event: 12 Nov Enfant Terrible night live: Bronze / Death Sentence:PANDA! + performance Renée van Trier + dj's Rude66 / M / Kramp

Enfant Terrible presents: Bronze (USA), Death Sentence: PANDA! (USA) and Renée van Trier (NL)

Friday 12 November 2010 there is yet another Enfant Terrible label night. And, as many times before at the great OCCII place in Amsterdam, NL. This time on stage two exotic bands from the USA and a daring performance by upcoming Dutch artist Renée van Trier.

Live on stage will be Bronze and Death Sentence: Panda!. Bronze made a great debut with their vinyl single on Enfant Terrible last year. Retro psychedelic music done with a post-punk attitude is what they do. For the first time in Europe and thus for the first time on stage in Holland.

Listen to Bronze here...

Befriended band Death Sentence: PANDA! join Bronze on tour and have been a guest at the OCCII before. Arty and noisy post-punk is what you can expect. A fitting description of this band is that of a completely freaked out Le Georges Leningrad.

Listen to Death Sentence: PANDA! here...

As an entr’acte there is a performance by the upcoming Dutch artist Renée van Trier. Well informed people are aware that she is one of the two people involved with experimental elektro / neo wave act Milligram Retreat on Enfant Terrible. As an artist she is attracting more and more attention with her performance work and planned solo exhibitions. She is annoying, likes to confuse and wants to give you a bad feeling, but still all is done with a light touch of playful fun throughout her work.

Discover more about Renée van Trier here...

Dj’s Rude66, Kramp and M. will play some fitting not so fitting music.

We start at 22:00 uur and quit around 04:00 uur and the entrance is 7 Euro (including 1 euro for the OCCII restauration project). Location: OCCI, Amstelveenseweg 134, Amsterdam, NL. More information here and here...

review: Bene Gesserit / Pseudocode

The lovely EE Tapes label from Belgium has released some very interesting 80's Belgium music recently. Some time ago they already put out on cd the cult classic 'Europa' by Pseudocode. In a way typical Belgium 80's music but still very original and unlike anything else you have every heard. Even though Pseudocode share some aspects with Alesia Cosmos, the weird French band from the same era, it is more their experimental way of working as a common sound. Still both bands have that industrial touch that Throbbing Gristle had when they produced more pop songs like on '20 Jazz Funk Greats'.

Pseudocode mastermind Alain Neffe was a key figure in the Belgium independent scene of the 80's. He ran the Insane Music label and was active in various bands and projects. The most famous was of course Bene Gesserit. While Pseudocode could be seen as a band playing dissonant pop the Bene Gesserit sound was more playful in a way. This due to a more melodic approach. Still it is as weird as pop music gets. It is never pure pop music and has a very arty touch all over it. Maybe even jazzy in a way.

In 1990 they played in a jazz club in Aachen, Germany. Almost nobody showed up... the band was too pop for jazz people and to experimental probably for the pop music people. The recordings of this concert have now been released for the first time. Originally this would be released in a slightly different way on Enfant Terrible. But as I am not planning many 80's releases due to a focus on contemporary artists EE Tapes took the project and released the complete concert from A to Z.

When listening to these recordings you do not a hear a band playing... you hear a performance group staging a perfect experience. From nice moody songs to screaming pieces to playful tunes with a crazy twist it is all there and served in just the right sequence. What a great night out this must have been...

Bene Gesserit and Pseudocode are, together with Kaa Antilope, definitely the top of Belgium pop music from the 80's. This cd is the perfect companion to the studio recordings already released on one of my personal favorite labels Was Soll Das? Schallplatten some years ago. Thumbs up for EE Tapes for putting this out!

At the same time EE Tapes also released it first vinyl release, even though they are active since the late 80's. This vinyl is a 7 inch by The Misz, another nice Belgium 80's band. While The Misz is not at all as essential as Pseudocode and Bene Gesserit it is a nice release for collector's and fans of music from this era. And... the track 'Le Joli Jardin' on this record makes the purchase more then worthwhile. It has this nice Trisomie 21 sort of melancholy touch. I think I do not need to say more...

The Pseudocode and Bene Gesserit cd's are for sale at the Enfant Terrible webshop here...

film review: Re:vision - Apocalypse II

Re:vision - Apocalypse II by Edwin Brienen

New film by Dutch independent filmmaker Edwin Brienen. As always with Brienen films this film is made with about no budget. It shows but it also means it has charm. Also it is the style of Brienen. At the first screening he complained about the VHS quality due to the equipment at the theatre, but I liked it that the film had this lo-fi and real low budget flair.

Anyway the film is about the end… that is why the subtitle is Apocalypse… the two is there as it not only about the Biblical end… the film is telling the story on two levels. One a contemporary political Armageddon (this is the two I guess), the other is the traditional one as we know from the Book Of Revelations. The political one is displayed in the realistic and raw style of Brienen. You know the dril… sex and violence as it dominates our daily lives… brought to life through the persons in the film.

For the Biblical part Brienen has choosen a more surrealistic way of telling the story. You get shots in between the regular scenes of a magician, a singing bartender and some ultra lo-fi black and white big pixel shots like dream sequences.
In general I like the film but the surrealistic part was very Lynch like feeling for me. On the other hand the realistic part had some dialogues I did not like… it was a bit too easy for my… I mean we all know about the New World Order, George W. Bush and 9-11 about now… the theme could have been dealt with in a less obvious way.

