Patiently EP. Amber Arcades

In 'NRC Handelsblad' I read an interview with Annelotte de Graaf of the band Amber Arcades. Never heard of either before, but read about a woman who disbanded her band, packed her bags and traveled to New York to live her dream and record her songs. No matter what kind of music this would turn out to be, the story is attracting enough to give Amber Arcades a listen.

I found two songs on Spotify, the extremely neurotic and busy 'Turning Light' and the 60s ballad 'Right Now'. Both are extremely addictive songs I found, released in 2016, but not part of this EP that was released in October 2015.

In fact 'Right Now' would have fit in totally, 'Turning Light' certainly does not. Amber Arcades is a band, or better Ms. De Graaf is the band with help from hired hands, that fits in a long tradition of bands that are influenced by the soft side of The Velvet Underground. From Spanish Hinds earlier this year, to Belly and due to the dreamy female vocal even earlier in the 60s with The Shangri-Las.

The music on Patiently is elementary. At heart it is Annelotte de Graaf singing and playing her guitar. With some help on percussion here and there. All very minimal. The vocals carry the songs and they are dreamy, as if looking at something beyond the horizon and certainly not something present in the recording studio.

No matter the obvious quality it does make me ask myself what would happen here when a real drum would kick in, a bass would come alive and a keyboard soar? That would make Patiently a totally different EP. For the EP this is quite alright, but for a whole album there may be a need to make some songs come alive. A hint is given in 'What A Heart Can Contain', the song that comes closest to a mix of The Velvet Underground and a light version of Veruca Salt.

The next song on the EP is 'Constant's Dream'. No more and no less than the price song on Patiently. De Graaf's voice, her harmonies, her guitars and a tambourine. That's all she wrote. What a song.

De Graaf works as an immigration lawyer next to her band. With the large influx of refugees and the quality of her songs, things may get busy for her in 2016. The comment made in the mentioned interview is a correct one: can an artist make a decent living in 2016? I just downloaded the EP for free, but spent some time writing a review in return. Something she can't make a living from, as I can't. So for now having a job is a safe thing.

In the meantime I'm enjoying these soft songs on the brink of 60s ballads, indie and pop. Another EP from a Dutch artist that made me curious for what is going to follow.

Wo.

You can listen the Patiently and buy the EP here:

 https://amberarcades.bandcamp.com/

You can listen to the two other mentioned songs on Spotify.

2016. An assessment of Oor's tips for this year, part 2

Last week we published the first post with the acts Oor tips for a breakthrough in 2016. Here's part 2.

We start with another band that was all over the radio in the fall and made the charts as well, Haevn. The duo Jorrit Kleijen and Marijn van der Meer excels in a kind of dark pop music that reflects the sign of the times. The lyrics do not reflect the times at all, it's music that does. There's a gloomy atmosphere in 'Finding Out More', that fits with the everyday worries the general person seems to have. Foreigners, threat of war, terrorists, values and the fourth industrial revolution are all topics that lead to concerns. Or do we live in extremely interesting times in which nothing is certain any more? Haevn may be gloomy, but I hear the quality of songsmiths in a song like 'Where The Heart Is'. Despite the fact that I've heard this sort of music many times before, it's good. I'm certainly interested to learn more in the future.

Another name that has a buzz around it is The Brahms. Another band that was formed at a music academy. Four young lads from Utrecht. From the looks I'd expected an indie rock quartet. Instead I hear a mix between Rupert Holmes and 10cc. Then 'Golden' is played on Spotify and I recognise another song that was plugged major on the radio a few months back. A song with an African riff, a hint at Go Back To The Zoo and other Dutch bands of recent years. The second band in this post that already had a Megahit on 3FM. Sorry, but in my opinion that is a moment that a band breaks through and is lifted from anonymity. The song is played nearly by the hour. That aside. The two songs I played on Spotify, the other is 'Shoulder Blades', are not for me. Too neat, too much like the smell of Brussels sprouts.

