Unruly Music Magazine. December 2013 and January 2014
The What Really Matters Issue
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At Subbacultcha! we organise uncompromising concerts, exhibitions and film screenings. We also publish this monthly magazine. The good news is you can tap in on the fun. You can become a Subbacultcha! member; for €8 per month we send you our monthly magazine along with a membership pass which grants you free access to all our events. See page 63 for a full list of events. Pick up Subbacultcha! magazine here (among 500 other places) Amsterdam: Kriterion, EYE, Canvas, American Apparel, Episode, CREA, De Balie, Melkweg, OT301, De Nieuwe Anita, Restored, Zipper, Concerto, Roest, Trouw, Studio/K, Atheneum, 16cc, Time Machine, Lloyd Hotel Utrecht: Ekko, ‘t Hoogt, Tivoli, The Village, Revenge, Plato, dB’s, Cafe het Hart, Kapitaal Rotterdam: Worm, TENT, Rotown, LantarenVenster, De Witte Aap, Willem de Kooning Academie, Bar, Roodkapje And: De Effenaar - Eindhoven, Het Paard van Troje, PIP - Den Haag, Patronaat - Haarlem, Merleyn - Nijmegen, Vera - Groningen
Subbacultcha! Magazine December 2013 and January 2014
The What Really Matters Issue
You are now reading the what really matters issue. But don't get your hopes up. We will not be providing you with any existential answers. We do however dare to pose the question. Which is important to do from time to time. Just like it is important to let yourself be distracted every once in a while. Cause it's within these moments of distraction, that the universe tends to reveal itself. Like in this picture, taken by Aaron Wynia in Hamilton, Canada. He was doing a shoot with Jessy Lanza and then saw this maple tree and couldn't resist. Look at it! The way the sunlight brings out the autumn colours. And look at those three people in the back going about their business. Suddenly they ended up in a magazine all the way across the atlantic. Life can be like that sometimes.
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Content Featured Artist 48 Fashion 54 Books 56 Food 58 New Films 60 Subbacultcha! shows 63 Agenda 83 Focus 87 Free Stuff 92
Cover painting by Anne Forest
Recommendations 9 We Saw You 16 What Really Mattered 18 Will Oldham 20 Jessy Lanza 30 Mary Ocher 36 Music That Mattered 42 The Morning After 46
Colophon Subbacultcha! magazine: Da Costakade 150, 1053 XC Amsterdam, the Netherlands www.subbacultcha.nl. magazine@subbacultcha.nl Editors in chief: Bas Morsch and Leon Caren Editor: Brenda Bosma Copy editor: Megan Roberts Design: Bas Morsch and Marina Henao Master of affairs: Loes Verputten Online editor: Phil van der Krogt Agenda editor: Carly Blair Art department: Floor Kortman Memberships: Andreea Breazu
Sales: Agata Bar (agata@subbacultcha.nl) Distribution: Patrick van der Klugt (distro@subbacultcha.nl) Intern: Nektarios Kouvaras Good Guys: Bram Nigten, Keimpe Koldijk and Fedor Oduber Good Girls: Milou Hautus and Rose Nederlof Printing: Drukkerij Gewa, Arendonk, Belgium
Contributors: Artboydancing, Anna Berkhof, Carly Blair, Basje Boer, Brenda Bosma, Leon Caren, Zofia Ciechowska, Annegien van Doorn, Marc van der Holst, Mariska Kerpel, Janna Kl채vers, Floor Kortman, Phil van der Krogt, Nektarios Kouvaras, Bas Morsch, Lonneke van der Palen, Carlijn Potma, Mandy Sharabani, Gert Verbeek, Isolde Woudstra, Aaron Wynia Distribution: Amsterdam: Charlotte van Brakel, Denis Wouters, Fedor Oduber, Joao Silva, June ten Have, Marianne Eerenstein, Patrick van der Klugt, Andres van der Linden, Sandrine Mary, MelissaSue Sastrowiardjo, Soeren Schmidt, Stefan Stasko, Tessel Dekker Utrecht: Emma van Meijeren, Erik Armust, Jitske de Vries, Koen Drenth, Sandy Seifert Groningen: Hedwig Plomp, Marinke Kerkhoff Den Haag: Dineke Cornelissen Rotterdam: Kiki Holle, Else Kappenberg, Marlotte Nugteren, Ilse van der Spoel, Marijn Verbiesen, Michiel Klein Leeuwarden: Jan Pier Brands Leiden: Milou Laan Haarlem: Bert Zaremba, Yannick Tinbergen Tilburg: Luuk van Son Delft: Daniel Enciso Breda: Vera Siemons Alkmaar: Tom Verkerk Den Bosch: Bas Heijmans Eindhoven: Eline Ceelen, Mark Brand
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F.A.T. GOLD Europe Five Years of Free Art & Technology November 11, 2013 – January 26, 2014
mu.nl
The Quay
December and January recommendations Brothers’
Universum
Exhibition & film program
The Quay Brothers’ Universum 15.12.2013 / 9.3.2014
The Quay Brothers’ Universum Street of Crocodiles (1986) © British Film Institute
eyefilm.nl/Quay
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The Quay Brothers’ Universum
Exhibition & film program
December and January recommendations Each month our staff provides you with a selection of the finer things in life. Enjoy!
Music: Tralala Blip
Art: Otto Kaan – Panorama
Tralala Blip is a collective of Australian artists who give people with disabilities spontaneous access to sound- and music-making. Set up by Randolf Reimann in 2008, the five-person collective has been pushing both musical and societal boundaries with its fun, experimental bleeps and blips, community workshops and an earnest love of dancing. www.tralalablip.com
Enviably cunning photography duo Otto Kaan made a series of wallpapers measuring 366 x 254cm, which were divided, cut and folded into five different books. Design is by Xavier Fernández Fuentes of Centerfold Editions. It doesn’t get better than this.
Music: Helena Hauff Cool as a cucumber, dressed in slacks and a shirt, this lady spends her nights coaxing records into mad motion in the dark, making your body rock to her concoctions of electro, acid, minimal wave and a smattering of raw house and techno to boot. Visit Hauff at the Golden Pudel club in Hamburg, where she’s resident DJ, or pick up her Actio Reactio EP, released on Actress’s Werkdiscs earlier this year.
www.ottokaan.com
www.helena-hauff.com
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December and January recommendations
PRIX DE ROME Exhibition featuring the work of the Prix de Rome 2013 finalists
Christian Friedrich Falke Pisano Remco Torenbosch Ola Vasiljeva 26 October 2013 – 26 January 2014 de Appel arts centre, Prins Hendrikkade 142 Amsterdam
The Prix de Rome is organised by the Mondriaan Fund.
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December and January recommendations Film: Nymph()maniac
Art: The Sochi Project
Lars Von Trier’s hotly anticipated film about sex addiction isn’t even out yet, and already it’s rife with controversy. Orgasm posters showing quite clearly what is to, ahem, come; an explicit teaser trailer that’s been removed from YouTube for breaching rules on sex and nudity. The epic marketing tactics left us spinning. Come Christmas he’ll have us eating out of his hand. Part I out 26 December in Dutch cinemas, part II on 09 January. The screening at LantarenVenster, Rotterdam on January 07 is free for Subbacultcha! members. Read more on page 75.
Books: Noah Cicero
Sochi, in the south of Russia, is about the only part of that area of the country that is not covered in snow during winter, but in 2014 it will form the backdrop of the Winter Olympics. Photographer Rob Hornstra and writer Arnold van Bruggen have been researching the complicated history and extreme contrasts of the small city since 2009 that resulted in their captivating book, An Atlas of War and Tourism in the Caucasus. Hornstra’s photos will be on display at Huis Marseille from 14 December - 09 March, under the title Golden Years.
Is ‘alt lit’ growing up? 2013 saw the release of Tao Lin’s surprisingly mature Taipei and now young Ohio-based minimalist writer Noah Cicero has an ‘ordered, structured novel’ coming out with the ominously bleak title Go to work and do your job. Care for your children. Pay your bills. Obey the law. Buy products. Will Cicero keep it ‘hysterically real’? The book will supposedly have a ‘giant’ plot centred around a ‘really weird human experience’. We are intrigued!
www.thesochiproject.org
Out early 2014 by Lazy Fascist Press.
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December and January recommendations
Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten
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December and January recommendations Food: sweet winter veggies
Architecture: Why We Build
In his book Why We Build, British architect-turned-journalist Rowan Moore discusses power and desire in architecture, and specifically the place of the architect in relation to the power structure. He explores worldwide examples, from Mies van der Rohe to Rem Koolhaas’s HQ for CCTV in Beijing and Moscow’s marbled metro stations. According to Moore, these testaments to Stalin personified a ‘force with charm, the twinkling eyes with the mailed fist’. With rhetoric like this, it promises to be an entertaining evening.
Struggling to get enough veggies into your diet? Let this food trend help you out a bit: delicious sweet treats with vegetables as the main ingredient. Three-star chefs have been working on it for a while and happily stuffing their fancy desserts with nutritious greens. Winter is the perfect season with its pumpkins, carrots, beets and parsnips. Classics are pumpkin pie and carrot cake, but there’s more: white-bean blondies, beet brownies, sweet-potato cheesecake, parsnip muffins or avocado fudge pie, anyone?
The Knight’s Move – Rowan Moore, 12 December, Stroom, The Hague. Entrance: €5. Reservation required: www.stroom.nl
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December and January recommendations Magazine: Cat People
Misc: Erogami Groningen-based visual artist and longtime origami aficionado Pascal van der Graaf decided to share his newly found love for erotic origami and recently gave his first erogami workshop, where he taught participants how to fold origami paper in very surprising ways. This will definitely spice up your Christmas holiday with the family! You can book Pascal for personal workshops. For more information visit his website: www.pascalvandergraaf.nl
Misc: Letters of Note Letters of Note is an attempt to gather fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes and memos sent by humans to communicate consolation, anger, eureka ideas and silly jokes. Contributors range from the deceased and famous to those less known but still alive and kicking. Don’t know where to start? Check out the ‘random letter’ function on the blog and get sucked into a vortex of correspondence. It’s thoughtful and fun. Get the book if you’re feeling fancy.
Finally, a magazine for those who dedicate their lives to the wellbeing of some of the most vicious little fur balls out there. Whoever decided to domesticate these creatures was a brave person. That being said, they are also the most entertaining things on the internet and their purrs one of the coziest sounds there is. This English/Japanese magazine asks artists, designers, photographers and writers to talk and tell about their shared love for the utterly ungrateful beings that are cats.
www.lettersofnote.com
catpeoplemagazine.com
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December and January recommendations Quote: The Book of Disquiet Recommended by Tao Lin Every month we ask someone who inspires us to share something close to their heart. This month, the enigmatic New York writer Tao Lin, author of post-modern novels such as Shoplifting from American Apparel, Richard Yates and most recently Taipei recommends a quote from Fernando Pessoa.
