Real Releases?

May 10, 2013 Leave a comment

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The past few posts have been about digital music, and while I like to serve everybody what they want, I do like physical releases perhaps a little more. This week, by curious twist of fate I guess, I got three new releases which involve my music, small and large. First there is a 3″ CDR by Bastet, in which five people remix Unter Den Linden. I am pretty sure I did my piece already in 2001 and it was one of the first pieces of laptop music I ever did. Stephan Mathieu liked this one. It was also released on the Freiband cassette on Beam End, in 2011, because frankly I thought this would not never appear. The others on this 3″ CDR compilation are Nouvelles Lectures Cosmopolites, Monolith, Column One and P.A.L. Heavy stuff!

bocianpp

Then I got copies of ‘Pink Pearl’, a CD which I recorded with Howard Stelzer in 2011 and 2012. As source material we used everything that we done since we started to work together, which must have been 1996, when we first traded rough musical sounds to be melted into new music. But unlike some others in this particular branch, I have met Howie a couple of times – I would like to say on 5 occasions but I am afraid I will use the wrong number – when he was in Europe or I in the USA and we have played together on a number of live and studio collaborations. I know, its what musicians always say, but this might be our best work together. The source material is old stuff from cassettes, previous collaborations, live recordings and lots of digital processing on my part. We will not disclose who did which track

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And then there is Freiband’s ‘Mutatis Mobilis’. When I did a Freiband piece on the Korm 25th Anniversary cassette it had some stuff on side A, and some on side B, so that you could use the tape as a 4 track tape and further treat this stuff. Z’EV send me a piece, which I think I may have lost (but I don’t dare to tell him) and Mirko Uhlig did a long one, which Attenuation Circuit released as a cassette and CDR. I used that cassette in my four track recorder to play it back and use that for some new music, which is again something people could use as a four track. Either by using the cassette version as a four track or using free software to play both pieces at the same time. A never ending thing I guess.

Yesterday Wieman rehearsed for their concert ‘Play Goem’ at the end of this month and it sounds great. The Tobacconists have 2 LPs ready (mixed and mastered) for release, and the new Beequeen is 99% ready – all of which should make excellent releases. Beequeen is easily the most commercial music I was ever involved in. Fucking hell, this should break big time!

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Stainless Steel [Extension]

April 10, 2013 Leave a comment

new track – now available
stainless extension

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Korm Digitaal

February 12, 2013 Leave a comment

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFor a while now I have been running a digital music side line for many of my label releases, through Itunes, Amazon and what have you and even some assorted on Bandcamp. I have decided to expand the whole Bandcamp thing and put up as many old stuff as humanly possible. So you can at least download it Wav, flac or whatever is best for you. I started today and will go on through 2013, I hope.

This is the first one

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2012 Round Up

December 31, 2012 Leave a comment

Tobacconists9 kopieAnother year has passed, and no doubt I said it before: the older I get, the quicker it seems. As Basil Fawlty would say: ‘what’s that?”, ‘your life’ ‘can I have another one’ ‘no’. So what kind of year was 2012? Actually a great one, in terms of releases, concerts and assorted other events.

Concerts

See below for a complete list for gigs I did this, with some particular high lights, such as Wieman at Extrapool at the Ultra event (which I think was without the best evening of concerts this year), Kapotte Muziek in Madrid was on great form (and might be released on CD next year), Freiband in Eindhoven, Wieman at ZKM and The Tobacconists in London. Some others we so so, such as The Tobacconists in Amsterdam (but as you can see from the above picture, great lights – thanks Jolanda for these pictures), which was an odd evening on all accounts and Beequeen’s concert at the Shamrock cafe in Nijmegen – which was like playing at a wedding.

