Ronald Straetemans is an ambitious man. On his first studio album proper as Tududuh, Storm Murale, the Utrecht singer-producer attempts to reconcile his indiepop-infected past with his love for all things electronic, psychedelic and cinematic. His choice of collaborators for this undertaking (a producer with a knack for creating noizy soundscapes, a clasically trained singer-pianist and a French rapper) reflects an omnivorous approach to appropriating musical influences into an artistic identity that's bordering on schizophrenia.
Straetemans has set himself up for a precarious juggle of stylistic elements. Synth washes, electro-tinged beats, murky bass and filtered vocals
constantly fight for their place in Tududuh's sonic spectrum. As a result the production of this album is quite dense, congested even. No easy listening to be found here. But with some attentive listening, the album reveals intruiging avenues and quite a few infectious melodies.
Consider "Motor Oil", the album's opening track. Despite the murky textures and electronic feel, the track emanates strong David Bowie vibes throughout. It's arty, but with a great awareness of pop music. "Echo of a Smile" is of the same variety, albeit with an undeniable 80s bassline and hedonist Gainsbourgian vocals. In these cases, the production seems to try and obscure the fact a good pop song is buried beneath the industrial rubble. "Not to Worry", on the other hand, is a fine example of how Straeteman's production and rapper Reazun's second guestspot lift the song to both epic and trippy proportions in ways that recall triphop's finest hour.
Like many ambitious producers, Straetemans still lacks the skill to turn his many flights of fancy into a coherent substance of consistent quality. It's something that will have to grow along the way. Do not misstake this for a mediocre record however. Storm Murale shows great promise. Even if this album does not fully satisfy from start to finish, it does leave you wondering in what directions Straetemans will steer his project next. Tududuh has the potential to keep listeners engaged over the course of several albums as they progress, digress and dig deeper into their own musical background and identity. It's a matter of sitting back and letting the narrative unfold itself.
>>>Watch the video for "Change Of Seasons", taken from Storm Murale, below<<<
So the not-so surprising news broke here in the Netherlands: Indie-maestros MOSS (@mosstheband) have lost their long-time bassist Jasper Verhulst to psych-pop Wunderkind Jacco Gardner. Moss have lost a steady band member before in 2010 when founding member Bob Gibson left the band to focus on his career as a graphic artist. So without blinking they've put an open call out for bass players who feel they're up to the challenge. And a challenge it is.
Filling Jasper Verhulst's shoes is nothing to be sniffed at. He's been a prolific bassplayer, singer and guitarist with Lola Kite, De Biet, Moss and now Jacco Gardner for 15 odd years if I'm counting correctly. In his long and distinguished career he has developed a style of play that is completely in sync with his love for all things 60s and 80s. Furthermore, he's a sound wizard with an all-encompassing understanding of music. Oh, and he has a awesome music collection. And you think silly old me was going to fit the bill as his replacement? No way. But, after some kind nominations came from my surroundings, it became a more tempting prospect. I should just try it.
Now, in advance there were a couple of challenges that I knew were going to hurt me:
1. Verhulst is a fine bassplayer, but what really sets him apart is his dexterity with a guitar pick. He never plays without one, and he can dish out these lightning fast riffs and grooves. Me on the other hand picked up a bass to get away from most of those dextrous activity. I feel pretty motorically challenged, especially compared to Verhulst.
2. Verhulst's main axe is this unique no-brand shortscale bass. It kind of looks and feels a bit like a Höfner 182 (which I happen to own), but it's really not. Combined with his expertly sorted out pedalboard and proper tube amplification, he makes a noise all his own. You can feel it's been honed for many years. It's really peculiar, I would even say you could pick it out of a line-up.
This is hard to overcome for any bass player, let alone someone whose obvious technical limitations -despite considering himself a pretty decent player, mind you- can be quite crippling. As such, I've always felt more comfortable writing my own lines. You can always challenge yourself, but in general, any player will try and play from his or her strengths.
Still, with hope in my heart and music on my mind I was going to put myself to the test: I was going to play through the last two Moss albums and see how far I got.