‘I recommend the following quote from The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa, translated from Portuguese to English. Here it is in the 2010 translation published by Serpent’s Tail: “To give someone good advice is to show a complete lack of respect for that person’s God-given ability to make mistakes. Furthermore, other people’s actions should retain the advantage of not being ours. The only possible reason for asking other people’s advice is to know, when we subsequently do exactly the contrary of what they told us to do, that we really are ourselves, acting in complete disaccord with all that is other.” Here it is in the 2002 translation published by Penguin Classics: “To give good advice is to disdain the faculty of erring that God gave to others. Not only that, we should be glad that other people don’t act like us. It makes sense only to ask for advice from others, so that we can be sure – by doing just the opposite – that we are totally ourselves, in complete disagreement with all Otherness.” The Book of Disquiet was published posthumously in 1982. Fernando Pessoa lived 1888-1935. He died of “liver cirrhosis”, according to the first result of “how did fernando pessoa die” on Google.’
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We Saw You: Spotted at Subbacultcha! Photo by Mariska Kerpel
What’s the first record you bought? I really don’t remember. Your first ever music-related memory? My dad used to take me to Pinkpop Festival and I remember I saw Iggy Pop there. I guess I was 13 or 14 years old and was just amazed seeing all those naked bodies crawling onstage. What’s your favourite pastime? Gazing at a cloudy sky, or at night I like to look at the stars. What does an ideal lazy Sunday look like for you? Taking a walk on the beach. Any beach. Any guilty pleasures? Maybe... Have you experienced any regrets recently? Ugh. What kind of music makes you cry? Let’s not talk about crying. What makes you dance? Françoise Hardy’s ‘J’suis d’accord’ and anything by Brigitte Bardot. Which future Subbacultcha! show are you looking forward to? Frankie Rose. Last time she played a Subbacultcha! show I was planning to go, but fell down the stairs. I hope I don’t fall again this time.
Name: Aglaya Tomasi Age: 19 Spotted at: Gary War, dB’s on 13 November Home: Baarn Keywords: First year graduate student Cultureel Erfgoed at Reinwardt Academy, pizza mozzarella with black olives, red wine, aliens, Cherry Coke, 420, Studio Ghibli, Malevich Zodiac sign: Leo Did you bring anything to the show that later on you were glad you brought? I had candy with me. I like all sorts, but this time I brought wine gums along. I really like the red ones, but I eat all of them, even the orange ones. What really mattered to you this last year? My aim for this year was to always park my bike in the same spot. I succeeded. What kind of music are you listening to at the moment? The music of Norwegian blackmetal band Mayhem. I never really listen to metal, let alone black metal. I’m usually more into indie bands, but for some reason I like listening to their stuff.
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The What Really Matters Issue
What really mattered in 2013 It’s time for a recap, folks. Now as you know we don’t care much for end-of-year lists. But we do feel the need to look through all of last year’s endeavours and sort out what’s what. On our end, we’ve seen this crazy little company grow into an even crazier little company. A rudderless ship really, with more and more people on board. Which is perfect. ‘Cause who needs direction, if you have energy and inspiration? We don’t mean to sound like Buddhists here, but this time of year always makes us a little sentimental. So before we go back to the car crash that is modern life, let’s ask ourselves, what are the things that really matter? An unanswerable question for us godless creatures. But hey, you can’t blame us for trying. ‘Every day I’ve been reading one page of the book Sculpting In Time by the absolute genius Andrei Tarkovsky just before going to sleep, and it really mattered. Someone please wake this man from the dead.’
‘2013 for me was about becoming an aunt and knowing to listen a bit more to this funny voice that tricked me into appreciating whole bran oats, skirting boards, Gregorian chanting and my dentist’s talks on flossing.’
- Keimpe Koldijk
- Brenda Bosma
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‘What really mattered to me is having my dad play me the music video “Sexy and I Know It” in Dolby surround sound to cheer me up on a Sunday morning, all while showing off his salsa moves.’
All-you-can-eat sushi // Some terrific movies: the simplicity of Frances Ha, the abundance of La grande bellezza and of course White House Down in IMAX // Watching underaged one-man-band Mylets perform in a corner of the Irish pub at Incubate.’
- Mandy Sharabani
- Basje Boer
1. Personally, 2013 was four years in Amsterdam. 2. Creatively, GIFs and their possibilities. 3. Emotionally, Perhentian Islands, Malaysia. - Geoff Kim
‘The most impressive movie animals of 2013: the digesting cows, drooling dogs and running horses surrounding the joyous toddler in the opening scene of Post Tenebras Lux // The bug in Reality who makes paranoid Luciano think he’s literally bugged by the producers of his favourite programme, Big Brother // The barking mad, caged animal that is Joaquin Phoenix hurting himself during the demolishing of his cell in the magnificent The Master. Woof!’
‘Down by the moonlit river with some friends talkin’ ’bout that movie where Bill Murray goes, ‘IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER’ over and over and over.’ [Laughter] - Suzanna Zak
- Gert Verbeek
‘Belgian fries with stoofvlees (ever since my girlfriend moved to Ghent) - what else compares to those dear Belgian fries? Well, nothing, really.’ continue reading on page 27
- Koen van Bommel
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The What Really Matters Issue. Interview In the context of this issue, an interview with Will Oldham – aka Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – was high on our wishlist. Immediately we ran into closed doors; Will Oldham is famously quiet. Then we got a mysterious email: ‘So, we heard you’d like to speak to Bonnie?’
Will Oldham Phone interview by Brenda Bosma Illustrations by Janna Klävers
At precisely noon on a friday in November we called him at his house in Louisville, Kentucky and talked about what it means to be a human being trying to connect. Magic still happens sometimes 20
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Will Oldham. Continued Before we talk a bit about what it all boils down to in this transatlantic phone call, I’m curious to know what you see when you look to your left? A lamp that I just turned on. And to your right? A spinning tower that holds hundreds of ethnographic recordings from all over the world, on compact disc. And may I ask what you did yesterday? That’s such a long time ago. Let me think. I ran in the morning, had a nice long fight with somebody, then I had an early lunch with my mother and the woman who cares for her, then I oversaw some maintenance, then I probably packed and shipped records. I know there was something in the evening, but I can’t remember what happened from 4.30pm on. That’s okay. Maybe we can focus a bit on the album. In the song ‘Lessons from Stony’, as I take it, you tell of a life of fleeting encounters. I was curious to know who or what is ‘Stony’? Stony is like an ignorant mentor, someone who acts and reacts. It’s the origin of an inner voice, but it comes from outside. Stony is like a stone that say, you drop into a body of water, then the inner voice is everything that happens after that rock hits the water. Making some ripples? Hmm, sure. Or it bounces on the head of a fish. But it actually goes deep inside the body? Not if the body is only an inch and a half deep. I hope it can land somewhere, though. If it’s low tide. Even if the beginning of the end has already been done, as you sing, what are some of the things you do to make it all more fun? Bringing colour in and holding on to people tightly. [Silence]
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Could you give a general idea of what is important to you when interacting with people? Mostly in a conversation I like to ask a lot of questions, ’cause that seems like such a nice opportunity. When you ask questions, do you like to play with boundaries? Well, two months ago I toured with Mount Eerie who performed with two female vocalists. After the show I would have this vocal exchange with one of the women, but it wasn’t like a conversation. Maybe you can compare it with wild animals or precocious chil-
dren who are given sounds and vocabulary and who have an initial understanding of the meaning, but have a disregard for all the rules – like the grammar. So she and I seemed to get into these exchanges where we were wild animals – who knew the English language – like, wrestling. That sounds like there was some magic in the room. It was the hardest I’d laughed in a long time. It was also one of the first times I felt that I could utter the things I felt like uttering,
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Will Oldham. Continued because most of time I realise what I want to come out of my mouth would make no sense and would potentially alienate and/or offend people. So, you found your mountain twin? Yes. That is wonderful. It was. Are you also interested in thoughts, feelings and actions? As a kid I would walk around at night and walk past people’s houses and I’d be dying to know what happened there – like, if someone was folding clothes or eating a bowl of cornflakes, anything like that. I haven’t gotten passed this idea that everybody is unknown or mysterious. When I have the opportunity I like the questions to be able to go deeper without making someone feel uncomfortable or violated. American writer George Saunders said in a convocation speech that the one thing in life you should do is be kind. Would you agree? Yes, I do. Sometimes it’s hard, though. Sometimes we have to overcome physical things. Physical things? Sometimes something boils inside of you. There are times when I have an interaction with people and something might happen and all of a sudden before my body reacts my brains says, ‘OH, NO!’ Then I know I need to not speak my mind, but recognise I’m having a physical reaction. I’m gonna assume Saunders doesn’t mean false kindness or suppressing other things in order to be kind. And that ‘kind’ doesn’t necessarily mean friendly or generous; it’s probably about being compassionate. I love the golden rule, which is more explicit than being kind or loving one another. The golden rule is do unto others as you would have others do unto you. There are times you or
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Will Oldham. Continued I identify a kindness as not what is called for. Sometimes anger is appropriate, so do you call anger kindness? You can, but it’s misleading to use the word kind there. So, if you were to use anger unto someone you might get it back as a karmic boomerang? Yes, but it might be a diffusing agent rather than the igniting agent. Like, if someone is stepping on your foot, then anger is an appropriate reaction. Apart from not having someone step on your foot, what really mattered in 2013? Making this record was a really big deal. Rather than drowning in isolation, it’s trying to understand how that isolation can serve myself and others. Also in terms of re-establishing certain relationships with colleagues, as well as people in the audience. I feel there are certain kinds of experimentation, joy and forward motion that can make you feel as if the past or some of the darker places aren’t there, and I don’t know if that is necessarily comforting to an audience. Having the opportunity to put music forward that recognises other things... well, I feel saner and more confident having made this record than I think I did this time last year. Have you heard R Kelly’s latest song, ‘Oreo Cookie’? No. He likes to lick the middle like an Oreo. Nice. Is it on his newest Black Panties? Yes. Maybe you should listen to it after you hang up. I will definitely do that. Will’s secretary emailed later that Will boogied to ‘Oreo’.
Bonnie Prince Billy’s new album self-titled album is out now. You can order it here: formation@royalstablemusic.com
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What Really Mattered in 2013. Continued ‘James Tate - The Eternal Ones of the Dream: Selected Poems (1990-2010). Heartbreakingly funny, ‘Oblivion Ha-Ha.’ // Lou Reed - New York. ‘And something flickered for a minute and then it vanished and was gone.’ // Philip K Dick How to Build a Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later plus everything else PKD wrote, especially the short stories.’
upper rooftop pool on a cold sunny day, overlook the hilly landscape and enjoy the sun on your face. Treat yo self, baby!’ - Loes Verputten
‘Lactose-free milk.’ - Phil van der Krogt
BOOKS, RECORDS, FILMS - Because: High Fidelity, Nick Hornby, 1995. ‘People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss.’
