Subbacultcha -BE- December 2012 / January 2013

Unruly Music Magazine December 2012/January 2013

The Let’s Start Over Issue

Lucky Dragons, The Luyas

Features

The Let’s Start Over Issue

KROONS photographed

by Joost Vandebrug Page 2

The Let’s Start Over Issue

Features

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New Music

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This Months recommendations

The Let’s Start Over Issue

I regret that I didn’t swim in the Jedediah Smith River This is a quote from our very own ‘Good Girl’ Herlinde Raeman. It’s actually part of a list of a couple of 2012 happenings that she would like to do all over again. It wasn’t just Herlinde who weighed up the last year: a large part of the Subbacultcha! staff plus some of the acts that play Subbacultcha! in December came up with with their own hit-and-miss lists of 2012. You can find a selection of them printed at the bottom of each page. We chose to print only the misses: this is the Let’s Start Over Issue, after all. (Even some general regrets there... yes people, we go all out!) Find the complete lists online.

KIm-Ki-O: This is a really in-crowd muso-geek one, but we regret not getting a MicroKorg

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Content

The Let’s Start Over Issue

Lucky Dragons

Album Re-Cap

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The Luyas

Agenda

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Top 5 New Music We Saw You Lucky Dragons The luyas Album Re-cap 2012 art

09 11 14 16 22 28 32

reviews Horoscope Agenda subbacultcha! shows other shows free stuff after midnight

36 38 41 43 47 52 53

Another year has passed us by. No biggie. Years come and go. Eternity lies ahead of us, so no need to get (too) dramatic. But the holiday season is always good for reminiscence. So we decided to have one last critical look at 2012, join hands and cut through all of last year’s bullshit as if it were a wedding cake. Then and only then, can we start over again in the new year. Cause the future is now darlings, and there’s nothing more exciting then starting with a clean slate. We’ll leave you to it. Enjoy the holidays and see you on the flip.

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sooner (we finally got one this summer). It only took a matter of seconds to dump our

Colophon

Who we are and what we do Subbacultcha! magazine is published by Subbacultcha!

Ghent Office Karperstraat 26, 9000 Ghent, Belgium www.subbacultcha.be. magazine@subbacultcha.be Amsterdam Office Da Costakade 150, 1053 XC Amsterdam, the Netherlands www.subbacultcha.nl. magazine@subbacultcha.nl

We are Editors: Leon Caren, Bas Morsch and Kasper-Jan Raeman Editorial Assistant: Megan Roberts Design: Bas Morsch and Marina Henao Interns: Bram Nigten, Floor Kortman and Eveliina Petäjäaho Good Girls: Herlinde Raeman, Loes Verputten and Gerlin Heestermans Good Guy: Ruud Van Moorleghem Printing: Drukkerij Gewa, Arendonk Contributors: Carly Blair, Brenda Bosma, Leon Caren, Zofia Ciechowska, Yana Foqué, Nick Helderman, Steven McCarron, Bas Morsch, Kasper-Jan Raeman and Suzanna Zak Distribution: Brussels: Gertjan Rasschaert, Simon Gossiaux, Arne Nouwen, Julien Van de Casteele, Pieter Serkeyn, Eliott Opdenbosch. Ghent: Bart Bruneel, Lisette De Greeuw, Stephanie De Keukeleire. Antwerp: Antonio Marques, Clara De Ponthière, Livia Schoorel, Egon Parmentier. Leuven: Vincent Baptist. Kortrijk: Sofie Devriendt.

Luik: Collectif Jaune Orange. Charleroi: Le Vecteur Pick up Subbacultcha! magazine here (among 200 other places): Brussel: AB, Buzz On Your Lips, VK* Concerts, BOZAR Ghent: Democrazy, Vooruit, SMAK, DOK, Music Mania Antwerp: Scheld’apen, Trix, Kavka, American Apparel, Think Twice Kortrijk: De Kreun, The Pits Leuven: STUK, Depot, De Werf Luik: Jaune & Orange If you want your bar, venue, store or business to be on the distribution list, please send us an email.

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Cover: Image by Dieter Durinck Page 8

sounds from MS2000 to MicroKorg, and it weighs around 8 kilos less – plus it has a fatter

We recommend

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Top 5

Label: Nonkel Johnny Records

Nonkel Johnny Records is a Belgian label that only brings you the best of the best. Solely focusing on underground music, they cover everything from the old forgotten wizards, to the young up-and-coming talents. Next up is a compilation of Belgian psych from the ’60s and ’70s!

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Song: Jim Sullivan - U.F.O.

More than 40 years ago the enigmatic singer-songwriter Jim Sullivan released a brilliant album, U.F.O., which never got the credit it deserved. So let this pure and charming title-track be your song of the month.

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Music: Louis H

Antwerp-based acid maniac Louis H supported Hieroglyphic Being in Ghent last October. He made such a great impression on us that we asked him to fix us a holiday mixtape to celebrate the end and the beginning of the year.

Grab it on our website.

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Book: Reizen zonder John

Journalist and writer Geert Mak spent months travelling through America. He set off along the same route John Steinbeck did in 1960, aiming to find out what remains of the country that the American novelist describes.

