Subbacultcha Magazine February 2013

By Sofia Ciechowska Illustration bi Basje Boer

Unruly Music Magazine February 2013

What’s Cooking

Food The Abstract Issue

Dracula Lewis, Darkstar, Carter Tutti Void Page 1

THE CONVERSE ALL STAR WELL WORN COLLECTION

The Abstract Issue

This image was made by Dieter Durinck to illustrate the Darkstar interview on page 32. His works perfectly complement the new modernist musical wave of abstract sounds and vision we’ve been riding recently. Songs are out, sound is in. Synthesized and distorted by the endless possibilities of easy-access technology. Shaped into new song structures abandoning the good ol’ refrain and chorus. Or, to quote Pete Swanson: ‘We have been moving in this direction that is more conceptual, work that is defined by self-imposed constraints.’

We hear ya, Pete... it’s like crossing the lines of a green angular circle out into the unknown. We love it.

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Content

The Abstract Issue

Dracula Lewis

Pete, Raime, Lee

Page 22

Page 28

Darkstar

Agenda

Page 32

Page 55

Top 5 New Music We Saw You Dracula lewis Pete vs. raime vs. lee Chris & Cosey Darkstar Featured Artist reviews Film

10 13 16 18 22 28 32 36 40 45

BOOKS Fashion FOOD horoscope Agenda subbacultcha! shows other shows Free Stuff after midnight overview

46 48 50 52 55 56 64 76 77 78

The recent surge of ambient soundscapes, deconstructed drones and old school experimentalists has led us to believe that a growing number of music enthusiasts are opening up their ears and minds to more challenging and abstract sounds. We see free-form music with no tangible structure. We see long stretches of pulsating beats, eerie noise and introspective soundscapes finding their way from the underunderundergroud through the blogosphere and into the smart souls of your average independent music consumer. We see meta music for the mighty people. We see evolution. Enjoy it while it lasts.

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2013

MET O.A.

PATRICK WATSON & 21.45

THE DODOS

LAMB

20.00

& AMSTERDAM SINFONIETTA

NILS FRAHM RACHEL

HAUSCHKA FEAT.

GRIMES BRANDT SAMULI KOSMINEN BRAUER FRICK MUSIC MINING (MUM)

28.02 // VREDENBURG 01.03 // MUZIEKGEBOUW 02.03 // PARADISO AMSTERDAM UTRECHT EINDHOVEN // DE OOSTERPOORT // DE DOELEN 04.03 03.03 ROTTERDAM GRONINGEN TICKETS & INFORMATIE

WWW.CROSS-LINX.NL

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: Megan Roberts Design: Bas Morsch and Marina Henao Interns: Phil van der Krogt, Denise Lopes and Floor Kortman Good Girl: Loes Verputten Good Guys: Keimpe Koldijk, Michiel Klein Printing: Drukkerij Gewa, Arendonk, Belgium Contributors: Carly Blair, Basje Boer, Brenda Bosma, Leon Caren, Zofia Ciechowska, Dieter Durinck, Viktor Hachmang, Marc van der Holst, Geoff Kim, Kathrin Klingner, Anne Nynke Knol, Bas Morsch, Carlijn Potma, Marinus de Ruiter, Mandy Sharabani, Gert Verbeek and Isolde Woudstra Distribution: Amsterdam: De Flyerman, Tessel Dekker, Bauke Karel, Sandrine Mary, Fedor Oduber, Stefan Stasko, Patrick van der Klugt, Dineke Tuinhof, Agata Bar, Charlotte van Brakel Utrecht: Freyja van den Boom, Jitske de Vries Groningen: Hedwig Plomp, Marinke Kerkhoff Den Haag: Dineke Cornelissen Rotterdam: Nahry Dougarem, Lukas Dikker, Ilse van der Spoel Leeuwarden: Jan Pier Brands Leiden: Milou Laan Haarlem: Yannick Tinbergen, Bert Zaremba Nijmegen Karin van de Kamp Tilburg/Eindhoven: Kevin Jansen Deventer: Marjolein de Vliegher Delft: Daniel Enciso Breda: Christopher Freudberg Pick up Subbacultcha! magazine here (among 500 other places): Amsterdam: Kriterion, EYE, 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, TENT, 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.

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Cover: Sculptures Economiques, #1/yellow by Fleur van Dodewaard Page 8

Top 5

1

Last month at our office

Concert: Eurosonic Day Party

What an amazing way to start the new year! Eight bands performed on a cold Saturday afternoon at the jampacked Sign Art Gallery in Groningen, while the audience indulged in free Warsteiner and great live music.

2

TV: No TV

Who needs TV when you can watch quality programmes, films and series on your computer? No more commercials, no more aimlessly switching channels without seeing anything interesting. This is about taking matters into your own hands. ’Cause after all, they’re your retinas, so better keep them bullshit free.

3

Music - Pete Swanson - Pro Style EP

This relentless EP was part of the reason we wanted to make The Abstract Issue. It’s dark, progressive and weird - and at the same time bursting with energy.

4

Entertainment: Parks and Recreation

And from Pete Swanson, we move to Ron Swanson, one of the main characters in the hilarious comedy series Parks and Recreation. Season 5 is being aired right now.

5

Author - Hans Fallada

With brand new Dutch translations of some of his key novels, Hans Fallada (1893 – 1947) has been rediscovered as one of the most important German authors of the 20th century. After reading The Drinker, we are now thoroughly enjoying Alone in Berlin, a unique, dark and compelling account of small scale resistance in Berlin during World War II

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this publication was printed by gewadrupo this publication was printed by gewadrupo

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By Zofia Ciechowska

This month’s recommendations

New Music

Twigs

twigstwigs.tumblr.com

This month’s new music column is not so much about the super underground stuff that y’all have never heard of but more a reminder of all that beautiful new talent that emerged last year and which is expected to make it big this year – according to us, at least. Not much is known about Twigs, the alias of young London-based R&B songstress Tahliah Barnett. Internet anonymity may be part of the package, but the hype around her is constantly rising with her staggered release of four impeccably sexy tracks that will quite literally make your clothes melt with Barnett’s stunningly soft vocals and throttling rhythms. For the moment you can stalk the hell out of her on Instagram, where her feed often features a cute white bunny...

Rainy Milo

www.soundcloud.com/rainymilo Emerging from the depths of South London, this supremely talented young songstress is as far removed from her meteorological moniker as could be. With the super cool Limey EP under her belt, which oozes smooth, jazzy head-bopping rhythms and hip hop beats, good things are bound to come to Rainy Milo – as they have for many her of her peers at Last Night in Paris, a collective of young London-based musicians and visual artists who have been turning heads recently. Limey is still free, so catch it while you can – and keep an eye on the Last Night in Paris bunch while you’re at it.

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New Music

continued

LE1F

www.le1f.com

Very little ‘new’ music we hear is as bright, colourful, shiny and new as LE1F (aka New Yorker Khalif Dioufand) with his amazing PVC Technicolor dreamcoat. This dude makes defiantly weird, horny-as-hell and joyfully experimental hip hop courtesy of ex-Das Racist Himanshu’s Greedhead label. Download his incredible mixtape Dark York and get light in your loafers to 30 minutes or so of semi-intelligible, pitch-shifting rapping and an amazing clutch of futuristic club beats. As an openly gay MC, LE1F’s raps playfully subvert the hetero-normative toughguy traditions of hip hop. And that can only be a good thing.

Mozart’s Sister

mozartssister.bandcamp.com So, what was Mozart’s sister called again? We couldn’t care less now that Caila Thompson-Hannant has rocked up on our music radar all the way from Montreal. Hush your mouth before you whine out the clichés of being a female musician and living in Montreal: this bright young thing is something else. With the liveliest of voices to accompany her homemade electro-pop beats and Len Lye-inspired video, Mozart’s Sister is the real deal. With a few tracks lurking around the internet dating all the way back to 2011, we’re excited to see what this year has in store for Caila. Rumours of a full-length album abound.

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New Music

RAIME

www.soundcloud.com/blackest-ever-black Get a load of these big, scary monolithic slabs of bleak-as-fuck industrial electronica from these Blackest Ever Black-signed Londoners. Tom Halstead and Joe Andrews are riding a similar wave of brainy angst as other dancefloor-fearing Eeyores who have ‘hit the big time’ recently: think Andy Stott, The Haxan Cloak and Lee Gamble. Murky echoes of dub, techno, goth, metal and even field recording sound art are compressed into neat little capsules of misery and despair.

Lovely, exciting and inspiring misery and despair, that is. That you can dance to.