- Marc van der Holst
Isolde Woudstra
‘Samsara (2011, Ron Fricke). This great 70mm documentary lets you wonder and reflect, through tantric imagery, on human and nonhuman life. // Sean Nicholas Savage, 19 September 2013, OT301. Most magical show of 2013. // Thermae Bath Spa, Bath, UK. In the city built by Romans around three natural hot mineral springs there’s a five-floor spa in the centre of town. Go to the
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What Really Mattered in 2013. Continued ‘I quit smoking! Tobacco is wacko (that’s a thing people say, right?) // Eastbound and Down was back and this was probably its best season too. Sadly, though, by the time these lines get printed, it will all be over. // I finally beat my friend John’s high score on Drop 7. Now if only I could stop playing it everywhere, all the time, like a maniac.’
‘To not try to be witty, smart or ironic when answering this question and just say “my family”.’
- Nektarios Kouvaras
‘These past 12 months have consisted mainly of my boyfriend and I packing up our lives, unpacking them, just to pack them back up again; we’ve counted five moves in total. This is cool and all… but what matters most is that this September, we finally found our place. It feels like home like you wouldn’t believe. Plus, now we can get a cat! Woop Woop!’
- Bas Morsch
1. Trying to ensure that the business IND kinda forced me to start wasn’t a failure. So far, so good. Then again, I haven’t been audited yet! 2. Trying to ensure that I don’t have completely dysfunctional (or non-existent) relationships with my family for the rest of my life. 3. Trying to recover the joie de vivre drained out of me by barely leaving Amsterdam for the past four years.
- Marina Henao
- Carly Blair
‘Work is only a means to put food on the table. People can fire you from your job. No one can fire you from your life. // Seeing Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Glenn Branca, Charlemagne Palestine and Rhys
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Chatham play live in the space of a few months. I doubt this will ever happen again. // Travelling to new places to rekindle old friendships. Try it. Even if it feels awkward at first, you’ll hit it off in no time.’
crossroads in the editorial photo world where old photo editors are being replaced by younger, fresher minds in tune with current photography trends, interesting image-based blogs and the work of younger contemporary artists. Exciting stuff. Plus, Earl Sweatshirt and the city of Montreal.’
- Zofia Ciechowska ‘wmerchandise.’
- David Brandon Geeting
- Floor Kortman ‘Listening to Townes van Zandt in the car after a long day of work, followed by my weekly game of squash. The buzzing serotonin mixed with the heart-wrenching songs of a man who locked himself in a closet for 24 hours during his honeymoon to write a song called “Waiting Around to Die”, made me think of my life, my work, my family and I concluded that 2013 had been a good year. Onwards and upwards.’
‘What really mattered in 2013: hating the Netherlands. ‘Cause there’s no greater freedom than being broke and 2,000 km from home. And no better comfort than having your best friend mock you for coining the phrase “crying-while-cycling”. And still, in the end you get quoted in this magazine for hating the Netherlands. Dutch will be Dutch. Oh, ain’t culture shock grand?’
- Leon Caren
- Andreea Breazu
‘Editorial photography. In a time where there is endless talk about “the death of print”, contemporary editorial photography is breathing brand new life into magazines. It really feels like we’re at a
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The What Really Matters Issue. Interview Earlier this year, London-based label Hyperdub released Pull My Hair Back, the wonderfully sensitive debut by Canadian vocalist Jessy Lanza. On the nine-track album, with the sparse but bewitching
Jessy Lanza Google chat interview by Basje Boer Photos shot by Aaron Wynia in Hamilton, Canada
‘Kathy Lee’ as first single, her minimal and dreamy voice floats atop sublimely produced electro R&B, making them a graceful and effortless pair. We talked to her about how, in the end, the small stuff matters most 30
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What do you need within reach when you’re on stage? Water! Ah, of course… Who did you confer with while working on your debut album? I wrote and produced the songs with Jeremy Greenspan. It was just the two of us, really. Although I would play songs for friends and get their opinion. And I would show my sisters what I was working on for sure. And my mom. Did you get good feedback? They’re very supportive. I think I could have played them anything and they would have been supportive. How did you ‘find’ your sound? Well, I started to write on electronic instruments rather than acoustic, so I just experimented with synthesizers and drum machines. And Jeremy has a background in dance music, which factors into it as well. What were your musical references? Because you can hear a variety of genres in your music. Yeah, I like a lot of different music but mostly electronic-based R&B and dance music. I listened to a lot of modern R&B singers while making the album – like Jeremih or Omarion or Ciara. But I like ’80s boogie and R&B as well, like Patrice Rushen and Kashif. Are there three things you couldn’t have made this album without? My Juno-106 is one. The ARP Odyssey and the SP-12. We used those three pieces of gear a lot. And what about the random stuff you can’t make music without? I don’t know – sushi? A certain TV show? Maybe I’m way off here... Umm... Coffee? To write music I need to be constantly seeing shows and listening to other people’s music. I find that really important when I’m trying to be creative myself. Do you idolise anyone? Prince. The-Dream. They’re both pretty incredible. They’ve written some serious bangers.
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Jessy Lanza. Continued
And what about their stage personalities? Are they things you aspire to? Ah well, I wish I could pull off something like what Prince does but that’s wishful thinking! I always try to make people react, but in the way that Prince does? Well, I don’t think I could compare that. Maybe one day... Do you have holiday plans yet? Who do you spend your holidays with? Nothing special, really. I’m just going to hang out in Hamilton with my family.
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Jessy Lanza. Continued
‘I find that memories of pretty unremarkable things are the ones that last’ Do you have any particular holiday traditions? Well, my family does this traditional Italian meal that’s kind of fishy and oyestery. It’s kind of gross, actually, now that I think about it. You just got used to it? Oh yeah, I’ve been eating that fishy pasta for a long time. Do you enjoy spending the holidays with family? Well, I see my family so much anyway that it doesn’t seem like Christmas is particularly special. My family is very close – a stereotypical Italian sort of family. Sounds kind of romantic. Oh, it’s not! I wish. Families are funny. At least, with mine it’s sort of love-hate, you know? What do you think are the kind of memories that last? Well, finding out that my record was going to be released was a very happy moment. But aside from that, I find that memories of pretty unremarkable things are the ones that last. Like? Oh, I don’t know. Something off-hand someone says, a scene from a movie... Just regular, everyday stuff that for whatever reason sticks in your memory. Maybe in the end the fishy pasta will be the one thing to stick with you. Ha-ha, that’s true! The fishy Jessy Lanza plays on 04 December at pasta really resonates... OT301 in Amsterdam. The show is free for Subbacultcha! members.
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The What Really Matters Issue. Interview Apart from being an artist, Moscow to Tel Aviv to Berlin transplant Mary Ocher has several talents up her sleeve. She’s also her own manager, booker and record label. Her latest album, Eden, produced by garage guru
Mary Ocher Phone interview by Zofia Ciechowska Photos shot by Artboydancing in Berlin, Germany
King Khan, embraces a dazzling spectrum of lo-fi and weird sounds, keeping the outsider torch aflame. We called up the girl with the Coke-bottle glasses and talked memories, regrets and acceptance 37
Mary Ocher. Continued I saw you play a show wearing a bejewelled bra. Where does your confidence come from? I struggled with stage fright for years. I used to be that kid who really wanted to be on stage – I went to auditions from the age of five – but I would constantly fail. I never won any competitions or anything. I guess my confidence these days comes from years of putting myself in vulnerable situations where not everything was within my control. When did you know you wanted to do this? I was about seven years old when I decided to become an artist. Back then I thought I’d be a painter. I used to draw on the blackboard all the time at school, but at one point a new girl joined our class and it turned out that she was better than me! That’s when I decided to write songs, because I wouldn’t have any competition. I used to record stuff acapella on cassette tapes and then I picked up a guitar and keyboard at the age of 14. Did you listen to a lot of female singers? When I was growing up I didn’t have any female role models, which now I think was kind of disturbing. I loved Lou Reed, Morrissey, Billy Corgan. They all symbolised these outsiders, loners and misfits. There are women I keep on quoting, like Simone de Beauvoir or Virginia Woolf, who went through the same stuff but unfortunately their voices are perhaps not as loud as their male counterparts. Women are still seen as outsiders by default. I don’t choose my audience by its gender, though. I write about experiences and my personal beliefs. People are free to take it or leave it. I never want to lecture or preach. Do you have any regrets? I was caught without a ticket in the Berlin underground about four years ago, and it turned into an epic trauma. It’s the only thing I
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Mary Ocher. Continued
‘As an artist, I always find it very beautiful that I don’t really need anything’ truly regret in my life. I couldn’t really communicate with the ticket controllers because they didn’t speak English. I think I only made them angrier by trying to get them to have some mercy. Eventually the guards called the police and told them that I’d physically assaulted them, which did not happen. I was taken to a police station where they filed a report that I didn’t understand and couldn’t contradict. A year later I got a letter saying I needed to go to court. It turned out that in the report they said I’d bitten one of them. I had no witnesses to even prove that they were wrong. I ended up having to pay an enormous fine, but I did community service instead. I’m pretty sure the guys had a bad day and I was just unlucky. That's horrible! What really matters to you at the end of the day? As a human being, acceptance. I feel very comfortable right now, because I have a lot of friends who I can trust and I think that is something to be proud of. As an artist, I always find it very beautiful that I don’t really need anything. I just need a piece of paper and something to write with. If I have a bit more space, I’ll take an instrument and compose with that. I simply need to be alive in order to create! I’ve also learned that it’s possible to travel for weeks with just a small bag with toothpaste, a hairbrush, red lipstick, five pairs of underwear and socks – and maybe a few T-shirts... Mary Ocher plays on 20 December at
WORM in Rotterdam and 21 December at De Nieuwe Anita in Amsterdam. Both shows are free for Subbacultcha! members.
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The What Really Features Matters Issue
Music That Mattered in 2013 We asked monthly music review contributor and main music lady Carly Blair to let us in on what mattered most musically in 2013 I might reasonSo what music ably consider 2013 mattered to this to be the year that ‘maturing’, Hype I became able to Machine-spurning euphemisticalLuddite in 2013? ly refer to myself Well, first of all, in as a ‘mature’ music this era of disposlistener. Perhaps ability, it warmed the because letting cockles of this old my gym memberfart’s heart to see ship expire kept fellow fogeys like Cass McCombs - Big Wheel and Others me away from my Phosphorescent, daily dose of MTV, perhaps because the Flaming Lips, Bonnie ‘Prince’ working day shifts at a respectable Billy, Bill Callahan, Califone and company makes it difficult to sustain Okkervil River continue to make the kind of alcohol, drug and nightsolid albums after listening to them club habits that only graduate school for over a decade. However, the Most followed by an extended bout of unValuable Veteran Award goes to employment could inspire or permit; Cass McCombs, who 12 years into for whatever reason, I listened to his career made my favourite album fewer singles and much less pop of his and one of his best albums music this year, and focused almost yet, the sprawling and immersive Big entirely on albums instead. Wheel and Others.