Still the way of telling the story I liked a lot. The fragmented story line, the mood and feeling and truly outstanding is the editing on the music. You can see Brienen has been doing videoclips too. Vincent Koreman (RA-X, Travoltas and Speedboat FC to just name a few of his projects) is responsible for most of the music. In this case with his trash metal project The House Of Destructo. Due to fact that the songs throughout the film are mostly sung by the bartender (also the devil?) you can also watch Revision – Apocalypse II as a musical.

And, from this point of view the film is the most successful and interesting. The surrealism is most effective if these song sequences are seen as the main storyline. Next to that I would consider the film the most original if seen as a trash metal musical on the end of the world theme. Much more original then as I would consider this film a normal feature film. Style and content make the most sense from the musical perspective.

The film is screened at the Dutch Film Festival In Utrecht (september 2010) for the first time. It should be out on DVD later... Here is a teaser...

review: new bunch of psychedelic music

I have probably been listening longer to psychedelic music as to post-punk, industrial, elektro and that kind of stuff. Really since a long time psychedelic tunes have been filling the air in my living spaces. There are moments the records stay where they are, but there is always a time to get into this type of music again. Recently my interest has been attracted again both in the records that are in my collection already for a long time as well in new releases. Here a few recent releases I guess you should know about...

The record I am playing mostly right now is the album 'Powers Of Audition' by Jonas Reinhardt. This is truly a mindblowing piece of music. It has the spirit of the 1960's for sure but who cares as long as it is done good. And... this album is very good. You are taken away on waves on music... at times light and playful and at other moments more dark and haunting and from more ambient kind of pieces to psychedelic rock tunes.

Also very 1960's but with touches of 1970's is the new Wermut album 'Ether'. This new album might come as a surprise to some people familiar with this band. I guess most people know their minimal elektro tunes. Still this new album is very much Wermut if you have followed the bands releases and contributions to compilations. On 'Ether' you hear... well some Klaus Schulze to start with... that is for sure. The pulsating synth waves floating around are Kosmische Scene inspired without a doubt. But still... there is also a lot of Wermut in it... when it comes to the dark mood for example or the adding of post-industrial touches and of course the singing. I think this album with its four long tracks is great and a record which shows again this band is not to be pinned down on one or two or whatever genre and style.

Much darker and going into some sort of dark ambient style is the Attestupa record 'Begraven Mot Norr' on the great Release The Bats label. Picth black, very hauting and probably too experimental for most die hard acid heads but I am in love with this dark trip.

Not as much a black mass as the Attestupa but still dark is the Street Drinkers side of their split album with Skeppet. It has the same experimental note as the Attestupa so if are not sure if you can handle this music without ending up with a bad trip only play the Skeppet part of this release. That one is also my favorite but for other reasons. Skeppet brings together psychedelic pop without being pop, and in a trippy daydream sort of way, and some excellent lo-fi electronics. The two long tracks are just superb and a great soundtrack to doze off on a nice summer day. Together with the Jonas Reinhardt this music has been spinning a lot here...

To come down to Earth again there is the very nice new Woods album "At Echo Lake". If you listen to this and the previous Woods album you might think this was recorded in the 1960's. Psychedelic folk and acid rock are the game of Woods. It is done in this Greenwich Village sort of tradition but also with a typical West-Coast touch well ik just makes me happy all the time. It is charming and lovely and true authenthic hipster stuff.

The Wermut, the Attestupa and the Skeppet/Street Drinkers split are for sale at my webshop... for Jonas Reinhardt and Woods just ask your specialized local recordshop... they should have these or will be able to order them as they are distributed very well.

Have a happy trip...

New radio show at Intergalactic FM - Radio Resistencia

Listen to our (Stg. Art De SuR) monthly radio show at Intergalactic FM: every first wednesday of the month on IFM1 at 22.00 hour CET. Always 1 live set and 2 live dj sets... Listen here...

Every month 2 hours of music/fun/education... whatever you want!

Starting this wednesday 1 September: live Sololust (NL, elektro), dj Alacidus (NL, dark electronics), dj M. (this time a new wave classix set)...

Turn on, tune in, drop out!

Videoclip for upcoming Kim Ki O debut vinyl (Enfant18)

At the end of August the official debut by Kim Ki O from Istanbul will be released on Enfant Terrible.

The two girls were already present on the "Radio Resistencia" compilation from last year.

Here is the videoclip for the track 'Herkes Evine' from the upcoming record. More information soon...

review: Lushus - Barefoot

This record is out since May but I think it is still hot enough to say something about. Also the music is really summertime stuff so why not?!

Dutch band Lushus has its roots in punk. They also have already a status in the punk scene through live concerts and releases on Tocado Records. This new album is released on the Dutch record label Katzwijm and shows a very mature band.

If you would expect any ordinary punks sounds you are wrongly informed. Lushus stands for playful and adventurous music. Opening track "Plastic" displays straight away what this bands is all about: arty punk music with playful elements popping in out all the time. You will hear some exotic drums and some weird Neue Deutsche Welle influences. Maybe a bit Palais Schaumburg in the case of this track.

But the band takes you along from some soothing and relaxing moments to energetic burst of noise. And yes there is the Dutch punk heritage of bands like The Ex and De Kift kicking in at times.

Even though politics are not preached here there is an obvious link with activism even if it would be only by using some piece of Wolf Biermann as an intro to a song.

With this album Lushus should be able to reach some more indie pop minded audiences as well... the music has the quality to do this. I wish they succeed with this as for sure this is one of the most interesting guitar orientated bands from The Netherlands. Even though they use more bass guitars as actual guitars... well... let's just say they are among the top indie bands of the country.

You can get a copy of this LP from the Enfant Terrible webshop and please go see the band live...