Beequeen:
18-10-2012 Bibiliotheek, Nijmegen
17-12-2012 The Shamrock, Nijmegen
Kapotte Muziek:
17-05-2012 Horbar, Hamburg, Germany FdW+RM (Blurred Edges Festival)
21-10-2012 Loft, Cologne, Germany FdW+PD+RM
25-11-2012 LaCasa Encendida, Madrid, Spain FdW+PD+RM
Freiband:
11-02-2012 Extrapool, Nijmegen
05-04-2012 HS63, Brussels, Belgium
02-11-2012 Artspace Flipside, Eindhoven
Frans de Waard:
21-10-2012 Loft, Cologne, Germany (performing “17’08”)
Wieman:
08-03-2012 Extrapool, Nijmegen (with Wally van Middendorp on vocals)
20-06-2012 Worm, Rotterdam (with Ben & Puck Schot)
11-10-2012 ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany
The Tobacconists:
04-04-2012 Extrapool, Nijmegen
05-04-2012 Worm, Rotterdam
06-04-2012 Tape, Arnhem
07-04-2012 Melkweg, Amsterdam
08-04-2012 Gunter, Antwerpen, Belgium
10-04-2012 Sonic Protest, Paris, France
11-04-2012Cafe Kino, Bristol, UK
13-04-2012 The Victoria, Daltson, London, UK
14-04-2012 Cafe Oto, London, UK (performing Scott Foust’s ‘The Drinker’)
Modelbau:
09-06-2012 Etalage Derde Wal, Nijmegen

Releases

By long stretch I’d choose the Ultra CD as the best release on Korm Plastics/Plinkity Plonk this year, although I know I should be proud of all my babies, but that CD I think is great for its musical content and the great speed which everyone used to get it out before Ultra was over. I am also particular proud of the Goem CD, which made me think rather fondly of that project, and which I wouldn’t mind resurrect some day, providing someone would pay up for a solid concert and rehearsals.
Of the releases with my own music, I particular favorite the Tobacconists ‘Smoking Is Green’ LP/CD which was released on Mark Whelan’s Economy of Brevity label. It’s one of the few things I have on my Ipod of my own music (Zebra/Wieman is the only other stuff) as I simply think it’s great. Get a copy while they are still around. There is a Wander CDR on Zhelebeton, and technically from 2012, but I haven’t seen it yet. It will come.

2012

[Beequeen]
SUGARBUSH – THE BEGINNINGS (download, Bandcamp)

[Frans de Waard]
soundcontribution to ‘Svopp’ by Nils Rostad on ‘Harmony Hammond’ (LP by Tallerk Plater)

[Frans de Waard]
‘Xi Hya’ on Benefiets For Japan (2CD by Licht-ung)

[Freiband]
‘Minimal Boot Remix’ on Benefiets For Japan (2CD by Licht-ung)

[Beequeen]
Anthology 2 – THE COMPILATION TRACKS 1997-2007 (download, Bandcamp)

[Beequeen]
Anthology 1 – THE COMPILATION TRACKS 1989-1997 (download, Bandcamp)

[Modelbau]
ABOUT TURN (download, Bandcamp)

[Modelbau]
090620121520 (download, Bandcamp)

[Freiband]
REGULAR OF LIGHT (download, Korm Digitaal 37)

[Freiband]
STAINLESS STEEL HARD SOFTWARE (download, Korm Digitaal 40)

[Freiband]
VILLA FIASCO (download, Korm Digitaal 39)

[The Tobacconists]
‘The Hotel Amnesia’ on The Eternal Now (CD, WFMU)

[The Tobacconists]
‘Great Times To Smoke [Edit]’ on Mind The Gap 96 (CD, Gonzo Circus)

[The Tobacconists]
‘Grand Entrance’ on Sonic Protest 2012 (2xCD by Bimbo Tower)

[The Tobacconists]
SMOKING IS GREEN (LP+CD by Economy Of Language brevity 001)

[The Tobacconists]
‘Superior Blend’ (3″CDR by My Own Little Label moll 048)

[Freiband]
‘Huntingtowardsasayhowdines’, ‘Polychrotidates Poltroon’ ‘The Sun Is Warm, The Sky Is Clear’ on Villa Fiasco – The Act Of Sampling (CDR, no label)

Projects

Two weeks of intense smoking, drinking, rehearsing and recording with Scott Foust and Mike Popovich resulted in 9 concerts by The Tobacconists, but also lots of recordings which may result in a LP or two. I have been working on mixing some of it, and it’s getting shape.
Beequeen spend much of 2012 working on ‘Around Midnight’, easily the most pop-based CD I have worked on so far. It’s now in its mixing stages as we all have a preview CD of it so far. It’s very much a CD with Freek’s songs, so the next CD will be all more ambient pop and I have already started to record bits as a starting point for that. There is a Beequeen concert in Heerlen coming up, with Wander as a support act. Freek and I will prepare something.
Wieman will record some extra material for their ‘classic album’, which will be released towards the end of 2013.
Freiband is pretty far completing an album based on canoe recordings friends of mine did for me in 2005. I fear canoes!
My collaboration with Howard Stelzer, finally a full length again, is completed and will be released early 2013 by Bocian Records.
I have started to work on mixing some pieces I recorded with Richard Francis, and he’s working on mixing a few of the other pieces.