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Darkside - Psychic
Forest Swords - Engravings
Much to my surprise, Devendra Banhart and Of Montreal sought a sage sort of simplicity this year, and in doing so clawed their ways back up from disappointing releases (several, in the case of Of Montreal) with very satisfying late period albums. Banhart’s Mala, in fact, was one of my absolute favourites from this year. Speaking of comebacks, though they’ve already cemented their statuses as legends, My Bloody Valentine, Boards of Canada and Daft Punk stepped down from their pedestals after very long hiatuses to release albums that may not have exceeded the heights of their greatest work but nevertheless proved worth waiting for. While no one could surpass the universal appeal of Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’, a handful of other bona fide stars not only put out great songs, but also thoroughly enjoyable albums, including Arcade Fire and
Devendra Banhart - Mala
Vampire Weekend. As a former hater, I have to admit that the latter’s Modern Vampires of the City blew me away with its unrelenting delightfulness and wit. Meanwhile, Julia Holter, Eleanor Friedberger, Mount Kimbie and Pure X all followed up promising recent debuts with accomplished albums filled with enough personality to establish them as musical forces to be reckoned with. Holter’s sophisticated and stirring Loud City Song, as well as her enchanting live performances, seem to be positioning her in particular for crossover success. Perhaps by now you’re thinking to yourself, ‘Fuck all these established artists. I thought Subbacultcha! was all about providing a platform for the unruly underground?!’ Rather than conclude you’ve been hanging out with Richard James Foster too much, I will concede you’ve got a point, and point out that this year we hosted dozens of kickass
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Music That Mattered Features in 2013. Continued Continued
shows around the country. Highlights for me included the Sound of the Dutch Underground at the Melkweg, Holly Herndon’s hypnotic show at OT301 and Amen Dunes’ mesmerising and beautiful acoustic set, again at OT301. There were also many wonderful full-length debuts from lesserknown artists like Majical Cloudz, Blue Hawaii and John Wizards, though my personal favourites were Forest Swords’ bewitching Engravings, Darkside’s not-so-underground but certainly visionary Psychic and Way Yes’ sweetly psychedelic Tog Pebbles. For those whom no guilt trip will persuade to listen to entire albums, I will make another concession: at the end of this article you’ll find a mixtape of favourite tracks from this past year worthy of impressing a potential lover (or college admissions officer). And finally, as if to nullify all preceding hints at refinement, I will confess that the song to which I responded with the most Pavlovian eagerness this year was Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’, despite the admittedly sexist and stupid video that accompanied it. What can
I say? Maybe I’m going deaf? Maybe I’m going blind? Maybe I’m out of my mind… All typical traits of a ‘maturing’ music listener. ;-)
Music That Mattered Most In 2013 Mixtape:
Side A. Julia Holter - ‘Maxim’s I’ / Majical Cloudz - ‘Bugs Don’t Buzz’ / Son Lux - ‘Easy’ / James Blake - ‘Retrograde’ / Blood Orange - ‘Chamakay’ / Heavenly Beat - ‘Honest’ / Lost Animal - ‘Lose the Baby’
Side B. Vampire Weekend - ‘Hannah Hunt’ / Cass McCombs ‘Name Written in Water’ / Bill Callahan - ‘Ride My Arrow’ / Pure X - ‘Thousand Year Old Child’ / Devendra Banhart - ‘Never Seen Such Good Things’ / Way Yes - ‘Get Healed’ / Mutual Benefit ‘Advanced Falconry’ You can listen to a digital version the mixtape at subbacultcha.nl
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2LP • cd downLoAd oUT now
www.dominorecordco.com
Deluxe lP | lP | CD | DOWNlOAD OuT NOW www.dominorecordco.com
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The Morning After: Fรถllakzoid Photo shot by Annegien van Doorn on Tuesday, 05 November at 11:58 am
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The Morning After is a monthly photo series depicting the scene of a band’s post-slumber lodgings the day after their Subbacultcha! show. Here’s how Föllakzoid left their Amsterdam hotel room at the Lloyd Hotel & Cultural Embassy.
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Featured Artist
Anne Forest In an attempt to unravel the status-laden facades of the Russian Orthodox icons she’s inspired by, Anne Forest (1983) paints portraits of people, animals and other creatures on carpets and rugs, sometimes as big as three metres. The tactile nature of the rugs with their thick layers of paint, combined with the almost primitive lines and colour application, make her paintings a strange reference to a human past. And as she says: ‘For me, an icon is ultimately a tool that enables the viewer to reflect deeply on him- or her-self.’ Forest’s rugs present a somewhat horrifying mirror for the unexpecting viewer www.anneforest.nl
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Featured Artist: Anne Forest Interview by Floor Kortman
Why do you paint on carpets and rugs? Are these carpets you can buy in stores? There’s a lot of control in my technique but I contradict this with the surfaces I paint on. I buy the carpets secondhand from Marktplaats.nl and live with them for a while; eventually they all make their way from my floor up to my walls. All the figures you paint have names. Do these refer to anything? Almost all my paintings start with me being inspired by a baroque or Renaissance portrait. My work is my take on these people, my attempt to unravel them and find what’s layered under those facades. The name casts a whole new light on the person I’m looking at and my rendition of him/her. When a figure is named I start feeling responsible towards it, and much more of a sense of urgency from that point on. Instead of pious and peaceful like the Russian Orthodox icons, some of your figures look almost horrified. Why is that? Rather than symbolising godliness or martyrdom like the icons, I’m interested in symbolising the opposite; fear of the unknown, loneliness, self-doubt, rage. I try
to mirror these traits in the faces I paint, to peel back our layers and acknowledge our common fragilities. You often paint one figure holding a smaller figure, as the Mary and child are portrayed, but what’s with all the monkeys? I never think of a specific animal when I start painting one, they are completely born out of my imagination. They’re immaculate, as is the child in Mary’s arms. I find the caregiver vs protector power structure in these Mary and child icons fascinating, ultimately the child has the power and is her protector. Any big plans for the future? Is there anything exciting coming up? The last couple years of my ‘artist’s life’ have been quite a trip so far. Working quietly, tucked away in my studio for weeks on end followed by a period of surprises popping up left and right. I never really know what’s coming – in the studio or out of it. It’s the kind of life that keeps you on your toes and I hope it will stay like this for a while. Anne Forest will be having her first solo exhibition at Galarie Bart Amsterdam, in February, 2014.
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Featured Artists: Anne Forest
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Fashion By Mandy Sharabani. Photos shot by Isolde Woudstra
€15 Outfit Every month we give €15 to someone to compose a complete outfit for a good night out. Yes, quite the challenge Frankie Rose, the cool-ass singer and multi-instrumentalist from Brooklyn, was this month’s inspiration for Amsterdam-based recent medical graduate Ilse Damsma, who currently works as a museum guide and and likes to paint in her spare time.
of Waterlooplein and hoped for a good bargain there. My chat worked: I got my trench coat for just €4. The scarf I got for free! Some bargain skills to the max! Yeah, I was into it. I found the trousers at my local thrift store, they were a surprisingly good fit for me. I just needed a white basic tee, which I found for the oddly specific price of €1.85. Any words on your styling? I was so excited about my €1 lipstick from Action that finished my feminine look, until I realised I couldn’t take it off for three days straight.
You got some classy outfit going on, girl! Do start from the top. Well, actually I’d like to start from the bottom, since I found the shoes first! Frankie’s video for ‘Know Me’ had a futuristic, sci-fi edge to it that, to me, matched the style of these suede shoes perfectly. Then I knew I wanted to go for a feminine and somewhat sweet look. Nice futuristic vision. And from there? I remembered this very extravagantly dressed market vendor with some nice vintage stuff at a corner
Wanna go shopping for a €15 outfit? Email us at fashion@subbacultcha.nl. Frankie Rose plays on 18 December at OT301 in Amsterdam. The show is free for Subbacultcha! members.
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Ilse Damsma’s total budget spent: €12.65 T-Shirt: €1.85 - Action, Amsterdam / Trousers: €2.30 - Noppes, Purmerend Suede shoes: €3.50 - Rataplan West, Amsterdam / Lipstick: €1 - Action, Amsterdam Trench coat & scarf: €2.30 - Waterlooplein, Amsterdam / Necklace: Ilse’s own
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Books: Rock ’N’ Roll Library No 8 By Marc van der Holst. Image by Lonneke van der Palen
A Naked Singularity by Sergio de la Pava
Every month we add a rockin’ good book to our Rock ’N’ Roll Library Sergio de la Pava’s A Naked Singularity was initially self-published in 2008. After building up a bit of a buzz in the bookish blogosphere, it eventually got picked up by the University of Chicago Press and was republished in 2012, going on to win 2013’s PEN/Bingham Prize for best debut novel and, finally, makes it on to our R’N’R shelf as this year’s last addition. At almost 700 pages, ANS is a big black hole of a book, dense and dark(ly funny), which will surely suck you in. A metafictional legal thriller about a perfect crime that’s perfectly good, postmodern fun. It’s also political, waging its war on the war on drugs and the US judicial system as a whole in some really surreal (or surreally real...) scenes straight out of a Law & Order rerun on drugs. It’s also about drugs. And philosophy, and
metaphysics. Plus, it has a monkey. It has a page-turning plot as well, and an action-packed, heist ending. With swords. Its best bits are what make up the majority of the book, though: the digressions and deadpan dialogue. It has hence been compared to William Gaddis’ dialogue-heavy book on the legal system, A Frolic of His Own, which opening lines could serve as a motto for ANS: ‘Justice? You get justice in the next world. In this world, you get the law.’ You also get to read ANS. Do yourself some justice, and get De la Pava’s brilliant book.
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Rock ’N’ Roll Library: No1: Stoner, by John Williams | No2: Hogg, by Samuel R Delany | No3: Alien vs. Predator, by Michael Robbins | No4: Grapefruit, by Yoko Ono | No5: I Remember, by Joe Brainard | No6: Stand on Zanzibar, by John Brunner | No7: Magic for Beginners, by Kelly Link | No8: A Naked Singularity, by Sergio de la Pava
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Food: Cooking With... By Zofia Ciechowska. Image by Carlijn Potma
Frankie Rose Every month we ask an artist to share the recipe for their favourite dish This year Frankie Rose is touring with her new solo album, Herein Wild. The touring life is quite convenient for Miss Rose, as she says she isn’t much of a foodie – until we move on to the Mexican cooking traditions that run through her family, that is. Then she starts waxing lyrical about making piles of pork tamales for Christmas with her family, eating juicy carnitas and whacking a piñata for every childhood birthday she can remember. ‘I’ll make a huge pot of soup in the winter and live off it for a week. The one I make most often is pozole, a hearty Mexican soup. The recipe has been passed down in my family from my Mexican grandmother.We eat pozole on special holidays, like New Year’s. It’s made with beef sweetbreads, ancho chillies and hominy. Mexican cooking in my family is like storytelling, I learned it from my
mother and she learned it from hers. We never write it down, it’s a skill that is passed down from generation to generation’ How to make Frankie Rose’s pozole • Lightly roast chilli pods. Put them in 3 cups of boiling water, cover for 15 mins. Next, boil 5.5 litres of water. • Heat olive oil and fry the beef sweetbreads until brown. Add 4 cloves of chopped garlic. • Add meat to the large pot of boiling water. Add hominy, bay leaves, cumin, oregano and salt. Cook for 15 mins. • In a blender, mix the chillies, 2.5 cups of the liquid they were in, salt and garlic. Sift the mixture. • Add the red sauce to the stockpot. Cook on low heat until the beef is tender (approx. 3 hrs). • Serve your pozole in a bowl, garnished with veggies and toasted tortillas.