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Show: Pete Swanson + Rene Hell

Show up at Les Ateliers Claus in Brussels on 17 January to hear Pete Swanson deliver some of his savage electronic experimentalism. Also that night, experience the abstract noise produced by the sonic inducer Rene Hell. It’s gonna be a good night!

sound. We should have realised this earlier. We were the only band in the planet carrying

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By Zofia Ciechowska

This month’s recommendations

New Music

Daphni

soundcloud.com/caribouband/sets/daphni-jiaolong

So you probs heard all about Daphni already, but I don’t really care because I want to reiterate for the hundredth time that Daphni is GREAT and just bask in the pure awesomeness of his latest release, JIAOLONG. For all of y’all looking for a big-band endorsement, this is the side project of Caribou’s Dan Snaith and believe me, this is totally ace shit. Basically it’s a ton of really catchy, danceable tracks – not stupid Calvin Harris bullshit but actually pretty clever music that could be the equivalent of sonic neuroscience, if that existed... Anyway, I’m not here to talk about science – I do that in my horoscope for The Lancet if you’re interested.

Majical Cloudz

majicalcloudz.bandcamp.com Canadian artist Devon Welsh has been lurking around the blogosphere for a while, supported and promoted here and there on video, track or tour by ultra alt.babe Grimes and more recently by synth and sampler man Matthew Otto. Their most recent track, ‘Turns Turns Turns’, is a spinning ballad that will leave you dizzy with its echoing vocals and earnestness. It might even give you an unsupressable urge to put zeds at the end of all your plural nounz. With a debut album out on 03 December on Arbutus and Merok, you’d best be prepared to hear more from Welsh’s soundcloudz. around an MS2000. // Zofia Ciechowska: I regret telling that dude Mark Zuckerberg

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New Music

continued

Sugarm

sugarm.bandcamp.com Sugarm warns the uninitiated that you can’t really dance to his stuff – but that shouldn’t stop you from trying. Sounding something like a cacophony consisting of a muffled snowy television set, a hoover, a broken fan and the hacking cough of a tuberculosis patient, this might not be the easiest listen, but hey, I put my undying trust in your determination and general excellent taste. Just bear with this mister and wait for the cool tidbits to reveal themselves as you delve into the kinetic drone. If you’re interested, this guy also has a blog that features a lot of guns. Oh, and a release called God’s Clit. If that didn’t get your attention, I don’t know what will.

Zu Shapes

zushapes.bandcamp.com

We’ve extended the expiry date on this baby because it deserves a relisten. Zu Shapes, the solo project of Beau Cole, released an absolute gem of a track called ‘Olivia’ last year that was part of his Merigold EP. Despite the term ‘bliss’ being exploited to the point of passé in music reviews, I’ll make an exception and say it: ‘Olivia’ is lovely, blissful, warm, happy and just really great. Mr Cole, if you’re reading this, send us a tune or two to the Subbacultcha! office and we’ll send you some goodies in exchange. We’ve put MISSING posters all over the blogosphere looking for you.

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about this social network community idea I had... // I regret chickening out of my first ballet

New Music

Eraas

eraas.bandcamp.com

Robert Toher and Austin Stawiarz of Apse have reincarnated into Eraas, a rising tempest of howling winds and ominous rhythms. All that New England occult stuff aside, their self-titled debut will become the soundtrack of your wintertime escapades through cold drizzles and up dark, creaky staircases. With a sound that is threatening and foreboding with its repetitive chords, ghostly echoes and muted thuds, Eraas will prick your curiosity in that sinister way that only a good mystery can – which means that we’ll be hearing more from them, no doubt.

Triad God

soundcloud.com/triadgod I remember playing Wu Tang Clan super loud in front of my non-English-speaking granny when I was 12 years old. She never flinched.

The roles are reversed when I blast the tracks of Chinese-Vietnamese rapper Triad God, whose NXB – or New Cross Boys in homage to the area of South-East London where he grew up – mixtape apparently overflows with the vilest of Cantonese lyrics. Beats are provided by London-based artist Palmistry, and if the internet rumours of them hanging out in casinos in Chinatown and causing general musical mischief are to be believed, it seems the two have really hit it off.

NXB is released on Hippos In Tanks. You might want to keep this one out of earshot if you have a faint-hearted Chinese grandmother. lesson at the age of four. My dancing career has been in shreds ever since. // I wish my

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We Saw You

Spotted at Subbacultcha!

Photo by Yana Foqué

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grandfather had not slaughtered my pet bunny and turned it into pâté and then promptly

From the past year: What would you like to do all over again and why? The shitty weather vacation in Spain could have been a lot better for obvious reasons. And I slightly regret buying that Way Huge Pork Loin Overdrive while having my Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive repared, but that’s just details really. All in all, I guess last year was a pretty good one.

Kristof Janssens, spotted just outside the Trix in Antwerp on 14 November after the Xiu Xiu and Still Corners concert.

told me that it had been kidnapped – also when I was four. (I only found out the truth when

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Features

The Let’s Start Over Issue

Lucky Dragons

Highly experimental Los Angeles duo Lucky Dragons like to live life at a balanced pace, not too fast and not too slow. Seems like Luke Fischbeck and Sara Rara have their act together and are actually pretty... happy. No need to start things over we assumed. We called them to find out and talked about the finer things in life; you know, gardening, skin contact and sunsets. That kind of stuff.

‘Achieving lightness is achieving a pace of living that is both thrilling but still mellow enough for you to take time to think. Doing nothing is really important.’

Words by Johanna Valdés Photos shot on film by Sarah Bradham in Los Angeles, USA

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I was 21.) // I regret that time I threw up a mixture of vodka and strawberries in front of

The Let’s Start Over Issue

Features

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The Let’s Start Over Issue

Lucky Dragons

Happiness is a warm gun – what pulls your trigger?

Luke: Things you can do for eight hours or more without stopping, such as sleeping, going for a hike or making music. We played a 12-hour show a couple of weeks ago and didn’t take any breaks... I couldn’t really use my ears for three days after that. I heard the music on top of everything that was around me.