Warm Soda

warmsoda.bandcamp.com

Sounding like the audio equivalent of a retro science project involving Coca-Cola and Mentos, Warm Soda are a camp, fun, silly, passionate and shouty garage-glam band from US scuzzball-magnet Oakland, California. Equal parts naughty and nice, their songs are syrupy sweet but full of sass, perfect for fans of King Tuff, Jeff the Brotherhood and pretty much any vaguely garage-y punk-pop group. They play shows with Thee Oh Sees and look as if they aren’t afraid of the odd doubledenim dust-up. Ironic facial hair, vintage leather, four-track fidelity – you get the picture. Get ’em while they’re hot!

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We Saw You

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Spotted at Subbacultcha!

Photo by Anne Nynke Knol

How abstract is reality? Abstract in reality is an enlightment to me. When I read the word ‘Abstract’ I see a grey area in the daily life, an opportunity for me to form.... Abstract is the poetry in our reality.

Manon Maring spotted at our Eurosonic Day Party in Gallery Sign in Groningen on 12 January

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Features

The Abstract Issue

Dracula Lewis

The evasive Transylvanian-born space-psychhorror maestro and founder of record label Hundebiss talks about the limitations of language, the ‘everyday psychedelic’, finding space in music... and, um, Destiny’s Child Interview by Basje Boer. Photos by Lorenzo Senni

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So. We’ll be talking about all things abstract.

Okay. I like abstract. This interview will be pretty abstract for sure.

How abstract is the term ‘abstract’ to you?

The term ‘abstract’ is like a cage for the idea of abstract. I know that cage really well. That’s why sometimes I hate words. They can be like cages, especially when they are meant to define an idea, a sound, a vision.

Are you insulted when people describe your music as abstract?

No, I like it when people say that.

I like it when music leaves space in your mind to find forms, when you’re free to explore, to float. That’s why I like dub: there’s a lot of space to it.

Would you yourself describe your music that way?

Back in the days, for sure. I guess there still are some abstract elements... I prefer abstract over improv.

I like the term ‘free-form’. But I’m not free-form.

Explain?

I’m form-free.

Sounds pretty abstract to me.

I told you so.

Any ‘abstract’ listening tips?

Sure. Israel Vibrations, Same Song Dub. James Ferraro, Clear. Expressway Yo Yo Dieting, Bubblethug. Let

Features

me think... Solid Eye’s Fruit of Automation is a really good album. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Eternal 1999...

Israel Vibrations, especially that record, is just so good. Chants coming out of a really fucked-up echo chamber. Eternal delays. I just love it.

There’s a lot of space in it!

Your music has a soundtrack kind of quality to it. What kind of film would accompany it?

Laura Brothers (aka Out4Pizza) conceived some visuals for me. Her animated GIF is one of my favourite visions of my music.

And what about a movie with a narrative?

I don’t like that idea.

Would that be too much of a form?

Yeah, exactly. Though I would like to work on a soundtrack for a movie called Reflections of Evil by [American underground filmmaker] Damon Packard – the extended version, three hours long. I truly love that movie.

Do you think you could create fitting music for it?

Yeah. I like that movie because it’s basically about one long bad trip.

It’s hyper-psychedelic and at the same time really, really grounded. It’s everyday psychedelic.

Would you say your music is like a bad trip? Whoa, wait – that sounds terrible.

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Features

Dracula Lewis

‘The term ‘abstract’ is like a cage for the idea of abstract. I know that cage really well. That’s why sometimes I hate words. especially when they are meant to define an idea, a sound, a vision.

Yeah :) That does sound terrible.

I wouldn’t describe my music as a bad trip, not at all. But yes, I like the idea of a voyage with some eerie elements.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Driving my car, I guess. It sounds stupid but I like driving around in the hills late at night, listening to music, smoking. It’s trippy... And I listen to music 24 hours a day.

All kinds of stuff ?

Not really. I hate Italian commercial radio.

That I can understand.

But I like Rihanna a lot. Destiny’s Child...

Pretty straightforward pop music.

Yes. There’s no shame in that. I like pop music. I like mechanisms, structures.

Do you feel the need to unravel those structures?

I like getting lost in them.

So, a hasty Google search doesn’t bring up much info on you – except about how there’s not much info on you. Is it your intention to remain an obscure artist?

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That’s also about space, it’s all about space. I like the idea that you can project your own vision on me, that you have the freedom to do that.

And what about your live performances? Surely we get to see the person behind all the mysteries then?

I’m a blurry person in real life. I’m out of focus.

That reminds me of one of my favourite movie scenes ever, the one in Woody Allen’s Deconstructing Harry when Robin Williams is out of focus. Also kind of a bad trip...

Oh, that movie is so good! That scene is so good!

Right?

When the girl says: ‘Daddy’s out of focus!’ Genius!

Thanks so much for the interview. And see you in Holland.

Please come and say hi. Even if I’m out of focus...

Dracula Lewis plays on 13 February at OCCII in Amsterdam and on 15 February at Koffie5Euro in Rotterdam. Both shows are free for Subbacultcha! members.

The Abstract Issue

Features

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The Abstract Issue

Pete Swanson vs. Raime vs.

Lee Gamble Last month Raime, Lee Gamble and Pete Swanson played together in Amsterdam as part of the Sonic Acts Festival. The day after their performance, we spoke with them about the current wave of abstract electronic music.

‘If you’re in control of your own ideas, then you’re a virtuoso of art’ Words by Juha van ‘t Zelfde.

Image by Bas Morsch

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To make something that sounds like something no one else could have made is the virtuosity of music that still exists.

... it doesn’t take a particular position at all, but I think it is really in opposition to established forms.

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Features

The Abstract Issue

...like your stuff, Pete: it’s fucking physical

... your music is cerebral, it’s not just functional body music.

I think of my music as being high-anxiety.

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Pete Swanson vs Raime vs Lee Gamble

Do you guys play together a lot?

Pete Swanson: No, actually this was the first time we’ve shared a stage together. Both Lee and I are from the noise scene, but it’s funny we never crossed paths in those days. I’ve been familiar with his stuff, and have corresponded with Raime. It was cool to meet everyone here.

What about your musical kinship?

Even though your music sounds very different it seems like there’s a unifying factor.

Pete Swanson: A lot of us are coming from different areas and different angles. It’s definitely a dark, destroyed electronic music, but everyone is coming at it from a really different angle, using really different gear.

Raime: And that reflects what music is doing at the moment, and how people are consuming music. You don’t necessarily have people aligning themselves to one particular scene, strictly listening to one kind of music.

Pete Swanson: When digital media started becoming the predominant means of distribution it really allowed people to tap into whatever music they wanted.

Raime: Everybody worries about the loss of authenticity. Everyone has a panic about the possibility that we

Features

are just consistently consuming media on a very superficial basis. But actually, for all of us to be here, as outsiders or niche musicians, and to play to that many people is incredibly positive.

[US sci-fi writer]Bruce Sterling recently commented on the effect of digital music on contemporary musicians: ‘They can make a lot of weirder noises, lots faster, but they don’t become virtuosos.’ Would you agree?

Lee Gamble: A virtuoso in the musical sense means that you’re good at one specific thing. Nowadays, there’s tons of software out there that makes making music easy. But you have to be able to curtail all of this.

To make something that sounds like something no one else could have made is the virtuosity of music that still exists.

Raime: We’re talking virtuoso in a musical sense, but I don’t really class myself as a traditional musician. I feel like I have been able to join the community of musicians by having all of these available tools. People are still virtuosos by means of ideas.

If you’re in control of your own ideas then you’re a virtuoso of art. For us it’s a rigorous process. We are incredibly obsessed by sound worlds. When we talk about our work we wonder what Page 25

Features

Pete Swanson vs Raime vs Lee Gamble

you feel when you are in that world. It is an obsessively worked-over sense of place and narrative.

Lee Gamble: And your music is cerebral, it’s not just functional body music.

Raime: That’s the hybrid that’s happening. Like your stuff, Pete: it’s fucking physical, but at the same time, it’s not the music we’re going to hear in a club a lot. In some respects this is why it appeals to a lot of people: because it works on these two levels.

Pete Swanson: Yes, I think of my music as being high-anxiety. I feel that the energy is very nervous.

It’s definitely body music. And on some level it’s also political, but in a very abstract way. It’s very anti-structure. I think there’s a certain inherent politics in that, and it comes from my punk background, but it’s not explicitly political: it’s not explicitly anticapitalist, it doesn’t take a particular position at all, but I think it is really in opposition to established forms.

Lee Gamble: A lot of postwar electroacoustic composers were fucking hardcore because they grew up in a war. Stockhausen used to pick up pieces of dead bodies when he was a kid. My music isn’t a political statement, but you’re a product of where you are. I live in Tottenham, where Page 26

the recent London riots started, and I was playing the next night, and I nearly pulled the show because I was so deeply frustrated ‒ not with the fact that people were rioting, but with the manifestation of this fucking hassle people have to deal with in poorer areas, that it has to come to this point. So yes, if you write records and something like that happens and it doesn’t get in there, you must live in a bubble.

