally a recognition of her overall popularity?

Man I Need. Olivia Dean

Already 19 weeks on the charts and still at number 2 and nine weeks at number one in 2025 before Ms. Swift. This is the song that triggered my thoughts, "So this is number 1"? What I'm hearing, is a song with something of a soul vibe to it, but to my ears it has absolutely nothing going for it. The melody is bland, the singer has no vim in her. It sounds to me as if Man I Need is the result of a few students who had to stay late because they flunked their assignment. A have-to instead of want-to. I know, all is taste, but quite often I can not particularly like a song but hear what makes it good and liked, e.g. Miley Cyrus' 'Flowers'. This song totally passes me by here, even baffles me.

So Easy (To Fall In Love). Olivia Dean

In life all needs to be fair. Olivia Dean is found twice in the chart of week 2, so let me give her a second chance. With So Easy (To Fall In Love) at number 9, she has two big hits at the same time. And if I had to choose, the choice would be obvious. This one is a genuine soul ballad. A song that could have been sung by both Aretha and Dusty. The bossa nova elements and the trumpet give the song a fresh vibe and even Herb Alpert would have fallen in love with Olivia singing this song. Here the relaxed vibe totally works in favour of the song. The heart and soul is in the singer and the musicians. To my ears So Easy (To Fall In Love) is totally anachronistic in 2026, but then I see young men and women dancing to the same tunes as I was as a student. So why should they not like a jazzy soul song like this?

Messy. Lola Young

Somewhat older, but a song that totally passed me by, I think. All of a sudden Lola Young was an item in my music magazine, 'Oor'. THE song was Messy, so I decided to give it a chance. The song came to number 2 in 2024 and stayed no less than 34 weeks in the charts. I find that I like the song. It has this slow drive that keeps it going at its own near slacker pace. Lola Young sing-talks in the verse and then sings in the chorus. In the lyrics she does not mince her words and whoever she's singing to must be either deaf or a total asshole. The chorus is not so much unlike what Taylor Swift does, but far rougher. More U.K. I'd say, direct and in your face. This is far from punk but the vibe of Messy is as direct as The Jam's 'A Town Called Malice'.

Loser. Roxy Dekker

And what about The Netherlands? Well, here's Roxy Dekker. Last spring she drew so many people that it was near impossible to get on the 'Bevrijdingspop' terrain in Haarlem. I can be extremely short about Loser, which is despite the title a Dutch language song. This is bubblegumpop for the 2020s. Autotune, pop without any form of bite. It can't even come close to a song like 'Messy'. Why is this a hit (at number 15)?

 

 

Wacht Op Mij. Hannah Mae

Hannah Mae is a name I know, because of the tv series "Beste Zangers" where she participated. Wacht Op Mij ('Wait For Me') is a song that I hadn't heard before. It is number 26 this week. Hannah Mae presents a serious track, a true ballad, but not a love song. This is about mental illness and its consequences, but also the help that is offered. In her way of singing, she is an exponent of how several young female singers sing recently, a little breathy and hesitantly. In my ears this is a courageous single, not one that can be expected to become a hit. She chose to release it any way. This song is not for me, but I hear the love with which it was made and the vulnerability she shows through strength. Hannah Mae presents Wacht Op Mij with the exact right tone.

Hoogtevrees. Bente

At number 34 comes Bente's new single. Vocally, she resembles Hannah Mae but also, lyrically and musically. Hoogtevrees ('vertigo') goes from brittle to huge during the course of the song. The theme is just as serious. Bente featured in the same show, 'Beste Zangers', but one season later. So, I knew her and knew she could really sing. The style of singing is not totally my thing, but lets say that after a few years I'm getting a little used to it. Hoogtevrees is an interesting track, as it manages to present a few different moods. Bente invites herself and everyone who tends to look to his/her feet to start looking up. The music invites her to do the exact same thing and becomes a positive storm, to end in a very small way. Again, a very serious theme for a single, but one that takes the listener along. It may not be an 'Eloise' or 'Just A Little Bit Of Peace In My Heart' to my ears, but for someone young in 2026 it may well, perhaps deserves to become so.

Undone. Heidi Curtis

This debut single was pushed on that Radio 2 morning show I already mentioned, this week as new music on "Jan Willem's radar". Heidi Curtis takes us on board of a good and tight rock song. It takes me back circa 30 years when the likes of Alanis Morissette and all the female singers who followed her for a short period of time, most never heard from again, became popular. Listening to Undone, I can only say that I've heard this all before. Been there, done that, some passages even sound too familiar. Especially Florence + Machine comes to mind. That out of the way, Heidi Curtis rocks and quite enthusiastically. She goes for it and it is easy to hear she is serious about her first single. That makes the song a winner and this being a first single, gives Ms. Curtis hopefully ample time to find her own voice as well.

The Subway. Chappell Roan

Back to abroad. Another name impossible to escape in the past year was Chappell Roan. To my surprise, she has not scored a really big hit. This is the last of her three chart entries. Listening to The Subway I can only barely suppress a yawn. When will this song get going? Okay, Ms. Roan can sing, that is obvious, but everything I'm hearing has been done before and a lot better. Perhaps I'm listening to the wrong song, but this is not for me.

 

 

Where Is My Husband! Raye

And here, finally, you might say, is the cause of all the above. The reason why I wanted to write this specific post. This song is an instant banger. It sounds like something that I might have heard before, but never in this way. This went straight into my ears and set of fireworks there. This song has so much energy. I could also call it an ADHD track as it keeps bouncing around without a single pauze. The singing is all over the place. The horns keep blasting into my ears, at full blast at that, without mercy. The message is really hit home. To my surprise Raye already had seven previous hits to her name, but always with someone else. This is her first solo hit over here and for now stuck at number 3. How can the other two, see above, top this song? There's something wrong in this world and unfortunately not just this chart position. Where Is My Husband? does put a mind on more positive thoughts though. Something to escape the rest with for a short period of time.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

Blizzard. Dove Ellis

Blizzard van de Ierse muzikant Dove Ellis staat door een wat onhandig getimede release (december, WdN) nog in geen enkel jaarlijstje, maar daar hoort het in muzikaal maar vooral in vocaal opzicht opzienbarende album zeker in thuis.

