Subbacultcha Magazine February 2012

By Sofia Ciechowska Illustration bi Basje Boer

Unruly Music Magazine February 2012

Food

What’s Cooking

The Fashion Issue

Blouse, Future Islands, Ital

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‘BRILLIANT A REAL WALK ON THE WILD SITE’ THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

MICHAEL

CAREY

FASSBENDER

MULLIGAN

SHAME A FILM BY

STEVE MC QUEEN

WINNER

BEST ACTOR

CRITICS CHOICE VENICE FILM FESTIVAL 2011

NOMINATION

BEST ACTOR GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD

WWW.CINEART.NL

WINNER

BEST ACTOR

BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM AWARD

4st

VANAF 9 FEBRUARI IN DE BIOSCOOP

The Fashion Issue

This is an assembly of some of Mr Daniel Martin-McCormick’s clothes and style-items shot on film by Bobby Doherty in Daniel’s apartment in Brooklyn, New York (flip to page 28 for more).

Daniel is making uplifting electronic music under the moniker of Ital and it was at one of his concerts that we got inspired to make the Fashion Issue. The music coming from his sampler and laptop was simply oozing through the audience’s garments, draining them in coloured patterns, asymmetry, odd glasses and even odder bangs.

Everything is possible and nothing is real. A gritty decadence of mismatch that gels together a generation. It’s beautiful.

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Content

The Fashion Issue

Charlie Hilton from Blouse

Future Islands

Page 18

Page 34

Ital

Agenda

Page 28

Page 57

Top 5 New Music We Saw You Charlie hilton from blouse body II body ital trailer trash tracys future islands reviews Featured Artist

10 12 16 18 26 28 32 34 40 44

Film Fashion Food Books horoscope Agenda subbacultcha shows other shows Free Stuff after midnight

49 50 51 52 54 57 59 67 76 77

It’s Saturday morning. I pick up de Volkskrant and go for the magazine, my favourite part of the newspaper. I glance at the cover and feel a wave of disappointment: another boring fashion issue. So why have we made one ourselves? Cause in the end, fashion, like art and music, is a keyhole through which we get a glimpse of what this life is all about. And if you flip through these pages fast enough, the truth will reveal itself in big 3D neon letters. Like a gateway to the collective subconscious. Enjoy.

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Colophon

Who we are and what we do

Subbacultcha! Magazine is made at our office in Amsterdam Da Costakade 150, 1053 XC Amsterdam, the Netherlands www.subbacultcha.nl. magazine@subbacultcha.nl We are Editors: Leon Caren and Bas Morsch Editorial Assistant: Sarah Gehrke Design: Bas Morsch Interns: Marina Henao and Freek van Heerikhuize Good Girl: Loes Verputten Printing: Drukkerij Slinger, Alkmaar Contributors: Carly Blair, Basje Boer, Brenda Bosma, Leon Caren, Zofia Ciechowska, Bobby Doherty, Sarah Gehrke, Viktor Hachmang, Marc van der Holst, Kathrin Klingner, Miranda Lehman, Steven McCarron, Bas Morsch, Jussi Puikkonen, Johanna Valdés, Gert Verbeek, Karin Wolters and Suzanna Zak. Distribution: Amsterdam: Carly Blair, Tessel Dekker, Alice Driesen, Bauke Karel, Sandrine Mary, Ana Milheiro, Fedor Oduber, Ansuya Spreksel, Stefan Stasko, Patrick van der Klugt, Dineke Tuinhof Utrecht: Freyja van den Boom, Janna Smeets Groningen: Wout Merbis, Hedwig Plomp Den Haag: Leroy Verbeet Rotterdam: Ruben Rietveld, Ilse van der Spoel Leeuwarden: Jan Pier Brands Leiden: Anne Hillebrand Almere: Remco Brinkhuis Haarlem: Yannick Tinbergen, Bert Zaremba Nijmegen Arno de Vreng Tilburg/Eindhoven: Kevin Jansen Deventer: Marjolein de Vliegher Breda: Christopher Freudberg Belgium: Kasper-Jan Raeman Pick up Subbacultcha! Magazine here (among 500 other places): Amsterdam: Kriterion, Canvas, American Apparel, Episode, CREA, De Balie, Melkweg, Paradiso, OT301, De Nieuwe Anita, Restored, Zipper, Concerto Utrecht: Ekko, ’t Hoogt, Tivoli, The Village, Revenge, Plato, dB’s Rotterdam: Worm, Rotown, Lantaren Venster, De Witte Aap, Willem de Kooning Academie If you want your bar, venue, store or business to be on the distribution list, please send us an email.

Advertising To advertise in Subbacultcha! Magazine send an email to magazine@subbacultcha.nl.

Memberships Become a member of Subbacultcha!. For only €7 a month you get free access to all Subbacultcha! shows and the monthly magazine sent to your house. Plus, you get a fresh Subbacultcha! bag. Check the website to sign up.

Cover: Body II Body’s Koen van Bommel photographed by Isolde Woudstra Page 8

LP / CD / DOWNLOAD 23.01.12 www.dominorecordco.fr

LP | CD | DOWNLOAD 09.01.12 www.doublesixrecords.com

Top 5

Last month at our office

1

Party: Eurosonic day party @ Gallery Sign

We went down to the Eurosonic showcase festival in Groningen and organized an unofficial, yet thoroughly exciting day party with our friends from Wham! Wham! and Samling Recordings. Eight great bands on three different stages in an 80-square-metre art gallery. The perfect way to start a new Subbacultcha! year

2

Concert: Iceage @ OT301

OT301 was packed to the brim for this one, and everyone was all fired up too. No blood or broken glass on this occasion, but a pretty epic show nonetheless.

3

Song: Tennis - Origins

This song by husband-and-wife-duo Tennis is well on its way to become the February Office Anthem. What a feelgood song! And what sweet and endearing vocals.

Touching and true. For real yo!

4

DVD: Een Schitterend Ongeluk

Old but amazing VPRO stuff. A series of two-hour interviews with top-of-the-line scientists, philosophers, sociologists and other very smart people. Watching it makes it painfully clear how television (and maybe the people watching it?) has evolved over the past 20 years. Ouch!

5

Fashion: New Coat

Bought this great coat at SPRMRKT in Amsterdam the other day. They had a big sale, 50% discount on all items, making them ‘almost’ affordable. But hey, sometimes you got to pay to play, and they sell lots of great stuff from young up-and-coming designers. Cool stuff.

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Subbacultcha! is all about a membership

Fashion Issue Special

The first ten people to sign up to Subbacultcha! between 13 and 19 February will receive the book Alexander van Slobbe, and... and... and..., which presents a broad and unusual look at the oeuvre of the epitome of Dutch fashion modernism, Alexander van Slobbe. Contributions by Jop van Bennekom (Fantastic Man), Anuschka Blommers & Niels Schumm, Maurice Scheltens and many more. Awarded the Best Dutch Book Design Award in 2010.

Signing up also means:

Getting into all Subbacultcha shows for free Home delivery of our monthly magazine Receiving a Subbacultcha tote bag Sign up at subbacultcha.nl Page 11

New Music

This month’s recommendations

By Zofia Ciechowska

THEESatisfaction theesatisfaction.bandcamp.com

Singers, rappers, producers, dancers and lovers Catherine HarrisWhite and Stasia Irons aka THEESatisfaction are Seattle’s goddesses of funky, screwed-up, souly hip-hop. Listen up Das Racist, Odd Future, Shabazz Palaces and all you leftfield-hip-hop-artists-gone-allPitchfork, these girls are giving you a run for your money! THEESatisfaction are due to release their first LP on Sub Pop early this year, but their Bandcamp is already teeming with groovy EPs, Transitions and Snow Motion being particularly mindfuckingly excellent. So get on it while this stuff is hot, fresh and funky. I’m already crushing on them and their funny little stage dancing.

