August 15, 2012 Leave a comment
Even Beequeen finally made it to bandcamp. We plan to bring you stuff you should have had a long time ago, but perhaps were afraid to get, or perhaps you forgot. The first album is a series of pretty rare pieces from compilations from the period 1989-1997…
August 1, 2012 Leave a comment
Goem – Audio.nl
Korm Plastics kp 3049
CD only – 200 copies
Barcode: 7 53907 98570 2
Following the succes of the Komet – Audio.NL CD, the second release to re-issue old records from the by the now legendary Audio.NL label involves the two 12” records by Goem, as well as the only 7” on that label by Goem and Jos Smolders.
Goem started out late 1995 as yet another solo project by Frans de Waard who cobbled together a demo using an ancient device called the student stimulator (a basic pulse machine) and some sound effects. Intended to be just a few tracks/one-off project, it attracted attention of his fellow band member in Kapotte Muziek, Roel Meelkop. Together they reworked the demo and the resulting recordings were released as ‘Stud Stim’, the first foreign act released on Raster-Noton. Peter Duimelinks joined shortly after that, just before Goem’s debut concert in Barcelona in June 1996. From then onwards Goem released records on Mego, Staalplaat, 12K and Noise Museum and played concerts at Sonar, Mutek, Stop Stop, Ultrahang festival but also galleries, small clubs, squats and even a camping. In 1998 they started the Audio.NL, who released up to the early 2000’s some 30 different 12” records. After 2002 Goem ended, and Frans de Waard and Roel Meelkop each released a solo record as Goem after that.
Goem’s trademark sound was a minimal, pulsating sound at first generated by the student stimulator, but later also expanded to other sampled sources, including disco records, which was fed through analogue synthesizers (Korg and Roland) and a bunch of sound effects. A highly hypnotic blend of moving, pulsating electronics, often mistaken for minimal techno, but reaching much more for the minimalist tradition of Steve Reich meeting Kraftwerk.
This CD contains their two 12”s on Audio.NL, the ‘Motormix’ by Goem, a goem remix by Jos Smolders (both from the 7”, Audio.NL 003) and two previously unreleased tracks. All remastered from the original master recordings by Jos Smolders @ Earlabs.
June 20, 2012 Leave a comment
I totally forgot to put this on my list of forthcoming concerts, but tonight Wieman plays at Worm in an electronic seansession with Ben & Puck Schot, as an opening performance to a screening of El Topo. We did this with Ben before, which date I forgot and I am a bit in a hurry, but I will add to my gig list later on, at the Aki in Enschede and it has the variety of the movie translated to music and words. Check out this for tonight or this about the movie itself
June 13, 2012 Leave a comment
Alright. So much happening, never enough time to fill you in on the details. So I gave up smoking ten days ago, which is no doubt good in the long run, once I am over the insomnia and the feeling of depression. The good news is that I started something new, Modelbau. Since almost three years I have been playing concerts in which the laptop plays a smaller role than it was before with Freiband – which was entirely laptop based. But I must admit I am a bit fed up with the laptop and want to use analogue stuff more and more. In Modelbau I just want to use analogue gear, along with a fixed backing track. Hopefully a new one per concert. Here are some more things that are done within this concept: everything I do is recorded live to 2-track. No complicated multi-track pieces, but all ‘live’. Which however doesn’t mean there is nothing to edit. It will be heavily edited and collaged within the 2 track pieces. I already recorded various pieces (more than three hours in fact) of bits and bobs which I will edit into the first Modelbau album this summer. Likewise I also decided not to release any physical products as Modelbau, but instead just use the internet to release it. Don’t come banging at my door for free releases on your netlabel: its my intention to try and make a few $$ out of the download business. The first release by Modelbau is now up at Bandcamp along with an album and a (long) single by Freiband. This piece may also serve as my demo for live concerts. Ho Ho. Meeuw did a nice design of it.
I have been working hard on mixing two new LPs by The Tobacconists (I am still allowed as a member) and ignored my small input on the new Beequeen CD. I hope that changes soon. So much to do, so little time.
April 20, 2012 Leave a comment
So I made it back home and worked my ass off to get all those things I had no time for. But it looks I’m back on track. The great news is that the tour didn’t make money, but the LP/CD is out (I still have a few to sell). Also a tour 3″CDR by The Tobacconists is still available, as well as a few copies of the Sonic Protest double CD which they released for their festival.
This sunday I will speak at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht about home taping – how did we do that in the early 80s. About cassettes, recordings and i’ll be showing a slide show of interesting letters from labels. Also I’d be selling CDs, records and tapes – all at 5 euro a piece. Only this sunday and in exchange for real money.
On may 4th I play in Brussels and although I don’t like to pure laptop concerts, I plan to perform the piece that I worked out last year as a live rendition of my LP for Ini.itu. They are from Brussels, so the perfect occasion. I post the name of venue when I know it. Its a new thing. Mecha/orga and Martiensgohome are also plaing. Its their opening night.
April 10, 2012 1 Comment
Our date in Antwerpen was moved one day ahead so we couldn’t record on sunday in Nijmegen, but staying at Dennis from Ultra Eczema we recorded some harsher work perhaps for his label. We shot this little video of the session:
March 29, 2012 Leave a comment
March 18, 2012 Leave a comment
In two weeks from now I’ll be sitting down with Scott Foust and Mike Popvich to rehearse our Smoking is Green ‘opera’, and to warm you all up, Scott did a great video of it:
March 7, 2012 Leave a comment
from the forthcoming issue of Vital Weekly, kindly donated by its editor in chief:
Of course I am not the right person to say anything about Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf’s ‘Mutatis Mutandis’, since a little silly thing from me as Freiband was the basis of this. An one minute piece released on a cassette, which people could use to remix, preferably using a four track cassette. There is an unreleased piece by Z’EV, but only Mirko Uhlig has spend a lot of time with it. He’s back to using his old bandname, Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf, and there are three pieces here. One seems a straight remix of the original, followed by the title piece, which takes up thirty eight minutes. Here Uhlig takes the hiss of the original apart, adds sound effects, time stretches bits into long form drones, making an absolute great piece, ending a nice up in your face drone bit and even a short noise bit at the end – but hey of course I am not the right person to write such things. Close to the fire and such things. But to know such a short and hissy piece of loosely formed sounds can make such a great piece, I didn’t know. Excellent, but of course I am not etc. And, best coup about it, its also released on cassette. Now there is something to bring to your four track machine. I know I will!
get it here
Frans de Waard 