First up was Never Be Scared/Don't Be A Hero. It's mostly groovy indiepop with some afro-inspired rhythmic challenges strewn across this album. First two songs: Never Be Scared and the hit-song I Like The Chemistry pulls me deep into Moss territory from the get-go. The first one is a short, straightforward indie-stomper. Sorting out the bassline isn't too much of a problem. With I Like The Chemistry, Verhulst's propensity for writing high-pitched, fiddly bassriffs surfaces. It's hard work but I nail most of the song without too much fuck-ups. All those high-pitched settings are a little unnatural for me though. I'm more of a Alan Gevaert (dEUS) type player: heavy, flowing finger style play, with lots of low end. The next two songs aren't too hard, but then we arrive at one of the big hurdles: Angry Young Man. It may sound like a straightforward song to most, but it's pretty darn fast and dreadfully syncopated. And while I can hold my own for most of the individual licks, after two-thirds of the songs fatigue starts becoming a factor. I can't keep up the pace for the entire song without errors. And this is one of the hits, not to mention probably my favourite of this record. A setback.
dreadful, nasty bassline; beautiful song and video
The remainder of the record I keep it together; I Apologise (Dear Simon) works well, Don't Be A Hero and Silent Hill are easy enough and The Brick Moon actually feels very natural to play. On to the next one then.
Ornaments, unlike Never Be Scared... features a lot of synths and programming. This makes it harder to weed out the actual basslines played on bass. The roadbump comes early this time around: Spellbound, a fan favourite and strong live staple, features the same tricky lines as Angry Young Man. I hurt my wrist a little on the second try, but I keep my morale up by realising that this song could work very well without all Verhulst's guitar-pick frills. The next two are pretty easy: there's no distinguishable bass guitar in either Tiny Love or Almost A Year, and playing through the synth bass on the songs on my trusty Fender is a breeze. Give Love To The Ones You Love and Everything Died In Your Heart on the other hand feature bass, but are quite slow and steady. None of those nasty syncopations, jolly good.
pretty song, simple bassline, lovely
On to the the next ones. The Hunter and What You Want are both singles, so these are important bits. The first one features a lot of licks but is decidedly mid-tempo, so I can keep up. What You Want is another story altogether. It's another fast one, and it features the same problem I have with Spellbound and Angry Young Man. This time around I can play it without errors, but the sound is off. Both on the Höfner and the Fender I struggle with the dryness of the original recording. Obviously I haven't got a big tube amp to play with in my livingroom, but it's still disappointing. In the end, I feel more confident than when I started, if only a little. If I am to become the new Moss bassist, I will need to practice. HARD. I'll need a better bass amp (they might have a nice one lying around, perhaps, but you can never count on those things), and I should probably get my voice back in peak condition as well.
But more than anything, Moss has something to consider. Will they choose a player that can emulate Verhulst like clockwork, a session genius perhaps? Or will they go for something new, someone creative, with strengths of his own? Fellow Excelsior Recordings artist Alamo Race Track have had a revolving line-up for years. They took on Djurre de Haan, a singer-songwriter in his own right (as Awkward I) after the prolonged leave of absence of founding member David Corel. Two very different people with different ideas and different style of playing. And after De Haan left to focus on his own band, they took on Peter Akkerman, a producer and bassplayer with a real taste for the low frequencies (he's also a proficient double bass player). Again, very different from his predecessors.
As far as my own application is concerned: The jury is still out. I might try on the off-chance of the chemistry being there. But I'm well aware how many great bass players would jump at the chance to be part of this amazing group. I'm just hoping that whomever it'll be, they'll bring something new to the band. Moss have been around for over 10 years; it's as good a moment as any to take on some new influences. If they can find someone who does a great Jasper Verhulst emulation as well, all the better.
Young and reckless. It's just two characteristics that seem to fit well with Amsterdam quartet New YX. They're loud, slightly abrasive and compress a truckload of energy into their live performances. It's artpunk meets shoegaze, coming from the heart of the Amsterdam arty-farty squatter scene. As such, you could say they're barely legal. With their second release, they graduate from the demostage of their musical career and plummet themselves into the higher echelons of the Dutch underground scene. This is reïnforced by the fact that their second EP release, Slow Boy, is released by underground label deluxe Subroutine Records as a 12" vinyl record. Nothing quite says you mean business like a vinyl release. So far, so good.