Raime: I also like thinking about it on a micro-scale. I like to experience drama because perhaps some parts of my life aren’t as dramatic as I would like them to be. We all want something to happen in our lives, and we all want to feel. We want to experience. So on a day-to-day level, that’s another reason why I listen to really intense music. I listen to Pete’s stuff walking down the street to get some milk. There’s no part of my life that is intense or dramatic or dysfunctional in that scenario, but I still want to fucking feel something. And that’s for me on a very elemental level a political statement ‒ in the sense that I desire to experience, and I desire my existence to be real.

More information about the Sonic Acts Festival: www.sonicacts.com

The Abstract Issue

Features

...Stockhausen used to pick up pieces of dead bodies when he was a kid.

We all want something to happen in our lives... I desire my existence to be real.

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The Abstract Issue

Chris & Cosey

(1984)

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Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti – of iconic ’70s electro group Throbbing Gristle – are widely credited with founding the UK’s industrial music scene. As the sound they pioneered enjoys a resurgence (hence their own 2012 release Transverse as Carter Tutti Void), we caught up with them to talk inspirations and the possibility of a new avant-garde Interview by Bas Morsch

guess I’m connected in some way because you’ve just made that connection, but I do feel affinity for people who approach their work in a similar way to me. I’m not into pigeon-holing anything – even as avant-garde.

I’m all for as much freedom of creative expression as possible, and categorising actions and works tends to run counter to that.

Chris: I feel whatever we do muSome of these acts show the influence of sically has always been apart from, the industrial avant-garde of the ’80s, a or in parallel to, current trends and style which you are often credited with genres. These ‘new waves’ evolve and founding. How does it feel to be part of a fragment into sub-genres and waves renewed interest in something that you at such a rate that I find it difficult to feel connected to any in particular. As helped create?

Cosey: I don’t think about it, I ever, we just do what we do, regardless just get on with what I want to do. I of whatever else is being produced.

This issue is about the current wave of abstract music out there. It’s almost like some sort of a new avant-garde. How do you feel about that?

Cosey: I’m not sure there can be an ‘avant-garde’ any more, but I get your point and any interest in anything ‘other’ always makes me happy. I hate anything that smacks of the status quo...

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Chris & Cosey

(2009)

Cosey, last year, in an interview you did with Self Titled Mag, you spoke hopefully of a new ‘pioneering spirit’ emerging in music. Were your hopes justified?

Cosey: Yes, in part. But the situation is very different now in terms of how people define ‘success’. That’s always annoyed me. There’s still a tendency to think of the ‘end game’ rather than the moment. That’s what was Page 30

so great about the Carter Tutti Void gig and album: none of us thought about the end game. It was all about the moment.

Any contemporary pioneering artists you admire for contributing to new musical developments?

Cosey: Audio hardware and software developers.

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The Abstract Issue

Chris: I don’t generally listen to a lot of music because much of my time is spent in the studio working with sound, I don’t find I need to listen to other people’s music as much as I used to. But there are some recent albums I like listening to, usually while I’m doing something non-music related such as travelling, writing or working with graphics, but the kind of music I listen to for pleasure is pretty much unrelated to the kind of music we produce. I can honestly say I don’t think that any of those albums inspire me musically – well, certainly not consciously anyway.

For Chris & Cosey’s latest project they involved Nik Colk Void of Factory Floor.

The three of them did one gig together as Carter Tutti Void.

Any inspirational pioneers when you started playing with Throbbing Gristle?

Cosey: I don’t ever think of albums, films, people as ‘inspirational’. It’s more that I sense, see, read or hear something that triggers an idea which may have nothing to do with the source that evoked it. And usually it’s not one single thing either. It’s all about life, people, actions and reactions rather than anything specifically ‘inspirational’. I could say some of the bands around the time of TG triggered the anti-musical aspects but it was so many factors – political, personal, curiosity, a love and hunger for the unknown.

‘I do feel like I’m surrounded by a current wave of “abstract” music, but I think it’s more to do with finding interest in imperfections as opposed to high production and regurgitating something that is already out there. Like the Haxan Cloak for instance. I like to hear records with atmosphere. Bobby Krlic certainly gave me this with his use of ritual bells and cello strings. And Holly Herndon – I’m always interested in the connection of the body and the instrument.

When I play my instruments it’s based around extended technique. Where I use bows, and sticks, contact mics to make my samples etc, Holly merges the human body with digital technology.’

(2012)

The show was recorded and released as Transverse; one of the most exciting albums of last year. Needless to say we wanted to pick Nik’s brain as well. We posed her the same questions. This is what she said:

‘I feel like it’s the beginnings of something new – I’m very interested in seeing where it goes.’

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The Abstract Issue

Darkstar

Soon after London trio Darkstar signed to influential electronic label Warp Records, they stowed away to the rolling Yorkshire countryside to record their new album News From Nowhere. The time away appears to have had a profound impact, because they’ve returned with a refreshingly lush new sound, leaving behind the cold synth-pop of their 2010 debut North in favor of a much more breezy layering of crazing melodic samples, playful harmonies and subtle percussion. In anticipation of their upcoming European tour we spoke with beatmakers Aiden Whalley and James Buttery.

3 way Skype conversation by Brenda Bosma.

Images by Dieter Durinck

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Presuming a darkstar is something like a wormhole, what kind of stuff would get sucked into it?

Clocks and clockworks. We used samples of ticking sounds throughout the album. What else? iPhones and iPhone chargers!

What about abstract stuff ?

If we can put in the space we were in when we wrote the album, we’d throw that in. The vastness, the silence, the green, the nature. Yeah, basically just those countryside vibes.

You were in a cottage in the middle of nowhere. How did the time pass out there?

It was pretty uneventful. You kind of had to amuse yourself. We played Mega Jump on the iPhone a lot.

What’s the news from nowhere?

The title is from a book by William Morris. We were looking for a title that reflected clockwork sounds and intricacies and our producer suggested this book. We wanted to capture the little in-between moments with this album. That’s the news from nowhere: the stuff you wouldn’t actually take much interest in. After being exposed to the hecticness of London, it takes you a minute to adjust after you’ve been in a peaceful surrounding like we were. You start looking at things maybe the way you used to as

Features

a child. That does not really happen in the city. There’s an eternal distraction there.

In your press kit it says: ‘This is a totally different record to North. It’s somewhat brighter in mood, but deeper in feeling and intention… it’s much more rhythmic and fluid. It moves quicker.’ From and to what does it move?

We just meant that in a rhythmic way. There are more intricacies within the tracks, it’s more percussive and melodic, more floaty textures. It has a wider spectrum. The first record was purposefully concise; for this one, we allowed ourselves to travel a bit more, kept it more open.

Was there a specific reason to leave the mood of North behind?

We didn’t think we could go back into that type of thing and take it further. Our own amusement and entertainment were the main factors for leaving that behind.

You were bored with it?

Yeah, basically. There’s no point in doing it for someone else.

What was the attraction in the first place?

Because we got bored of the other thing. That’s it. [Laughs] Also, it’s about curiosity. We like to experiment and explore new things after every album.

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Darkstar

‘A lot of bands are experimenting with electronic elements. I think you should judge the output rather than the method though’

Quite a lot of bands seem to be exploring abstract sounding, more linear soundscapes at the moment. Do you think you’re part of a new avant-garde?

From our perspective we can’t really say we’re part of something. There isn’t really a sense of community here in the UK. But I do get what you mean: a lot of bands are experimenting with electronic elements. I think you should judge the output rather than the method though. We like to experiment with the sonics that we’re using. It’s almost natural to us now.

It’s probably also one of the things we shouldn’t change now.

If we focus on the lyrics, what’s the most concrete thing James is singing about?

It varies, but it touches the feeling of being in that open space.

What about the song ‘ You Don’t Need a Weatherman’? Why don’t you need one?

Because it’s obvious. You just have to take an umbrella with you.

That track specifically is about a compass you’ve got inside of you. You’re Page 34

always drawn to home.

Where’s home for you?

When we were recording the album it was really blurred. Even now it’s still unsure. All of us, apart from James, have got quite a lot going on in London – like girlfriends and such – but we’ve been a little bit in between.

When do you think you’ll settle?

It won’t be for a while: we go on tour next week. We enjoy touring. The early mornings are a bitch, though.

What kind of surroundings do you prefer to be in?

It’s good to know those moments you see when you’re in a peaceful environment, but at the same time, the options you’ve got in London, you can’t really beat that. I guess we’ll keep travelling between those worlds.

Darkstar play on 19 February at Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ in Amsterdam. The show is organised in collaboration with The Rest is Noise and entrance is free for Subbacultcha! members.

The Abstract Issue

Features

Page 35

Art

Featured artist

Fleur van Dodewaard

Photographer Fleur van Dodewaard (1983) lives and works in Amsterdam. Her highly conceptual semi-abstract work is smart, witty and crisp. Van Dodewaard’s images seem like studies for the abstract deduction of reality but at the same time are unique autonomous works with great individual strength.