Metal Chocolates

www.metalchocolates.com Another great happy rappy duo from Seattle, Metal Chocolates (otherwise known as Rude Notes) is the project of OC Notes and MC Rik Rude. These dudes recorded their totally ace self-titled record in the OK Hotel, the same place where ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ was born. If that doesn’t make you go oh-em-gee then I don’t know what will. Metal Chocolates produce a whir of bouncing beats, interlaced with stuff from all ends of the music spectrum - jazz, psychedelica, world music, you-name-it-you-got-it. With Valentine’s Day on the way, there’s nothing better than giving your love a box of these bonbons.

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New Music

Oliver Tank

yespleaserecords.bandcamp.com So, this one is for all the ladies out there that have sobbed their way through a rainforest’s worth of tissues to James Blake’s album last year. Girls, now the music of your new-year melancholy is made by 21-year-old Australian Oliver Tank. I will turn a blind eye to the fact that his EP is called Dreams and one of the tracks is called ‘I Love You’ (really Oliver, really?) and will proceed to declare his sound extremely good for that whole ambient melancholy bedroom pop genre that is so befitting for the oncoming months of grey gloom.

Ectoplasm Girls

www.myspace.com/soundofphantasmagoria

Sisters Nadine and Tanya Byrne from Sweden have the whole effortlessly-cool-and-ghostly-Scandinavian vibe thing down, jealous sigh.

Their debut LP TxN, released on iDEAL Recordings, is a noisy concoction of muffled sighs and creaks interspersed with the occasional 8-bit crunch and pulsating drum machine. The longest track on the album, ‘If Your Mother Asks’, is absolutely sublime as it generates wavy patterns of rhythm that tangle into endless oblivion. You’ll tap your foot to this stuff, but keeping in sync will only work after a heavy medley of bathroom cabinet medicine and high-percentage spirits.

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New Music

continued

HHOME VVIDEOS hhomevvideos.bandcamp.com

Emulating the stuttering quality of home movies with the spelling of your band name, whoa that’s pretty cool. This is another one of those mysterious, digital theory blabla projects that no one knows a thing about, but for one thing we do know that they enjoy spelling stuff with dollar $igns and those funny lopsided triangle things >>>. Hype Williams, Alphabets, Pictureplane etc. fans huddle up and listen - 2012 is looking pretty damn cool already with HHOME VVIDEOS emerging with their nifty little mixtape called _IN > PUTS. Now turn on that looped ‘BABY!!!!’ sample and grind to some warped witchy techno.

Boy Snacks

beerontherug.bandcamp.com I don’t know anything about the dude(s) and/or dudette(s) behind Boy Snacks but one thing is certain, their music is as tight as Magnum P.I.’s tiny short shorts. Their self-titled debut released by Beer on the Rug is a collection of 15 tracks that seem to circle round the theme of lacklustre suburban life - think carpooling, food colouring and boring daytime TV. Y’know, all that stuff that we urban, cultured hipsters like to mock a little. Not sure if every track sounding a bit like the previous one was intentional, but if it was, Boy Snacks get kudos for their supreme sense of irony.

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centraal museum Kunst KraaK PunK: 1977-1984

3 maart t/m 10 juni 2012

God save the Queen

centraalmuseum.nl

We Saw You

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Spotted at Subbacultcha

Photo by Regina van de Kloet

What is your favorite piece of clothing and why? The black dufflecoat whose buttons lay strewn across so many adventures that it no longer keeps out the cold like it once did when a good friend and I walked to the bottom of a moonlit sea off the shores of Southend.

Benjamin Savva, spotted at the Pinkunoizu concert in De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam on 13 January

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Features

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The Fashion Issue

Features

Blouse

Charlie Hilton from Blouse says that her band’s dark melancolic synth pop debut album is bound to fit you like an oversized cashmere sweater.

We’ve been wearing it ever since it came out back in November, so we figured it was about time to take it off and ask Charlie what the fabric is all about. Turns out it has everything to do with her alleged silk worm farm, her love of candy bracelets and jeans blessed by Jesus Christ himself.

Phone interview by Zofia Ciechowska.

Photos shot on film in Portland by Miranda Lehman

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Features

Blouse

I read somewhere that you wanted to write a song for when the ball drops on New Years. What would that song sound like if you did?

It would probably sound something like ‘Shadow’, one of our first singles. It’s really sparkly and big, like a glittery New Year’s dress. People love to wear sparkles on NYE, music should wear sparkles too!

So everyone keeps on writing that you live in this super huge warehouse in Portland. IS IT TRUE?!

Oh, it’s really funny, we don’t live there at all and we don’t own it either! Patrick works for a production company and they rented it out to do some shooting, and we just set up a studio upstairs. I guess it’s somewhat true, it’s where Blouse had its beginnings, but it’s not like we’re all living in there. It’s such a cool place though and it is surrounded by fierce nature.

It used to be owned by a company called Architectural Reproductions, so they left a lot of their old plaster columns, giant faces, hands and female busts. There are old broken windows and a giant skate ramp, a crane, weird ledges and ladders.

I’ve never been to Portland but I hear it’s a really cool place. Where would you take a friend that has never been to your city?

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I’d take them to the Pittock Mansion in the West Hills, for a nice view of the city and a little history - I love mansion tours. Then I would take them out for dinner and drinks. Portland has a ridiculous culinary scene.

People here love food. But Portland is also known for its strange pairings, like putting bacon on things like ice cream and donuts!

Do you get nostalgic for any clothes from your childhood?

Yes! My parents were hippy rockers. My dad dressed me up in the strangest things, like pink hightop Converse and weird artsy stonewashed jackets that his friends had made. Sometimes when I look at pictures of my family back then it makes me wish I knew how cool we were, especially how cool my dad was. I was always kind of embarrassed of my dad when I was a kid, he always took it to the limits with his broken-up leather jackets and long hair. I thought parents were supposed to look all businesslike, I didn’t get it back then.

I heard something about you seeing a sign saying ‘blouses’ in a drycleaner’s window and that that inspired your band name. What if that sign had said ‘pantyhose’ or ‘ponchos’, would you take it or leave it?

Haha, I think we would have left

The Fashion Issue

Features

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Features

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Blouse

The Fashion Issue

Features

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Features

Blouse

‘ponchos’ and ‘panties’ on the window.

There was something about the connotations of the word ‘blouse’ that seemed so perfect. It’s a classic, feminine, sheer garment. I wear blouses a lot. I guess I just think ‘sexy librarian’ when I think ‘blouse’. Not sure if the guys know about this though...

Have you ever considered selling blouses at your merch table?

I actually have, but I thought that might be a bit too obvious. In art school they always told us to go beyond the first connection, but maybe the fact that it’s so obvious is what’s so great about the idea. Then people would say, ‘I’m wearing a Blouse’, with a capital B. I think we should do it, but it will have to be when we’re a little fancier. We’ll tell people we keep our own silk worms in that warehouse that spin the fabric for our blouses.

So if your album was an item of clothing what would it be?

Probably an oversized cashmere sweater with some holes in it, both luxurious and comfortable. Holes in clothing are always recommended. I once got sent to the office in middle school for having holy jeans.

Were they made by your dad? Or wait, were they holy as in blessed by God? Hahaha, no, but he obviously didn’t get angry with me. And they Page 24

were holy as in blessed, of course. Or maybe I spelled holy wrong. Holey?

Wholey? Doesn’t matter, sounds the same!

So there’s this pink blanket on your album cover. Can you tell me more about this choice of blanket? Did you also consider black satin sheets or a leopard throw? Does it need to be dry cleaned or would a simple hand-wash do?

Well, it’s a photo taken by a wonderful photographer called Leon Batchelor. We actually considered other sheets, but they seemed too serious or a little too sexy, that’s why we went with the pink blanket. There was something really perfect about Leon’s photo. It felt kind of innocent, you don’t know if it’s supposed to be sexy or sad or sweet.

I am slightly disappointed you didn’t choose Power Ranger sheets...

Ha, or the rainbow heart sheets I used to have. Look at us go with all these clothing/textile references!

Please use those sheets for your next album cover!

Ok, but with some holes! Natural ones of course, casually worn away by the wind.

Blouse play on 09 February in OT301 in Amsterdam. The show is free for Subbacultcha! members.