Sara: I like thinking of happiness as lightness. Achieving lightness is achieving a pace of living that is both thrilling but still mellow enough for you to take time to think. Doing nothing is really important.

What do you do every day that’s mundane but lovely?

Sara: The first thing I do every day is going out to my garden to tend to the plants and harvest vegetables and fruit. Then I ride my scooter to our studio and spend a few hours working on things. After lunch, I read a book. In the evening I cook dinner.

Luke: I like to sleep – I’ll sleep really, really late. Usually at around two o’clock, I’ll start completely freaking out and running around like crazy. LA is an insane city to try to get around in. The distances between things are so long sometimes so there’s a lot of spacing out and spazzing out.

Features

Tell us about your work den. What parts of your creative process are funkiest?

Sara: If I go to the studio and produce a new sound or a new technique, then that is the best part of my day. But since it’s not every day that you’ll get something usable, the garden is always a reliable source of pleasure and a good time to think.

Luke: Our studio is in sort of a disused strip mall in LA, which is actually a lot more beautiful than it sounds. It has all these trees growing everywhere. On one side you can see mountains, on the other you can see all of downtown. After most people have left for the day and the sun is setting, it’s just really nice, completely quiet.

How do you see the sparks you set off in people with your music?

Luke: In the moment in which people understand that they don’t need to listen in the same way they usually do. If we have an instrument that’s pretty easy to teach someone, we can show them and they can then become a teacher themselves. That’s where power is transferred – when people see that they can become teachers.

Sara: We’re just trying to find a way to translate the connections between people into sound. One of our instruments works through hu-

my parents when I was 17. // Brecht van Dingenen (Social Harmony): In general, when

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Features

Lucky Dragons

‘One of our instruments works through human contact: you can make sounds by touching another person’s skin.’ man contact: you can make sounds by touching another person’s skin. We’re just taking a person-to-person connection and amplify it.

You guys do a lot in the way of promoting positivity in all of your projects. What exactly do you do to spread the love?

Luke: We make music that invites many people to come together and make something. It’s almost like gardening: nurturing a project or a collaboration.

Sara: Our favourite shows to do are our all-ages shows with free entry.

We play in punk clubs, outdoors locations, museums, galleries. We want to allow space for different groups to overlap and interact. It’s important to have all kinds of people supporting the music, as opposed to a specific niche. We kind of shoot for everyone on the planet.

Do you ever play for your vegetables?

Sara: I sing them a song when I’m gardening sometimes. But the nice thing about gardening is that it is completely detached from my art or music practice – it’s just gardening.

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It’s the one thing that’s never stressful or business-oriented. It’s just about growing food. It’s very simple.

What are some more really positive things you could say?

Sara: It’s important to have attention for the common, everyday things.

It’s all about being connected to the things around you and the people that you know.

Luke: I feel like the ultimate positive thing is to do what’s difficult rather than what’s easy. Then you’re putting something into the world rather than taking something from it.

Lucky Dragons play on 03 December at NEST in Ghent. The show is free for Subbacultcha! Members.

actions are distorted by a lack of proper social context, I regret not trusting my intuition.

The Let’s Start Over Issue

Features

Thought patterns which obscure actions are more harmful than making a choice and act-

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Features

The Let’s Start Over Issue

The Luyas

‘The hard thing about touring is simultaneously having no privacy, being tired and being lonely.

It’s hard to keep a firm grip on yourself as a creative person, because it’s hard to find time to create new material. It is bad for the environment, and you pay these prices in the hopes that you are delivering something of value and joy to the people who attend your concerts. The worst feeling of all is that maybe it’s all in selfish vain. That’s the one you must extinguish to keep going on these kinds of insane seven-month-long tours.’

This is what Jessie Stein, lead singer of Montrealbased art-pop band The Luyas told us when we asked her about the downside of touring. Luckily this didn’t stop her from getting back out on the road to promote the release of their haunting new album, Animator.

Photo essay by Nick Helderman

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ing upon it. We should stop worrying about external social feedback and just do whatever

The Luyas

Features

seems a good idea at any given moment. // Lieven Martens, aka Dolphins Into The

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The Let’s Start Over Issue

The Luyas

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The Let’s Start Over Issue

The Luyas

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The Luyas play on 08 December at Trix in Antwerp. Their new album Animator is out now via Dead Oceans.

Future: Alas, I regret regretting. // Acid Baby Jesus: We would like to undo the curse

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Features

The Let’s Start Over Issue

Album Re-Cap 2012

It’s just a thing you do... It’s in your nature; as the year comes to an end you look back on all the music you’ve consumed over the past 12 months and ask yourself: what was the best album of the year? What stands the test of time in this fastpaced digital music storm called the internet? And it’s not just you who does it: everyone does. So we asked four people from the Belgian musical landscape about their favourite album of the year, with interesting results, to say the least...

We completed this small and totally subjective list with another list of six albums we felt we didn’t give the attention they deserved the first time around, but they’re definitely fitting fodder for all you cats out there.

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that someone bestowed upon us during our second tour of North America. Or be better

Album Re-Cap 2012

Harry Merry The Life I lived

These days, I mainly listen to audio cassettes. Yep, you heard me: good old-fashioned tapes. Through them I relive the time when I discovered music (back when I listened to a bigger load of crap than I do nowadays). In keeping with that nostalgia, my favourite releases of 2012 were mostly reissues from the ’70s or ’80s. In a strange way, this tape of my favourite funnyman is a reissue of sorts as well.

