First newsletter of the year with a promise that I’ll stick to my guns this time. I have been struggling to divide my time between the many different things I do, and although I love the field of design, I feel the need (again) to write about pop culture. Pop culture amazed me when I started diving into music in the 1980s, and it still does. I can’t promise a weekly dose of pop culture, but once a month should be doable. Oh, and I decided to go back to writing in English. Dutch is for my contributions to the print magazine Gonzo (circus), and that’s fine.
Since my last STASIS #11, I have listened to so much good music (and other pop culture, but in this STASIS, I’ll limit myself to music). My aim now is to focus on the most exciting finds. So, this will not be a classic ‘best of last year’ newsletter but an attempt to catch up on and make up for the past months.
Inheritance by Orphax + Poni
The most beautiful track of 2023 is undoubtedly ‘As Received’. It’s the nearly 20-minute-long opening track of Inheritance, an album by the two brothers Sietse and Tjeerd van Erve. Both have earned their place in the Dutch independent scene. Sietse as Orphax and with his record label Moving Furniture, Tjeerd with his lo-fi post-rock project PONI (Person of No Interest). ‘As Received’ starts off as a drone-ambient track that reminds of the early work by The Field and slowly transforms into a postrock meets ambient masterpiece carried by Tjeerd’s haunting vocals. So beautiful that it hurts.
Mit Maschinen Sprechen by Wolfgang Voigt
Kompakt is an exciting record label on many levels. The way the label blends progressiveness and conservative nostalgia without feeling strange has always fascinated me. Co-founder Wolfgang Voigt is definitely a driving force of this progressive nostalgia. He always emphasized his fascination with structure and old values in our interviews. His project, Rückverzauberung, is, in a way, an artistic interpretation of this longing for structure on one hand and spirituality on the other. Last year, Voigt re-issued a lot of music he made in the 1990s as part of his Earquake project on the Profan sublabel: eight compilations each released on double vinyl that captures the Zeitgeist of the pre-worldwide known Kompakt Cologne. Mit Maschinen Sprechen is part of the project and a specific compilation of 33 sound frescoes without any direction. The pieces sound raw, energetic, experimental and exciting—definitely a re-enchantment of the magical 1990s.
Not A Dream But A Controlled Explosion by Iceboy Violet
Been following Manchester-based Iceboy Violet since their debut mixtape MOOK, and I am a sucker for their mixture of deep bass, hectic rhythms and mumbled and emotional vocals. Last year’s Not A Dream But A Controlled Explosion reminds me of my visits to the outskirts of Birmingham, Leeds and Huddersfield. The music paints an environment that is broken yet highly alive. This is the sound of the late-modern city when you scrape all neoliberal bullshit away. What remains is a layered ‘everything at once’ experience. All the different elements are fragile, like rusted iron, but together, they produce this powerful, inescapable sound. This is the sound of a society falling apart. I can’t wait to hear more from Iceboy Violet this year.
I Killed Your Dog by L’Rain
Guess I got a thing for broken music. L’Rain from Brooklyn blends hip-hop, R&B, indie pop and rock, ambient noise and jazz as if genres don’t exist. Well, she actually shows that they don’t. ‘Pet Rock’, for example, is like early indie rockers Pavement playing an R&B song. ‘5 to 8 Hours a Day (WWwaG)’ sounds like a backwards looping psychedelic pop song, while ‘Knead Bee’ is jazzy, experimental pop with a strange twist. The whole album is full of surprises, experiments and unexpected details. Pop music should sound like this in troubled times like these: broken but happy and exciting.
_ _ _
HYPERSPEED
Palestinian artist Tära تارا is promoting Arab’n’B on social media, and I love it.
-
Coming Friday, the upcoming edition of the CTM Festival in Berlin starts with many new artists after a call to boycott German state-funded organizations due to the situation in Gaza. I totally understand the call, but I don’t think this is the way to deal with this. The cultural sector is the most aware of what is happening in the world, and we should support each other (and with state money, that’s even better: it’s not going to be something else). More info here.
-
The opening track ‘Fossils’ of the Amsterdam-based indie band Labasheeda is the perfect introduction to their latest album, Blueprints: dissonant guitar, haunting violin and lots of coolness. Love it. Check out their latest single ‘Curiosity’ from the album.
-
My favourite Dutch indie outfit from Groningen, er Eindhoven, is back again with a five-track EP. We Are Joiners is lo-fi punx to the max and is still working on a full-length album.
-
Enjoyed the fifth season of the series Fargo very much. The way music is used to spice up specific scenes works well. For example, the hot tub scene with Rush’s ‘Working Man’ as soundtrack. The best scene, however, is this one with Sheriff Roy Tillman walking towards the shed where he is going to beat up his ex-wife after a defeat in his election campaign, accompanied by a brilliantly dark and moody cover of Britney Spear’s ‘Toxic’ by Jeff Ruso and Lisa Hannigan. The way this season of Fargo is addressing toxic, fragile masculinity is intense and confronting.
-
One of my favourite producers, Darren Cunningham, aka Actress, released the album LXXXVIII last year and did this excellent old-school electronic music mix for BBC Radio 1. It is still available for around 40 days. Check it out here.
-
Rave culture created a free space for everybody to be whoever and whatever you want. In his book Raving, professor of Media and Culture Studies at the New School in New York McKenzie Wark takes readers into the undisclosed locations of New York’s thriving underground queer and rave scene. Check it out here.
-
‘You’re doing amazing, sweetie’ is the theme for the upcoming Transmediale 2024 in Berlin. Amazing program. As always. Check it out here.
-
Tradition: the first edition of BenedenNAP is all about ambient. Enjoy! Listen to the episode here on Mixcloud.
-
With Paul Prescott's help, Jason Lamb wrote a book about one of the coolest hardcore/American indie bands ever: NoMeansNo. Published by PM Press. Check it out here.
-
Almost a year ago, DJ Semimaru did this excellent set of southing city pop for Bae Records.
-
Just some fantastic chill loops by ISAZ.
-
One of my favourite artists, Nia Archive, surprises with an uptempo breakbeat/d’n’b meets the postpunk track.
Until next time!
yes een nieuwe!