The photos printed on these pages are from Van Dodewaard’s most recent series, Sculptures Economiques. Its 25 images originate from one ‘mother image’ which is adapted 25 times according to a strict scheme of colour and shape. The work is on display at the Subbacultcha! project space starting 15 February.

Exhibition: Fleur van Dodewaard - Sculptures Economiques. 15 February-06 March. Mon-Fri 11.00-17.00, Subbacultcha! HQ, Da Costakade 150, Amsterdam. Opening 15 February. RSVP only

www.fleurvandodewaard.com Page 36

Art

Page 37

Art

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Featured Artist

Fleur van Dodewaard

Art

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Music Reviews

New releases worth your while

Unknown Mortal Orchestra II

By Carly Blair

Ducktails The Flower Lane (Domino)

( Jagjaguwar)

Ruben Nielson, a sheepish Kiwi now living in Portland, Oregon, spent most of the 2000s making punk music with his brother in the band Mint Chicks. In 2010 he posted a solo track on Bandcamp on a whim. The track was ‘Ffunny Ffriends’, a nifty little psych-pop ditty with an indelible hook that ffunilly enough was embraced by the world at large, inspiring Nielson to start lo-fi psych project Unknown Mortal Orchestra. His subsequent self-produced, self-titled 2011 debut was beloved by the blogosphere and beyond. Now a trio dropping a highly anticipated follow-up, UMO is hardly an orchestra and hardly unknown. II is, however, mortal in the best of ways: vocally vulnerable, humble in composition and production, wonderfully warm, and welcoming.

Page 40

Real Estate guitarist Matthew Mondanile’s Ducktails side project started out solo and sounding pretty chillwavey but has gradually become poppier and more refined. His fourth fulllength was written collaboratively with Big Troubles and features Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin, Joel Ford of Ford & Lopatin/Airbird, Madeline Follin of Cults, members of Big Troubles, Real Estate’s Martin Courtney, and others. Given all the additional personnel, it’s unsurprising that The Flower Lane is more varied than his earlier work. Although the guitar wizardry listeners can always count on Mondanile to deliver is on display here, the overall vibe is so loungey and slick, I wonder if he’s sneaked a peek into the playbook of fellow former chillwaver, Toro y Moi.

Jacco Gardner Cabinet of Curiosities (Trouble in Mind)

Music Reviews

Foxygen We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic ( Jagjaguwar)

Jacco Gardner is a multi-instrumentalist who weaves together harpsichord, strings, flutes and other classical instruments to produce psychedelic pop reminiscent of ’60s legends like the Zombies. Appropriate, in a way, since it seems like it’s been 50 years since a Dutch artist has received so much international attention. Though he’s been known to don a Mad Hatter hat, listening to his debut album, Cabinet of Curiosities, is more like taking a trip down a wormhole than a rabbit hole. Recorded on authentic ’60s analogue gear with Jan Audier, who worked with original Dutch psych bands like Golden Earring(s), everything about the album is firmly fixed in a bygone era. Though this doesn’t make for the most original listen, the exquisite execution does yield some highly palatable paisley pop.

Foxygen founders Jonathan Rado and Sam France have been making music together since 2005, when they were (as they put it) just ‘high school kids obsessed with the Brian Jonestown Massacre’ and heavily influenced by ’60s psychedelia. They selfreleased several CDRs before working up the nerve to give a demo to musician/producer Richard Swift after seeing him perform in 2011. Swift swiftly agreed to record what would become their proper debut, as well as the brand new We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic. This bombastically titled sophomore effort represents an even more impressively precocious, surprisingly self-assured and spirited Kinks-tinged romp whose tracks would fit nicely on a Wes Anderson soundtrack.

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Music Reviews

continued

Widowspeak Almanac

Darkstar News From Nowhere

This Brooklyn band’s 2011 debut garnered them a lot of comparisons to various druggy ’90s bands. Singer Molly Hamilton’s sedate vocals in particular recall Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval, but Robert Thomas’s jangly guitar lines helped make it more stimulating than a mere homage to their opiate source material. The inspiration for their follow-up was the then-impending apocalypse, and although it retains traces of doomsday imagery and dread, Almanac certainly doesn’t sound like mankind was meant to perish without ever hearing it. Rather, it resembles its namesake, an annual publication noting the timing of regular but subtly shifting celestial phenomena in the coming year: reflecting a fatalistic acceptance of the cyclical nature of life, well-rounded, and a definite progression from their earlier work.

After getting signed by Warp, London trio Darkstar headed to the countryside to record their new album. Sequestering themselves from London’s incessant bustle led to a major shift away from the danceable synth-pop of their debut. When Warp made the finished product available to stream last month, it was accompanied by the message, ‘Listen to the new Darkstar album in full.

Take your time, immerse yourself. For this reason, skipping tracks is disabled.’ They have a point. News From Nowhere is filled with vast, darkly atmospheric interstices punctuated by points of brightness, and taking in a night sky is far more enjoyable than simply staring at the sun. I can’t quite get over how much it evokes Feels-era Animal Collective, but if you’re going to pick something to crib, you could hardly do better.

(Captured Tracks)

Page 42

(Warp)

dominorecordco.com

99 Problems and the Bitch... knows the anwser

By Brenda Bosma Illustration by Martyn F Overweel

A Nordic music and lifestyle expedition LARS AND THE HANDS OF LIGHT, PHANTOM, JOHAN GLANS, NELSON CAN, HIGHASAKITE, DANIEL NORGREN, BOTTLED IN ENGL AND, THE ECLECTIC MONIKER, ANE TROLLE, LYDMOR, BYE BYE BICYCLE, PET TER CARLSEN, THE MALPRACTICE, STEINAR RAKNES, BURNING HEARTS, FILMS (O.A. BREAKING GROUND), BREIWORKSHOP

ZATERDAG 2 MAART 2013

NUTRECHT

OPEN: 14:00u / VOORVERKOOP: € 29,00

NOR DIC DE L IGH T.NL NORDIC DELIGHT FESTIVAL IS MEDE MOGELIJK GEMAAKT DOOR

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By Gert Verbeek and Basje Boer

Film

New films and DVDs

Passion

The Imposter

Sure, Brian De Palma has made plenty of straightforward crime classics like The Untouchables and Scarface, but I’ve always liked his kitschy, quasi-erotic, Hitchcock-inspired psychothrillers best. Those who are with me will surely enjoy De Palma’s latest, a Eurotrashy neonoir offering about two female frenemies. Isabelle, a shy but talented young woman working in advertising, and Christine, Isabelle’s cold-hearted bitch of a boss, go from friends to rivals in a plot that illustrates every cliché a man might have about women. And no matter how many smartphones and Skype conversations De Palma put in his script, it only takes one saxophone solo to reveal that this is a ’90s movie at heart. And that makes me love it all the more.

(BB) In theatres 21 February.

For Frenchman Frédéric Bourdin, aka The Chameleon, lying is like breathing. The Imposter tells the true story of his most spectacular lie. Stranded in Spain, he pretends to be one Nicholas Barclay, a Texan teenager reported missing three years before. Prior to meeting Barclay’s family, Bourdin realises he’s too old to pass for the schoolboy and doesn’t share any physical resemblance. To his amazement, the family embraces him like their long-lost son, no questions asked. Brit director Layton’s documentary exposes the mechanics of the pathological liar. Although the reenactments make this look like a high-octane fantasy thriller, it is far from being fictional. Bourdin is a dangerous phenomenon – and he knows it. (GV) Out now on DVD (Import) and in theatres 28 February.

Brian De Palma, 2012

Bart Layton, 2012

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Books

Page 46

Illustration by Viktor Hachmang

By Marc van der Holst

How to read...

Books

Kurt Vonnegut American satirist Kurt Vonnegut graded all his own books in his 1981 collection of essays, short stories, letters and so on, Palm Sunday (itself earning a solid ‘C’, which seems about right).

According to the man himself, Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat’s Cradle, both graded ‘A+’, are his best. I’ve never been all that keen on S5 myself. Don’t ask me why: of course it’s totally great and all, but I prefer CC, which I must have read at least three times (compared to just once for S5).

It’s a very easy read – as are almost all of Vonnegut’s books.

A laugh-out-loud funny book about the bomb, the arms race and technology, CC perhaps most memorably introduces the fictional post-modern religion Bokononism, which is made up out of untruths (foma) that Bokononists nevertheless must believe and adhere to in order to achieve peace of mind, and perhaps live a good life. So yeah: basically it’s a lot like most non-fictional religions, only in-

tentionally funny and perhaps a little more nihilistic.

The Sirens of Titan (‘A’) is also really good, featuring a Martian invasion of Earth, lots of space travel and this guy who quite literally knows everything (a true omniscient narrator if ever there was one). Rumour has it Vonnegut wrote this one in a single night. The writing does have a nice, loose feel to it.