The Fashion Issue

Features

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Features

The Fashion Issue

Fashion Statement

Body II Body Photographed by Isolde Woudstra Words by Bas Morsch

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The Fashion Issue

Features

Electronic duo Body II Body are boys with style. Their collection of blouses and sweaters is a very representative sample of modern-day fashion in our part of the cultural spectrum. Nostalgia, without the backbone of history, turned into an irony-infused statement of style. A sum of the parts (definitely greater than the whole) foraged from all times and all corners of the internet. Incoherent but ultimately cool.

Body II Body play on 01 February in OT301 in Amsterdam.

The show is free for Subbacultcha! members.

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Features

The Fashion Issue

Ital

Since the audience - or rather, their clothes at one of Ital’s shows inspired us to make the Fashion Issue, we thought it was a good idea to spend some time with Daniel Martin-McCormick to chat about fashion. Turns out he used to wear the same shirt for six months on end. The chic, the dirty and the absolutely necessary with Ital.

Interview by Johanna Valdés.

Photos shot by Bobby Doherty in Daniel Martin-McCormick’s loft in Brooklyn, New York.

Subbacultcha!: OK, so can you name some presets in your style?

Daniel Martin-McCormick: I don’t really have a lot of clothes but I really like the ones I have. I remember for a long time, I would find one Tshirt and be like, that’s it for the next six months. I’m in it. There’s this photo of a show I played out in Berkeley when I was on tour, and I was looking at a photo of a room and I was looking at it but not at me in particular so I was like, ‘who’s that really dirtyPage 28

looking guy in the back of the photo... oh shit, that’s me!’ The T-shirt had brown circles under the armpits and I just thought, ‘uh, I need to change this style.’

Oh yeah?

Yeah, I like wearing clothes I like.

I don’t like looking like an asshole.

When I was a kid, my mom was always trying to suggest stuff [for me to wear] and I was like, ‘NO! No one will have any say in this matter except for me.’ [laughs]

Features

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Features

Ital

You mentioned that your mom is training to be a pastor, right?

Yeah, she’s pursuing a degree in spiritual counselling.

So does she have any particularly conservative views about how you dress?

Nah, she’s super liberal. I mean, they didn’t like me dying my hair or anything like that but all things considered, they were fine. They gave me just enough room to rebel. Like, ‘you may not get a nose ring.’ And I’d go, ‘I hate you, Mom and Dad!’ Did you ever do it anyway?

Nah, no nose rings for me. I got my ear pierced.

Going against the grain.

Hardcore.

OK, so let’s talk a bit more about some of your other pieces. What’s the story behind this plaid one? [points to shirt] I got that at a flea market in Paris on the last tour so it’s kind of my favourite shirt right now. Thing is, I hate wearing button-down shirts under sweaters. I’m just like, ‘ugh, it’s not me.’ So I can only wear this shirt when I don’t feel like wearing a sweater.

Is that an unspoken rule?

No, that’s a spoken rule! That and ‘no cargo pants’ [laughs]. In that respect my job as a dog walker kinda sucks. Sometimes I have to rep the rain pants.

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Everyone has shit that they don’t want to wear but they have to. What’s the outfit when you’re dog walking?

At the most intense, last winter, it was two pairs of socks (normal socks and ski socks), duck boots, two pairs of leggings, pants, T-shirt, sweater, two windbreakers, a heavy jacket, gloves and a hat.

All at once?

All at once... yeah, that’s my winter outfit. In the summer, I try to wear all white. White shorts, white T-shirt.

Cuts down on any place where there’s potential for sweat accumulation, like under bag straps - it gets so nasty.

How about your dog-walking exploits?

How many dogs do you normally walk at a time?

It’s usually one at a time. I’m not like a beast master, with like ten dogs at once. I interviewed for a couple of beast master positions but the pay was somehow worse...

I’m not like a domineering, dog whisperer kind of guy. They’re normally running around me, tying me up as I’m walking. More than one would be crazy.

Ital plays on 01 February in OT301 in Amsterdam and on 04 February in Roodkapje in Rotterdam. Both shows are free for Subbacultcha! members.

The Fashion Issue

Features

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Features

The Fashion Issue

Fashion Statement

Trailer Trash Tracys Quotes taken from an interview by Brenda Bosma.

Collective photo effort by Jussi Puikkonen, Marina Henao and Bas Morsch.

London-based subtle shoegazers Trailer Trash Tracys were in Amsterdam in support of their new album Ester (out now on Double Six/Domino). The layers of dreamy gloom that are laid on track betray a sense of style and zeitgeist savvy. And hey, it’s the Fashion Issue, so we headed down to Paradiso for a quick chat and snapshot moment with singer Suzanne and guitarist Jimmy right before they went on stage. Turns out they have ambitious goals concerning stage decoration, but don’t care too much about dressing up for a show.

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Features

‘I don’t know if I’m gonna change for the show. Fashion is not a big thing to us, although we all have our own style.’

‘Normally we have a guy who takes care of the lights during our shows. He also invents sculptures. Mechanical ones, not like the inflatable dolls of the Rolling Stones although he does have a little Stonehenge. But he had to stay home. We couldn’t bring all that fancy stuff, because of the cost. It’s a shame, but luckily the songs are still good.’

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Features

The Fashion Issue

Future Islands

Skype interview by Brenda Bosma.

Photos shot on film in Baltimore by Suzanna Zak.

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Features

On their new album On the Water, Future Islands’ growling tenor Samuel T. Herring rasps with the same deep longing as on their landmark album In Evening Air. Now he might not be quite the fashion icon, but according to bass player Monseigneur William he does look mighty fine dressed like a young priest.

‘Of course I’ll rock tight pants if I want to.’

Hi Sam, what are you wearing right now?

Sam: Umm, green slacks, long johns underneath, long black socks and black leather converse, a white undershirt and a grey cashmere sweater over top.

This is for our fashion issue by the way.

S: Oh great, we’re just the most unfashionable band ever!

Are you big fans of clothes in the aesthetic sense?

S: I like clothes. We just haven’t figured out a way yet that makes us look good in them.

William: We’re gonna need this fashion issue to help us decide what the hell we should be wearing!

S: You could do one of those pin-up models with different sets of Page 35

Features

Future Islands

clothes and dress each of us the way you want!

W: And please include fake moustaches in the mag, fuzzy ones, none of these paper staches.

I’ll pass it on. What would you, Sam, let William wear? Which colours make his essence shine?

S: William surprisingly pulls off a pink boa pretty well. Maybe some silver sequin pants. Tight ones. And an alligator coat. Bright green.

Because that matches his golden moustache perfectly, of course.

S: No doubt. For Gerrit just a robe and slippers. With a top hat.

I can imagine it must be difficult to move around in such clothing.

S: Well, I would wear something a bit more low-key, yet dapper.

W: Sam would wear non-pleated pants and a short-sleeve buttonup with no collar, like a young priest.

Do you have clothes that hold sentimental value?

S: I have a wall of ripped-up clothes in my bedroom, things that I’ve had for years and are beyond repair. I’ve pinned them up there. That’s sentimental.

Why don’t you just throw them away and hang up a poster?

S: I have weird attachment issues, I guess. Plus, they look awesome!

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They’re their own works of art.

Your room must smell like fabric softener.

W: He didn’t wash those clothes before he hung them up.

S: That’s a pure untruth!

Is there something you would never wear?

S: Skinny jeans. I have a firm bottom. Actually I never wear jeans. Last time was at Halloween so I could be Morrissey.

Then you spilt some meat onto your pants and decided it wasn’t for you?

S: Haha, of course I’ll rock tight pants if I want to.

You go girl! Wear it like you mean it.

S: Exactly!

What is William wearing right now?

W: Black jeans and a plaid. Now that it’s winter I might wear double or triple plaid-on-plaid-on-plaid shirts.

What’s your opinion on white tees tucked into pants?

S: Own it, that’s what I say.

W: If you’re gonna tuck a T-shirt, it shouldn’t be white. In fact, I don’t think you should tuck it at all. Tie it to the side like they did in the ’90s.

Which clothing revival would you want to unleash?

W: Definitely slap bracelets.

S: Maybe slap pants and T-shirts too. They should invent that!