This gem was published on the Belgian-Serbian fetish label No Basement Is Deep Enough, and collects recordings from the early-’90s. The packaging is wonderfully unique: a green bag with a beautiful silkscreen image – which in itself should make you understand why I find all digital media worthless. Harry Merry’s music from that time doesn’t sound very different from his current fare: bizarre chansons on speed, often combined with idiosyncratic humour.

Legendary (now Brussels-based) la-

Features

bel Meeuw Muzak will be releasing a 7” of Harry playing a decap dance organ. Something to look forward to in 2013!

Jeroen Wille (Audiomer Records)

OM Advaitic Song

This is probably my favourite record of the year. The journey begins with the Mahamrityunjaya mantra sample right at the start, and takes the listener on a magical mystery tour through pan-global mysticism. It’s not the old bass/drums/vocals formula we know from OM; they’ve added a lot of detail and new instruments – flute, cello, tabla – to this release. It’ got fantastic structures and build-ups, drones, trancedelic elements, nice vocals... I can’t say anything bad about it – except that the songs could be longer.

For me, this is an absolute masterpiece.

Freek Cruysberghs (Yellowstock Festival)

behaved, I guess. // Kasper-Jan Raeman: Sometimes I was so busy working last year

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Features

The Let’s Start Over Issue

Laurie Spiegel “The Expanding Universe” 1980 Lp vinyl reissue by Unseen Worlds 2012

If there’s one album bending spacetime continuum, it’s this one. Created by Laurie Spiegel in the mid 70’s on an early Computer Synthesizer system called GROOVE, the tracks got remastered directly from 96khz/24bit digital and sound so fresh they could’ve been conceived yesterday. Besides the original pieces, side A features newly added ‘A Folk Study’, which has a Terry Riley remniscent, “Shri Camel” vibe to it. Opening track “Patchwork” could have been one of Raju Arara’s recent modular synth patterns. And the titletrack “The Expanding Universe” was included on Nasa’s “Golden Record” exploring space as we speak. This rerelease also includes a download of all Ms. Spiegels’ ‘Bell Labs’ works!

Stuff like the synthesized polyrhythPage 30

mical “Drums” and “Clockwork”, the awesome “Appalachian Grove” series, melodic synth masterpieces “Pentachrome” and “Old Wave” and much more.. recommended!

David Edren (Scheld’Apen)

Unchained The Happy Stirrup

In 2012, New Images gave the 2LP treatment to a self-released CD-R

by Nate Davis (aka Unchained), dating from way back in 2007. This is some great stuff. If you like your guitars fried with fuzz and your drums free like a retard on hash; if you love bands like Les Rallizés Dénudés, Ignatz, Surprieze and Sunroof !; if you like feedback with soul, then your ears are screaming for this shit. I like all of the above so for me it’s one of the most memorable releases that came out this year. A true blast from a recent past.

Ernesto Gonzalez (aka Bear Bones, Lay Low)

that I neglected some of my old friends. But then again, I also made a couple of new friends

Features

Album Re-Cap 2012

And... Six Overlooked Albums of 2012

By Carly Blair

Street Gnar Study Wall

Case Mahan’s nasally vocals are both distinctive and lovable. The expertly crafted surfy lo-fi psych-pop on his second Street Gnar album shows great promise.

Carter Tutti Void Transverse

This project features members of Factory Floor and Throbbing Gristle and is utterly intense and amazing. Pulsating electronics and compelling noise eruptions. The album has an extreme sense of modern urgency about it, which is quite remarkable, since two of it’s members are in their sixties.

Heavy Cream Super Treatment

These Nashville garage punks’ third full-length features a growling, Karen O-sounding frontwoman surrounded by mounds of unruly fuzz, sonically styled by none other than Ty Segall.

Evian Christ Kings And Them

The first release from UK producer Joshua Leary squeezes an entire EP’s worth of wholly worthy material from samples of ‘Snapback Back’ by rapper Tyga, backed by druggy beats and rumbling bass.

Beak>

>>

This second (and more accomplished) album from the post-punk side project of Portishead’s Geoff Barrow sounds like Arthur Russell singing atop a narcotic kraut-rock foundation. Abstract and real.

Daughn Gibson All Hell

This part-time truck driver left a metal band to take a road trip down a more Lynchian sonic highway, and the Americana-tinged debut that resulted calls to mind both Scott Walker and James Blake.

thanks to my work so I kind of broke even! // Ziggy Devriendt, aka Nosedrip: I regret noth-

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Art

Featured artist

Dieter Durinck

Dieter Durinck is an artist living and working in Ghent. Inspired by Atari video aestetics, folkloric patterns and old-school weaves, he produces paintings, drawings, collages and screenprints. Durinck is interested in the inherent qualities of different types of media and the interaction between them.

His approach to reproduction is a very refreshing and bold modern-day statement.

His beautiful abstract works alone are a great starting point, but it is the way he captures those works (on an old phone, VHS and so on) that actually makes his art. As part of NEST and Social Harmony, Durinck also organises shows and exhibitions in Ghent. www.flickr.com/photos/dieterdurinck • dieterdurinck.tumblr.com Artist selected, liked and approved by Ladda & Topo Copy.

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ing. // Herlinde Raeman: I regret that I didn’t swim in the Jedediah Smith River because

Art

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Art

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Dieter Durinck

I thought the water was too pure. I regret that I didn’t take a longer walk in the Redwoods

Featured Artist

Art

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Music Reviews

New releases worth your while By Carly Blair

Naomi Punk The Feeling

Allah-Las Allah-Las

(Couple Skate/Captured Tracks)

(Innovative Leisure)

This debut LP flew under many a radar when it came out this spring, but is now getting rereleased by Captured Tracks.