Zonder een bijzonder lovende recensie van The Guardian zou het debuutalbum van de Ierse muzikant Dove Ellis waarschijnlijk aan mijn aandacht zijn ontsnapt. Voor nu dan, want Blizzard moet bedolven gaan worden onder de jubelrecensies. Dove Ellis maakt op zijn debuutalbum muziek die varieert van ingetogen folk tot rock en het is muziek die fraai is ingekleurd met invloeden die met zevenmijlslaarzen door de tijd stappen. Het album wordt vervolgens mijlenver opgetild door de opzienbarende stem van de Ierse muzikant. Het is een stem die allerlei associaties oproept en al deze associaties vervolgens combineert in een geluid dat je compleet van je sokken blaast.

Ik was de naam Dove Ellis nog niet eerder tegen gekomen, maar er doken de afgelopen dagen een aantal bijzonder positieve recensies op van zijn debuutalbum Blizzard. In deze recensies wordt de muziek van de Ierse muzikant onder andere vergeleken met die van Tim Buckley, Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake, Van Morrison, Thom Yorke en Rufus Wainwright. Het maakte me absoluut nieuwsgierig naar het eerste album van Dove Ellis en die nieuwsgierigheid werd verder aangewakkerd door een vijfsterren recensie van de Britse kwaliteitskrant The Guardian, die Blizzard een glorieus debuut noemt. 

Ik had niet veel tijd nodig om tot dezelfde conclusie te komen als de Britse krant, want Blizzard van Dove Ellis is in meerdere opzichten een fascinerend album. Zeker wanneer je het album voor het eerst hoort gaat alle aandacht uit naar de unieke stem van de Ierse singer-songwriter. De stem van Dove Ellis doet in eerste instantie vooral denken aan die van Jeff Buckley, maar ook Tim Buckley, Rufus Wainwright en Thom Yorke zijn nooit ver weg. 

De stem van de Ierse muzikant treedt nadrukkelijk op de voorgrond en voorziet zijn songs van het nodige drama. Het zorgt voor een sfeer die af en toe wel wat doet denken aan die op Jeff Buckley’s meesterwerk Grace, maar Dove Ellis heeft ook een duidelijk eigen geluid. In een aantal van de wat zwaarder aangezette koortjes heb ik voorzichtige associaties met Queen, maar de wat meer ingetogen songs hebben ook wel wat van Nick Drake, wat iets zegt over de veelzijdigheid van de zang.

Ik vind de zang van Dove Ellis hier en daar op het randje, zeker wanneer ik naar mijn smaak net wat teveel pathos en bombast hoor, maar de Ierse muzikant beschikt absoluut over een geweldige stem, die het grootste deel van de 34 minuten die Blizzard bijzonder makkelijk overtuigt. 

Het is de zang die het eerst in het oor springt bij beluistering van het debuutalbum van Dove Ellis, maar ook in muzikaal opzicht heeft de Ierse muzikant een bijzonder intrigerend album afgeleverd. Blizzard grijpt in flink wat songs terug op invloeden uit de jaren 70, maar slaat ook makkelijk een brug naar de jaren 90, waarbij hij makkelijk schakelt tussen Jeff Buckley, Radiohead en Rufus Wainwright. 

Dove Ellis kan overweg met ingetogen folk, maar gaat ook moeiteloos aan de haal met invloeden uit de Keltische muziek (wat de vergelijking met Van Morrison oplevert), tijdloze singer-songwriter muziek of indierock. Blizzard is voorzien van een redelijk vol geluid, waarin de nodige instrumenten voorbij komen. Het is een geluid dat is voorzien van veel bijzondere wendingen en steeds weer iets nieuws laat horen. 

Het is een geluid dat vaak tijdloos klinkt, tot de waanzinnige stem van Dove Ellis zijn debuutalbum voorziet van een unieke handtekening. Het levert wat mij betreft terecht een aantal jubelrecensies, maar het is ook nog veel te stil rond een album dat inderdaad en glorieus debuutalbum moet worden genoemd. 

De timing van Blizzard is natuurlijk zeer ongelukkig. De jaarlijstjes domineren momenteel de muziekmedia, waardoor er weinig aandacht is voor nieuwe albums. Hopelijk wordt het debuutalbum van Dove Ellis de komende maanden nog wel opgepikt, want Blizzard zou de start kunnen zijn van een prachtige carrière, wanneer deze niet al in de knop wordt gebroken. Ik heb mijn jaarlijstje gelukkig nog niet gemaakt.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt Blizzard hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://doveellis.bandcamp.com/album/blizzard 

Jana Horn. Jana Horn

When reviewing Jana Horn's single from this album, 'Go On, Move Your Body, I wrote "depressing, that is the right word to use here. ... (The arrangement) makes Go On, Move Your Body, shine, perhaps despite itself. A whole album? That may be a bit too much for me". I truly wondered whether I could listen to a whole album, yet, here we are.

Looking in the archives of the blog, I found that Erwin Zijleman has written on Jana Horn's previous albums, 'Optimism' (2022) and 'The Window Is The Dream' (2023). With her self-titled 'Jana Horn', it is my turn.

'Jana Horn' is a modest album in one sense only. Ms. Horn does not need huge arrangements to make an impression. She keeps her songs small and rather soft. At heart, you will hear Jana Horn and her acoustic guitar. She sings with a soft voice, somewhere between singing and parlando. Over and through this basis the other instruments are woven into the mix, that is somewhere between clear and muddy. Everything can be heard quite clearly. Some instruments do just not stand out as clearly as they could have, resulting in the mood the album shares. You will have a hard time searching for a light in 'Jana Horn'. What is the overall feat here, is that the album never moves into despondency. My view as an outsider is that Jana Horn likes to observe, even wallow in darkness but just as easily can step out of it and have fun.

In the year before writing and recording Jana Horn moved to New York City. For some reason I had associated the album with NYC, to now find that she's from Texas by way of Charlottesville, Virginia, where she studied. The album was recorded in Texas though, together with her drummer Adam Jones and bassist Jade Guterman. Adelyn Strei provides all the other instruments that make a sound when breath is blown into them. Together they create such delicate songs that a crash on a cymbal by Jones can cause quite a ripple in the tranquillity of the musical pond. Over the years, I have heard many albums like 'Jana Horn', and I'm sure you will have as well. There's a huge difference though. Most of them do not touch me like this album does.