The Fashion Issue

Features

‘I have a wall of ripped-up clothes in my bedroom, things that I’ve had for years and are beyond repair. I’ve pinned them up there. That’s sentimental. I have weird attachment issues, I guess.’

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Features

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The Fashion Issue

Future Islands

W: That would hurt! I also like to see heat sensitive shirts come back.

Mood ring clothes!

I would carry a blow-dryer with me all day. What about crimes against fashion?

Ever commit one, like wearing Uggs?

S: I wear black and brown together. And blue and black. And black and brown and blue. And I always wear white the day after Labor Day. Usually all white, from head to toe.

W: I think bruises are beautiful.

I know your ‘Little Dreamer’ is wrapped in wool, but what does she wear in your dreams when she’s awake?

S: I guess something floaty. The dreams go so fast.

In the first and last song of the album, you can hear sounds of dreamcatchers.

S: Sometimes William hangs dreamcatchers from his bass when he plays.

To keep the slapping sounds away?

S: Yeah, gotta keep those in the mist.

W: It’s the sound of ropes clinking to the mast of a boat at the shipyard across the street from where we recorded the album. Now you know why my bass sounds so dreamy.

The album breathes a lot of longing.

S: We are romanticists. In fact I’m holding flowers right now, but I can’t give them through this screen.

Features

They smell lovely. The beautiful painting used as the album cover is made by your girlfriend. Is it a portrait of you?

W: Let me handle this. Thanks, we all love her work. We wanted the art to be vague. It is open to interpretation.

Sam: The original title is ’80s Jazz.

The ’80s and jazz. That’s an as intriguing combination as a Bergman retrospective on Ibiza. On ‘Tybee Island’ they seem to have this annual parade where people shoot each other with water guns. Did you participate in this to get the feel of ‘On the Water’ right?

S: Haha, no but it sounds fun. It’s a beautiful place.

Which items would be in your suitcase if you were to go to a future island?

S: Tobacco seeds!

W: Ha! I’d first bring a puppy, if the suitcase is ventilated properly, an inflatable raft, a walkman and some mixtapes, batteries, a volleyball.

I’d also take a ukelele. Seems like the kinda thing I’d want to learn to play on a future island.

Future Islands play on 29 February in OT301 in Amsterdam and on 01 March in Ekko in Utrecht. Both shows are free for Subbacultcha! members. Other live dates: 28/02 - 013, Tilburg Page 39

Music Reviews

New releases worth your while

By Carly Blair

Ital Hive Mind

Trailer Trash Tracys Ester

Daniel Martin McCormick makes challenging music as both Sex Worker and as one half of Mi Ami, but he’s breaking a new set of rules with his Ital project, taking leftfield aesthetics and unconventional song structures and imposing them on classic house and techno. On this particular release, he uses Audacity to ‘chew’ samples and loops. In doing so, he pays tribute to dance music even as he questions our notions of what constitutes it, and artistic creation in general. The approach makes for a weird and warped sound that engulfs you in a drug-addled fog without the inconvenience of having to call your dealer.

While their name evokes images of cutoff jean- and leatherclad, possibly pregnant but definitely meth-addicted chicks, ’tis but a red herring, and this London foursome’s music does anything but. While they claim to be inspired by Sufi poetry, nonWestern guitar tunings, and an ‘animal orchestra’ (whatever any of that means), the end result is the sort of C86 Compilation-channelling, reverb-laden, shoegazey pop that’s been all the rage for the last couple of years. Though one song off the album, ‘Candy Girl’, has been floating around online for over a year now, they’re a bit late to the party nevertheless. Fortunately, singer Suzanna Aztoria’s vocals are lovely, and they pull off the blatant revivalism better than most.

(Planet Mu)

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(Double Six/Domino)

Porcelain Raft Strange Weekend

Music Reviews

Chairlift Something

(Secretly Canadian)

(Columbia / Young Turks)

Brooklyn-based, Rome-born Mauro Remiddi has been making music for years (including short film scores and his stuff with the indie pop band Sunny Day Sets Fire), but this solo bedroom recording project is by far his highest-profile endeavour yet. After he’s been gradually building momentum via a handful of EPs and well-received live performances, this fulllength debut and an opening slot on M83’s tour have Remiddi primed to break through.

Strange Weekend represents a promising progression from his earlier work, not only because the production is cleaner, but also because his lush, sparkling synth pop is getting streamlined and his already unique voice more refined.

In the three years that have lapsed since their 2008 debut, this Brooklyn-based synth pop group shook things up by shedding their third band member and getting involved in other projects. For example, Caroline Polachek guested on various sexy dance tracks, such as Washed Out’s ‘You and I’, while Patrick Wimberly produced the last Das Racist album. More importantly, they got a major label deal and spent 18 months labouring over the composition and recording of this sophomore album. Given the circumstances, it’s not surprising that their new material is denser, more polished and more ambitious than ever, but not all of the extra ideas they’ve crammed into these songs are good ones.

Page 41

Music Reviews

continued

Cloud Nothings Attack on Memory (Carpark)

tack on Memory definitely packs a bigger emotional and visceral punch than anything they’ve done thus far.

Errors Have Some Faith in Magic Familiar story: Clevelander Dylan Baldi starts promising solo bedroom pop project, builds a following, picks up band members and financial backing, the production gets cleaner and the songs get tighter. However, Cloud Nothings’ latest represents such a dramatic reinvention of their original sound, Baldi considered changing the name of the band for its release. Ultimately he went with expressing the changes in the title instead: ‘The album is an attack on the memory of what people thought the band was.’ This rebirth isn’t so much due to Steve Albini’s production as to a conscious effort

by Baldi to showcase the musicianship of his bandmates and to make a cohesive album rather than a collection of pop songs.

While not totally cohesive, AtPage 42

(Rock Action)

Take specialising in alternately delicate and heavy-hitting, mostly instrumental math rock, add it to being from Glasgow, having signed to Mogwai’s label and touring with them, and you’re bound to get compared to, well, Mogwai. But on their third full-length, Errors are finally leaving their forefathers’ nest. The songs prominently feature vocals for the first time - albeit more as an indecipherable additional instrument - and are said to be inspired by French synth-pop, German Kosmische Musik and the Cocteau Twins.

I’m even occasionally remind-

ed of the hypnotic beauty of Washed Out, but the au courant atmosphere acts as a sort of dressing for a much more intricate and varied foundation, making this album harder to digest but much more satisfying.

Gonjasufi MU.ZZ.LE (Warp)

Music Reviews compelling protagonist. Ecks self-recorded and produced this new mini album MU.ZZ.LE at his home in the desert. The vibe and narrative appeal remain uniquely his, but this man, who famously once wished he was a sheep, sometimes sounds a little lost in the desert without his production shepherds nipping at his songs’ heels, making sure they get to where they need to go.

San Diego’s Sumach Ecks, aka Gonjasufi, is a former drug addict-cum-yoga teacher and a staple of the San Diego hip hop scene since the early ’90s.

A cameo on Flying Lotus’ brilliant Los Angeles spurred him to finally release his proper debut, A Sufi and a Killer, in 2010.

That album was produced by the avant-hip hop trifecta of FlyLo himself, The Gaslamp Killer and Mainframe. A patchwork of genres ranging from hip hop to funk, folk and vintage psychedelia, it made a dazzling backdrop for Ecks’ croaky-voiced and Page 43

Art

Featured Artist

Monique van Heist

With her label moniquevanheist, fashion designer Monique van Heist (1972) investigates the grey areas of our dress culture while applying a good dose of humour. Her garments are perfectly cut, luxuriously executed and full of smart details and clear references. What we really like is that, as a comment on her own label, Monique started Hellofashion: a continuous collection of moniquevanheist classics by which she sets out to challenge the fashion system. It is a permanent and ever-growing collection of clothes, accessories, furniture and even recipes. The images on the following pages are taken from this collection.

Monique is curating an exhibition in Museum Rotterdam titled Werkstijl which focuses on the influence of function on fashion.