Next up is a trio called The Lumes from Rotterdam. Where The Brahms is neat, The Lumes go all out on the opening of its EP called 'Lust'. 'Satan' rocks out loud with screams and all. It hurts my eardrums as much as it must hurt the vocal chords of the singer. Musically the band comes close to Indian Askin with which we started part one of year. The Lumes is less melodic and reminds me most of bands from the early 80s like Comsat Angels and Echo and the Bunnymen. Singer Maxime Prins has the same sort of deadness in his voice that was called for at the time and totally turned me off new music for a while at the time. So, I'm not convinced by the four songs on 'Lust'. What I do hear is a truckload of energy and a lot of enthusiasm, things that were all missing in 1980. Not allowed to laugh then, we were.

And now for something completely different as my comedy heroes used to say. Klyne is the duo Nick Klein and Ferdous Dehzad. In fact Klyne is a bit of a surprise. Nothing for me when I hear a minimal beat, handclaps and Stevie Wonder's cousin singing. 'Waiting' starts out as a minimal dance track, but ends as a minimal indie rocker. A fuzzed out guitar or something sounding like it ends 'Waiting' with nothing else much in place. The vocal melody is just as minimal, but also fairly o.k. In between a few electronic melodies are added. Less is much more where Klyne is concerned. Jamie XX is what flashes through my mind. When I listen to 'Closer' it is like Nick Klein composed a whole song on his guitar, after which Dehzad stripped away everything and came back with this track. No, it's not my music, but I hear what I'm hearing. I see no reason why Klyne can not follow in XX's footsteps.

To all good things an end must come or so they say. In this case it's a logical ending as Charl Delemarre is Oor's final tip for 2016. And so the Dutch language enters these two posts any way. On his six song EP 'De Bekentenis' ("the confession"), Delemarre sings like a kleinkunst artist. Hans de Booij in 2016, that's my first impression. Charl Delemarre goes for the jugular. He wants to make a huge impression from the very first notes. If this fails, this guy is not for you. If he does then a lasting relationship could be in the making. So where am I with Delemarre? This guy may just be too much for me. He's all over the place on his EP. There's so much passion, such a total commitment to his songs, that there's no hiding place for the listener. There's no doubt though that this is a serious talent.

Wo.

Courting The Squall. Guy Garvey

Soloplaten van leden van zeer succesvolle bands leveren maar zelden een plaat op die je uiteindelijk gaat onthouden. Ik had op voorhand dan ook vooral twijfels over de noodzaak van een soloplaat van Elbow zanger Guy Garvey.

Die twijfel neemt de Brit direct weg in de openingstrack van zijn soloplaat Courting The Squall. Guy Garvey klinkt in Angela’s Eyes veel rauwer en directer dan we van hem gewend zijn en dat klinkt zeker niet onaangenaam.
 
Op Courting The Squall neemt Guy Garvey overigens zeker niet over de hele linie afstand van het Elbow geluid. Veel tracks op de plaat liggen in het verlengde van de muziek die is te horen op de prachtige serie platen die Elbow heeft uitgebracht, al is het maar vanwege de uit duizenden herkenbare vocalen. Courting The Squall behoudt echter zijn bestaansrecht.
 
Guy Garvey werkt op zijn soloplaat met bevriende muzikanten, onder wie een lid van I Am Kloot en multi-instrumentalist Ben Christophers en deze muzikanten leggen ook in de songs die tegen het geluid van Elbow aanleunen duidelijk andere accenten.
 
Courting The Squall is over de hele linie directer dan de platen van Elbow, flirt op aanstekelijke wijze met funk en jazz, kiest voor wat minder diepgravende maar hierdoor wel opvallend trefzekere arrangementen en geeft Guy Garvey steeds de mogelijkheid om buiten de gebaande paden te treden. Courting The Squall is ook nog eens minder bombastisch en veel intiemer dan de platen van Elbow, waardoor de plaat zich vrij makkelijk opdringt en je vervolgens ook makkelijk raakt.

Als Elbow op de proppen zou zijn gekomen met deze plaat had ik het ongetwijfeld een frisse, avontuurlijke en gedurfde plaat gevonden en dat is natuurlijk niet anders wanneer alleen de naam van de zanger op de cover prijkt. Courting The Squall is uiteindelijk niet de overbodige soloplaat geworden waar ik bang voor was, maar is een prima plaat die me ook nog nieuwsgierig maakt naar de volgende stap van Elbow. Daar wil ik nog best even op wachten, want met Courting The Squall ben ik nog lang niet klaar.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier luisteren naar 'Courting The Squall':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-gYHw0-7-Y

of kopen op Bol.Com

EP. I Drove A Tank

I Drove a Tank is an oldtimer on this blog. Its debut cd featured on this blog and was one of the best read posts in 2014 and single 'Miles At Monterrey' was reviewed last summer. Now, finally, the new ep simply called EP is released on I Have A Tiger records.