What is the difference? That is hard to say. It starts with Jana Horn's voice. I simply love to listen to it. Next, I truly appreciate the way the flute and clarinet are woven into the mix. It makes the songs on this album somewhat different and certainly warmer.

Taking 'Jana Horn' all in, when all is said and done, the whole album had the same effect on me like the single had. Fascination won out over the darkness, with ease. in fact, I've found the light after all. 'Jana Horn' shines like a bright star on a pitch-dark night.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order 'Jana Horn' here:

https://janahorn.bandcamp.com/album/jana-horn-2 

Season Changes. Ger Eaton

A new name to the blog, Ger Eaton. The Irishman shared his album Season Changes with the world in the fall of 2025. The album invokes a kind of reverence that I can only compare with an album like The Moody Blues' 'Days Of Future Passed'. For some reason not all songs are/seem extremely good, but they all impress, thus lifting the quality of the whole because of it. Ger Eaton's Season Changes has that effect on me.

Other names have come by as comparisons. The likes of Nick Drake, Scott Walker and Jimmy Webb. Even Brian Wilson is mentioned. That are some shoes to fill. I must say that Ger Eaton comes a long way. His music has a nostalgia for the 1960s, including film scores and the score of a series like 'The Persuaders'. The arrangements of these songs all take the listener back about six decades.

At the heart of Season Changes is a singer-songwriter album. A man, his voice and an acoustic guitar or piano. From there the song is built into a totally different beast, that includes a lot of string instruments, making the album something near a barok piece. Could Johann Sebastian Bach have come up with a song like 'Heaven Knows'? My take is that if he allowed himself to think just a little outside of his box, he may well have (in German of course). Season Changes is that kind of album. Stately, dead serious and quite often very beautiful.

Photo: Oisin Queally

Despite not being a young(er) man any more, this is Ger Easton's debut solo album. Over the past twenty years he played keyboard in various bands and after a string of singles, that all passed me by, he was ready for more. That more is truly more, as this is an incredibly rich album. Eaton may have written all the songs, the stamp of the arranger Andrew Keeling can be found all over the album. The strings are played by Castle Quartet, who have a huge role. That is a starting point, as there also are recorders, flutes and horns. Listen to 'Interlude Estival Air' to hear how that plays out.

The album starts with what sounds at first like an applause starting, but changes into water lapping the shore. Other nature sounds grace the album at some points as well. All together, Season Change stands for a musical adventure. Ger Eaton has stopped at nothing it seems to make an impression on his listeners. As I already wrote, it comes close to the adventure 'Days Of Future Past' is also. With one major difference: I do not hear a 'Nights In White Satin' on Season Changes. Even if there was, the times that songs like that became hits are long gone.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Season Changes here:

https://gereatondimplediscs.bandcamp.com/album/season-changes 

When Britain Was Great. European Sun

With When Britain Was Great, European Sun catapults me as it were into a fairly distant past. I can't even put my finger on it exactly in what decade I feel to be back with music; certainly decades ago. The music simply gives me that feeling. It combines the playfulness of the 1960s with the new wave and punk of the late 70s and the post punk of the early 80s. There's nothing nothing this album making me think that it was recorded only recently Except of course that this combination was pretty rare if even existent around 1980.

The label is far more straightforward and calls this music punk. That is a bit stark. Perhaps in the outset, intention and the lyrics. A track like 'Falling Down The Stairs With Arthur Seaton' does bring some reminiscing thoughts of The Stranglers because of that Farfisa organ, but that is as close at it gets, to my ears.

European Sun is Steve Miles with Ian Button (drums), Rob Pursey (bass) and Elin Miles (additional vocals). You also hear some other instruments throughout the album. Together they explore different sides to European Sun's music and Miles' ideas. They go from a poppy tune like 'Choice Paralyses' to pure poetry set to a minimal form of music, atmospherics. Over it all Steve Miles sings, although it is closer to a delivery like Ian Dury had, just more modest. A form of sing-talking that still is good to listen to. Elin Miles delivers background singing melodies, in a way someone like Tracey Ullman could have delivered. (Btw, I barely recognised her forty years later in a Nexflix series called 'Dark Doves'.)

Promo photo

I'll be honest, as I should. Had When Britain Was Great been released in a more busy week, I doubt if it had made it here. There are only three spots for an album reviewed by me each week and for that the first listening session wasn't attention grabbing enough. That said, I find myself playing the record regularly and enjoying it in general and enjoying its different sides and moods. Given half the chance, the album grew significantly.

With 'Dad', European Sun adds a song to the theme of (lost) dads. We have Stef Bos ('Pappa') and Doe Maar ('Pa') over here with their views on fathers. Steve Miles laments the loss and his dad not being able to see his grandchildren grow up. On the side of that lament, he points to the growing up of himself, as with age comes understanding and insight, he can't share any more.

Sympathetic, subtle and diverse, these words suit When Britain Was Great quite well. This album does not need more words. It is one that I dare to leave you with to explore for yourself and find out how nice it is.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order When Britain Was Great here:

https://europeansunmusic.bandcamp.com/album/when-britain-was-great-2 

Orphic. Ed Harcourt

De Britse muzikant Ed Harcourt staat inmiddels al 25 jaar garant voor kwaliteit en levert ook met zijn twaalfde album Orphic weer een album af dat niet onder doet voor de beste albums van het moment.

Het blijft bijzonder hoe Ed Harcourt inmiddels al twaalf albums lang bijna vanzelfsprekend geweldige recensies krijgt, maar vervolgens maar moet afwachten of zijn albums iets gaan doen en of hij na het album nog wel een platencontract heeft. Ook het deze week verschenen Orphic is bijna geruisloos verschenen en is nog niet te vinden in de gemiddelde platenzaak. Het heeft niets te maken met de kwaliteit van het nieuwe album van de Britse muzikant, want die is hoog. Orphic is een typisch Ed Harcourt album, al klinkt het door de grote rol voor gitaren anders dan zijn meer piano georiënteerde albums. Twee dingen zijn niet veranderd. Ed Harcourt is nog altijd een geweldige songwriter en een uitstekende zanger. Topalbum weer.