Since their sound features heavy doses of distortion and elements of metal and punk, plus they hail from the vicinity of Seattle, it’s not shocking that some have labelled them grunge revivalists. I’ve done my damnedest to block out all memory of the ’90s, but I’m pretty sure others would agree that these guys don’t sound much like anyone else out there – past or present. Most of their songs stomp along, pummelling your ears into submission with their blunt force, but they momentarily relent with these eerie and ineffably sad interludes, and that incredibly cathartic contrast is what takes this album from a mere beatdown to a knockout for me.

The dudes from Allah-Las all used to work together at Hollywood’s legendary Amoeba Records, surrounded by stacks upon stacks of classic vinyl.

Though they say you can’t learn by osmosis, musical molecules resembling the Byrds, Love, the Beach Boys and The Animals somehow seeped into their decidedly ’60s-inspired sound once they decided to finally form a band. They recorded this debut full-length to analogue tape using old microphones to obtain as authentic a sound as possible, with retro soul man Nick Waterhouse handling production duties. Could be tired or uninspired, but much like lying on a beach in the sunshine doesn’t really ever get old, neither does groovy, laid-back surf rock when it’s this thoroughly authentic sounding, immediately appealing and surprisingly durable.

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because I was scared a bear would attack me. From now on, I will listen to nature (and my

Music Reviews

Peepholes The Overspill

Lust for Youth Growing Seeds

Peepholes are a Brighton duo featuring primal percussion and androgynous vocals from Katia Barrett and vintage-sounding synths and keyboards from Nick Carlisle. Much like their titular peephole, their music borders the familiar world of dance music and the more mysterious world of underground punk and experimentalism. Following a series of well-received EPs, The Overspill marks their full-length debut. The initial song skeletons were improvised and recorded in two days, then extensively edited and embellished. While the resulting labour of love is by no means modern-sounding, its various idiosyncratic touches (especially the marimba and panpipe Fairlight synth samples) and dark atmospherics give it a distinctive and effectively dystopian disposition.

Gothenburg’s Hannes Norrvide makes lo-fi synth pop as Lust For Youth. He released his first four songs on Copenhagen label Posh Isolation, and soon after relocated to Copenhagen and teamed up with Loke Rahbek of Vår as collaborator. Since its original release on Avant! this spring, Growing Seeds has been reworked and now re-released

by Sacred Bones, who will also put out LFY’s follow-up next year. While ’80s influences and the various -wave subgenres are far too fashionable lately, I have to give Lust for Youth credit for repeatedly driving me to the brink of pressing fast-forward with the almost maddening simplicity of their rhythms, then causing me to retract my finger with some incredibly catchy hook, proving they have it in them to transcend the banality of their influences.

(Upset the Rhythm)

(AVANT!/Sacred Bones)

brother). // Gerlin Heestermans: This year, just like every other year, I have said (‘That’s

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Horoscope Aquarius

21 Jan-19 Feb

All this swimming around has made you lose your sense of direction. It’s also given you very, very dry skin. Try to put down an anchor somewhere. Anywhere. And moisturise that flaky face of yours.

pisces

20 Feb–20 March

It’s like you’re the protagonist in a cheap romance novel.

As he conquers your mouth with a hungry urgency, his throbbing dagger of life pointing at the sky, you start to melt like a thousand cheeses.

Then his dark voice penetrates your centre: ‘Gotham City needs you.

Now!’ A dark knight rises.

Aries

21 March­–20 April

Every poop makes you a better person. Head down, elbows on knees, fingers laced together. It’s like praying. It’s almost religious.

The goodness passing through you.

You feel very blessed with your bowel system.

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By Brenda Bosma

Taurus

21 April–21 May

You’re going bald rather quickly. Your cheeks seem to have filled out with an extra big slice of the good life, which, honestly, makes your face look like a butt. People start to wonder where the old Tauranator has gone. Who are you? Are you Bill from ‘Who Is It’?

GEMINI

22 May–21 June

Busy month for our Gemini. You feel like you could move mountains, when in fact you just need to take out the trash.

Cancer

22 June–22 July

Die for one person?

That’s craziness, Crabby. People change. They leave, lie, betray, go mad, get sick and die. How’s your secret lover doing, by the way?

Leo

23 July–22 Aug

He/she would take your Nike Airs – yes, even your Reeboks – in his/her lap and tie your shoelaces for you. A knot tied with love. Give him/her a call already.

a really nice top you’re wearing – not that I was looking at your boobs or anything!’) and

Illustrations by Kathrin Klingner

VIRGO

23 Aug–22 Sept

You move that table to the centre of the room. You move it back. Things might fall apart at the centre this month. The stars are not at all feng shui-ed for you, Virgo.

libra

23 Sept–22 Oct

Beautiful Libra, your pretty head is not used to rejection.

But that’s what just happened. You may cry in your bed. Tears of desperation may roll down your cheeks into your ear canals. Yes, I know, even your ear canals have a charming look to them. But do you hear me? You have been d-u-m-p-e-d!

SCORPIO

23 Oct–21 Nov

All this masturbating is getting a little out of, well, hand.

Nowadays you even seem to get aroused by fried pastry. Your fingers get greasy. Your sight deteriorates.

But what you see is so irresistable.

Horoscope

Sagittarius 22 November–21 December

You bend your bow towards the better things in life such as love, passion, Zen and Lay’s Sensations sweet Thai chilli potato chips. You tell yourself to try to resist the emotional anesthesia of certain substances. On the other hand, fuck it, you just want to live a little, whether the bow has proper tension or not. Life is about trial and error, hit and miss. And regret is for pussies. You are Saggy. You just shoot away.

capricorn 22 December–20 Janaury

The mornings after the nightmarefilled nights are the most painful, it takes at least three espressos, one hot and one cold shower to loosen the grip on your soul’s throat. You are aware that it’s your own hand that is choking you, right? Don’t expect a deus ex machina to show up like some silly clown in shining armour.