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Ingredients 110g ancho chillies, deseeded 1 tin white hominy, drained and rinsed 1.4kg beef sweetbreads 8 cloves garlic 3 bay leaves 1 tsp ground cumin 2 tbsp Mexican oregano salt and pepper
Garnish ½ a small white cabbage, thinly sliced 1 bunch coriander ½ white onion, chopped 2 avocados, sliced 4 limes, quartered 10 red radishes, sliced 6 tortillas
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New Films By Basje Boer
Inside Llewyn Davis Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
A new Coen brothers movie is always one to watch, and Inside Llewyn Davis is no exception. Based loosely on the life of semi-obscure folk artist Dave Van Ronk (the movie’s title wink-winks to Van Ronk’s 1963 album Inside Dave Van Ronk), Inside Llewyn Davis is set in 1961, when the acoustic folk revival started blooming in New York’s Greenwich Village. Once part of a duo, now moody and cynical, musician Llewyn Davis is kind of a dick: always strapped for cash, knocking up girls and turning his frustration into hostility. But when his bad luck turns worse it’s hard not to feel for the guy. Featuring some sweet music, obviously. Release date 05 December. When you’ve finished this one, start watching... • The Coens’ oeuvre is as eclectic as it is distinct and includes many (cult) classics.
But could it be that their very first film might just be their best? Thriller Blood Simple (1984) is full of first-time filmmaking bravado, making the movie both clumsy and ballsy. One to rewatch at least once a year. • Llewyn Davis’ run of bad luck is a picnic compared to Griffin Dunne’s descent into hell in Martin Scorsese’s After Hours. Also set in New York, this underrated 1985 comedy follows Dunne during one unfortunate night when a dream date turns into a nightmare.
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New Films
Grand Central
The Congress
Grand Central
journey into the fantastic by Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman (Waltz with Bashir). A Faustian tale at heart, The Congress tells of an aging actress who sells a CGI version of herself to Hollywood, one that’ll keep on acting while she’s in retirement. But what happens when her contract ends? And what, exactly, is the future of Hollywood? Release date 09 January.
Rebecca Zlotowski - 2013 It was bound to happen: in Rebecca Zlotowski’s lovely Grand Central the beau and belle of French cinema finally get together – and the sparks fly. Who else would we be talking about but Tahar Rahim (of Un prophète fame) and Léa Seydoux (La vie d’Adèle)? In Grand Central their love affair develops while both are working at a nuclear power plant, where young outcasts sacrifice their health for easy money. Release date 28 November.
And for couch potatoes... by Gert Verbeek
Silence Pat Collins - 2012 In Silence a sound recordist leaves for the coast of his native Ireland. In solitude and free from man-made sound he records the distant rumble of the past, getting closer to his roots. Silence is where all roads end. Out now on DVD, UK import.
The Congress Ari Folman - 2014 Wonderful Robin Wright stars as herself in the weird and moving The Congress, a partially animated
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Subbacultcha! events. Free for members Sign up for €8 per month at subbacultcha.nl
Those Foreign Kids: 01 September
Those Foreign Kids: 01 September
New Music: Solar Year
Film: Lydia Ainsworth
Solar Year (Ben Borden and David Ertel) have become part of the eponymously cool Montreal music family with a bunch of new-age electro-pop tracks under their belt, not to mention some guest vocals from the Grimes goddess herself. The duo have been heard to call their music ‘psalmgaze’, something probably said tongue-in-cheek but immediately pounced on by rabid music journalists like myself – all because of a Gregorian chant sample, ha! Check out their Brotherhood EP, available for free download on the Arbutus Records website and be on the lookout for their fulllength, Waverly, which is due to appear at the end of June on Splendour.
Brooklyn music lady Lydia Ainsworth is simply thrilling. Lydia, if you’re reading this, come and have pizza with me! Come and have pizza with the world! This former student of Joan La Barbara has composed for filmmakers, visual artists, poets and contemporary dance groups, putting her at the epicentre of artistic expression, making her the coolest lady everrr. Lydia’s otherworldly vocals are accompanied by a string quartet, drummers, keyboards and this brilliant self-devouring fast-food collage animation. Listen and be happy.
soundcloud.com/solaryear
www.lydiaainsworth.com
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Subbacultcha! events. Free for members
Things to do this month Sign up for €8 per month at subbacultcha.nl
Music, art and film in December 2013 and January 2014 Those Foreign Kids: 01 September
Those Foreign Kids: 01 September
New Music: Solar Year
Film: Lydia Ainsworth
soundcloud.com/solaryear
www.lydiaainsworth.com
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Solar Year (Ben Borden and David ErBrooklyn music lady Lydia Ainsworth tel) have become part of the eponyis simply thrilling. Lydia, if you’re readmously cool Montreal music family with ing this, come and have pizza with me! a bunch of new-age electro-pop tracks Come and have pizza with the world! under their belt, not to mention some This former student of Joan La Barbaguest vocals from the Grimes goddess ra has composed for filmmakers, visual herself. The duo have been heard to artists, poets and contemporary dance call their music ‘psalmgaze’, something groups, putting her at the epicentre probably said tongue-in-cheek but imof artistic expression, making her the mediately pounced on by rabid music coolest lady everrr. Lydia’s otherworldjournalists like myself – all because of a ly vocals are accompanied by a string Gregorian chant sample, ha! Check out quartet, drummers, keyboards and this their Brotherhood EP, available for free brilliant self-devouring fast-food collage download on the Arbutus Records webanimation. Listen and be happy. self-desite and be on the lookout for their fullvouring fast-food collage animation. Jaakko Eino Kalevi: 17 January - De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam. length, Waverly, which is due to appear The show is free for Subbacultcha! members. at the end of June on Splendour.
Subbacultcha Events B I N N E N KMusic ORT
VR 06 12
OPKIKKER: PUPKULIES & REBECCA + TIBAU TAVARES + YOUNG MARCO E.A. VOORUITSTREVENDE TECHNO EN TECHHOUSE, VOOR DE ZESDE KEER IN EKKO!
Those Foreign Kids: 01 September
ZA 07 12
ROOSEVELT New Music: + MARIUS (live)
Solar Year
AANSTEKELIJKE EN ZOMERSE COMBI VAN CHILLWAVE, POP EN WAT DISCO.
soundcloud.com/solaryear
O.A.
ZA 18 01
THE LUMIÑANAS
VR 24 01
PISSING IN THE WIND #04
PERFECTE, BRUISENDE PSYCH-POP MET MODERNE NOIR-NUANCES.
COMPLETE AVOND VOL MET
UIT BINNENThoseNIEUW Foreign TALENT Kids: 01 September EN BUITENLAND.
VR 31 01
Film:
JAMESZOO Lydia Ainsworth + JAMES PANTS www.lydiaainsworth.com
KNIEBREEKBEATS DOOR STONES THROW-ICOON EN EEN VAN NEDERLANDS
Solar Year (Ben Borden and David ErBrooklyn lady Lydia Ainsworth MEEST music INVENTIEVE PRODUCERS. V R CULTFARM: tel) have become part of the eponyis simply thrilling. Lydia, if you’re read2 0 SAN PROPER mously cool Montreal music family with ing this, come and have pizza with me! 1 2 NIEMAND MINDER DAN CULTHELD a bunch new-age electro-pop tracks and have pizza with the world! Z OCome FADING TRAILS: SAN of PROPER DRAAIT EEN LEKKER 0 2This under their SET. belt, not to mention some former student of Joan La BarbaLANGE ALASDAIR ROBERTS 0 2ra has guest vocals from the Grimes goddess composed for filmmakers, visual + HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER + LOWER E.A.contemporary dance herself. The duo have been heard to artists, poets and ZO NIEUW, RONDTREKKEND BROEDER DIELEMAN call their music ‘psalmgaze’, something groups, putting her at theMINIFESTIVAL epicentre MET EEN DWARSE PROGRAMMERING. 2 2 + CAIRO LIBERATION probably said tongue-in-cheek but imof artistic expression, making her the 1 2 FRONT mediately pounced on by rabid music coolest lady everrr. Lydia’s otherworld+ MEINDERT TALMA journalists like myself – all because of a ly vocals are accompanied by a string ONZE FAVORIETE ZEEUW MET EEN Gregorian chant sample, ha! Check out quartet, drummers, keyboards and this HEEL SPECIAAL OPTREDEN. their Brotherhood EP, available for free brilliant self-devouring fast-food collage download on the Arbutus Records webanimation. Listen and be happy. site and be on the lookout for their fulllength, Waverly, which is due to appear at the end of June on Splendour. VOLLEDIG
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PROGRAMMA & TIJDEN: WWW.EKKO.NL
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Subbacultcha! events. Free for members Sign up for €8 per month at subbacultcha.nl
On the following pages you’ll find all of this issue’s Subbacultcha! events. You can buy a ticket at the door or become a Subbacultcha! member and attend for free. Join at subbacultcha.nl
Jessy Lanza + Doom Squad
Klub 470 ft. Unmap + Naive Set
Montreal and Toronto may hog much of the Canadian hype, but Hamilton, Ontario has got its own thing going on. While its nickname of ‘Hammer Town’ conjures up certain unsavoury musical memories, natives like Junior Boys’ Jeremy Greenspan, and now Jessy Lanza, are hitting the nail on the head with their chilly, R&B-inflected electro-pop. After knowing Lanza for years, Greenspan enlisted the jazz-trained pianist to contribute backing vocals to 2011’s wonderful It’s All True. Wowed by her knack for melody, he offered to produce what would become her new album, Pull My Hair Back, tipped as one of 2013’s finest debuts.
Besides wanting to make you feel like you’ve been transformed, Cinderellastyle, into a German aristocrat for an evening, Klub 470’s other objective is to provide a podium for exciting upcoming German bands. This time around, Berlin quartet (and Bodi Bill side project) Unmap will guide you through a dark and uncharted territory between electronica, R&B and pop. Amsterdam’s own Naive Set will warm up the crowd as they crack jokes about Unmap’s inability to pronounce ‘Scheveningen’ properly, and crack smiles with their Real Estatechannelling indie pop.