Het is bijna op de dag af 25 jaar geleden dat ik voor het eerst kennis maakte met de muziek van de Britse muzikant Ed Harcourt. Op 13 november 2000 verscheen immers zijn eerste EP Maplewood, die stevig werd geprezen door het Britse muziektijdschrift Uncut. Ik hoorde van deze EP het werkelijk prachtige Whistle Of A Distant Train en ik was verkocht. Uncut voorspelde Ed Harcourt een prachtige toekomst en dat leek na zijn geweldige debuut EP een zekerheid. 

We zijn inmiddels 25 jaar verder. Ed Harcourt heeft inmiddels een imposant stapeltje albums op zijn naam staan, maakte soundtracks voor tv-series, was als gastmuzikant te horen op talloze albums, waaronder albums van Marianne Faithfull, Ron Sexsmith en Kathryn Williams en timmerde aan de weg als producer voor onder andere Kathryn Williams, Lissie en Kristina Train. 

Zijn albums kunnen bovendien stuk voor stuk rekenen op zeer positieve recensies, maar desondanks is Ed Harcourt nog altijd relatief onbekend. Zelfs zo onbekend dat zijn deze week verschenen nieuwe album niet opdook in de lijsten met nieuwe albums van deze week. Dat is zeker niet de eerste keer, waardoor ik als liefhebber van de muziek van de Britse muzikant ook wel eens een album mis. 

Het in november verschenen Orphic is als ik goed geteld heb het twaalfde reguliere album van Ed Harcourt en het is wederom een hele mooie. Het is een album dat ik min of meer bij toeval tegen kwam, maar de Britse muzikant had ook dit keer niet veel tijd nodig om me te overtuigen. Orphic is een album dat precies op het juiste moment komt, want we nu we niet meer gaan ontsnappen aan de herfst en de winter, komen de sfeervolle klanken op Orphic als geroepen. 

Er is helaas niet veel informatie te vinden over het nieuwe album van de Britse muzikant, buiten het feit dat Ed Harcourt zijn nieuwe album afgelopen winter opnam in zijn Wolf Cabin studio vlak bij Oxford. Verdere informatie ontbreekt, maar gelukkig spreekt de muziek op Orphic voor zich. 

Ik heb hierboven al verklapt dat Orphic een zeer sfeervol album is. Het is vergeleken met een aantal van zijn vorige album een behoorlijk ingetogen album en het is een album waarop gitaren domineren, al is de Britse muzikant zijn geliefde piano niet helemaal vergeten. 

De muziek op Orphic is relatief sober, maar ook als de akoestische gitaar domineert worden er altijd wel wat bijzondere versiersels toegevoegd. De muziek op Orphic klinkt prachtig en nodigt uit tot lekker binnen blijven terwijl buiten de regen tegen het raam klettert. 

Ik ben absoluut een liefhebbers van de piano georiënteerde songs van Ed Harcourt, maar ook het door gitaren gedomineerde geluid op Orphic is prachtig. Het wordt nog wat mooier wanneer Ed Harcourt zijn stem toevoegt, want hij beschikt over een bijzonder mooie stem die gedurende de afgelopen 25 jaar alleen maar mooier is geworden. 

De fraaie instrumentatie en de bijzonder mooie zang komen samen in hoogstaande songs, die Orphic heel ver boven het maaiveld uit tillen. Orphic is zoals gezegd het twaalfde album van Ed Harcourt en van die twaalf vind ik er eigenlijk niet een tegenvallen. Orphic zou zomaar uitgroeien tot een van de mooiste albums van het stel en is er een voor de jaarlijstjes. Ed Harcourt staat inmiddels 25 jaar garant voor torenhoge kwaliteit. Doodzonde dat zijn muziek zo weinig aandacht krijgt.

Erwin Zijleman

It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley

On a frosty Friday evening, we did go out anyway to see the Jeff Buckley documentary. It is 32 years since the release of 'Grace', the only album he released in his far too short life. Next year it is 30 years since his untimely demise.

Since the start of WoNoBlog, I have written a few times on Jeff Buckley or mentioned him. Only last Friday I did because of the link Belgian act Raman. laid between his music and Buckley. (Go and listen to 'I Do'!) The impact 'Grace' had on me, is unmeasurable. It's a long time ago, but I would say it was immediate and certainly irreversible. The live show I saw in 1995 in Nighttown in Rotterdam confirmed it all to me. Around me I only saw resignation to total devotion on the faces of those present. And then came those few lines in a news add in 'NRC Handelsblad': "singer found dead in the Mississippi river".

I have never met Jeff Buckley. Only experienced the influence his music had on me. Despite that, I felt an instant feeling of deep mourning, as if someone I knew really, really well had been taken away from me. A feeling that did not leave me for some time. When in 1998 his second and unfinished album 'Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk' was released, I bought it, of course, but I found I could not listen to it. It was too painful. When a colleague lent me his video of a Buckley show, I switched it off. It was still too painful and we are talking circa 2002 here.

'Grace' though kept growing and growing. The album only got better and better over time. The kind of album that is in my musical stratosphere. An album deserving a 6 where 5 is the maximum and an 11 where 10 is. Even 'Corpus Christi Carol', the song I always skipped at the time, is now a song of profound beauty.

In the years since his demise, I, not being a religious person at all, came to the conclusion that the world was lent an angel that was allowed to share extreme beauty and goodness through its music and was called back, having served its purpose. The voice of Jeff Buckley was angelic, but strong and with a bite that could shock. No voice ever had this impact on me again and probably none ever will.

Reading about him through the years, I've found that many people have experienced what I had experienced. There was even a lady who had made an altar for him. What I saw and experienced at Nighttown was genuine and this must have happened all around the world. It explains the slow rise of his popularity through the decades. It still is. He now has three songs in the Dutch end of year fest called 'Top 2000'. Three, out of his ten songs. Songs that I never hear on the radio.

It's Never Over, gave me a chance to get to know Jeff Buckley from a distance. I realise that the movie is close to hagiographic. People look back on the person who made the difference in all their lives. His mother has become super rich, I think. All the people he worked with would have been considerably less, if at all known, as would most of his girlfriends, bar Joan Wasser I think. They have a stake in making him look good. That's o.k. though, I already think he's an angel anyway.

What the movie shows well, is the impact he made on people, including very famous musicians (and Brad Pitt). That impact is the truth and the reason why people keep discovering 'Grace'. This is his true legacy. One that will last for many years to come. It is nice to see pictures from his youth, the talking heads, etc., but that does not add to the music and that sounded just fantastic in the cinema. Overwhelmingly powerful. In the end it's what it is all about.