'Over The Moon', the first song on EP, starts with the end of 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'. Less imposing, but certainly the same idea. The music is more indie rock though. The singing is treated, not unlike Julian Casablanca's voice in The Strokes. Just like 'Miles At Monterrey', 'Over The Moon' is more indie than the songs on the band's 2014 album. The influence was much more 1960s, like The Kinks e.g. and the sound much more open. 'Over The Moon' is more direct, while the band captures something mystique as well. The mix is completely full, with firmly strummed guitars everywhere. As such it is possible to write that I Drove A Tank has searched for and found a new sound. It took me about two spins to get used to it and listen with a very favourable ear.

Singer/guitarist Hans Mertens leads his men into a more direct way of playing music, without losing anything on the melodies. I even catch some hints at The Cure of long ago. 'Columbus' is a strong example of this straighforward rock. The rhythm guitars are very The Strokes like, but the background vocals of Hannelore Reynders and the surfsound of the guitar solo, give the song a poppy feel as well, that work together in a great way.

The Velvet Underground has found its way into the music of I Drove A Tank also. Not so strange when The Strokes pop up in a review. In 'Bristol' the total madness is let loose. I'm not sure I want to find out what happened on the way to Bristol. The song does come back together though. The solid drums and the pumping bass. A 'Venus In Furs' on steroids, with strange sounds in the background that come forward more and more as the other instruments are faded out.

'Miles At Monterrey' was discussed last summer, but proves to be a good introduction to EP. The difference in sound, the wildness and chaotic noises fit well with the rest of EP. It remains an intriguing song even after six months.

If music was a beauty contest, it would be 'Pullover' that won. It is the song that reminds me most of 'I Drove A Tank'. The song aims for liking it directly. The others do not necessarily, but are much more interesting to investigate and learn to like.

'Another Year' has a vocal melody that could be part of the perfect pop song. The atmospherics in the background suggest other things. The trumpet solo by Jon Birdsong comes straight out of Bing Crosby. In other words, 'Another Year' has a lot of things going on which are classic pop and perhaps even avant garde at the same time. And it works too.

This mood is continued in 'Frown Upside Down'. Thanks to 'Kairos', my WoNo partner in crime .No's radio show on Concertzender, I  recognise this sort of atmospheric songs. The song changes into an indie pop song with very clear guitars and again a high sounding trumpet.

EP was recorded by Joes Brands also responsible for the sound of The LVE (and its drummer). The links between the I Have a Tiger Records bands seem to be close.

With EP I Drove A Tank explores a darker side of 60s music in a successful way. Along side this music the band also dabbles in atmospherics and mixes these in interesting, estranging ways. EP is an interesting next step in the career of this Belgium band. A step that allows them to go any way they like next.

Wo.

You can listen to and buy EP here:

https://idroveatank.bandcamp.com/

Kairos of November 2015 by .No on Concertzender

Artwork: Astrid van der Meijs

Each month I listen to my colleague .No's show and try to share what the music he plays does with me. Due to several reasons, mostly to do with work, I'm running rather behind. Time to catch up some more.


This Kairos, again, has the theme, 'tijd' or time. I reflected a lot on the theme in my previous review, so I'll refrain from that here. Let me point out that for me there's only one song that counts with that title. Pink Floyd's 'Time' from 'The Dark Side Of The Moon' album. I doubt strongly whether I am going to hear that song in the show, but who knows?

This month's Kairos starts with another little gem played by Hans Kockelmans. A song dedicated to someone who died far too early, under most circumstances. My, rather belated, condolences to his family and friends. Kockelmans is a master in composing these small suites. 'Voor Erik' holds all the sadness and resignation, the letting go within it. As if all is right in the universe, despite the sadness. The music caresses. It is so warm and comforting. Full of empathy.