Assorted things

One of the highlights from this year was playing the alien in the video clip for Visitors ‘No Flash Photography’ was definitely great fun, and it looks great. I never realized acting was so difficult, even when you are (supposed to be) grumpy in real life.

I haven’t do a single thing on my phantasy novel and ‘the other book’. That one was stopped after trying to get a Dutch publisher interested, but as some said afterwards, it’s probably wiser to pitch your projects when a bit more sober. Probably they are right. So the only book project I worked on quite a bit, not not nearly enough is my book on my life at Staalplaat. Not ready to when I celebrate ’10 years without Staalplaat), upcoming in March 2013, but as with all such things: no promises. Although it would be great to finish all three books. I hate leaving things unfinished. Oh, and I was thinking it would be great to keep a diary for a year and reflect further on the musical things in my life. I must admit I have such thoughts every year and it rarely happens.

I gave up smoking on June 3rd, at 14:35 and if I drink too much I tend to go back, but the next day I don’t remember that all. Do I feel better? Nah. Although I finally have my epitaph: ‘I wish I never gave up smoking’.

I’ve been to 3 funerals this year, all three by their own hand. That’s too much, I was thinking. Anton Viergever’s death was surely the closest to my heart. I couldn’t have ‘saved’ him, but it’s sad that he is no longer around to make long late evening phone calls.

Oh and I never do top 10 lists at the end of the year, but this year I was very pleased with the Ramleh 8 CD set and the recent P16.D4 6CD/1DVD set, the Maciunas Ensemble 11 CD set and the Small Cruel Party 3CD set. All box sets. Curious. I must be getting old.

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Twice

November 15, 2012 Leave a comment

Now, quite contrary to my usual habit of writing twice on a single day here, I just thought of something else and I also to express my grief over the passing of Pete Namlook. I don’t have all of this CDs, but I do have have say 10-15 all time favorite – my favorite that is – Cds of his music. It was a lot more, and perhaps I should make time to play all of those favorites again. I have no idea if he was ill or something else, but quite a shock.

What I forgot is that I will have also two CDR releases soon, both which deal with the use of 4 cassette tapes. The first is a mix I did of a tape I reviewed in Vital Weekly which was presented as ‘here’s a four track tape, now you mix it’, which is right up my alley I think, so I did a whole bunch of variations, edited it quickly on the same day and it will be released by Orphanalogy in an edition of 23 copies, and unlimited downloads. It’s gonna be called “One Day I Got A Four Track Tape And Decided To Do My Own Mix”

The other release is Mutatis Mobilis, which started out when I did a short piece of the 25 years of Kapotte Muziek cassette, as Freiband, which one was urged to play as four track piece. I got a mix from Z’EV (and I am too afraid to tell him I lost his mix) and a very long piece by aalfang Mit Pferdekopf, which Attentuation Circuit released as a cassette and a CDR. I took the tape into the studio, recorded bits of it, took those home and created a whole bunch of raw sound pieces, which untimely ended up as 2 27 minute pieces, which one can put together use as four separate pieces and with an open invitation to mix. There will even be 15 copies available as a four track tape. Also for Attenuation Circuit. Complicated? Perhaps, but have a look at the ‘score’ above.

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Yes, yes

November 15, 2012 Leave a comment

I know, I am always way behind updating this website. October was quite busy with various concerts (Beequeen, Wieman, Kapotte Muziek, a solo performance on the release of ’45’18’, Freiband etc. Kapotte Muziek will play November 25th in Madrid, Spain at La Casa Enendida and Beequeen will play again in Nijmegen on December 10th at cafe Shamrock.