One small point of critique is in place. Where was Gary Lucas, beside that one isolated and unexplained photo? Even if he did not want to be in the movie, or couldn't for some reason, a mention of his working with Jeff, that led to two brilliant songs, 'Mojo Pin' and 'Grace', would have been justified. He sprinkled some magical stardust over Jeff, that never rubbed off. Amy Berg made a loving documentary, building on and expanding the legend. Just what fans will want to see.

Finally, although Jeff Buckley battled with some dark thoughts, he turns out to be a nice guy, fairly normal and not too deeply troubled, nor addicted to whatever, besides music (and I can totally relate to that). He was struggling with facets of growing up that we all struggle with and maybe received a little more than most. It is like Joan Wasser said at the end. "When we get older, we grow out of it". Jeff never got that chance.

It's Never Over. What and aptly titled movie. For me this will only be over when my brain stops functioning. Except, we will never know what what in store for us and that is a miss the world will have to live with. We have 'Grace' and that is enough.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

2026, week 2. 10 singles

It has been snowing for days on end and the whole country sort of has come to a stand still. Musically, things are relatively quiet as well. There are not too many releases in the coming two weeks. Below you find the first single released in 2026 reviewed on WoNoBlog. The year has started and I feel fine. Enjoy!

Blow Your Mind. Strawberry Alarm Clock

When the original "Nuggets" album was released in 1972 I was too young to notice. However, when the four cd box was released in 1998, I made  sure to buy and enjoy it. One of the songs, not on the original LP, was 'Incense & Peppermint' by Strawberry Alarm Clock. It went to number 1 in the U.S. and Canada in 1967, but did not chart over here. In 2025 the band returned to the recording studio and features for the second time on WoNoBlog. Blow Your Mind does not literally have that effect on me. It is a nice single though that has a bite thanks to the wildish guitar riff and the rhythm that propels the song ever forward. The style reminds of the songs on Frank Zappa/The Mothers of Invention's debut album, 'Freak Out'. That is not a bad place to be in. 

Echo Park Donut. Luke Temple and The Cascading Moms

I've never been to Echo Park, but it must be a nice place seeing how many songs/albums have it in their title. The latest edition is this single. Singer/songwriter/producer Luke Temple together with Doug Stuart (bass) and Kosta Galanopoulos (drums) present a very relaxed song that moves in a way that seems lighter than a feather and just floats on the wind. That gives it a late seventies, West-Coast vibe, reminiscent of the likes of Christopher Cross. Add the background vocals and it goes for very pleasant and relaxed listening. When the song at the end gets a more percussive edge, the song almost gets a bite. The trio releases its album 'Hungry Animal' on 13 February.

My Mind's Got A Mind Of It's Own. The Lemon Drop Gang

How far back can a band put the hands of the clock? In the case of The Lemon Drop Gang it is about sixty years. On its latest single it is like a gang of youngsters is playing in the garage of one of their parents. Dad having left the car out on the drive just for them. The result is something the dad, despite holding his hands over his ears, could have been proud of: My Mind's Got A Mind Of It's Own. The Lemon Drop Gang recorded in 2025 though and has done a thorough job of it. The sound of its new single simply can't be more authentic, louder and wilder. Steph O'Halloran - Vocals, Johnny O'Halloran - Guitars, Saw, D. Walker - Bass and Matt Rendon - Drums have found the mustard source of all the teenagers in the mid-60s and turned it into a sensational sound for the 2020s.

Just A Shadow. A.A. Williams

A.A. Williams signed last year to the Reigning Phoenix Music label and is releasing a single to celebrate it. Just A Shadow is a song with at least two sides. The song starts almost like a ballad, turns into a gothic rock songs and later receives a guitar contribution bordering on metal. My mind flashed the lights The Gathering and Within Temptation, to mention two bands from my home country, immediately. The combination works though. Williams obviously is the master of her song. She rides it confidently like Anky van Grunsven rode Bonfire to an Olympic gold medal. All else present in Just A Shadow is there to serve William's darkish voice. She is no Floor Jansen but convinces with her performance. Just A Shadow is the kind of song that makes me want to hear more, despite it is just outside of my musical comfort zone.

The Backrooms. Proton Packs

With 'Visions From The Void', Proton Packs' new and fifth album, coming up, the band released a single that is quite attractive. The band from the Italian town, where horse racing in the city centre is one of its highlights, Siena, is around for over twenty years. Proton Packs has listened to American examples like The Offspring and comes up with an enthusiastic song of the kind Dexter Holland c.s. used to make quite some time ago. Punk rock is combined with a strong melody and some nice lead guitar lines. The combination makes for a song that shines, bounces up and down and makes me want to dance. Exactly like how I want my punk rock songs to be.

Baseball. Dirt Buyer

Alternative rocker Dirt Buyer, aka Joe Sutkowski, returns to the blog with the single Baseball. Working towards the release of his new album 'Dirt Buyer III', release 6 February, Dirt Buyer gives off a good taste of what his fans can expect and others can newly discover. Baseball is an alternative rock track that has a long tradition in the U.S. It may well be that my introduction was with the single 'Tail Lights' by Buffalo Tom in 1992? 1993?. Since, I never looked back. Baseball falls nicely into that tradition. Tough sounding guitars, interspersed with a sparse keyboard note. The use of dynamics accent the light and the shade in the song. Over it Sutkowski sings with a dreamy voice that is not overly joyful nor depressed. Again allowing the light and shade in. In other words, there's nothing new here, but just so well done.

I Want To Go To Space (Closing Credits). Carol Cleveland Sings

 'Effervescent Lure', Carol Cleveland Sings' 2016 album, is the album that got to me by the longest route by far of all my albums. Ordered in the U.S., shipped to San Francisco to a friend, who brought it to Guadalajara in Mexico, where he gave it to me there at a conference, from where I brought it home, saving circa $20 shipping costs. After an EP, 'Wishing Well', I lost track of the duo Thomas Hughes and Gretchen Lohse, until a recent email announced a new album, 'Darla In Space'. It is a movie soundtrack, a musical art form that I do not always appreciate, as it is so fragmented and joined to movie scenes which are not there. As I'm very sympathetic to CCS, I've listened to the composition supporting the movie's closing credits. In general this is where they show "the little letters" as we call them, with the gaffer, hairdresser, dolly grip, carpenter, etc., while everyone puts on their coats to leave. I Want To Go To Space is just the right music for it. Unobtrusive, yet it is totally CCS. It is not for nothing that every time I write about New Zealand act Pickle Darling, that I mention CCS. Although, this track is more organic, the little elements that make it a CCS track are all there, with the exception of Gretchen Lohse not singing lyrics. Here it is just oohs and aahs, but that's okay. I Want To Go To Space is a nice and relaxed exit to a record and movie. 