The switch to the next song is strange. No perfect blending of songs here. The strangly titled 'Ascending Kidney' is a modern kind of folk song of which I have heard dozens in the past years. And I have to say that I rather like this dark song with its repetitive guitar motive. The singing is subdued, matching the mood of 'Voor Erik'. There is a lot of white noise coming in near the end. Rather out of place but responds to the beginning of the tune. This way Trouble Books confuses a bit. I'm not sure whether it belongs or that .No is playing around with my ears with one of his soundscapes.

Jonas Reinhardt plays around with the intro to Pink Ployd's 'Time' a bit. Synthesizers circle around each other without a beat. Just floating, circling, as if caught by the wind, helpless, weightless. 'Mumma Deed Family Clone', talking about weird titles, has no real beginning, nor an ending. It just circles around. Like a little child can just circle around without much thought, caught in the act and fun of the circling. Finding out about dizziness along the way. The last time it plays this game in innocence. The next time is about the effect.

The poem of the month is read over a piano composition by Charles Koechlin. Deborah Richards plays the subdued song with some estranging notes here and there, close to dissonance, which prevents 'Paysages et Marines op. 63 pour piano' from being called beautiful. For that it is to, I'm searching for the right word here, authentic? Too much its own colour. The piano of Richards morphs into the notes played by Keith Swallow.

Claude Debussy is one of those composers who's name is often mentioned. but that I for the life of me couldn't say whether I ever heard music from. The name is famous, his music less, perhaps. So whether true or not, I'm exposed to Debussy for over nine minutes. 'Première Rhapsody' is played by Janet Hilton (clarinet) and Keith Swallow (piano). The intricate clarinet notes float freely over the at times coarser piano chords. In other parts of the composition the playing gets harder as the composition is clearly less harmonious. The clarinet flirts with the piano. Threatens to leave, walks back coquettishly, while the piano takes proud male strides.

The switch to the coarse violin of Broeder Dieleman is not that strange as the clarinet at times played almost as coarse. In 'Zusterstraat' those birds are all over the place again. The piano and violin play something close to a battle for prominence in the song. The third contender runs off with bones, the birds.

Next up we go the church. The sacred lamb is lauded, 'Agnus Dei'. Sorry people, this is really, really not my cup of tea. I can hear that the people of the Ensemble Gilles Binchois are really good, but I just don't like this kind of singing. And for reasons I keep to myself for now, I dislike sheep. So there you go.

Swod (Stephan Wöhrmann and Oliver Doerell) has the honour to host a second poem on time and life. There's a lonely piano, a bass guitar and loads of tape hiss and treatments of some kind. A German speaking woman is sampled. Through the past years I'm starting to appreciate this kind of music more than when I started to review Kairos. 'Insel' is almost soothing, but, dear lady, I'll leave your island when I want to. And that moment is coming soon as I'm moving on to some more church singing.

Sacred music from the Ukraine none the less. Somehow it convinces me more than the sheep music did. The is solid and profound. The people sing it like they mean it. Deep sonorous basses almost hum, laying a low foundation for worshipers to silently pray on. 'Ameristos Adiayretos from ‘Know Yourself, symphony for mixed choir a cappella' is an intricate piece of singing with many layers to get yourself lost in. Each time I happen to enter a church as a tourist and a choir is singing like this, that's a moment to sit down and close my eyes.

Aargh, a harp. Lavinia Meijer plays 'Nocturne' by Benjamin Brittan. As I wrote, aaarrggghhh.

Will Samson is an oldtimer on Kairos, although it's a while back that I heard him last. 'Music For Autumn' in the winter? Why not. It was autumn when this Kairos was broadcasted of course. There's a lot of hiss behind Samson's guitar. Almost as bad as a Robert Johnson recording. This one is intentional it seems. For the rest, this somewhat moody piece is quite alright. Around the guitar more and more starts happening. Solo notes on other instruments fold themselves around it. High female voices enter like sirens in the misty night. Calling, calling. Danger?

The weird sound of the beginning of the show seem to be explained. It's .No making horrid little noises. Undefinable noises work their way into my ears, noises that slowly get mixed into another work by Peteris Vasks. This time the Navarra Quartet plays 'Moderato from String Quartet no. 3'. A moody piece of work, that doesn't work for me.