There is also a new/old Beequeen release on Bandcamp, the original demo for the Sugarbush album. I found the old DAT of that recently and Freek and me think it still sounds nice, although perhaps also a bit different than the album we finished with Mark Posyden. Get your copy here

Otherwise I am working on a whole bunch of new projects, which may include: A new collaborative work with Howard Stelzer reaching it’s conclusion (for Bocian Records), the start of mixing material recorded in September with Richard Francis, a new Freiband CD (probably for Takanobu Hoshino) based on canoe sounds friends of mine recorded for in 2005, small bits to the new most poppy CD by Beequeen, setting up major parts for a more ambient pop CD by the same band (duties are divided there), mixed material for at least two and half album for The Tobacconists (and waiting for Scott’s and Mike’s comments). Wieman has a track about DJ-ing for Esc Rec, and will expand their ‘Classic’ album into a 40 minute opus for Baskaru, and a solo piece with balloon sounds for Ballon & Needle (see picture). And to be released soon is a cassette on Ultramarine Records by Pick-up, perhaps our final work?

Wouter Jaspers and me are definetly playing more concerts next year again!

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Benefiets

September 7, 2012 Leave a comment

Yes! something you should get to support a good cause. A double CD compilation with the benefits (5 euro per sold CD) will go the Red Cross for their work in Fukushima in Japan. You can find an extensive list of people who contributed. I have two pieces, older in fact. One (as Frans de Waard) is now called Xi Hya, which I don’t remember anymore what it translates as. It’s a piece I made for a local salon – people gathering to hear something about a subject. It was organized by Natasja van Geel here in Nijmegen and I did this piece based on deep space sounds, sounds of stars etc. The other piece is a very short, mono remix of a Russian (if I remember correctly) band called Minimal Boot. Its by Freiband and if I recall well from the Earlabs site. Maybe not. Its for sure from the extensive archive of unreleased Frans de Waard pieces! Lots of music here, lots of variation too. get it here

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Back home

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.

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Mutatis Mutandis

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

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That Was The Year That Was

December 31, 2011 Leave a comment

Ok, so never write the year report until the year is finally over. You may never know what happens in the last days. This is what happened. Today I received a package from Suitcase Recordings. Somewhere in 1991 Suitcase’s Erik Blevins (All Fours), Tom Cox (TAC) and me started to work on an extensive project of material exchange, music and visual. I did a track for a compilation which was basically a small sound installation, and did another one. In 1993 I played live with Eric in Atlanta, which was also be included in the LP as planned. But then things went quite and Eric and I lost contact. But a few years ago he returned, first releasing ‘Paper & Plastic’ on a double CD (instead of the original cassette) and then started working on our joint project. Sometimes I feared Eric got lost again, but then out of the blue this beautiful item arrived. A gatefold LP sleeve, with ‘material’ stashed into it, a CDR and cards explaining the work, all lovely designed by Abo of Yeast Culture in your usual Yeast Culture way. I have one for sale.

So, then I can write about the year that was… An odd year, with concentrated work in the first half, including touring Denmark with Wouter Jaspers, and a lecture tour with him in The Netherlands. Concerts by THU20, Zebra, Kapotte Muziek and solo in the first half. But then in the second half things went quite and the only concerts were the three by Beequeen and the three by Wander. Odd. I never got my 770 euros from Andrew from the Venlo disaster december 2010. I will seriously hurt him, when I bump into him.

Also in the second half year I didn’t create a lot of new pieces, just a Bad Sector remix and a remix for an upcoming project by Jolijn Ceelen. Also before that I didn’t do a lot of music, but I did the radioplay with Scott Foust for Dutch radio, which I am extremely proud of. Hopefully you’ll be there when we perform that in April 2012.

Releasewise I am very happy with all things that were released, especially Ezdanitoff’s ‘We Bring Light’, Beequeen’s ‘Portout Starboard Home’, Freiband’s ‘Stainless Steel’ and ‘The Many Names Of Frans’. Early 2012 another great piece will see the light of day: the LP and CD ‘Smoking Is Green’ by The Tobacconists. Of course I hope 2012 will see some more CD sales for Korm Plastics – maybe I will just give in and stop the label.

The best concert I saw was Main at Incubate. Peter Hook’s performance of ‘Closer’ was a shamble. He should stick to what he is good at: playing rock music. But all the reviews I saw where positive, so I must a miserable old sodd.

Happy new year!

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