As has Slapstick, for which I’ve got a special fondness myself (Vonnegut didn’t, giving it a ‘D’).

Written after his sister’s death, it is probably his saddest, bleakest book, about a pair of hideously ugly twins. Some sort of weird meditation on loneliness, with no real structure and written in a free, associative style, it has two of my favourite of Vonnegut’s lines: ‘So why don’t you take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut?

Why don’t you take a flying fuck at the moooooooooooon?’ and a really good slogan: ‘Lonesome no more!’ Yes pls. K thx bye.

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Fashion

€15 outfit

By Mandy Sharabani

Every month we give €15 to someone to compose a complete outfit for a good night out. Yes, quite a challenge.

With Jacco Gardner’s baroque-pop record Cabinet of Curiosities soon to be released, we decided to make him this month’s style influence for 28-year-old art gallery project manager and vintage lover Joëlla Schippert.

Girl! Lovin’ the outfit! Tell me how it all began.

I’ve lived in Amsterdam for about nine years now and I like knowing the ins and outs of vintage shopping here. I was very confident starting my search.

You seem to have some interesting layers going on...

I began with a bustier top.

The rest I got at Waterlooplein flea market, where I know some of the vendors. So with a little charm and a wink, I got the red jacket (which I wrapped around my waist for extra volume) and black lace dress for €5!

Whoa! Crazy earrings by the way.

What’s the story?

I peeked at my boyfriend’s Christmas tree, saw these decorations and made them into fancy earrings.

Imagine you were going on a date with Jacco. What would he need to wear to complement your outfit?

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I could see him wearing red trousers, but other than that, all black: black shirt, black blazer, some shiny black shoes and a black hat [like he wears on the cover of his single Clear The Air].

Would you wear it it to his show?

Oh yes, but I’ll need some space to dance around in this outfit. I’ll be shakin’ my hips and jumping around like crazy!

Bustier Top €9.50 The End, Amsterdam Red jacket + Lace dress Flirted for a deal: €5 Waterlooplein, Amsterdam

Wanna go shopping for a €15 outfit? Please send an email to fashion@subbacultcha.nl.

Photos by Isolde Woudstra

Fashion

€15 Outfit

Joëlla Schippert (28) dressing up to go see Jacco Gardner on 08 February at dB’s, Utrecht.

Budget spent: €14.50 Page 49

Food

Cooking with...

Herrek

Your debut album is called Waktu Dulu, which means ‘before’ in Indonesian. What are your childhood memories of living in Indonesia?

I lived in Papua from the age of two to nine. My father worked there as a missionary, we lived in a tiny village called Kaisah that had no more than 300 people.

The memories I have from that period have been untouched by all my other experiences; they exist in a separate part of my brain, which is why I wanted to base my music on them. They are feelings that I cannot describe in words, so I just try to make music about them instead. When you are a child you don’t judge the world around you, you just take it as your reality and I think that’s beautiful.

Is there any Indonesian food in particular that you miss and can’t get in Europe?

Tropical fruit that you can just pick off a tree! Sometimes I also miss the way the people there consumed food. In the village where I lived, people ate a lot of meat; they would hunt for their food. At the time I also Page 50

By Zofia Ciechowska

ate a lot of meat, whereas now I am vegetarian because I can’t stand the way meat is farmed and killed in the West. There you only took what you needed. They hunted deer because there were so many of them and otherwise they would eat all their vegetables, so in a way they completed a circle, the hunting was very much in harmony with nature.

You know how some TV chefs and foodies will be all annoying about Southeast Asian street food and serve it up on pretty white plates?

What’s it really like?

Well, it’s a lot of rice and fish in Papua. They eat a lot of smoked meat too. Right after hunting you’ll eat fresh meat, but afterwards you salt and smoke it to preserve it for later. Also, they eat these pancakes made out of sago, which comes from palm trees. They also eat this food called papeda at parties, which is made out of big white larvae living inside the sago palm trees and some sago flour. It’s a white gluey porridge that you eat with fish, it’s very strange but also very cool.

Food

Photo by Carlijn Potma

Herrek’s Sago Pancakes

1 Sago palm tree • Find a locally growing sago palm tree and cut it down when it starts flowering.

• Pound the trunk till its pulp comes out. This is called sago.

• Make some sago flour from this pulp by grinding the pulp and

Some water washing it with water from a river.

• When your sago flour is ready, you can make some pancakes out of it by frying it in some hot oil over a fire.

• Eat the pancakes with some freshly caught tropical fish.

Herrek play on 16 February at De Nieuwe Anita in Amsterdam and on 21 February at WORM in Rotterdam. Both shows are free for Subbacultcha! members.

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Horoscope pisces

20 Feb–20 March

You get your wisdom teeth pulled. The tooth fairy appears.

You get three wishes. You wish for peace on Earth, good health for all your loved ones and an iPad mini.

Only one of them comes true.

Aries

21 March­–20 April

Whereas some of us keep smacking ourselves on the head for not clutching on to our mother’s vagina during birth, you enjoy fearless treks into the unknown. This month you are a shining source of energy and dynamism: every day holds nothing but possibilities for you.

Taurus

21 April–21 May

They say good ideas have many fathers. Unfortunately, you feel like a fatherless bad idea.

Whose idea was this? The phone rings. It’s your mother. ‘Fine, Mom,’ you reply with a lump in your throat.

GEMINI

22 May–21 June

February’s your favourite month. You call it Fabruary. Nobody notices the ever-so-slight difference in pronunciation, though.

And everybody ignores you anyway, because you walk around with Page 52

By Brenda Bosma

a smirking smile on your face all month. Thank God this isn’t a leap year.

Cancer

22 June–22 July

You start a band. A boygirl band. You call yourselves The Hermits. You make the most beautiful music ever, but it will never leave the rehearsal room. You like the rehearsal room. It feels like home. You are finally there.

Leo

23 July–22 Aug

You hold in a fart. Why not just let it slip? Even your insides smell of orchids in bloom after an Indian summer in a green valley. Come on, don’t give me that false modesty now.

VIRGO

23 Aug–22 Sept

Winter’s a bitch. You don’t see any light at the end of the snow tunnel. It’s just another snow tunnel. And another one. An endless slew of snow tunnels. Wait for spring, Virgini! The theory of probability tells us it will, uhm, probably come. Theoretically.

libra

23 Sept–22 Oct

Everywhere you go you take the weather with you. Bad, bad

Illustrations by Kathrin Klingner

weather. Rain, sleet and snow. Your friends stop inviting you over for candlelit dinners. By the end of winter you’ll have become a goth.

SCORPIO

Horoscope

Aquarius

21 January–19 February

23 Oct–21 Nov

Being home alone watching reruns of Alf makes you start to feel like an alienated fat pig.

You decide to crash land in the garage of a suburban middle-class family. You feel like at last you belong.

Sagittarius

This is your age. And this is your month. You believe in love again, but a modern one. Modern love will get you to the church on time. The church being the Apple store where you will meet the love of your life. Unfortunately, he/she turns out to be a PC person. And life is too short for Windows. You return home capricorn alone with a beautiful Apple 22 Dec–20 Jan How could life ever be product. You feel slightly sad, but a picnic when you can’t even taste you have no regrets. You registhe difference between a sweet cher- ter your beautiful Apple prodry and a baguette filled with a mushy uct. You log into your OkCupid turd? account. You have one new message. This is your month. This is your age.

22 Nov–21 Dec

Great minds think alike. But small minds do, too. You and your fellow pea-brained friends have lots of giggly fun watching kitten videos on the internet, which you call the interwebs. Your chats consist of sheer emoticons. This month, yet again, only crazy happy ones.

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Agenda

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Shows in February

Agenda On the following pages:

Subbacultcha! concerts and films totally free for members Page 56

Other shows Page 64 Free tickets Page 76

This semi-abstract ‘portrait’ of Trust was shot by Suzanna Zak in Los Angeles, USA. Trust plays on 06 February in TROUW, Amsterdam. The show is free for Subbacultcha! members.

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

Tamaryn + Pien Feith

05 February - Tivoli Spiegelbar, Utrecht 19.30 | €7 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

This San Francisco-based duo’s 2010 debut album rightfully drew comparisons to shoegaze and otherwise druggy-sounding bands like My Bloody Valentine, the Cocteau Twins and Mazzy Star, and their sophomore effort, 2012’s Tender New Signs, finds them further carving out their own niche within the nugaze movement. With soothing vocals, sumptuous blankets of reverb and narcotic pacing, Tamaryn craft songs so deliciously dreamy you’ll hit ‘replay’ as though it were the snooze button. Opener Pien Feith will showcase the kind of romantic electronic pop you can expect to hear on her upcoming album.