Opening 28 February. www.moniquevanheist.com Page 44

Art

Page 45

Art

Page 46

Featured Artist

Monique van Heist

Art

Page 47

99 Problems and the Bitch... knows the anwser

By Brenda Bosma Illustration by Martyn F Overweel

check the trail er:

5daysoff.nl Page 48

By Gert Verbeek and Basje Boer

New Films and DVDs

Shame

Film

Jack goes boating

Steve McQueen, 2011

Philip Seymour Hoffman, 2010

In 2008, Steve McQueen (not the famous dead actor, but the famous artist-turned-director) impressed us with his riveting debut feature Hunger. In this film, Irish hot stuff Michael Fassbender played the role of IRA martyr Bobby Sands. Fassbender is back in McQueen’s Shame as Brandon, a yuppie with a sex addiction. Rather than making a real connection with people, Brandon hooks up with prostitutes or resorts to online porn. Fassbender won Best Actor in Venice for his role but Carey Mulligan is equally impressive as Brandon’s sister Sissy, a quirky nightclub singer who wears floppy vintage hats. And McQueen delivers a sensitive portrait of a modern disease: the inability to connect with another person. (BB) In cinemas from 9 February

This subtle black comedy is the directorial debut by Philip Seymour Hoffman. He plays shy, reggae-loving Jack (complete with rugged blond dreadlocks), who has a crush on Connie (Amy Ryan). As their story unfolds, so does the contrast between their awkward, but sweet approach and Jack’s pal Clyde’s declining relationship. There is much dialogue in confined spaces, but it is intertwined with moments in familiar New York scenery; it is these moments that allow breathing space and give the film its cinematic quality. Although the storyline is a little predictable at times, the acting is outstanding, with Ryan showing her versatility in the role of a damaged woman whose backstory of possible abuse remains undisclosed, but whose fear of the human touch is all the more palpable. (GV) Out on DVD in February Page 49

Fashion

Worn Out

By Karin Wolters

These items of clothing were worn by several people on 30 December at the Last Party of the Year at De Nieuwe Anita in Amsterdam.

Page 50

By Zofia Ciechowska Photo by Basje Boer

What’s Cooking?

Food

Flap Jackson 5

300g unsalted butter 50g desiccated coconut flakes 75g Demerara sugar About 6 tbsp of golden syrup 400g porridge oats 1 pinch of salt

• Preheat your oven to 150° C. • Melt the butter in a small pot and add the sugar, syrup and a pinch of salt. Stir well until all ingredients are nicely mixed.

Lick the spoon.

• Mix the oats and coconut flakes in a large bowl and then pour in the syrupy mix. Stir well until it turns into a sticky, delicious mess. Lick the spoon.

• Line a baking tin (of roughly 20x30 cm) with some greaseproof paper and transfer your flapjack mix into the tin. Distribute evenly and press with the palms of your hands until the mixture is nice and firm.

• Bake for about 25 minutes or until set and golden. Be careful not to overcook it, dry flapjack is just about as disappointing as all those best-album lists you read at the end of last year.

• Once the flapjack is out of the oven, wait about 3-4 minutes and cut it into squares. Then leave it to cool down completely and harden.

• Enjoy with the biggest, coldest glass of milk you can get your hands on. Or just drink some milk straight out of the carton. You can recycle the flapjack crumbs by putting them in your morning porridge the next day.

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Books

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Illustration by Viktor Hachmang

By Marc van der Holst

How to read...

Books

Chinese Poetry Reading Chinese poetry is easy.

You get One Hundred Poems from the Chinese1, which has, you’ve guessed it, one hundred poems from the Chinese, translated (beautifully, breathtakingly) by Kenneth Rexroth. Then you get One Hundred More Poems from the Chinese: Love and the Turning Year2 (also by ‘godfather of the beats’ Rexroth). Congratulations! You now have Two Hundred Poems from the Chinese (a few more actually, ‘for good measure and good luck’).

These are two hundred of the most beautiful, comforting poems ever written.

They are the work of bros such as Su Tung P’o, Mei Yao Ch’en, the poetess Chu Shu Chen and Tu Fu (whose lyrical poems rank with the greatest in all world literature), men and women with loves and hates and passions just like ours. They lived, and then they died (somewhere between 750-1250), and in between, they wrote about it. These poems will last you a(n enrichened) lifetime.

Pass them along to your friends, family and loved ones.

Concluding, here’s some Tu Fu for your asses: Another Spring White birds over the grey river.

Scarlet flowers on the green hills.

I watch the Spring go by and wonder If I shall ever return home.

(He never did.)

1)

http://bit.ly/ onehundredpoemsfromthechinese

2)

http://bit.ly/ loveandtheturningyear

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Horoscope

ARIES

21 March – 20 April

By Brenda Bosma Illustrations by Kathrin Klingner

LEO

23 July – 22 Aug

An Aries is not known to be sitting like a frozen turd on a dark Scandinavian pavement waiting to be stepped on by a depressed elderly former metalhead who’s just missed the bus. Or are you? What are you waiting for? You are a gogetter. Fetch!

You always get what you want, but this month it too often is in the wrong colour or size.

What’s wrong?! We too are baffled and will sacrifice planet Mars to please whoever’s in charge here.

TAURUS

There seems to be a lot of irritation. Like, about a remark of an acquaintance. She said she lives in a flat which quite frankly is a totum pro parte. This nuisance can manifest itself into a humungous explosive bubble this month.

21 April – 21 May

Sometimes a new challenge presents itself and needs to be punched in the face roughly with a conventional Stone Cold Steve Austin move. Don’t be lazy. Hit it, Nacho Libre.

GEMINI

22 May – 21 June

The Gemini who are in a band will have an important photo shoot for a renowned glossy. The photographer will bluntly ask you to pose like Jesus Christ on the cross.

Try to be light about it. Wear a turtleneck.

CANCER

22 June – 22 July

A useless erection here, a useless erection there. Oh my, you are entrapped in a month full of useless erections. For the Cancer-ladies however, the only useless thing this month is your bra.

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VIRGO

23 Aug – 22 Sept

LIBRA

23 Sept – 22 Oct

You start to get unhealthy feelings for an acquaintance of a close friend. When you finally get in their drunken aura and your love object slurs in your ear ‘Well, I’m married, but nothing lasts forever you know’, the need to make him/ her eternal breakfasts suddenly vanishes like Chinese noodles through a kitchen sink drain.

SCORPIO

23 Oct – 21 Nov

You send out a newsletter of your band putting everyone in cc instead of bcc. This is not a mistake, you’ll say. In fact, you want ev-

eryone to know how long of a mailing list you have. Not only stubborn, Scorpios are also such braggers.

SAGITTARIUS

Horoscope

AQUARIUS

21 January–19 February

22 Nov – 21 Dec

Try to be more healthy in your ways. It’s February and you’re still frying your croquettes in New Year’s Eve’s oil. Easy on the saturated fats and look at those freshly ironed skinny jeans lurking in the corner of your bedroom like a starved two-faced monster.

CAPRICORN

22 Dec – 20 Jan

Although your sign almost rhymes with salty popcorn, you seem to bear very little resemblance with this light snack. Put your serious face in a jar for a month and try to use at least one ironically winking emoticon on your Facebook wall.

PISCES

20 Feb – 20 March

Are you daydreaming again, Pisces? Let’s hope all this fantasising about unicorns and bathtubs of blueberries gives you some insight in your ‘raison’ for ‘être’.

Every day will feel like a yesterday while you want it to be a tomorrow. Carpe diem. Is that a name of a magazine? No, well yes, but it also means to grope yesterday like it’s the last Twinkie on the shelf. It’s not that Twinkies are nutritious or make you feel good. Most of the time they give you tummy aches, especially when you suffer from irratable bowel syndrome.

Sometimes it just feels good to grab something just before anyone else does. Seize it. You know you’ll enjoy it.

Page 55

Ictus Ensemble plays Harry Partch’s ‘The Wayward’ Thursday 9 February, 19.15, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ Composer, instrument builder and mad professor Harry Partch (19011974) was pretty brilliant, pretty wild and pretty ahead of his time.

Besides composing an impressive body of work, Partch invented all kinds of instruments (such as the Diamond Marimba) based on unconventional theories about scales and tonality. Good stuff.