You are your own divine intervention, Cappa.

done (set fire to my foot, flooded the bathroom) a lot of stupid things. At first I wished I

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Shows in December/January

Agenda

Agenda On the following pages:

Subbacultcha! concerts, totally free for members Page 43

Other shows Page 47 Free tickets Page 52

This is Zachary Cole Smith of DIIV sitting on a basketball. Zachary was photographed by Subbacultcha! magazine by Bobby Doherty in New York City, USA. DIIV play on 01 December during the Autumn Falls Festival in Brussels.

Page 41

Š Robin Dua

concerts

ms mr (01.12) Great lake swimmers (02.12) local natives (05.12) menomena (06.12) petite noir (10.12) the hickey Underworld (18.12) Great moUntain Fire (21.12) Get well soon (22.01) ‌ 02 218 37 32 more @ botaniqUe.be

Shows in December/January

Agenda

As a member you will also receive this magazine every month plus a stylish tote bag

Expo: Wor(ld)k In Progress?

01-31 December - WIELS, Brussels €8 | Free for members

Brussels-based artist Joëlle Tuerlinckx is having her first large-scale exhibition at the contemporary art centre WIELS. With Wor(ld)k In Progress? she traces the contours of art and catches them into the ephemeral perspective of her own process of creating. Her work shows how the time and space of painting is more complex than its frame. Exploring her subjects (lines, points, forms, floating figures…) as inexhaustibly new givens, multiplying the originals, and effacing the clues and bearings – gravity, weight, balance, on and off camera – of such historically defined practices as sculpture, painting, or cinema, she makes WIELS resound with themes and notions that refuse all closure.

Lucky Dragons + Dynooo vs Cupp Cave + Dolphins Into the Future 03 December - NEST, Ghent 20.00 | €8 | Free for members

Geek-chic experimentalism from LA-based duo Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara. Easy listening has never been part of their plan: the project is more about transforming the acoustically normal into the aurally abnormal, soothingly hypnotic or achingly abrasive. Then there’s the meditationPage 43

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See all these shows for free. Sign up at www.subbacultcha.be.

al soundscapes of Dolphins Into the Future and the funky/jarring electro grooves of Dynooo vs Cupp Cave rounding things out.

Acid Baby Jesus + Night Beats 05 December - Beursschouwburg, Brussels 20.30 | €5 | Free for members

With a ’60s psych-rock swagger, Seattle’s Night Beats evoke memories of smoke-hazed clubs, drug-ravaged singers and lead guitarists given free rein to ramble. Acid Baby Jesus promise an equally amp-destroying performance, focusing on thumping garage rock that makes up for its lack of finesse with an addictive and sweaty execution.

Sharon van Etten + Marisa Anderson 06 December - De Kreun, Kortrijk 20.00 | €13 | Free for members

While her earliest material was timid and damaged-sounding, born out of a screwed-up relationship and consequent move back home to New Jersey, Sharon van Etten’s foray into music ultimately proved cathartic and inspiring. She’s now based in Brooklyn, and her latest album, Tramp, features collaborations with hot shots like Julianna Barwick and Beirut’s Zach Condon and production by The National’s Aaron Dessner. While she describes songwriting as ‘self-therapy’, she actually finally sounds ready to put up a fight.

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As a member you will also receive this magazine every month plus a stylish tote bag

Off Istanbul ft. Kim Ki O + Klaustro + Proudpilot 07 December - Scheld’apen, Antwerp 20.00 | €10 | Free for members

Off Istanbul is a multi-city festival showcasing nine bands from Istanbul, the beautifully twisted city that feeds on all sides of the coin. From crackly relics of the past to electrified ghosts from the future, the broken sounds the showcased performers create reflect the city’s chaotic nature and their own visions of the mixed cultures they’ve been feeding on between past and future, old and new. The line-up in Antwerp includes Klaustro, Kim Ki Ol and Proudpilot, and entrance for this one is free for Subbacultcha! members.

Film: Mississippi Burning 18 December - KASK Cinema, Ghent 20.30 | €5 | Free for members

This classic 1988 drama film is centered around the murder of three civil rights workers by the Klu Klux Klan in 1964, and makes for a compelling account of the racial tensions in the South of the United States in that era.

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Shows in December/January

Agenda

Suuns

Yellowstock Winterfeest ft.

Gentlemans Pistols, Steak Number Eight, Black Bombain 01 December - JH De Bogaard, Geel Headstocks ready… amps buzzing… pedals to the metal… FIRE! This pan-European cast of underground rock outfits leans towards stoner rock, psych-rock and good old ’70s rock riffage, all sharing a truly independent spirit.

Why? + Deerhoof + DIIV + BRNS + Clinic 01 December - Ancienne Belgique, Brussels The Saturday of Autumn Falls festival will see one of the past year’s Subbacultcha! favourites, DIIV, together with quite a proper selection of other acts. For instance Deerhof, still sounding vibrant and vital unlike many other bands formed all the way back in 1994. The only template they’ve ever known is mania, creating walls of art rock all around it, and they show no signs of slowing down. Newest album Breakup Song is awash with off-kilter melodies, jarring rhythms and the unmistakable yelps of

Satomi Matsuzaki, but it’s also one of their most accessible bouts of ‘Deerhoof mania’ in years. The indie-hip hop of Yoni Wolf – aka Why? – is much more indie than hip hop these days, but like Deerhoof, he’s ignorant to what’s hip, relying on a steady stream of earnest sonic experiments.