Sightseers (film)

05 February - LantarenVenster, Rotterdam Two screenings | €9 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

Ascendant British director Ben Wheatley’s take on the romantic getaway.

Scripted by lead actors Steve Oram and Alice Lowe, the film follows the couple as they journey through the British midlands on a caravan holiday, with working-class malcontent Chris eager to expose his sheltered new girlfriend Tina to his world. What starts off as a countryside tour of bizarre heritage sites, however, quickly spins out of control. Before long Chris and his new squeeze are on a murderous rampage.

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

Trust + Lemontrip

06 February - Trouw, Amsterdam 20.30 | €10 | Free for Subbacultcha! members With Crystal Castles, Austra and now Trust, Toronto seems to have cornered the market on crossover-capable gothy synth pop. The latter duo of Robert Alfons and Austra drummer Maya Postepski avoid the aggression and operatic indulgences of their fellow Torontonians, favouring a brand of ’80s-channelling dance music that is incontrovertibly introverted and gloriously gloomy. Just because their debut full-length, TRST, which came out last year, leaves the ‘U’ out, doesn’t mean you should feel left out: it goes as well with a druggy dance floor as it does with moping on your own.

Jacco Gardner

08 February - dB’s, Utrecht 21.00 | €7| Free for Subbacultcha! members

Jacco Gardner weaves harpsichord, strings, flutes and other classical instruments with raw psychedelic effects to produce classic-sounding and highly palatable paisley pop. His debut album is called Cabinet of Curiosities, and he’s been known to don a Mad Hatter hat, so you’d probably be wise to bring along your Alice in Wonderland blotter paper in preparation for a trip down the rabbit hole. Although the album is not officially released until the 12th of February, you can get your vinyl copy at this show.

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

Hundebiss Showcase ft. Stargate + Dracula Lewis + Primitive Art 13 February - OCCII, Amsterdam 20.30 | €7 | Free for Subbacultcha! members 15 February - Koffie5Euro, Rotterdam 20.30 | €7 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

Hundebiss is an Italian DIY experimental music label founded by Dracula Lewis (aka Simone Trabucchi). For the past few years they’ve been releasing meticulously crafted, elaborately packaged limited-edition records – and, often, cassettes – by artists including James Ferraro, Hype Williams, Sewn Leather, JAWS and many more. Featuring performances by Dracula Lewis himself, Stargate (a new project by Presto!? Rec and Burgerdreams owner Lorenzo Senni) and Milan duo Primitive Art, this latest Hundebiss showcase offers a glimpse into the label’s unsettling but strangely beautiful universe.

Cosmonauts

15 February - AreaFiftyOne, Eindhoven 21.30 | €8 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

Normally, if we recommend one of a thousand bands from the same place playing the same type of music, you’d cringe – and rightfully so. But not when we’re talkin’ about yet another psychedelic garage band from California, right? Good, because these kids know how to rock the fuck out.

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

Dignan Porch + Herrek

16 February - De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam 20.00 | €7 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

Dignan Porch’s first record, 2010’s Tendrils, was performed and recorded by singer Joe Walsh alone. Now a five-piece band, the reinvented Dignan Porch just released their first album together last summer, the reassuringly titled Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen (on Captured Tracks). These guys wear their ’90s influences on their flannelled sleeves, but imbue them with enough youthful optimism and odd touches to transform them into easygoing and highly hummable fuzzy pop songs. Rotterdam’s Herrek will get the ball rolling with hypnotic and exotic dark folk tunes.

Darkstar + Lumisokea

19 February - Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, Amsterdam 20.30 | €10 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

Soon after London trio Darkstar signed to influential electronic label Warp Records, they stowed away to the rolling Yorkshire countryside to record their new album. The time away appears to have had a profound impact, because they’ve returned with a refreshingly lush new sound, leaving behind the cold synth-pop of their 2010 debut North in favour of a much more breezy layering of crazing melodic samples, playful harmonies and subtle percussion. Their new album, News From Nowhere, will be released by Warp Records on the 5th of February.

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

Dead Ghosts

20 February - AreaFiftyOne, Eindhoven 20.00 | €8 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

If you love garage and live anywhere near Eindhoven, then you’re one lucky bastard this month: just five days after the late-night Cosmonauts/Stilletos/Traumahelikopter show, this Vancouver four-piece will summon you back to the skate park with their jangly, Black Lips-channelling garage rock.

Herrek (CD release show) + Eklin + Fabulous Diamonds 21 February - WORM, Rotterdam 20.30 | €7 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

Long a fixture in the Dutch underground, Groninger Gerrit van der Scheer cut his teeth as the frontman of Bonne Aparte and the guitarist for Adept before forming Herrek as a more lyrically-focused project. “Herrek” was Gerrit’s nickname growing up in Indonesia. Musically, the band is purportedly inspired by bands incorporating tribal and mystical influences, such as Gang Gang Dance, Liars and Animal Collective, so it seems fitting that he incorporates memories of the jungle landscape and mysticism he encountered in Indonesia into the lyrics of debut album Waktu Dulu. Opening performances by the always-interesting Eklin and hypnotic Aussie duo Fabulous Diamonds should lull the audience into an appropriately contemplative state of mind.

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Shows in September

Agenda

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

1991: The Year Punk Broke (film) 22 February - Melkweg Cinema, Amsterdam 23.00 | €7 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

In August of 1991, pioneering noise-punk band Sonic Youth was on the verge of commercial success. With a major label deal and widespread underground acclaim, they were set to break into the mainstream. Together with a handful of other up-and-coming bands – Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr., Mudhoney, Babes in Toyland and Gumball – Sonic Youth embarked on an infamous two-week summer festival tour of Europe that exposed them and Nirvana to some of the largest audiences they’d ever seen. 1991: The Year Punk Broke is a collection of documentary Super 8 footage filmmaker Dave Markey shot that summer. After almost two decades of legal haranguing, the film finally saw its DVD release on its 20th anniversary in 2011.

Doldrums

23 February - De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam 20.00 | €8 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

Toronto’s Airick Woodhead’s panicky, androgynous vocals and choppedup samples teeter on the edge of electro-hallucinogenic freak-outs before accessible pop melodies pull them safely back to the real world. His fulllength debut, A Lesser Evil, is out on Arbutus/Souterrain Transmissions this month.

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Agenda

Shows in February

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

Foam Photography Museum

Open daily 10.00-18.00, Thur and Fri until 21.00 €8.50 | Free for Subbacultcha! members Foam is always free for members, and through late March there are several new exhibitions on display: the first major solo exhibition of Dutch duo WassinkLundgren; Jan Hoek’s photos of bizarre models (and the even more bizarre stories behind the pictures); the work of Toneelgroep Amsterdam scenographer/house photographer Jan Versweyveld (celebrating the theatre group’s 25th anniversary); plus a diverse selection of 19th-century Russian colour photography, from hand-tinted plates to mass-produced prints.

TENT

Open Tue-Sun 11.00-18.00 €4 | Free for Subbacultcha! members

Visiting this Rotterdam platform for contemporary art is free for members in February. On the seventh, a new solo show by Rotterdam- and Berlin-based artists Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson will open. The duo’s work examines the influence of socio-economic and political factors on the surrounding world in the form of installations, video works and neon sculptures, all produced over the last ten years.

Fleur van Dodewaard

15 February - 8 March- Subbacultcha HQ Open Mon-Fri 11.00-18.00 Free

This month’s featured artist Fleur van Dodewaard will be showing her most recent (and never exhibited) work Sculptures Economiques at the Subbacultcha! headquarters. We’re thrilled to be premiering a selection of this conceptual series by one of Holland’s rising photographers. Twenty-five images that originate from one ‘mother image’ adapted 25 times according to a strict scheme of colour and shape. See page 36 for a preview.

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Agenda

Focus

STRP BIENNIAL Named after its location – Strijp-S, a former industrial area in Eindhoven now home to legions of young creatives – the STRP Biennial is a mash-up of hybrid music, art and technology. If STRP’s handson, high-tech, sexy robots and flashy lasers don’t move you, the live soundtrack of the best in international dance and dubstep certainly will.

01-10 March - Strijp-S (Klokgebouw), Eindhoven City of Cyborgs A cast of international artists participate in this interactive exhibition where man and machine fuse into tactile social beings. Featured artists include Radiohead video director Johnny Hardstaff, Prometheus special FX wizard Gustav Hoegen, Marguerite Humeau’s opera for prehistoric animals soundtracked by Jameszoo and more.

Hudson Mohawke, SBTRKT and Apparat DJ sets Will they go sample crazy on throwaway 80s soul or the hardcorest of hip-hop?

Maybe they will even remix the live performers at STRP, such as Modeselektor, Lunice and Mala.

Marshmallow Laser Feast With their cosmic laser shows this London stage art crew continually crosses over from underground to elite, from Oneohtrix Point Never to Saatchi & Saatchi. Check their epic Meet Your Creator clip on YouTube for a taste of what to expect.