Tonight the Ictus Ensemble plays Partch’s song cycle ‘The Wayward’.

Come and experience this hard-to-frame music for only €10 with an Early Bird Ticket. Experience a great concert, check out the marvellous building and get a free drink on the side.

Call het Muziekgebouw or buy tickets at the register 020-788 20 00 | www.muziekgebouw.nl

Agenda On the following pages:

Subbacultcha! concerts and films totally free for members Page 59

Other shows Page 67 Free tickets Page 76

This beautiful image portrays Holy Other. He plays at the Tri Angle Records showcase in Trouw Amsterdam on 03 February together with oOoOO and Balam Acab. Not to be missed.

DO 2 FEB

LAMB

VR 3 FEB

DJ KRUSH @ KLINCH

MA 6 FEB

WILD FLAG

DO 9 FEB

JONATHAN WILSON

VR 10 FEB

NADA SURF

ZA 11 FEB

AWOLNATION

WO 15 FEB

THE WAR ON DRUGS

VR 17 FEB

EPROM / DESTO

ZA 18 FEB

HELEMAAL MELKWEG

DO 23 FEB

TUNE-YARDS

DO 23 FEB

BENGA & YOUNGMAN

VR 24 FEB

THE SOUNDS

RWINA RECORDS @ KLINCH EEN AVOND & NACHT MET MUZIEK, DANS, FILM, PERFORMANCE, LITERATUUR & EXPOSITIES IN HET HELE GEBOUW

CABLE

WITH SPECIAL GUEST

THE LIMOUSINES WO 29 FEB

ST VINCENT

WO 29 FEB

BURAKA SOM SISTEMA

DI 6 MRT

@ SHUFFLE.PLAY

WU LYF

LET OP: DIT IS SLECHTS EEN SELECTIE VAN HET PROGRAMMA. HET VOLLEDIGE PROGRAMMA IS TE VINDEN OP WWW.MELKWEG.NL MELKWEG AMSTERDAM - LIJNBAANSGRACHT 234A

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

Ital + Co La + Body II Body

01 February - OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €7 | Free for Subbacultcha! members Tonight’s line-up hacks away at the foundations of pop and dance music and pieces the shards back together in thought-provoking ways. Daniel Martin-McCormick makes challenging music as both Sex Worker and one half of Mi Ami, but he’s breaking a new set of rules with his Ital project, taking leftfield aesthetics and unconventional song structures and imposing them on classic house and techno. Co La’s Matthew Papich describes himself as a ‘Music Designer/Reggae User/Lifestyle Producer’, and the interest in music re-purposing and emphasis on mood thereby implied are reflected in his hypnotic, sample-based loops. And Rotterdam up-and-comers Body II Body should get the party started right.

Tri Angle Records Showcase ft Balam Acab, Holy Other & oOoOO

03 February - Trouw (De Verdieping), Amsterdam 20.30 | €13 / €15 | Free for Subbacultcha! members (until 22.30)

Tri Angle Records formed the epicentre of the witch house hype quake last year, basically by virtue of releasing most of the worthwhile music you could lump into that fake microgenre. Unlike the witchy wannabes who emphasised style over substance by throwing together hip-hop influences and Page 59

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

dark and/or ambient production in simplistic ways, each member of this night’s unholy trinity weaves together these basic components in ways that are idiosyncratic, meditative, subtly sexy, and often very beautiful.

Ital + Vakantie

04 February - Roodkapje, Rotterdam 22.00 | €7 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

Daniel Martin-McCormick makes challenging music as both Sex Worker and as one half of Mi Ami, but he’s breaking a new set of rules with his Ital project, taking leftfield aesthetics and unconventional song structures and imposing them on classic house and techno. Like many of his 100% Silk labelmates, by manipulating existing sounds he calls into question our notions of what constitutes dance music and artistic creation. Heady shit!

Support by electronic drone-scape duo Vakantie.

Film: Submarine

08 February - 16CC, Amsterdam 19.00 | €7.50 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

16CC is a fresh new hotspot in Amsterdam that unites independent film screenings, contemporary art and fine wine. A small but intimate cinema allows you to drift away in the dark with daily high-quality programming. Go pay them a visit and see Submarine, a charming coming-of-age tale with an off-the-wall cinematographic style.

Page 60

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

Blouse + Blondes

09 February - OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €8 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

Like their Captured Tracks labelmates Widowspeak, this Portland dream pop trio feature some pretty seductively narcotic female vocals. However, Blouse’s music is more somber and ’80s synth-focused, like a bummedout, female-fronted Craft Spells. While their collection of influences has been quite fashionable this past year or two, their catchy melodies and Charlie Hilton’s beautifully melancholic delivery set them apart from the crowd. After the show, stick around for some atmospheric electronic dance music by Brooklyn duo Blondes.

Swipe ft Dimlite & Julian Sartorius 17 February - Tivoli, Utrecht 23.00 | €11 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

Swipe is a progressive electronic dance night featuring DJs and live performances within the realm of glitchhop, dubstep, cosmic funk and techno. Tonight’s edition features noisy Swiss beat maestro Dimlite who will be joined on stage by drum virtuoso Julian Sartorius for what’s bound to be an explosive performance.

Page 61

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

Luik

17 February - De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam 20.00 | €7 | Free for Subbacultcha! members Rotterdam-based Luik have just released their impressive debut album Owls on Snowstar records. It features atmospheric compositions that range from quiet folk songs to slow-core pop jams.

Helemaal Melkweg

18 February - Melkweg, Amsterdam 19.00 | €10 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

Melkweg open all their doors for an immersive interdisciplinary experience in a recurring series of one-ticket-all-access nights. Tonight, the cinema programme alone is already worth the trip, with anti-Bollywood rap musical Gandu and Johan van der Keuken’s Beeldenstorm on the bill - and after that, there’s still a whole building to explore.

Gauntlet Hair

23 February - OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €8 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

This Denver-based duo, founded by best pals Craig and Andy, make danceable avant-pop music. While they’ve definitely got some Animal Collective vocal influences, their blissful, pounding drum (machine) beats call more to mind the visceral thrill of Sleigh Bells, and when singer Andy R isn’t belPage 62

Shows in September

Agenda

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

lowing, I’m reminded of The Dismemberment Plan’s Travis Morrison’s deadpan delivery. Throw in guitars that range from shoegaze to post-punk, and you’ve got one energetic and enjoyable hodgepodge.

Future Islands

29 February - OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €8 | Free for Subbacultcha! members 01 March - Ekko, Utrecht 20.00 | €10 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

On the Water, the latest from this Baltimore synth pop trio, was (perhaps not surprisingly) recorded at the seaside. Waterfront life is present throughout the album, from field recordings to the tempo, which has mostly slowed down to match the ocean’s tranquil rhythm. While mellower than the songs on 2010’s excellent In Evening Air, their new ones have all the romance, throbbing rhythms, addictive melodies and stirring vocals needed to impress in their own right, and these guys’ live shows haven’t let us down yet.

Mediamatic

One of Amsterdam’s finest suppliers of weird and wonderful entertainment keep opening their doors to Subbacultcha members. Sweet! So, all of February you get free entry to their Paddenstoelenparadijs (Mushroom Paradise) exhibition, their Schommelclub (Swinging Club - ‘swinging’ as in the playground activity, not the wife-and-husband-swapping or the 1930s dancing) in the Van Gendthallen, Ignite on 29 February and more.

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Page 63

Illustratie Bloedworst Design Guido Lagerweij

M M

MEANWHILE AT MENEER MALASCH

De algehele message THE INVENTION OF L.A. Art. Te beginnen met op zaterdag 4 februari in Meneer Malasch de opening van de voorstelling, t/m 18 maart.

En dan doen we mee aan de allereerste RAW ART FAIR in Rotterdam van 8 t/m 12 februari.

Ook met de tentoonstelling RAW EXPO en daar doen voor ons mee Kamp Horst aka Bloedworst.

En tevens met Re=Rotterdam een tentoonstelling ter ere van MK galerie met Koert Stuyf - Ron Amir - Max Natkiel.