New YX - Slow Boy cover art
A common problem with explosive live bands is their apparent inability to transpose their energy onto the format of a recording. they can sound either dull and clean or uneven and overly noizy. Either way it results in records that are, well, rubbish. New YX avoided this by hiring the right people for the job. Corno Zwetsloot and Zlaya Hadzich (recording engineer and producer respectively) are two indie-industry dinosaurs. They were able to put the right mould on the band's sound, striking the right balance between fuzz and clarity, space and compression. guitarist Liú Mottes' heavy duty guitarwork is sharp and gritty, a nice contrast to Lili Bos' crisp vocals.
It's not all pretty though. New YX is certainly doing fine in the riff department, but the lack of a real songwriter can't be overlooked. For the most part, these tracks carry themselves well, such as the brooding opening track "Tiny Villains" and violent closer "Crystal Math". These tracks are loaded with friction, compressed energy and drive. In between they're much less focused: "Jersey Shore" sounds sluggish and aimless, while title track "Slow Boy" is too fragmented to stick. These songs may hold up well live when powered by the band's unbridled energy, but on record they get lost in transition.
In the end, it's hard not to sympathise with bands such as New YX. Their enthusiasm and energy are a welcome change from the distant cool applied by so many hipster musicians. There's no lack of ideas on this record. Slow Boy is another big step forward for a band coming into it's own. There's still some baby fat to be trimmed, but with a little more structure to their madness they could come a long way. Plenty of potential to be found here.
To start on a personal note: Mindpark is at this point a fairly anonymous band, unheard of by most. The release of this debut-album (listen HERE) will not be an event to most music-lovers in The Netherlands. To yours truly, it is a highly-anticipated moment. Not only through years of acquaintance, but also through personal involvement as a booking agent and, briefly, as a stand-in bassplayer. A witness to the events that led up to a sudden change of (musical) course, there’s a lot of inside knowledge and bias in the scope of this article. What will follow is an attempt to examine a few of the qualities showcased on We Will Adapt, from the inside.
Hailing from the southern city of Den Bosch, Mindpark have always profiled themselves as leftwing, alternative artists on a quest for pop sensibilities. Their music is riddled with plenty of rhytmic novelties, layered guitars and unexpected stylistic turns. Whenever they fear the music is at a standstill, they switch gears, taking on different influences and directions as they move along. In other words: the music is always happening, the process of growth is never completed. They pre-released 9 tracks that were to become an album in May 2010, leading many to believe that an album was to follow soon. It took them a full year, and only three songs from this pre-release survived to tell the tale.
A noticeable change with earlier live appearances and released tracks is the more acoustic approach, with lighter percussion elements. The rock stomp is kept to a minimum. Vocals have gained weight in the balance, with some excellent vocal harmonies in Box Is Better, one of the more accessible gems on the album. Throughout the album, (main songwriter) and producer Ralph Timmermans maintains a remarkable clarity and transparency, the only exception being progrock-ballad Closer, one of the older songs that made the cut. It comes armed to the teeth with strings and synthpads. It’s a moving song, but doesn’t sit comfortably with the other songs in this collection.
Experiments, such as the frantic guitar-driven tracks Must Be Chemical and Microwaves add the necessary elements of surprise, without turning the album into a sonic wasteland. The trio has adapted, not only to their own predicaments but also to the Listener, a party they’ve come to appreciate over the years. We Will Adapt is not a record made solely for their own pleasure; Mindpark is a band with stories to tell, full of angst and hope, and with a will to affect audiences with bittersweet melodies and heartfelt lyrics. Despite the many adventurous turns - inhospitable to some ears - on this record, there’s an emotive quality to this inaugural Mindpark record that hits the mark. A solid first effort.
Mindpark - We Will Adapt is available for download from 04-15 and in stores 05-21 through Cavalier Music Management and V2.