Ryoji Ikeda The Japanese contemporary electronic music pioneer presents his latest show, Superposition, inspired by quantum mechanics.

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Martyn Internationally renowned dubstep innovator Martyn returns to his native of Eindhoven for an immersive multimedia live set featuring visuals by Dutch street artist Erosie and French filmmaker Xavier Magot, who has previously collaborated with Sebastian and Flying Lotus.

The New Machine Era One gigantic factory hall will become one gigantic, wacky chain reaction of machines, each built by its own team of artists, ICT students, craftsmen and other DIY fanatics.

Petite Noir Petite Noir is a lo-fi, experimental project by IAMWAVES (Yannick Ilunga), a Brusselsborn singer-songwriter of Congolese/Angolan descent. Melodic African elements shimmer in his contemporary soundscapes, which Ilunga describes as ‘noir wave’.

Holy Other With his dark and haunting grooves, Manchester based Holy Other is truly one of our favourite artists on the prolific Tri-Angle label.

More info: www.strp.nl

by Marinus de Ruiter

Agenda

Holy Other

Ryoji Ikeda

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Agenda

Shows in February

Iceage plays Grauzone Festival in Melkweg

Social Sound

The Ruby Suns

Until 16 Feb - Blokhuispoort, Leeuwarden If you’re reading this, you probably enjoy hanging out with friends while listening to music, but have you ever given any deeper thought to the social function of music?

This series focuses on just that, with multidisciplinary performances that are certain to break the ice in the audience, housed in the previously anti-social setting of a former prison, the Blokhuispoort.

02 Feb - Paradiso, Amsterdam New Zealand’s Ruby Suns released three albums filled with weird, eclectic pop before founder Ryan McPhun and his longtime girlfriend and bandmate split in 2010 and McPhun went on an extended holiday in Norway. The new Ruby Suns album, Christopher, was lyrically inspired by the breakup and musically inspired by glossy Scandinavian synth pop.

Grauzone Festival ft. Echo & the Bunnymen + Iceage + Chameleons Vox 01 Feb - Melkweg New wave emerged alongside punk as a reaction to the over-produced, uninspired popular music of the early ’70s, but gradually came to refer to bands more interested in experimentation, lyrical complexity and polished production. Given the current corporate cultural milieu, it’s no surprise that the genre has seen a resurgence in recent years. This new multimedia festival links classic new-wave bands with contemporary artists who embrace the genre’s original anarchic ethos.

Jacco Gardner 02 Feb - Manifesto, Hoorn 08 Feb - dB’s, Utrecht 09 Feb - Merleyn, Nijmegen 16 Feb - De Supermarkt, The Hague 18 Feb - 013, Tilburg Dutch native Jacco Gardner weaves harpsichord, strings and other classical instruments with raw psychedelic effects. Read more on page 57.

Metz 04 Feb - Paradiso, Amsterdam 05 Feb - Merleyn, Nijmegen Something like a spindly teenager transPage 67

Agenda

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Shows in February

Agenda

Shows in February

formed into a beefcake by hundreds of hours and thousands of repetitions at the gym, since their 2007 live debut this Toronto power trio has slowly but deliberately shaped its sound into the muscular post-hardcore flexed on its self-titled 2012 debut. Following in the footsteps of aggressive predecessors like The Jesus Lizard, Metz was impressive enough in its own right to muscle its way on to more than a few ‘Best of 2012’ lists.

Tamaryn 04 Feb - Paradiso, Amsterdam 05 Feb - Tivoli, Utrecht This San Francisco-based duo uses soothing vocals, sumptuous blankets of reverb and narcotic pacing to craft deliciously dreamy nugaze. Read more on page 56.

Foxygen 06 Feb - Bitterzoet, Amsterdam Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado and Sam France have been making music together since 2005, when they were (as they put it) just ‘high school kids obsessed with the Brian Jonestown Massacre’. Eventually they worked up the nerve to give a demo to musician/producer Richard Swift after seeing him perform, and Swift swiftly agreed to record what would become their proper debut, as well as the brand new We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic, an impressively precocious, surprisingly self-assured and spirited Kinks-tinged romp whose tracks would fit nicely on a Wes Anderson soundtrack.

Trust 06 Feb - Trouw de Verdieping, Amsterdam This Toronto duo makes gothy synth-pop that goes as well with a druggy dance floor as it does with moping on your own. Read more on page 57.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra 07 Feb - Paradiso, Amsterdam Ruban Nielson, a sheepish Kiwi, spent most of the early 2000s making punk music with his brother Kody in the band Mint Chicks, before starting his solo lo-fi psych project Unknown Mortal Orchestra. The band’s self-produced self-titled 2011 debut was beloved by the blogosphere and beyond, and the new album, II, should help build even more momentum by taking a more ambitious approach than Unknown Mortal Orchestra without sacrificing the scruffy sweetness that made that release so loveable.

Dinosaur Jr. 08 Feb - Paradiso, Amsterdam This legendary indie-rock band have had plenty of ups and downs during their 30year history, including the onstage fist fight between founding members J Mascis and Lou Barlow that resulted in Barlow getting the boot. After retiring the band name in 1997 and recording a few solo albums, Mascis and Barlow reunited in 2005 and have since release three solid albums of new material, most recently 2012’s I Bet on Sky.

Winter Sleaze (via Sleazefest) ft. Traumahelikopter + Vox Von Braun + White Mystery 09 Feb - Club Lite, Amsterdam This all-day garage rock party, brought to you by the sleazebags who organise Sleazefest, promises to leave you beer splattered and sweaty even in the dead of winter. The line-up features Grunnen garage-rock gods Traumahelikopter, whose performances are so mosh pit-inducing you might actually want to have emergency services on standby; fellow Groningers Vox Von Braun, touring behind their wellPage 69

14 februari IN DE BIOSCOOP

Agenda

Shows in February

Ducktails

Herrek

received new album, Rich and On Wheels; brother-sister garage duo White Mystery, and more.

Salif Keita 10 Feb - Paradiso, Amsterdam This Malian world music superstar, often called the ‘Golden Voice of Africa’, was ostracised as a child by his community because he’s an albino, considered bad luck in his native Mandinka culture. He took solace in music and rose to fame within Africa before moving to Paris and gaining an international audience. His work mixes traditional West African influences with European and American musical styles like jazz and pop.

Gallon Drunk 12 Feb - dB’s, Utrecht With a name like Gallon Drunk, you might reasonably expect this English band to specialise in sleazy swamp rock – and rightly so. They released a few albums and toured with Morrissey before frontman James Johnston started focusing on playing with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Last year’s The Road Gets Darker From Here was their first album in five years, and found them sounding as intoxicating as ever.

Hundebiss Showcase ft. Stargate + Dracula Lewis + Primitive Art 13 February - OCCII, Amsterdam 15 February - Koffie5euro, Rotterdam Vernasca, Italy-based Hundebiss Records is a DIY experimental music label founded by Dracula Lewis, aka Simone Trabucchi. This showcase offers a glimpse into the label’s dark but strangely beautiful universe. Read more on page 58.

Cosmonauts 15 Feb - AreaFiftyOne, Eindhoven 16 Feb - Patronaat, Haarlem (Free) 17 Feb - OCCII, Amsterdam Loud psychedelic garage rockers from California. Read more on page 58.

Herrek 16 Feb - De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam 17 Feb - Vera, Groningen 18 Feb - 013, Tilburg 21 Feb - WORM, Rotterdam Dutch underground veteran Gerrit van der Scheer cut his teeth fronting Bonne Aparte and as the guitarist for Adept before forming Herrek as a more lyrically-focused, folkbased project. Read more on page 60.

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Shows in February

BINNENKORT O.A. VR01FEB

DO21FEB

VR 01FEB

VR22FEB

LIVE: KID MACHINE + DRVG CVLTVRE

O.A. DAUWD

D A V ID BAZAN PLAY S P E D R O THE LION

030303 ACID EDITION

PISSING IN THE WIND

VR 01MRT

VR08FEB

BRIGHT

O.A. GEORGE FITZGERALD + CALICO

TAPED

ZA02MRT

VR15FEB

O P KIKKER

DAN DEACON

O.A. E I N M U S I K + M A L B E TRIEB

ADRIAN CROWLEY + BROEDER DIELEMAN

VOLLEDIG PROGRAMMA & TIJDEN:

POPPODIUM EKKO | BEMUURDE WEERD WZ 3 | 3513 BH UTRECHT | WWW.EKKO.NL

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Agenda

Shows in February

Dignan Porch 16 Feb - De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam 17 Feb - Vera, Groningen 18 Feb - 013, Tilburg - Incubated London’s Dignan Porch wear their ’90s influences on their flannelled sleeves, but imbue them with enough youthful optimism and odd touches to transform them into highly hummable, fuzzy pop songs. Read more on page 59.