En natuurlijk niet te vergeten het feestje van 10 februari van Subbacultcha. En je kunt ook even koekeloeren op de sites en mij bellen als je in geestelijke nood terecht komt.

Meneer Malasch/ Serieuze Zaken Studioos

+31 (0)20 4275770

Postjesweg 2

meneermalasch@gmail.com

1057 EA Amsterdam

www.meneermalasch.nl

Agenda

Shows in February

DAVID SYLVIAN Implausible Beauty 2012

SUN MARCH 18TH Muziekgebouw EINDHOVEN TICKETS VIA MUZIEKGEBOUWEINDHOVEN.NL DAVIDSYLVIAN.COM Page 66

Shows in February

Agenda

Chairlift plays on 19 February in Tivoli de Helling, Utrecht

Ital 01 February - OT301, Amsterdam 04 February - Roodkapje, Rotterdam Daniel Martin-McCormick (Sex Worker, Mi Ami) is breaking a new set of rules with his Ital project, taking leftfield aesthetics and unconventional song structures and imposing them on classic house and techno.

Read more on page 59.

Megafaun 01 February - Vera, Groningen 03 February - Doornroosje, Nijmegen A North Carolina-based spin-off of DeYarmond Edison (Bon Iver’s previous band), Megafaun spurns Justin Vernon’s politely pastoral musings for a more backwoods sound that melds traditional folk with leftfield recordings.

INCUBATED 14 ft Library Tapes + Sleepingdog + The Caretaker 02 February - Paradox, Tilburg Incubated is a monthly evening of cuttingedge music curated by the folks behind the Incubate Festival. This month’s edition is

awash with ambient beauty. One of several projects of Swede David Wenngren, Library Tapes centre on sparse and subtly beautiful piano-based compositions. Sleepingdog is nominally the solo project of Netherlands native Chantal Acda, but in addition to her gorgeous, crystalline vocals it features Stars of the Lid’s Adam Wiltzie as a collaborator and icy soundscape provider. Leyland Kirby’s work as The Caretaker, including last year’s lauded An Empty Bliss Beyond This World, is unsettling, dreamlike and hauntingly beautiful, calling to mind the ballroom scenes from Kubrick’s The Shining or the sounds accompanying the Titanic slowly going under.

Hieroglyphic Being 03 February - WORM, Rotterdam The legendary Chicago based producer, DJ and promoter Hieroglyphic Being will perform as part of the Wormywood programme, a collaboration between Worm and IFFR that’s taking place during the entire International Film Festival Rotterdam. (25 January - 05 February). Check the Worm website for the full programme.

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SHOP / W E BSHOP / H A N DM A DE / I N T E R IOR / BAGS / J EW E L L E RY / FASH ION / BO OKS / ACC E SSOR I E S

R ESTOR ED. N L

EN

/O

IJN

H A A R L E M M E R DI J K 39 A MST E R DA M

MaR

L PE AP

A NNESAS F DA A N VAN VA N KREIJ EN D L GO

Agenda

Shows in February

Bodi Bill 03 February - EKKO, Utrecht Birthed out of the Berlin underground, swaddled in the clothes of postrock and dance music, this indietronica trio have been honing their sound for the past few years. Bodi Bill bring the Heart and Soul back to Berlin in the form of passionate, love-filled pop atop chilly, Kraftwerk-like synth layers.

Tri Angle Label Night ft Balam Acab, Holy Other & oOoOO 03 February - Trouw (De Verdieping) Tri Angle Records has been releasing some astonishing records lately and tonight’s showcase features some of the labels’ finest acts. Read more on page 59.

SUB:STANCE ft Sepalcure 03 February - Trouw, Amsterdam Sepalcure is a collaboration between two dance veterans, Praveen Sharma and Travis Stewart, who also record as Braille and Machinedrum, respectively. Their mix of dubstep elements with ’90s house explores a musical interstice bordered by much dance music of the last two or so years. While the au-courant combination makes their music immediately accessible, its vitality and undeniable craftsmanship help it transcend accusations of mere trendiness.

Wild Flag 6 February - Melkweg, Amsterdam This DC/Portland-based indie rock quartet is a supergroup of sorts, comprised of Sleater-Kinney’s Janet Weiss and Carrie Brownstein, Helium’s Mary Timony and The Minders’ Rebecca Cole. While these four tough broads have played together on and off for over a decade, it was collaborating on a score for a documentary that inspired

them to take it to the next level. Extensive touring helped them gel, and by the time they dropped their eponymous debut last September, they’d become much more than the sum of their parts.

Blouse + Blondes 09 February - OT301, Amsterdam Portland trio Blouse feature seductively narcotic female vocals atop somber, synthheavy dream pop. Read more on page 61.

Bosco Delrey 09 February - Rotown, Rotterdam 14 February - Paradiso, Amsterdam The idea of a ‘garbage-can Elvis’ putting out experimental pop records on Diplo’s Mad Decent label (of all places) might seem weird enough to put you off, but while Diplo is vaguely douchey and can’t type to save his life, he can apparently recognise odd pop talent when he sees it - Delrey’s songs are eclectic, shambolic and irresistibly fun.

Definitely one to watch.

Howler + I Break Horses + Tennis 10 February - Paradiso, Amsterdam The UK’s musical paedos have found another group of young boys to salivate over in Howler, a Minneapolis power pop quartet whose debut has just been released on Rough Trade. Tonight’s your chance to see if these guys’ balls have dropped and/or if they drop the ball. Swedish duo I Break Horses make pretty, homemade shoegaze that favours synths over guitars and makes us want to revisit M83’s Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts. Husband-andwife duo Tennis spend their days sailing the oceans and writing catchy ’60s girl-group pop songs about how much they wuv each other, then return to shore to record albums and go on worldwide tours. What a life.

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01 FEB

THE BLACK KEYS (UITVERKOCHT)

11 FEB

HAPPY MONDAYS

23 FEB

THE HORRORS

01 MRT

MARK LANEGAN BAND

04 MRT

LITTLE DRAGON

Agenda

Shows in February

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 10 February - Tivoli de Helling, Utrecht Back in 2005, CYHSY made waves by being one of the first bands to rise to fame based on internet buzz. This early pressure caused them to implode somewhat, but after a four-year hiatus their 2011 release Hysterical represents a return to form.

Swipe ft Dimlite & Julian Sartorius 17 February - Tivoli, Utrecht Swipe is a progressive electronic dance night featuring DJs and live performances within the realm of glitchhop, dubstep, cosmic funk and techno. Read more on page 61.

Azari & III

Luik

10 February - Paradiso, Amsterdam This Toronto quartet were not only forerunners of the now trendy ’90s house revival, but are also one of the movement’s more authentic participants, with their real-time vocals, live instrumentation and sparse use of sampling. Sexuality-themed lyrics, disco vibes and cross-dressing diva vocalists make them kindred spirits of Hercules and Love Affair, albeit in a less campy and ultimately more credible and interesting way.

17 February - De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam 25 February - Merleyn, Nijmegen 26 February - Rotown, Rotterdam Atmospheric compositions, ranging from quiet folk songs to slow-core pop jams.

Read more on page 62.

Hospital Bombers 11 February - Supermarkt, Den Haag 14 February - Trouw, Amsterdam Amsterdam-based indie folk darlings Hospital Bombers have just released their outstanding new record At Budokan on Excelsior recordings. The official release party is on 14 February at Trouw. Oh, and one hour before print deadline it got confirmed this show is free for members. So you know.

The War on Drugs 14 February - Doornroosje, Nijmegen 15 February - Melkweg, Amsterdam Adam Granduciel’s pet project weaves some pretty obvious Springsteen, Dylan and Tom Petty influences into epic Americana that’s well-executed enough to sound like a forgotten track by one of the aforementioned artists - both cinematic and comforting in its vague familiarity.

Yukon Blonde 18 February - Ekko, Utrecht 19 February - Paradiso, Amsterdam These guys got their start as a British Columbia quintet called Alphababy, but have since upgraded their location (to Vancouver), their line-up (well, maybe), and their name (most definitely). They make the kind of ’60s-inspired, harmony-filled, folksy indie rock that should appeal to drunken Fleet Foxes fans.