Lit. Jaguero

More punk from Italy this week. Jaguero formed in 2021 out of several other bands and has released two EPs so far. There will be an album later this year. First there is the first single, Lit. Starting with a huge guitar riff, enhanced by a little lick that comes by a few times. The vocals are double tracked, at least double that is, with one mixed a little into the background where the lyrics are shouted out loud with even more emotion. The result is that besides punk rock the song borders towards emo. With Lit, Jaguero takes you down a well trodden path but with a lot of enthusiasm and power. It is certainly worth checking out.

 

Three Friends Of Winter. Three Friends Of Winter

The day Stefan Breuer sent me the link to this song, he could not foresee that just over a week later he could eat his heart out as a friend of winter. The world turned white for days on end with perhaps the end not yet in sight. The band Three Friends Of Winter is a collaboration between the bands/projects Hako, I Am Oak and The World of Dust. Of course that rubs off, although I can't judge for Hako. Emiko Hachiki (Hako), Stefan Breuer (The World of Dust) en Thijs Kuijken (I am Oak) met in Osaka when the two Dutch men toured there in 2019 and after that started trading snippets of music online. This is the first result and it surely wets my appetite to hear more. Where the song seems fairly straightforward, listen more closely and you will hear an instrument that is not like anything that is heard in western music, as well as atmospherics that weave  in and out throughout the song. Like waves from space. It is a beautiful contrast to the soft song. The music gets a nice kick here and there because of the use of an electric guitar. Thijs Kuijken, being, well, Thijs Kuijken, he sings like he always does and sets a relaxed meditating mood. All these extra's make the song different from the two acts I do know well, making this a different act. The way the three blend their music, calls for more in the future.

Burn The Time Away. Wanted Noise

There's only one place in the world where I swam in the Pacific ocean. It was in the city where beach punks Wanted Noise comes from, San Diego. I remember a stark descent down a cliff (and going back up), loads of sun and illegal nudity, an older guy (listen to me today) with a far too young female companion. Yes, you're right, all this has nothing to do with Burn The Time Away. With this review, the blog leaves 2025 releases behind it. The single starts with a few guitars weaving in interesting patterns, not giving anything away about what is to come: a quite standard punk track, with huge drums. Cudos to Taylor Wagner are due, wow! He brings so much energy to Burn The Time Away, making so many sparks fly, that he only thing the band has to do, is follow. The double guitars and bass do just that. The call-response vocals are an asset setting the song apart from most punk tracks. There's an album coming up called 'Easy Listening'. Yeah, sure!

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

Big City Life. Smerz

De Amerikaanse muziekwebsite Pitchfork maakt dit jaar hele bijzondere keuzes in haar jaarlijstje, maar met het eigenzinnige popalbum van het Noorse duo Smerz heeft de eigenzinnige website het bij het juiste eind.

Big city life van Smerz deed het afgelopen voorjaar volgens mij niet heel veel in Nederland, maar met name in de Verenigde Staten kon het Noorse duo dat bestaat uit Catharina Stoltenberg en Henriette Motzfeldt rekenen op positieve recensies. Pitchfork was haar recensie nog niet vergeten en riep het album van Smerz vorige week uit tot het popalbum van 2025. Ik hoorde het in eerste instantie niet, maar als je de tijd neemt voor de muziek van het tweetal uit Oslo valt er veel op zijn plek. Smerz maakt eigenzinnige en soms bijna minimalistische popmuziek, maar de songs van Catharina Stoltenberg en Henriette Motzfeldt hebben ook iets aanstekelijks. Ik had tot deze week nog nooit van Smerz gehoord, maar ik heb wel wat met dit album.

Het is december en dus worden we momenteel overspoeld door een vloedgolf aan jaarlijstjes. Er zijn altijd een paar jaarlijstjes waar ik met speciale belangstelling naar uitkijk en het jaarlijstje van Pitchfork is er een van. De Amerikaanse muziekwebsite heeft er dit jaar een bijzonder lijstje van gemaakt met een top 10 waarin maar liefst zeven albums staan die ik niet ken, wat enigszins oncomfortabel voelt, maar ook de fantasie prikkelt. 

Pitchfork heeft ook een lijst gemaakt met uitsluitend popalbums, maar ook hierin kom ik nogal wat onbekende albums tegen. Het is ook een wat wonderlijke lijst, want de rangorde in de lijst met popalbums is niet consistent met de lijst waarin alle genres zijn vertegenwoordigd. Het zorgt voor een, in ieder geval voor mij, hele bijzondere nummer één, want Pitchfork kiest het voor mij totaal onbekende Big city life van Smerz als beste popalbum van 2025. 

Pitchfork opent haar aanprijzing van het album met de volgende zin: “Possibility, aspiration, fantasy: These are the currencies of pop music, and Smerz are making their own mint.” Hierna volgen nog een aantal alinea’s tekst waar ik geen touw aan vast kan knopen, maar dat Smerz geen dertien in een dozijn popmuziek maakt was me vervolgens wel duidelijk. 

Smerz is een Noors duo dat bestaat uit Catharina Stoltenberg en Henriette Motzfeldt. De twee schreven de songs op Big city life en tekenden ook voor de uitvoering en de productie. Het is zo ongeveer alle info die is te vinden op de bandcamp pagina van het tweetal uit Oslo, dat naar verluidt een groot deel van de tijd in Kopenhagen doorbrengt. 

Big city life doet het goed op een aantal eigenzinnige muziekwebsites, waaronder die van Pitchfork, maar heeft verder niet heel veel aandacht gekregen. Het is dan ook geen album dat in één adem kan en zal worden genoemd met de grote popalbums van 2025. Catharina Stoltenberg en Henriette Motzfeldt maken niet de makkelijkste muziek en maken bovendien muziek die constant van kleur verandert, waardoor de muziek van Smerz weinig houvast biedt. 