Ducktails 17 Feb - Paradiso, Amsterdam 18 Feb - Merleyn, Nijmegen Real Estate guitarist Matthew Mondanile’s Ducktails project started out solo and sounding pretty chillwavey, but has gradually become poppier and more refined. His new album features Daniel Lopatin and Joel Ford of Ford & Lopatin, Madeline Follin of Cults, Real Estate’s Martin Courtney, and more. Given all the additional personnel, it’s unsurprising that The Flower Lane is more varied than his earlier work, with a loungey vibe reminiscent of the recent work of fellow former chillwaver, Toro y Moi.

Darkstar 19 Feb - Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, Amsterdam Newly signed to Warp, this London trio’s upcoming second album is their lushest work yet, featuring breezy layers of crazing melodic samples, playful harmonies and subtle percussion. Soothingly abstract.

Read more on page 59. And read an interview on page 32.

Dan Deacon 19 Feb - Rotown, Rotterdam 21 Feb - EKKO, Utrecht Dan Deacon got a graduate degree in electroacoustic and computer music composi-

tion before moving to the fertile Baltimore music scene, where he and some college friends founded the Wham City arts collective. Deacon is as adept at composing Steve Reich-channelling contemporary classical music as multi-coloured, spastic 8-bit symphonies to God, and his latest album, America, represents the most seamless fusion of his classical and electronic work yet.

His highly interactive live shows are the stuff of legend.

Dead Ghosts 20 Feb - AreaFiftyOne, Eindhoven Vancouver four-piece playing jangly, Black Lips-channelling garage rock. Read more on page 60.

John Cale 20 Feb - Tivoli, Utrecht 21 Feb - Mezz, Breda 22 Feb - De Oosterpoort, Groningen This legendary Welsh musician probably needs no introduction since he co-founded The Velvet Underground, but you might not know that he released his 15th full-length and first in seven years in late 2012, the curious and curiously titled Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood.

Sonic Acts Festival 21 Feb - Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 22 Feb - Paradiso, Amsterdam 23 Feb - Paradiso, Amsterdam 24 Feb - NASA, Amsterdam This biannual festival focuses on contemporary and historical developments at the intersections of art, technology, music and science. This year’s edition, aptly entitled The Dark Universe, will seek the unknown through adventurous art, highly sensual installations and mysterious and mind-bending music. We advise you to go down and expect to be surprised.

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Agenda

Shows in February

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A P N E A RODRIGO SOBARZO 13 T/M 16 FEBRUARI / 20:30 Het Veem Theater première tijdens A Taste of Something Raw in De Brakke Grond, Amsterdam.

In deze nieuwe voorstelling van Rodrigo Sobarzo wordt een atmosferische ruimte gecreëerd waarbij zowel het fysieke als het mentale in een ‘uitgestelde’ staat van zijn verkeren; in een suspens zoals we dat kennen van de onderwater wereld. Een Het Veem Theater productie in co-productie met Dance4 Nottingham en Workspacebrussels.

Voor informatie en reserveringen: www.brakkegrond.nl Het Veem Theater Van Diemenstraat 410, Amsterdam www.hetveemtheater.nl Page 74

Agenda

Shows in February

Aquaponics Workshop

Friska Viljor

22 Feb - Mediamatic Fabriek, Amsterdam

27 Feb - Vera, Groningen 28 Feb - Bitterzoet, Amsterdam

Aquaponics describes a sustainable, recirculating ecosystem for food production comprised of fish, microorganisms and vegetables growing in vertically stacked tanks, wherein the fish feed the plants and the plants clean the water the fish swim in. Mediamatic is organising workshops in their new location in the Van Gendthallen where you can learn more and help them build a new aquaponics system.

1991: The Year Punk Broke (film) 22 Feb - Melkweg Cinema, Amsterdam Dave Markey’s film documents life on the road with Sonic Youth and Nirvana during their 1991 European tour. Read more on page 61.

Doldrums 23 Feb - De Nieuwe Anita Toronto’s Eric Woodhead’s panicky, androgynous vocals and chopped-up samples teeter on the edge of electro-hallucinogenic freak-outs before accessible pop melodies pull them safely back to the real world.

Read more on page 61.

Esben and the Witch 23 Feb - Tivoli, Utrecht This Brighton ‘nightmare pop’ trio, formed in 2008, take their name from a Danish fairy tale about a boy who outsmarts a witch to save his brothers. Their 2011 debut used the kind of dark imagery and brooding atmospherics lapped up by those apocalypsefixated Brits to reap loads of accolades from the UK press. Their new album, Wash the Sins Not Only the Face, should offer fans of neo-gothic rock in the vein of Zola Jesus and Warpaint plenty to enjoy.

Composing music while drunk could lead a band to two very different outcomes: maudlin, sloppy, nonsensical bullshit, or raucous and uninhibited outbursts of joy. Swedish indie rockers Friska Viljor may or may not have stuck to their early pledge to never compose music while sober, but in any case their music tends to fall in the latter category. Obey their command and line their pockets by watching them perform tracks from their new album, Remember Our Name.

Crosslinx 2013 ft. The Dodos + Patrick Watson + Nils Frahm + Hauschka 28 Feb - Vredenburg, Utrecht 01 Mar - Muziekgebouw, Eindhoven 02 Mar - Paradiso, Amsterdam 03 Mar - De Doelen, Rotterdam 04 Mar - Oosterpoort, Groningen As you might guess from its name if you thought about it long enough, this openminded and innovative festival crisscrosses the Netherlands over the course of a few days, linking together musical genres and avant-garde artists ranging from indie rock to classical music, often via special collaborative performances you won’t see anywhere else. The festival also organises mini concerts in odd little locations such as boiler rooms and cellars to showcase upcoming musicians via its Music Mining initiative.

STRP Festival 01-10 March - Klokgebouw, Eindhoven Ten days of hybrid music, art and technology for curious people, featuring DJ sets

by SBTRKT, Hudson Mohawke, Lunice, Apparat and many more; a New Machine Era ‘proeftuin’; and a City of Cyborgs exhibition.

Read more on page 64.

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Free Stuff

Free tickets and goodies

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

2x2 Tickets winter sleaze festival

2x2 tickets ducktails

3x2 tickets Dan deacon

09 February Club Lite, Amsterdam

18 February Merleyn, Nijmegen

21 February EKKO, Utrecht

2x2 Tickets sonic acts

3x2 Tickets cross-linx

3x2 TICKETS STRP BIENNAL

21-24 February Various Locations, Amsterdam

28 February - 4 March Utrecht, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Groningen, Eindhoven

1-10 March Klokgebouw, Eindhoven

We’re also giving away free tickets to Metz, Jacco Gardner, Gallon Drunk, Dignan Porch and FIDLAR Page 76

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 Esther Rubianes.

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Overview of all Subbacultcha! shows in February

05 February

Tamaryn + Pien Feith

Tivoli Spiegelbar, Utrecht 19.30 | €7 | Free for members

05 February

Sightseers (film)

LantarenVenster, Rotterdam Two screenings | €9 | Free for members

06 February

Trust + Lemontrip

Trouw de Verdieping, Amsterdam 20.30 | €10 | Free for members

08 February

Jacco Gardner

dB’s, Utrecht 21.00 | €7 | Free for members

13 February

Hundebiss Showcase

ft. Stargate + Dracula Lewis + Primitive Art OCCII, Amsterdam 20.30 | €7 | Free for members

15 February

Hundebiss Showcase

ft. Stargate + Dracula Lewis + Primitive Art Koffie5Euro, Rotterdam 20.30 | €6 | Free for members

16 February

Dignan Porch + Herrek

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

19 February

Darkstar + Lumisokea

Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, Amsterdam 20.30 | €10 | Free for members

20 February

Dead Ghosts

AreaFiftyOne, Eindhoven 20.00 | €8 | Free for members

21 February

Herrek

(CD release show) + Eklin + Fabulous Diamonds WORM, Rotterdam 20.30 | €7 | Free for members

22 February

1991: The Year Punk Broke

Melkweg Cinema, Amsterdam 23.00 | €7 | Free for members

23 February

Doldrums

De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam 20.00 | €8 | Free for members

25 February

Cosmonauts

AreaFiftyOne, Eindhoven 21.30 | €8 | Free for members

All Month

Foam

Open daily 10.00-18.00, Thur and Fri until 21.00 €8.50 | Free for members

TENT Rotterdam

Open Tue-Sun 11.00-18.00 €4 | Free for members

Fleur van Dodewaard

Subbacultcha! HQ 15 Feb - 06 Mar Open Mon-Fri 11.00-17.00 | Free for all

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

de nIeuwste fIlm van bernardo bertoluccI naar het gelIJKnamIge boeK van nIccolò ammanItI

[IK en JIJ]

va n a f 7 f e b r u a r I I n d e f I l m t h e at e r s ! www.cinemien.nl