06 December - Goethe-Institut, Amsterdam 21.00 | €8 | Free for members
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Frames by Viktorija Medvedeva 04 December - OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €8 | Free for members
Subbacultcha! Events. Free for members Sign up for €8 per month at subbacultcha.nl
Frankie Rose + Beginners
someone who’s definitely marching to the beat of her own drum. Openers Jack Name, formerly known as Muzz and various other monikers, are tough to google, but word has it they’re a side project of White Fence guitarist John Webster Johns, and ‘Subba darling’ Dinner says they’re the best band in LA.
18 December - OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €8 | Free for members After brief stints drumming for Crystal Stilts, Dum Dum Girls and Vivian Girls, Frankie Rose fronted her own garage-rock group as Frankie Rose and the Outs. On last year’s Interstellar, she left behind the band and changed course from the reverb-soaked retro of yesteryear towards some downright heavenly synth pop. Her new album, Herein Wild, finds her continuing along the same trajectory to arrive at her darkest and poppiest destination yet.
Tududuh + Bismuth
Mary Ocher + Jack Name
21 December - EKKO, Utrecht 20.00 | €8 | Free for members Utrecht-based Ronald Straetemans’ Tududuh is an utterly fitting moniker, considering that its songs are packed with the kind of melodies that you can’t help but hum incessantly, even though they are drowned in machine-like noises and electronic soundscapes on his debut LP Storm Murale. Tududuh performs alongside experimental luthier and musician Yuri Landman and his Bismuth, plus Big Hare and more.
Discovered by King Khan in a karaoke bar, Russian-born, Berlin-based artist and performer Mary Ocher is known for her over-the-top style and theatrical, sometimes almost feral and always unpredictable vocals sung atop avant-garde pop songs. In a musical world overrun with copycats, Ocher stands out as
03 January - Butcher’s Tears, Amsterdam 21.00 | €5 | Free for members
20 December - WORM, Rotterdam 19.30 | €5 | Free for members 21 December - De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam 20.00 | €8 | Free for members
Raajmahal
Seemingly possessed by sad ghosts caught in limbo between Earth and the
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Subbacultcha! events. Free for members Sign up for €8 per month at subbacultcha.nl
ing when it comes to this Montreal duo of poet and musician Marie Davidson and self-taught musician and sound engineer Pierre Guerineau, who were both active in the La Brique art collective before they started playing together in 2010. Davidson’s ingenuous and incomprehensible vocals remind me of Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino, sung atop darkly cinematic and sexy electro blues reminiscent of no wave and David Lynch soundtracks.
afterlife, Brooklyn’s Raajmahal conjure up understated, mournful, thoroughly eerie and oddly soothing ambient psych that should appeal to fans of Grouper.
The Age of Aquariums Launch Party 04 January - De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam 20.00 | €7 | Free for members
Resident Subbacultcha! astrologist extraordinaire Brenda Bosma gazed up at the stars one last time and made a selection of the most entertaining and enlightening horoscopes she wrote over the course of two years. The result: a cosmic booklet titled The Age of Aquariums – Old Horoscopes for the New Year, as these timeless prophecies can be applied for ages to come. If the stars align, there may just be some magic dust in the air. Ticket price includes booklet.
East India Youth
16 January - OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €8 | Free for members
Essaie Pas
08 January - Sugar Factory, Amsterdam 21.00 | €5 | Free for members Essaie Pas is French for ‘do not try’, but you’d be wise to ignore the warn-
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The Quietus’s editor-in-chief John Doran showered 23 year-old multi-instrumentalist William Doyle, aka East Indian Youth, with accolades when we asked him for a recommendation back in September. Moving around techno influences and moulding them into something direct and powerful, Doyle’s Hostel EP was the best album Doran had heard in years - he was so enamoured, he even started a record label to release it. East India Youth’s follow up to that lauded EP, a full-length for Stolen Recordings, comes out on 13 January, so the new tunes will practically still be steaming at OT301.
Subbacultcha! events. Free for members DI 03 DEC ZA 07 DEC DI 10 DEC ZA 14 DEC
NIGHT Sign up for €8BEATS per month at subbacultcha.nl SELIM LEMOUCHI & HIS ENEMIES KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS + TRUE WIDOW DUTCH GARAGE ROCK EXPLOSION: JC THOMAZ & THE MISSING SLIPPERS + BEYOND LICKIN' +
HOFSTAD GROUP + DE STEKKERS + ET EXPLORE ME
MOZES AND THE FIRSTBORN
Those Foreign Kids: 01 September
VR 20 DEC
Those Foreign Kids: 01 September
kijk voor ons volledige programma + locaties op www.effenaar.nl
05-12 12-12 18-12 19-12 22-12 24-01 28-01 11-02 04-07
TEMPERS GRATIS FRED & TOODY UNPLUGGED (DEAD MOON) GRATIS KURT VILE & THE VIOLOATORS, TRUE WIDOW JOHN COFFEY, PSYCHO 44, TIM VANTOL BEN CAPLAN HEADPHONE, THE BENELUX THE RIVERBOAT GAMBLERS SUPERSUCKERS THE DELTA BOMBERS
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-------------------------------------------------------------PATRONAAT | HAARLEM | VOLLEDIGE PROGRAMMA: WWW.PATRONAAT.NL
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Subbacultcha! events. Free for members Sign up for €8 per month at subbacultcha.nl
Jaakko Eino Kalevi: 17 January
17 January - De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam 20.00 | €8 | Free for members
Eurosonic Day Party: 18 January
Eurosonic Day Party
18 January - Sign Gallery, Groningen 13.00 | Free for all
Moonlighting as a tram driver for Helsinki City Transport, Finnish dreamboat Jaakko Eino Kalevi has been a cult hero in the city he’s called home since 2006. Drawing from the meditative clamour of his tram as it chugs along those Nordic tracks at the crack of dawn, Jaakko’s soothing psychedelic pop mimics a blissful morning stupor, one soundtracked by a sultry sax, colourful synths and a dubby groove. Well-versed in pop oddities – Peaking Lights, How To Dress Well and Salvia Plath to name but a few – Domino subsidiary Weird World have snapped the multi-instrumentalist Finn for his foursong Dreamzone EP, out this December.
With the who’s who of Europe’s music industry bearing down on the Martinistad for Europe’s premier showcase festival, a horde of up-and-coming local talent in tow, we’re once again teaming up with Wham! Wham! to bring you one of our renowned Eurosonic Day Parties at the Sign Art Gallery. Last year’s edition featured breakthrough artists MØ and Jacco Gardner, and a rip-roaring set by noisemakers WOLVON, so count on more youthful upstarts and free beer until it’s up this year. Check our website for the full programme.
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Jaakko Eino Kalevi
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Son Lux: 19 January
Son Lux
The Limiñanas: 18 January
19 January - Rotown, Rotterdam 21.30 | €9 | Free for members
The Limiñanas
The Limiñanas are the brainchild of husband and wife Lio and Marie Limiñana, started back in 2009 as a home-studio project fuelled by Ennio Morricone albums, Noir films and the abundant sunshine of southern France. Over the course of three albums the band has developed a hip and charmingly francophonic signature style that sounds like a blend of the disaffected cool of Sérge Gainsbourg, the hypnotic drone of the Velvet Underground and a splash of sunny psychedelia, bottled and aged for about 50 years. Santé!
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Surely Son Lux’s Ryan Lott has no shortage of musical mojo. A classically trained composer and electronic musician from Denver, he’s collaborated with everyone from Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti (as part of s/s/s), to Anticon rappers Busdriver and Beans, to Arcade Fire multiinstrumentalist Richard Reed Parry, to Nico Muhly, to These New Puritans. He layers electronic elements with orchestral flourishes, resulting in songs that are sometimes starkly minimal and meditative; sometimes lushly orchestrated and rousing – but always beautiful, packed to the brim with ideas and imbued with a sense of warmth by his fragile and forlorn voice.
18 January - EKKO, Utrecht 20.00 | €8.50 | Free for members
Subbacultcha! events. Free for members Sign up for â‚Ź8 per month at subbacultcha.nl
Those Foreign Kids: 01 September
Those Foreign Kids: 01 September
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Subbacultcha! events. Free for members Sign up for €8 per month at subbacultcha.nl
Girl Band: 21 January
Textuur and Subbacultcha! Present: Girl Band Easter: 24 January
Klub 470 ft. Easter
While the phrase ‘girl band’ most likely conjures up images of overstyled lady hacks more touted for their looks than their songwriting skills, the Dublin outfit of the same name features four dudes whose violent post-punk has a far-aboveaverage capacity to make you want to smash beer bottles against the wall in a most unladylike fashion. Their self-produced 2012 EP, France 98, is excellent.
24 January - Goethe-Institut, Amsterdam 21.00 | €8 | Free for members
Another fine edition of Klub 470 at the illustrious Goethe-Institut. This time around, uber-hip-looking-but-surprisingly-goofy minimal synth-pop duo Easter will demonstrate why they’re the talk of the town in their home base of Berlin.
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21 January - Poortgebouw, Rotterdam 21.00 | €5 | Free for members
December and January recommendations
VR 6 DEC HOAX: ADDISON GROOVE WO 11 DEC DELTRON 3030 VR 13 DEC THE FRATELLIS ZA 14 DEC HEADPHONE/MAISON DU MALHEUR E.V.A. @ HELEMAAL MELKWEG
WO 18 DEC TRICKY VR 20 DEC SKIP & DIE VR 20 DEC WILL AND THE PEOPLE ZA 18 JAN CHE SUDAKA VR 31 JAN GRAUZONE FESTIVAL:
PETER HOOK PLAYS NEW ORDER/CHRIS AND COSEY/POP. 1280 E.V.A.
DI 4 FEB POLIÇA VR 7 FEB CONGO NATTY FILM ZA 11 DEC SUBBACULTCHA! PRESENTS: HIT SO HARD THEATER DI 10 & 16 MINUTES OF FAME; BLACK/WHITE [BOX] EDITION ONTDEK HET NIEUWSTE MUZIEK,- DANS,- LITERAIR,- EN KUNSTTALENT DO 12 DEC LET OP: DIT IS SLECHTS EEN SELECTIE VAN HET PROGRAMMA. HET VOLLEDIGE PROGRAMMA IS TE VINDEN OP WWW.MELKWEG.NL MELKWEG AMSTERDAM - LIJNBAANSGRACHT 234A
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Subbacultcha! events. Free for members Sign up for €8 per month at subbacultcha.nl
Inside Llewyn Davis: 10 December Amour: 16 December
10 December - LantarenVenster, Rotterdam tba | €9 | Free for members
of Jagten) and Michael Haneke (director of Amour) master the art of systematically disturbing the calmest of viewers not only with their cuts, but also with their unflinching writing. So go on, have your human values scrutinised and face the awful truth(s).