Het album opent met minimalistische elektronica en de wat onderkoelde zang van de twee, waarna een piano wordt toegevoegd. In de tweede track wordt een bijzonder ritme en wat ruis op de achtergrond gecombineerd met zang en wederom klinkt het wat minimalistisch. Toch begrijp ik wel dat Pitchfork het album van Smerz als pop bestempeld, want de songs van het Noorse tweetal klinken misschien bijzonder, maar zijn zeker niet ontoegankelijk. 

Ik moest absoluut wennen aan de songs van Smerz, die deels met elektronica en deels met organische instrumenten zijn ingekleurd, maar eenmaal gewend aan de bijzondere klanken, de bijzondere songstructuren en de zang van Catharina Stoltenberg en Henriette Motzfeldt begon ik te horen wat Pitchfork hoort in Big city life. 

Het is knap hoe het tweetal met beperkte middelen maximaal effect weet te sorteren en het is minstens even knap hoe ritmes, elektronica piano een geheel vormen en prachtig samenvloeien met de zang. Catharina Stoltenberg en Henriette Motzfeldt gaan met dit album niet de wereld veroveren, maar liefhebbers van popmuziek die anders klinkt dan de mainstream popmuziek van het moment vinden veel van hun gading op dit bijzondere album. 

Luister net een keer meer dan je eigenlijk van plan bent en alles valt op zijn plek, waarna de bijzondere songs van Smerz opeens hopeloos verslavend kunnen zijn. Dat heeft Pitchfork toch weer knap gehoord, zoals zo vaak.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt Big City Life hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://smerzforyou.bandcamp.com/album/big-city-life 

I Do. Raman.

So, big words are used in announcing I Do, Raman.'s debut album. With big words I mean the name Jeff Buckley. No one, before nor after touched me so deeply and profoundly as Saint Jeff did with his first and only album 'Grace'. It is impossible for any artist to ever make such an almost divine impression on me, but, that out of the way, what do I make of I Do?

For some weeks I am able to listen to the album and the release date is upon me. Despite this effort, enjoyable as it was, I am not able to truly make up my mind. Oh, I Do is good, very good even, but how good exactly only time can tell. The question is whether the album will grow, like only the extremely good albums do, some right up to a level where only a few albums ever wind up: the musical stratosphere.

The first impressions of Raman. came by way of two singles released last year, 'Mantra' and 'Talking (Pt.2)'. Both songs went down quite well and made me more than a little curious for the upcoming album. The latter single made me warn Raman. not to go swimming in a river with his clothes on. It shows that the comparison with Buckley is not such a strange one. Sure, Raman.'s voice is not so powerful and yet angelic, the mood he creates and chords he uses, conjure images of Jeff Buckley but also of acoustic blues in a Ry Cooder, 'Paris, Texas' style. What is not there, is the Gary Lucas magical sprinkles like in 'Mojo Pin' and 'Grace'.

Photo: Anton Coene

Raman., is Simon Raman from Ghent in Belgium, who under the naam Raman. released a powerblues EP in 2019 named 'Birth Of Joy' with his band members Bernd Coene and Jasper Peeten. Since then a lot must have changed, as today Simon Raman has gone soul searching and returned to music with I Do, assisted by new band members Kris Auman op bas, Sylvester Vanborm op drums, with the additional support of producer/musician Koen Gisen, David Poltrock (mellotron, keys) and Esther Coorevits (alto violin). Together they climb mountains, go down deep troughs, sore through space and surf ethereal waves.

On the album you will hear introspective songs, some expanded all the way up to bluesrock explosions on a slide guitar. The mix makes for very pleasant and intense listening. Sounds familiar? Raman. truly explores all the edges and corners of his emotions on this album and does so successfully. I Do has so many different angles and they all work. That makes it an album to pay attention to and not just for the short run. Just listen to how right after the explosion 'Talking' becomes, the album reaches deeper with the ever more expanding 'It's All Over'. However, a highlight is not something found only in isolation on I Do. You will find them all over the album.

Raman. has truly surprised me, well maybe not completely, as I was forewarned by the two singles. This is a really good album and what a great first album to review in 2026 it is. The only question remaining is, as I already wrote, how far will the album go?

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

The album may be on his Bandcamp site soon:

https://ramanmusicofficial.bandcamp.com/music 

Bowie for Dummies #41

Today, David Bowie would have turned 79. We all know that this cannot happen, as Bowie died ten years ago, two days after his birthday. To commemorate David Bowie on his heavenly birthday, we present a new iteration of Bowie for Dummies. compiled by Tineke Guise.

The item remains popular with people visiting this blog. It has by far the most views on this blog, for years on end. Chances are that there is a lot of new items to be discovered there. This is the 41th 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

Far From Nowhere. Josienne Clarke

Ik ken de muziek van Josienne Clarke al heel wat jaren, maar met name de afgelopen zes jaar maakt ze albums van een bijzondere schoonheid en intimiteit en ook het in oktober verschenen Far From Nowhere is er weer een.

Josienne Clarke beschikt absoluut over een van de mooiste folkstemmen van het moment en maakte de afgelopen jaren bovendien een aantal prachtige en interessante folkalbums. Het stapeltje Josienne Clarke albums dat ik koester groeide nog wat verder, want ook Far From Nowhere is weer een betoverend mooi album. Het is een album dat in isolement en met bescheiden middelen werd gemaakt, maar dat heeft niets veranderd aan de schoonheid en kracht van het album. Ook Far From Nowhere is weer sober maar fantasierijk ingekleurd en ook dit keer zingt Josienne Clarke weer de sterren van de hemel. Folk is niet mijn favoriete genre, maar de albums van Josienne Clarke kan ik echt met geen mogelijkheid weerstaan.

Ik ben zeker geen echte folkie, maar dat betekent niet dat ik niet kan genieten van folkalbums. Folkmuzikanten maken het voor mij een stuk makkelijker wanneer ze wat buiten de hokjes van het genre durven te kleuren en bovendien open staan voor invloeden van wat recentere datum. Wanneer een folkalbum aan deze voorwaarden voldoet kan het zomaar opduiken in mijn jaarlijstje of zelfs in het lijstje met mijn favoriete albums aller tijden (als ik dat ooit eens zou maken). 