Sonic City (curated by Suuns) ft. Swans, Tim Hecker, Suuns 01-02 December - De Kreun, Kortrijk This ultimate noisy feast should have you scrambling from all over the country to attend. Fuck Buttons… Beak>… Tim Hecker… Demdike Stare… Swans… How’s that for a list of headliners? The support cast is just as impressive, so all hail Montreal’s Suuns, who’re curating this festival with such impeccable (and terrifying) taste.

Zammuto 02 Dec - Botanique, Brussels Sound collage duo The Books basically wrote the book on folktronica, with their deceptively simple and downright addictive mix of acoustic instrumentation, original vocals and manipulated found sounds. After

could take them back, but at the end of the day they’re the things that make me who I am

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Agenda

Shows in December/January

releasing four consistently enjoyable fulllengths, they decided to split to focus on other projects, and Nick Zammuto’s solo project is one of them. While his self-titled debut does feature various Books tropes, the overall feel is more energetic and more personal, representing a worthy new chapter from this sonic librarian.

Lucky Dragons 03 December - NEST, Ghent Geek-chic experimentalism from LAbased duo Lucky Dragons. Read more on page 42.

Acid Baby Jesus + Night Beats 04 December - Zaal Zwerver, Leffinge 05 December - Beursschouwburg, Brussels Acid Baby Jesus promise an amp-destroying performance, focusing on thumping garage rock. Read more on page 42.

Local Natives 05 Dec - Botanique, Brussels On their 2010 debut, these LA indie rockers synthesized various contemporary trends – yearning vocals, three-part harmonies, psychedelic and folk influences – so expertly that it was hard to enjoy it without feeling a wee bit paranoid that computers finally had figured out how to manufacture indie crossover hits.

Lower Dens 05 December - De Kreun, Kortrijk Jana Hunter is a star in the making. She’s been an experimentalist around the indie scene for a while, but Lower Dens is the best example of her songwriting starting to crystallise. Here it combines the spacious dark ambience of Grouper with the melancholic pop instincts of Wye Oak. Page 48

Menomena 06 Dec - Botanique, Brussels Portland’s favourite loop-loving multi-instrumentalists lost the third leg of their tripod when founding member Brent Knopf left the band to focus on his Ramona Falls side project. Their latest album, Moms, is their first as a duo, and revolves around themes of (surprise surprise) mothers (or the lack thereof). Touching upon the inevitable weirdness everyone experiences with their parents, it represents their boldest and most emotionally raw work yet.

Sharon van Etten + Marisa Anderson 06 December - De Kreun, Kortrijk While her earliest material was more timid and damaged-sounding, Sharon van Etten’s foray into music ultimately proved cathartic and inspiring. Read more on page 43.

Lexi Disque Night ft. Jonas Frederiksen (Girlseeker) + Benjamin Franklin Meryll Hardt + Harry Merry 06 December - Les Ateliers Claus, Brussels Brussels based lo-fi/DIY label Lexi Disque are hosting a night featuring a solo performance by Girlseeker’s Jonas Frederiksen as well as hazy keyboard noises from the likes of Benjamin Franklin and Harry Merry.

Off Istanbul ft. Kim Ki O + Proudpilot 07 December - Scheld’apen, Antwerp 08 December - Les Ateliers Claus, Brussels Off Istanbul is a multi-city festival showcasing bands from Istanbul. The line-up in Antwerp is free for Subbacultcha! members.

Read more on page 44.

(an idiot). And that’s just fine with me. // Brenda Bosma: I regret not being the master

Shows in December/January

The Luyas + I Got You On Tape 08 December - Trix, Antwerp

Montreal-based band The Luyas are fronted by Jessie Stein, who is probably one the few people out there who has mastered Yuri Landman’s Moodswinger guitar. The group headlined a string of supreme Subbacultcha! shows in 2011 and now they’re back in support of Animator.. They’re joined

by Denmark’s I Got You On Tape, renowned for their chilled, fuzzy guitar crescendos and staccato, bass-driven Euro pop.

Petite Noir 10 December - Botanique, Brussels A danceable blend of electro and indie pop.

Petite Noir is a lo-fi, experimental project

by IAMWAVES (Yannick Ilunga), a Brussels-born singer-songwriter of Congolese/ Angolan descent. Naturally, melodic African elements shimmer in this contemporary soundscape, which Ilunga describes as ‘noir wave’.

Crystal Castles 10 December - Ancienne Belgique, Brussels This polarising Toronto-based electro duo blew up by offering an acerbic and distorted brand of chiptune/new rave/whatevah on their self-titled debut, then gained a much wider audience with their also selftitled sophomore release by taking a more sophisticated and balanced approach. Their new third self-titled album is their most blatantly political to date, yet they remain masters of tempering all that violence with beautiful bleakness.

Dustin O’Halloran 12 December - STUK, Leuven Equal parts composer and performer, O’Halloran is one of the most experimen-

Agenda

tal charms of the Fat Cat roster, specialising in mesmeric chamber works and cinematic excerpts.

Chilly Gonzales 13 December - Ancienne Belgique, Brussels This Canadian multi-instrumentalist should probably be better known given that he’s been a key collaborator for the likes of Peaches, Feist, Tiga and Drake. Maybe it’s just that his solo works have been all over the spectrum, from electronic scores to solo works for piano or swinging lounge jazz, but whatever mood he’s in, his performances are always something special.