Chairlift 19 February - Tivoli de Helling, Utrecht 05 March - Bitterzoet, Amsterdam In the three years that have lapsed since their 2008 debut, this Brooklyn-based synth pop group shook things up by shedding a band member and getting involved in other projects. More importantly, they also got a major label deal and spent 18 months labouring over the composition and recording of their recently released sophomore album Something. Perhaps not surprisingly, their new material is denser, smoother and more polished than ever.

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Agenda

Shows in February

Kim Gordon plays with her new project Body / Head on 26 February in Occii, Amsterdam

The Horrors

Sonic Acts XIV

22 February - Doornroosje, Nijmegen 23 February - Effenaar, Eindhoven

23 - 26 February - Various Locations, Amsterdam

When The Horrors jumped on the shoegaze bandwagon back in ’09, they made quite the splash. On their latest album Skying, they’ve let in more ’80s post-punk influences, and even some unabashed pop.

And though their paint-flinging days might be in the past, they will still put on one hell of a show.

Sonic Acts is multi-disciplinary festival featuring performances, lectures, exhibitions, presentations, and film screenings. The focus of the 14th edition of the festival is on the human experience of time. Besides an intriguing programme in various locations throughout the city, the festival will also present an illustrated publication featuring essays and interviews.

Dirty Beaches 23 February - Vera, Groningen Dirty Beaches is the one-man lo-fi rockabilly project by Alex Zhang Hungtai. He’s cited David Lynch films such as Lost Highway and Blue Velvet as major influences on his aesthetic. Correspondingly, themes of being on the road and on the run and of the ’50s suburban idyll being a mere sugar coating for a deeply ugly underlying reality are reflected in how Hungtai buries his Elvis-like yelps and croons and occasionally very romantic melodies under layers of no-wavey distortion and reverb.

Gauntlet Hair 23 February - OT301, Amsterdam This energetic Denver-based duo make danceable avant-pop music with touches of post-punk and shoegaze. Read more on page 62.

tUnE-yArDs 23 February - Melkweg, Amsterdam Merrill Garbus’ early work as Afro-tinged lofi folk phenomenon tUnE-yArDs was striking despite its rough production by virtue Page 73

Agenda

Shows in February

AGENDA FEBRUARI / MAART FEB/ VRIJ

BODI BILL

03 NON NIGHT 03 RATS ON RAFTS 11 THROSBY + TINY 17 HOLLY RUINS LAFARO 25 01 FUTURE ISLANDS SUMMER CAMP 23 SUNDAY NOISE: 25 WHITE HILLS JAN / VRIJ

MARIUS (LIVE), PALMBOMEN (DJ-SET), RENKAS (DJ-SET), BEAR DAMEN (DJ-SET), HYPERHYPER (DJ-SET)

FEB/ZAT

+ HARRY MERRY

FEB / VRIJ

LOCATIE: KNG56

FEB / ZAT

MRT/ DON

MRT / VRIJ

MRT/ ZON

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SUBBACULTCHA! PRESENTS

Agenda

Shows in February

of Garbus’ big voice and bigger personality. For her latest album w h o k i l l, Garbus changed her ‘bedroom’ approach to recording by adding bassist Nate Brenner and heading into a real studio. These changes seem to have liberated her, and the improved production and Brenner’s encouragingly funky bass accompaniment give Garbus the room and confidence she needed to develop into a fully-fledged siren.

in the Throat’ and ‘Wolf Hand’, it should come as no surprise that this Leeds quartet make rhythmic hardcore that appeals to hormone-raging teenage boys. They’ve garnered the adoration of the UK press with their frantic, injury-filled live performances, and with a supposedly more accomplished and ambitious sophomore album freshly out, they seem poised to take the rest of the world by storm.

Youth Lagoon

Body / Head ft Kim Gordon

23 February - Paradiso, Amsterdam Trevor Powers is the 22-year-old Boise, Idaho native behind bedroom pop project Youth Lagoon. On his 2011 debut The Year of Hibernation, he sounds like a mentally stable Daniel Johnston, singing ridiculously sweet and sorrowful songs about shyly navigating one’s way through small-town life and the uncertainties of coming of age. Despite his mousy persona and limited tools at hand, his flair for melody allows him to craft songs that often build into anthems and without fail pack an emotional wallop.

26 February - Occii, Amsterdam No darlings, this is not a typo. Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon is in town and she’s playing at Occii with her new project Body / Head.

You don’t want to miss this, so show up early: doors open at 20.00

Tracks - Ties Mellema 23 February - Concertgebouw, Amsterdam Concertgebouw’s hip new initiative to bring classical music to a broader (and younger) audience, packing into one hour a potent mix of traditional classical and contemporary music and a speech by the musicians explaining what drives them, with cocktails afterwards to further lubricate one’s classical music initiation. This edition features Saxophone player Ties Mellema, who will be joined by the EnAccord Kwartet and Marijn van Prooijen (double bass) for some mean interpretations of the works of Prince.

Pulled Apart by Horses 25 February - Sugar Factory, Amsterdam With song titles including ‘I Punched a Lion

Future Islands 28 February - 013, Tilburg 29 February - OT301, Amsterdam 01 March - Ekko, Utrecht On their new album On the Water, Baltimore synth pop trio Future Islands once again combine throbbing rhythms, addictive melodies and stirring vocals into a collection of songs that’s bound to bring the house down live. Read more on page 63.

St. Vincent 29 February - Melkweg, Amsterdam While some might lump St. Vincent with various sterile NPR rock bands such as Arcade Fire and Sufjan Stevens, the characterisation seems superficial and unfairly dismissive. Even if her first two albums were a bit precious, Annie Clark don’t wanna be a cheerleader no more, and with Strange Mercy, she’s sullied the counterfeit naivete of Marry Me and ripped and torn away the lavish orchestral flourishes of Actor, and what’s left is her least affected and most empathetic record yet.

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Free Stuff

Free tickets and goodies

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

3x2 TICKETS Howler + I Break Horses + Tennis

5X2 Tickets War on Drugs

2x2 tickets Sonic acts

10 February Paradiso, Amsterdam

15 February Melkweg, Amsterdam

23–26 February Various locations, Amsterdam

3x2 tickets St. Vincent

3 pairs gorillaz all stars

3 books: Archivo de Pivo

29 February Melkweg, Amsterdam

Special limited edition

Hefty beautiful book... basicly about life.

We’re also giving away free tickets to Palais Paradiso, Chairlift, Bosco Delrey and Tracks.

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Submitted photos

AFTER MIDNIGHT

Send photos that were taken after midnight to aftermidnight@subbacultcha.nl If your photo gets published, you win a good goodie This month’s photo was submitted by Marie Berhanu Page 77

Overview of all Subbacultcha shows in February

01 February

17 February

Ital + Co La + Body II Body

De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam 20.00 | €7 | Free for members

Luik

03 February

Helemaal Melkweg

OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €7 | Free for members

18 February

Tri Angle Records Showcase ft Balam Acab, Holy Other & oOoOO

Melkweg, Amsterdam 19.00 | €10 | Free for members

23 February

Gauntlet Hair

Trouw (De Verdieping), Amsterdam 20.30 | €15/€13 | Free for members (until 22.30)

OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €8 | Free for members

04 February

29 February

Ital

Future Islands

Roodkapje, Rotterdam 22.00 | €7 | Free for members

OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €8 | Free for members

08 February

01 March

Submarine

Future Islands

16CC, Amsterdam 19.00 | €7,50 | Free for members

Ekko, Utrecht 20.00 | €10 | Free for members

09 February

Blouse + Blondes OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €8 | Free for members

All Month:

Mediamatic

See mediamatic.net for programme and info

17 February

Coming up:

Swipe ft Dimlite + Julian Sartorius

WU LYF, Chad VanGaalen, Still Corners, Bitchin Bajas, Those Darlins, Odonis Odonis, Teen Daze + Brothertiger

Tivoli, Utrecht 23.00 | €11 | Free for members

See all these shows for free. Join at www.subbacultcha.nl Page 78