The new Coen brothers flick is set against the backdrop of ’60s Greenwich Village, during the acoustic folk hype. Llewyn Davis is a struggling musician whose bad luck is about to turn worse. He has no place to live, his sister keeps hassling him and then there’s this girl he got pregnant. Maybe it’s time to leave New York...
Kafka and Film
20 December - EYE, Amsterdam 19.15 | €tbc | Free for members In 2012 the Quay Brothers, the stop-motion animation makers and self-declared Kafka fans, made their own interpretation of Kafka’s book Metamorphosis that focuses on some of the central themes in Kafka’s work: isolation and alienation. Kafka connoisseur Stan Lapinski will give some insight into Kafka’s literary world in relation to the work of the twins.
Jagten + Amour
16 December - 16cc, Amsterdam 19.00 Jagten | 21.30 Amour | €7.50 each | Free for members We salute those of you brave enough to endure two of those heart-bruising films that count for half of one’s life experience. Both Thomas Vinterberg (director
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Inside Llewyn Davis
Subbacultcha! events. Free for members Sign up for â‚Ź8 per month at subbacultcha.nl
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Subbacultcha! events. Free for members Sign up for €8 per month at subbacultcha.nl
Nymph()maniac Part I
Shell
23 January - Rialto, Amsterdam tba | €9 | Free for members
07 January - LantarenVenster, Rotterdam tba | €9 | Free for members
This moving and beautifully photographed feature debut by Scottish director Scott Graham has been labelled ‘a real British gem’. Title character Shell is a 17-year-old girl who lives in the Scottish Highlands with her father, completely isolated from society. Here, literally in the middle of nowhere, they run a petrol station. Though Shell gets more than enough attention from male passersby, her complex relationship with her father keeps holding her back.
We all know Danish director Lars Von Trier from Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, ‘Antichrist and Melancholia, grand films that touch on grand themes like sacrifice and nihilism. His latest Nymphomaniac, is released in two parts, making it an epic ride of four hours. And it’s about sex addiction. Charlotte Gainsbourg plays the lead as Joe, a self-diagnosed nymphomaniac. The film retells her life as a sex addict throughout her youth into her fifties.
The Webs of Stanisław Lem and Jan Potocki
Hit So Hard
11 January - Melkweg Cinema, Amsterdam 20.30 | €8 | Free for members
30 January - EYE, Amsterdam 19.15 | €tbc | Free for members
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Touching on the surreal and metamorphosis as some of the topics in the work of Polish authors Lem and Potocki, the brothers Quay show their appreciation for the two writers by making these themes central elements in their animations Maska and Inventorium Sladow.
She wasn’t the first of the ‘slacker generation’ to have gotten eaten up by the ’90s and spat out again. Patty Schemel got famous as the drummer of iconic grunge band Hole, but in the end all the attention got to her. Hit So Hard documents her struggle with addiction and fame while tracing the history of Hole and Schemel’s important part in its success.
Subbacultcha! events. Free for members Sign up for â‚Ź8 per month at subbacultcha.nl
Nederlands Fotomuseum: Kyle Tryhorn
Cobra Museum: Hundertwasser
t Ar
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Subbacultcha! events. Free for members Sign up for €8 per month at subbacultcha.nl
Foam: William Klein
appeltje p(arty)
14 December - LAB111, Amsterdam 20.00 | €5 | Free for Subbacultcha! members and participating artists TENT: Dark Matters
rospective will show his revolutionary photography, but also innovative feature films and documentaries.
Foam Photography Museum
TENT
Open Tue-Sun 11.00-18.00 €4 | Free for Subbacultcha! members
Open daily 10.00-18.00, Thur and Fri until 21.00 €8.75 | Free for members Through December and January the whole Foam museum will be dedicated to unconventional American photographer William Klein. This unique ret-
TENT is known for experimental and exciting shows of local modern artists, located in a beautiful old school in the middle of Rotterdam. Subbacultcha! members always enter for free, all day every day.
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After receiving an overwhelming amount of submissions for our open-call publication, we figured you deserved an equally overwhelming launch celebration. Prepare for a night of art, music and dancing at a very special location.
DOOD PAARD Subbacultcha! events. Free for members Sign up for â‚Ź8 per month at subbacultcha.nl
OMG! XMAS SHOW WTF? voor 9 tot
XXX: xxx
XXX: xxx
10 december tm 5 januari - doodpaard.nl t Ar
Den Haag - Haarlem - Leiden - Amsterdam - Brussel - Utrecht
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Subbacultcha! events. Free for members Sign up for €8 per month at subbacultcha.nl
Golden Years: 14 December-09 March
Gerda Postma: 06 December
ongoing project about the location of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sochi. The controversial exhibition was not welcome in Moscow, but is now on view in the lovely exhibition rooms of Huis Marseille.
Open Tue-Fri 10.00-17.00, Sat & Sun 11.00-17.00 €9 | Free for Subbacultcha! members On view is Kadir van Lohuizen’s Via Panam, a multimedia exhibition about the photographer’s travels from the most southern point of Chile to the most northern point of Alaska, photographing people, communities and migrations.
Gerda Postma: Holon
Subbacultcha! HQ, Da Costakade 150, Amsterdam Open Mon-Thur 11.00-17.00 Free for all
Expo: Golden Years: Rob Hornstra’s Russia
We host an exhibition for fashion designer Gerda Postma. For the second time Gerda occupies our exhibition space with her interdisciplinary installations. This time, she shows Holon, in which she reflects on the loss of the aura through reproducibility in fashion. The exhibition opens on 06 December.
14 December-09 March Huis Marseille, Amsterdam Open Tue-Sun 11.00-18.00 €8 | Free for Subbacultcha! members from 28 January to 02 February Photographer Rob Hornstra shows his
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Nederlands Fotomuseum Rotterdam
Agenda: September 2013
COMING UP
Tomoko Mukaiyama - Super T-Market, Music & Fashion 06 December 2013
Frank Zappa’s The Yellow Shark - by Insomnio 20 December 2013
Steve Reich’s Drumming - by Slagwerk Den Haag 10 January 2014
Zapp 4 + Anton Goudsmit + Jan Rokyta - Poetic Dynamite 31 January 2014
Early Bird (13-30 years): €10. Limited availability. Get yours now. Muziekgebouw.nl | 020 788 2000
What else is on this month On the following pages you’ll find a fine selection of concerts, festivals and exhibitions taking place around the country. Art: A billboard a plasterboard a surfboard a motherboard Until 14 December, Amstel 41, Amsterdam An exhibition curated by Artun Alaska Arasli with an interesting combination of photographs by the recently graduated Abel Minnee and minimalist sculptures by Vincent Knopper.
cana in the same vein as Bill Callahan and Father John Misty. His very promising sounding 11th album drops this January. Music: Föllakzoid 01 December - Le Guess Who?, Utrecht 19 December - Vera, Groningen Inspired by the cosmos and their homeland of Chile, this Santiago outfit’s trance-inducing take on krautrock just might blow your mind.
Art: Museum of Broken Relationships Until 02 March - Oude Kerk, Amsterdam Duo exhibition with large-scale sound landscape by Julianne Swartz specifically shaped for the Oude Kerk, and a monumental on-site embroidered installation by Sara Vrugt.
Music: MV & EE 01 December - Le Guess Who?, Utrecht 02 December - OCCII, Amsterdam Vermont duo Matt Valentine and Erika Elder have been serving up a steady diet of noodly, psychedelic raga for over a decade. Equipped with Western and Eastern acoustic instruments, this is music best-suited to pot and backporch jam sessions.
Music: Hanni El Khatib 01 December - Le Guess Who?, Utrecht 03 December - Paradiso, Amsterdam This San Francisco skater and songwriter’s new album, Head in the Dirt, gives a garage twist to the Keys’ tight and catchy blues rock.
Music: Vex Ruffin 03 December - 013, Tilburg Self-described minimalist punk Vex Ruffin may seem an odd choice for hip hop hallowed ground Stones Throw, but his unsolicited demo tickled PB Wolf’s fancy so he scooped the SoCal musician up instantly.
Music: Damien Jurado 01 December - Le Guess Who?, Utrecht 11 December - De Roode Bioscoop, Amsterdam This Seattle singer-songwriter specialises in spacious, brooding Ameri-
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Agenda: December and January 2013 Music: Kurt Vile 03 December - Tivoli, Utrecht 10 December - Effenaar, Eindhoven 18 December - Patronaat, Haarlem Philly’s resident childish prodigy specialises in acoustic-driven psych-folk, and the jams on his latest album, Walking on a Pretty Daze, are as laid-back and breezy as ever. Music: Night Beats 03 December - The Rambler, Eindhoven These psych-rockers tip their hats to Texas legends like 13th Floor Elevators, with guitar work more blazing than the desert sun and a rhythm section that’s not to be messed with. Music: Savages 03 December - Paradiso, Amsterdam With their straightforward but intensely delivered post-punk, this London allfemale four-piece seems possessed by the ghosts of the Pop Group, Joy Division and the Slits. Music: Summer Camp 03 December - Paradiso, Amsterdam This London husband-wife duo make the kind of nostalgia-mining indie pop you could imagine playing on the bus ride back to suburbia at the end of an ’80s teen dramedy. Music: Roosevelt + Marius 07 December - EKKO, Utrecht The summery mix of chillwave, disco and pop stirred up by Cologne’s Roosevelt, aka Marius Lauber, and Amsterdam’s own Marius go together like prosecco and Campari.
Art: Bolo - K Bliksem Editie 07-08 December - St. Joseph Church, Amsterdam Spend a weekend at the church for art, dance and theatre. Bringing your own beamer is allowed and appreciated. Music: Dum Dum Girls 10 December - Paradiso, Amsterdam Dum Dum girls gaze into the past as much as they gaze at their shoes, but their soulfulness and songwriting chops keep their retro sound relevant. Art: Leerling/Meester expositie 12-22 December - Kunstpodium T, Tilburg The Leerling/Meester (student/master) programme links young, graduating artists to inspiring contemporary artists. For this edition students work with Dutch photographer Charlotte Dumas. Music: State-X New Forms ft. Sunn O))), Daughn Gibson, Dean Blunt 13-14 December - Paard van Troje, Den Haag Read more on page 87. Art: Un Demi x Weekender 13-15 December - Olive and Cookie Lab Space, Amsterdam To celebrate their latest issue Un Demi will collaborate with Weekender to organise a weekend all about zines and self-publishing. Art: How does an artist collect? 13-30 December - Mesdag Collectie, Den Haag Group exhibition about the very organ-
What else is on this month Music: Eurosonic Festival ft. Jaakko Eino Kalevi, East India Youth, Girl Band 15-18 January - Groningen This year’s highlights include Jaakko Eino Kalevi, East India Youth and Girl Band, but keep an eye on the roster ‘cause there are more updates to come.
ised or even obsessive ways in which artists collect. On display, amongst others, are the unique carpets from We make carpets and the smart videos of Dutch duo Lernert & Sander. Music: Felix Kubin and Mitch&Mitch 14 December - WORM, Rotterdam Electronic futurist and legendary outsider Felix Kubin performs his latest avantpop musings with a ten piece orchestra.