De folkmuzikante die de afgelopen jaren de meeste keren mijn jaarlijstje heeft gehaald is de Britse muzikante Josienne Clarke. Toen ze in 2019 het prachtige In All Weather uitbracht kende ik haar al van de albums die ze had gemaakt met de Britse muzikant Ben Walker. Stuk voor stuk uitstekende albums, maar voor mij net wat te traditioneel en te folky. Met de soloalbums van Josienne Clarke kon ik echter wel overweg. 

In All Weather (2019), A Small Unknowable Thing (2021), Now And Then (2022), Onliness: Songs of Solitude & Singularity (2023) en I Parenthesis (2024) zijn stuk voor stuk albums die ik hoog heb zitten en in de meeste gevallen inmiddels koester. Het zijn albums die allemaal het predicaat folkalbum verdienen, al nam Josienne Clarke de ene keer wat meer afstand van de traditionele folk dan de andere keer. 

Ook Far From Nowhere is een album dat uitstekend past in het hokje folk, maar het is net als de vorige albums van Josienne Clarke ook weer een album waarmee ik me eindeloos wil opsluiten. Dat heeft alles te maken met de stem van Josienne Clarke, die beschikt over een van de mooiste stemmen in de Britse folk van het moment. Het is een stem die loepzuiver door de speakers komt, maar het is ook een stem die je weet te raken door de emotionele lading die Josienne Clarke in haar zang heeft gestopt. 

Net als de vorige albums van Josienne Clarke heeft ook Far From Nowhere weer meer te bieden dan een betoverend mooie stem. Ook de muziek op het album is weer prachtig en maakt de songs van Josienne Clarke nog wat mooier. De muziek op het nieuwe album van de Britse muzikante is over het algemeen genomen uiterst sober maar zeer smaakvol. Door het veelvuldig gebruik van de akoestische gitaar klinken de songs van Josienne Clarke onmiskenbaar folky, maar er gebeurt ook altijd iets bijzonders in haar muziek. 

Dat het album zo prachtig klinkt is overigens best bijzonder, want met Far From Nowhere wilde Josienne Clarke haar eigen Nebraska maken. Ze sloot zich op in een klein huis in het bos met flink wat instrumenten en producer en muzikant Murray Collier en kwam na een week naar buiten met een serie prachtige songs. 

Vergeleken met een aantal van haar vorige albums kruipt Josienne Clarke met haar nieuwe album weer wat dichter tegen de traditionele Britse folk aan, maar ik vind het album 13 tracks en ruim veertig minuten lang prachtig en heb geen moment van de allergie die ik vaak voor wat traditionelere folk heb. 

Far From Nowhere is gemaakt met beperkte middelen en is het meest sobere album van Josienne Clark tot dusver, maar desondanks is het een album dat het verdient om met de koptelefoon te worden beluisterd. Dan immers hoor je hoeveel zorg Josienne Clarke en Murray Collier hebben besteed aan de muziek op en de productie van het album en bovendien hoor je nog wat beter hoe mooi de stem van de Britse muzikante is. Ik heb inmiddels al heel wat jaren een enorm zwak voor de albums van Josienne Clarke en ook haar nieuwe album is weer indrukwekkend mooi.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt Far From Nowhere hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://josienneclarke.bandcamp.com/album/far-from-nowhere 

25 best read/clocked on post ever, 2012 - 2025

This blog is in operation for close to fourteen years. Well over 5100 posts have been published since the start in February 2012. Nearly every year something mysterious happens when one post or several get extremely popular, with a dozen of more clicks per day for months on end. This distorts this list no little. But then, that is what it is.

As you will see, there are quite some changes compared to last year, with the note that it might be that I overlooked The Velvet Underground last year. It is one of a few older posts that gather some attraction over many years, leading to the number of views to swell slowly but surely. The big click bang of 2019, when nearly all posts were popular for as long as they were in the 25 most recent posts exactly, has been half wiped out this year. Enter the even bigger bang of 2025, that was a lot more random in its preference where the posts' publishing date was concerned, yet very consistent in the choices made.

Number one remains for the same, for several years already. Only a very special action will be able to change that. What I really like, is that an obscure album, a personal favourite from 1980, has made it into the top 10 this year. Another slow riser. Looking at the number of comments beneath it, many views may have been real

25. (16) Data Mirage Tangram. The Young Gods, 2019

24. (23) Let’s Rock. The Black Keys, 2019

23. ( -)  2024, week 41. 10 singles, 2024

22. ( -)  Save Your Hearts. Madisyn Whajne, 2020

21. (14) Jane Willow live. Haarlem, vrijdag 30 augustus, 2019

20. ( -)  2024, week 41. 10 singles, 2024

19. (12) Norman Fucking Rockwell!. Lana del Rey, 2019

18. ( -)  The Velvet Underground. 45th Anniversary super deluxe edition. The Velvet

             Underground, 2015

17. (11) A Wizard A True Star. Todd Rundgren + Meat Loaf/The Beatles/Jimi Hendrix/The

                Analogues, 2017

16. ( -)  Jesus Christ Superstar. World Forum The Hague, Sunday 8 January, 2017 

15. (  9) Echo Chamber. The Strange, 2019

14. (10) The Analogues Live. Wednesday 18, Stadsschouwburg Velsen, 2016

13. ( -)  Plenty Of Blankets. No Ninja Am I, 2022

12. (  8) Anaana. Cari Cari, 2018

11. ( -)  And For Our Next Trick. The Tearaways, 2023

10. ( -)  2025, week 7. 10 singles, 2025

 9. (13) Wooden Soldiers. Wooden Soldiers, 2019

 8. (15)  No Fright. Live Wire, 2013

 7. (  7) One Day (Reckoning Song), Asaf Avidan (Wankelmut RMX), 2012

 6. (  4) Risha. David Eugene Edwards & Alexander Hacke, 2018

 5. ( 5) Remedies (2). Soup, 2017

 4 .( 3) Gé Hofenk, 2012

 3. ( 5) Life In Reverse. TELL, 2024

 2. ( 2) 67 Lost Songs from the 60s. A discussion, 2018

  1. ( 1) David Bowie for Dummies by Tineke G., 2017