Boris + Joe Volk 14 December - Zaal België, Hasselt What’s that noise? A thundering wall of distortion from Japanese psych/prog metallers Boris, coming across like an out-of-focus Sabbath. Support from Joe Volk, an experimental acoustic singer-songwriter who’s previously collaborated with Boris and Geoff Barrow (Portishead, Beak>).

Glimps Festival ft.

Mujeres + Pinkunoizu + BRNS 14-15 December - Various loc., Ghent Glimps is an international showcase festival with a strong focus on European pop and rock bands. From indie and electro pop through to jazz and rock, it’s a pretty diverse affair.

Going + Nullstellensatz + Miaux 15 December - Les Ateliers Claus, Brussel Going is a groovy psychedelic drum and organ duo from Brussels and tonight marks the release of their new Album. Also on the bill are French improv trio Nullstellensatz, and Belgian minimalist lo-fi artist Miaux.

of my own fate. I regret logging into my Facebook account. I regret not listening to The

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Agenda

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Shows in December/January

Shows in December/January

Agenda

Maria Minerva

The Ex

Space Siren + WOLVON

16 December - Les Ateliers Claus, Brussels Tonight, Dutch noisy underground punk legends The Ex are celebrating their 33 ¹/³ anniversary in style, with an extensive line-up featuring Fendika, Cactus Truck and more.

23 December - Kinky Star, Ghent A double shoegaze noise-rock bill, with two bands that hail from the Dutch Subroutine Records stable. With a live reputation that precedes them, it was about time they headed south.

Led Er Est

Pete Swanson + Rene Hell

18 december - De Kleine Hedonist, Antwerp NYC’s Wierd Records has played a key role in the coldwave revival, spawning a scene made up of several bands (re)exploring the dark recesses of post-punk and minimal electronica. Long-time Wierd-os Led Er Est have carved out a relatively poppy niche for themselves within the scene, and though many more amateurish bands have since dropped in on their coldwave, for this sonic session they’re at the top of the line-up.

17 January - Les Ateliers Claus, Brussels Savage electronic experimentalism and bleepism. Swanson was previously one half of the Portland experimental noise outfit Yellow Swans. More abstract noise comes from the hands of Rene Hell (Jeff Witscher), an obsessive sonic inducer who changes his name at every turn.

Edwin Pouncey 22 December - AB (Huis 23), Brussels A night of ‘subterranean metal’, as described by the renowned English journalist from The Wire. Reservations are required via reservationshuis23@abconcerts.be.

Maria Minerva Jan 30 - Café Video, Ghent This Estonian left-field pop chanteuse is some what dualistic. She writes lyrics like ‘I don’t want my voice to be heard,’ then sings them. Her off-key singing, out-of-place samples and rhythms that flirt with danceability but never go all the way may be frustrating, but they’re also fascinating and strangely addictive.

Disintegration Loops earlier. I regret drinking soy chai from Starbucks. I regret not being

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Free Stuff

Free tickets and goodies

To win, sign up to our mailing list on www.subbacultcha.be

2X2 tickets Yellowstock Winterfest

2x2 Tickets Acid Baby Jesus + Night Beats

2x2 Tickets Crystal Castles

02 December JH De Bogaard, Geel

04 December CafĂŠ Zwerver, Leffinge

10 December Ancienne Belgique, Brussels

2x2 Tickets Dustin O’Halloran

2x2 Tickets Going + Miaux

2x2 cards Wiels Friends

12 December STUK, Leuven

15 December Les Ateliers Claus, Brussels

WIELS, Brussels

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able to draw a dick on the sun.

Submitted photos

AFTER MIDNIGHT

Send photos that were taken after midnight to aftermidnight@subbacultcha.be If your photo gets published, you win a good goodie This month’s photo was submitted by Willem Verweyen.

A great shot for the end of a music-packed year.

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Overview of all Subbacultcha shows in December/January

1-31 December

Expo: Wor(ld)k In Progress?

WIELS, Brussels €8 | Free for members

03 December

Lucky Dragons + Dolphins Into the Future + Dynooo vs Cupp Cave NEST, Ghent 20.00 | €8 | Free for members

05 December

Acid Baby Jesus + Night Beats Beursschouwburg, Brussels 20.30 | €5 | Free for members

06 December

Sharon van Etten + Marisa Anderson De Kreun, Kortrijk 20.00 | €13 | Free for members

07 December

Off Istanbul ft. Kim Ki O + Klaustra + Proudpilot Scheld’apen, Antwerp 21:00 | TBA | Free for members

18 December

Movie: Mississippi Burning KASK Cinema, Ghent 20.30 | €5 | Free for members

See all these shows for free. Join at www.subbacultcha.be Page 54

vr wo wo wo za

dec

The Jim Jones Revue US Raketkanon BE Imaginary Family BE + Flying Horseman Solo BE The Black Heart Rebellion BE T h o t BE Space Aliens From Outer Space SPACE Tina Dico DK

Join Subbacultcha! for €7 per month and access all our shows for free (see opposite page for a full list of concerts) Join at www.subbacultcha.be

Rue A.Ortsstraat 20–28 1000 Brussel

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Night Beats US Acid Baby Jesus US Ensemble with Xosar, Moomin, Kong & Gratts

jan

za

5 14 28 9 18 13 20 27 16

feb

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beursschouwburg .be

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ARTEFACT FESTIVAL

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STUK FOREST SWORDS & KISS THE ANUS OF A BLACK CAT

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SX & SUPPORT

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STUK

STUK DEPOT

STUK VESSEL & THE HAXAN CLOAK & EVIAN CHRIST (TRI-ANGLE LABEL NIGHT) DEPOT SUBMOTION ORCHESTRA & DADDY G VALGEIR SIGURﾃ心SON ITAL TEK & LONE

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