Music: Jaakko Eino Kalevi 16 January - Eurosonic, Groningen 17 January - De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam Read more on page 67.
Art: The Quay Brothers’ Universum 15 December-09 March - EYE, Amsterdam Dark and mysterious exhibition of the Quay twins’ films and their collection of weird artefacts and drawings.
Music: The Limiñanas 17 January - Eurosonic, Groningen 18 January - EKKO, Utrecht Read more on page 69.
Art: Ward Zward’s Art Prison release 21 December - Extrapool/Knust, Nijmegen After 12 days of being kept in an art prison, Belgian artist Ward Zwart is released and presents his new book of drawings.
Music: Son Lux 19 January - Rotown, Rotterdam 21 January - Merleyn, Nijmegen Read more on page 69. Music: Connan Mockasin 31 January - Paradiso, Amsterdam This New Zealand psych-pop band’s sound has evolved into something truly strange, featuring warped guitars and creepy melodies.
Misc.: Launch Bedford Magazine 22 December - De Creche, Amsterdam We host the special Amsterdam launch of Utrecht-based Bedford Magazine. This issue was compiled by Louis Reith and illustrator/animator Job Kind.
Music: Grauzone Festival ft. Peter Hook, Chris & Cosey, Pop. 1280 31 January - Melkweg, Amsterdam Amsterdam’s sole post-punk and new wave festival lines up another pair of genre-defining legends - Joy Division bassist Peter Hook and Throbbing Gristle duo Chris & Cosey - for its sophomore edition.
Art: Winterwolven performance art party 03 January - Roodkapje, Rotterdam Designed for shaking the habitual, this is not another post-NYE party: Winterwolven #3 mixes us folk with them artists in one big party at Roodkapje’s new location.
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Agenda: December and January 2013
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What else is on this month. Focus
STATE-X New Forms For its tenth edition, this independent festival will reflect on the decade it’s spent promoting avant-rock, cutting-edge electronics and nu-art. Aphex Twin, Flying Lotus, Sonic Youth, James Blake, Mogwai and Peaches have all graced State-X New Forms stages, so their claim of providing a glimpse into the musical future seems pretty legit. Here’s a brief overview of this year’s highlights. 13-14 December – The Hague
Daughn Gibson
Dean Blunt
The Child of Lov Experience After cancelling his performances at Glastonbury and Best Kept Secret, the world will finally get a glimpse of Amsterdam’s answer to D’Angelo and Midnite Vultures-era Beck.
– and occasionally accessible – performance art/pop to go over your head. Xenia Rubinos Acrobatic vocals and a delightfully weird take on pop are earning this Brooklyn singer comparisons to fellow oddballs like Tune Yards and St Vincent.
Daughn Gibson This part-time truck driver left a metal band to take a road trip down a more Lynchian sonic highway. The resulting Americana-tinged travelogues recall Scott Walker and James Blake.
Orchestra of Spheres Putting on musically and visually ecstatic live shows has helped these psychedelic disco-funk explorers build a stellar reputation in their native New Zealand.
Sunn O))) Immerse yourself in slow-motion waves of metal and drone as this LANYC duo presides, hooded and enveloped in thick clouds of fog, like priests over an unholy ritual.
Esmerine This chamber-rock group led by Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s Bruce Cawdron and Thee Silver Mount Zion’s Rebecca Foon just released their first album in six years.
Dean Blunt Bring ears with lofty aspirations if you don’t want Blunt’s always confrontational, often conceptually interesting
www.state-xnewforms.nl
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Agenda: December and January 2013
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What else is on this month. Focus
IFFR As one of Europe’s largest film festivals, the International Film Festival Rotterdam annually drenches the city of Rotterdam in culture, with a sweet selection of not only movies but also art, music, debate and the likes. Here are some of the films we’re looking forward to this year. 22 January-02 February – Rotterdam
R100
La jalousie
R100 Hitoshi Matsumoto’s latest tells the story of a typical salaryman who after signing up with a mysterious S&M club, is stalked by a league of dominatrices. Now he has to overcome his submissive nature to try and cancel his membership.
ing intellectual Casanova encounters the mysterious Count Dracula. After Don Quichot and the Bible, Serra once again reinterprets icons from literature. The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji It seems only last year that we were anxious to see Miiki Takashi’s latest flick at the IFFR. Oh wait – it was only last year. Shooting movies faster than his own shadow, this year Takashi treats us to an epic adventure about the yakuza.
The Reunion It’s Festen all over again in a movie about a party and some bitter accusations. In her directorial debut Swedish conceptual artist Anna Odell stars - as herself. The State of Europe: My Own Private Europe This year’s theme is ‘The State of Europe’. Selection ‘My own Private Europe’ digs into some personal views on the European identity.
La jalousie So get this: Philippe Garrel made a film about his father Maurice and cast his son, pretty boy Louis Garrel, in the main part. Maurice leaves his wife and child for a disillusioned actress. While trying to get her a job, both lose themselves in depression.
Historia de la meva mort Reason and Romance meet in Historia de la meva mort by Albert Serra, when womanis-
www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com
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Audio Film Games Web Animation
• • • • •
PRAKTIJKGERICHTE TRAINING UITGEBREIDE STUDIO FACILITEITEN INTERNATIONALE ERKENNING 54 SCHOLEN WERELDWIJD CERTIFICAAT | DIPLOMA | DEGREE
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1st FEBRUATORT 18:00 VAN
14:00
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What else is on this month. Eye Candy
15 December-09 March – EYE Film Institute, Amsterdam These handsome devils are the Quay twins. Their animations will be shown in an exhibition at the EYE Film Institute, amidst a collection of artefacts and homemade dioramas to ensure a full experience of their weird little universe. www.eyefilm.nl
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Free tickets and goodies To win, sign up to our mailing list on www.subbacultcha.nl. 2x2 Tickets Kurt Vile
2x2 Tickets State-X New Forms
5x2 Tickets Vrooom @Klooster
10 December Effenaar, Eindhoven
13-14 December Paard van Troje, The Hague
21 December Het Klooster, Rotterdam
2x2 opening tickets IFFR
2x2 Tickets Grauzone Festival
5x2 Tickets Golden Years Exhibit
22 January Rotterdam
30 January Melkweg, Amsterdam
28 January-02 February Huis Marseille, Amsterdam
5x1 DVD Francis Ha
2x1 Magazine The Wire
2x1 Magazine Bedford Pages
December 2013 Issue
Issue #3
Xxx
We’re also giving away free tickets to Roosevelt + Marius, Night Beats, Prix de Rome, Son Lux and more.
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Submitted photos
AFTER MIDNIGHT
Send photos that were taken after midnight to aftermidnight@subbacultcha.nl This month’s photo was submitted by Linnea Langfjord
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All Subbacultcha! events in Dec/Jan See all these shows for free. Join at subbacultcha.nl
04 December
21 December
18 January
OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €8 | Free for members
De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam 20.00 | €8 | Free for members
Sign Gallery, Groningen 13.00 | Free for all
06 December
21 December
18 January
Goethe-Institut,, Amsterdam 21.00 | €8 | Free for members
EKKO, Utrecht 20.00 | €8 | Free for members
EKKO, Utrecht 20.00 | €8.50 | Free for members
Jessy Lanza
Klub 470 ft. Unmap
Mary Ocher + Jack Name Eurosonic Day Party
Tududuh + Bismuth
The Limiñanas
06 December
03 January
19 January
Subbacultcha! HQ, Amsterdam Open Mon-Thur 11.00-17.00 Free for all
Butcher’s Tears, Amsterdam 20.30 | €8 | Free for members
Rotown, Rotterdam 21.30 | €9 | Free for members
Gerda Postma: Holon
Raajmahal 04 January
Son Lux
21 January
Girl Band
10 December
The Age of Aquariums
LantarenVenster, Rotterdam tba | €8.50 | Free for members
20.00 | €7 | Free for members
Poortgebouw, Rotterdam 21.00 | €5 | Free for members
07 January
appeltje p(arty)
Film: Nymph()maniac Part 1
23 January
14 December
LAB111, Amsterdam 20.00 | €5 | Free for Member
LantarenVenster, Rotterdam tba | €9 | Free for members
16 December
08 January
Film: Inside Lewyn Davis De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam
Film: Jagten + Amour
Essaie Pas
Sugar Factory, Amsterdam 16cc, Amsterdam 19.00 Jagten | 21.30 Amour | €7.50 21.00 | €5 | Free for members each | Free for members
18 December
Frankie Rose
OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €8 | Free for members
20 December
Kafka and Film
EYE, Amsterdam 19.15 | €tba | Free for members
20 December
11 January
Film: Hit So Hard
Rialto, Amsterdam tba | €9 | Free for members
24 January
Klub 470 ft. Easter
Goethe-Institut, Amsterdam 21.00 | €8 | Free for members
28 January-02 February
Expo: Golden Years
Melkweg Cinema 20.30 | €8 | Free for members
Huis Marseille, Amsterdam Tue-Sun 11.00-18.00 | €8 | Free for members
16 January
31 January
East India Youth
OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €8 | Free for members
17 January
Jaakko Eino Kalevi Mary Ocher + Jack Name De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam WORM, Rotterdam 19.30 | €5 | Free for members
Film: Shell
20.00 | €8 | Free for members
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The webs of Stanisław Lem and Jan Potocki
EYE, Amsterdam 19.15 | €tba | Free for members All month: Foam, TENT, Nederlands Fotomuseum.
Photography: Van Eyck
S ITE S RODRIGO SOBAR ZO
05 FEB TILL 08 FEB / 20:30 09 FEB / 16:00 Chilean choreographer and Jan van Eyck resident Rodrigo Sobarzo presents his new work in Amsterdam. S ITE S is a visual performance using different phenomena of water and wind as tools to induce a state of attention. The main force however is sound. Sound substance or sound matter possesses the concrete power to pierce through living and inanimate bodies. It is able to pervade any space and submerge anything and everything that stands in reach. S ITE S is about trying to meticulously understand our present place by the means of sound. Het Veem Theater Van Diemenstraat 408 - 410, Amsterdam www.hetveemtheater.nl
2014
met o.a.
Jose GonzAlez
my briGhtest diAmond lAviniA meiJer
olAfur ArnAlds &
philhArmonie zuidnederlAnd
musiC mininG
CAbAret ContemporAin
douGlAs dAre tim fite
05.02 // de doelen rotterdAm
06.02 // paradiso AmsterdAm 07.02 // muziekgebouw eindhoven
lubomyr melnyk
08.02 // de oosterpoort GroninGen tICKetS & INFoRmatIe
www.cross-linx.nl