'The Last Day At The Beach'  by William Ackerman is up next. The heavily violin laden darkish composition makes room for a lonely guitar. As lonely as the mouth harp in the desert in 'Once Upon A Time In The West'. No matter that there is a second guitar, the effect is loneliness. The kind of music to close your eyes to and drift away. The repetition has a sedative and calming effect on me. The entering of a piano is a surprise. Without changing the song as such, it does change it all as the sound becomes so different.

This Kairos ends with another Zeeuws-Vlaming, Ries de Vuyst. Last month the extremely strong song 'Snijwblind' was played, now it is 'Eben Haezer'. The circle is sort of round as the intro could have been by Hans Kockelmans. The dark voice of De Vuyst sings in his local dialect in a song about his grandparents. The song is so intricate and delicate, that I would be afraid to touch it, if could I touch music. The Stone of Help. What a name for a song. Ries de Vuyst is a singer and musician of many talents. Check out his cd 'Oondert'.

Time may have been the theme again of this Kairos, time did not exactly stand still this time around. This Kairos was hard work to get through, as too much of the music did not really agree with me. Another experience richer, I sign off.

Wo.

You can listen to this Kairos here:

http://www.concertzender.nl/kairos-thema-tijd/

This is the playlist:

00:13  Hans Kockelmans. Voor Erik (1992-2015). Hans Kockelmans, gitaar. Eigen opname Hans Kockelmans.
02:29  Keith Freund, Linda Lesjovka & Mike Tolan. Ascending Kidney. Trouble Books (Keith Freund, Linda Lesjovka, Mike Tolan, Angie Hughes, Gabe Schray, Cimmee Salter, Sommer Tolan). Album ‘Gathered Tones’. Own Records OWNREC#49. 
06:10  Jonas Reinhardt. Mumma deed family clone. Album: Powers of Audition. krank142.
08:25  Charles Koechlin. ‘Matin Calme’ uit ‘Paysages et Marines op. 63 pour piano’. Deborah Richards, piano. Album : Koechlin –Piano Works. CPO 999 054-2.
10:49  Claude Debussy. Première Rhapsody. Janet Hilton, klarinet ; Keith Swallow, piano. Album: Rhapsodie. Chandos CHAN 6589.
19:45  Broeder Dieleman. Zusterstraat. Broeder Dieleman (Pim van de Werken, Adam Casey, Ersha Sollgar, Janine van Osta, Tonnie Dieleman). Album: Gloria. Snowstar Records 14-056.
21:55  Dominique Vellard. Agnus Dei uit Missa Laudes Deo. Ensemble Gilles Binchois, Dominique Vellard, dirigent. Album : Vox Nostra Resonet. GCD P32301.\
27:33  Stephan Wöhrmann & Oliver Doerell. Insel. 4:47. SWOD (Stephan Wöhrmann & Oliver Doerell), tape, computer, piano, bas en slagwerk. Stem: onbekend. Album: Drei. Towerblock CD 049.
31:43  Alexander Shchetynsky. Ameristos Adiayretos uit ‘Know Yourself, symphony for mixed choir a cappella’. Cantus Chamber Choir, Uzhhorod. Album: Alexander Shchetynsky, Sacred Music from Ukraine. Naxos 8.579005.
35:48  Benjamin Britten. Nocturne (uit Suite, Op. 83 (1969)). 3.04. Lavinia Meijer, harp. Channel Classics CCS SA 29709.
38:29  Will Samson music for autumn. Album Balance. Karaoke Kalk 69CD.
41:52  Wino Penris. Brain Sparks. Wino Penris, tape & computer. Eigen opname Wino Penris.
43:03  Pēteris Vasks. Moderato uit String Quartet no. 3. Navarra Quartet (Xander van Vliet, viool; Marije Ploemacher, viool; Simone van der Giessen, viola da gamba; Nathaniel Boyd, cello). Challenge Classics CC72365.
49:00  William Ackerman/ Eugene Friesen. The Last Day at the Beach. Album: Conferring with the Moon van William Ackerman. Windham Hill Records 371050-2
55:38  Ries de Vuyst. Eben Haezer. Album: Oondert. Uitgegeven in eigen beheer.