By Sofia Ciechowska Illustration bi Basje Boer
Unruly Music Magazine September 2012
Food
What’s Cooking
The Best Before: Issue
Dan Deacon, Dent May, Telepathe
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ALBUM OUT NOW
The Best Before: Issue
This is an image by Marijn van Kreij, this month’s featured artist (page 34). But this image was not placed here because it is art or because it is beautiful. It is placed here because it is the perfect illustration of what this issue is about: staying power. When a song is released it is bright red. Vibrant and fully saturated. Then time kicks in; and even though the stroke is still strong and it is the same hand that’s making it, the paint doesn’t stick as well. It fades. We forget. But then, if we look beyond the last centimetre of the line... and beyond, we see the whole thing, the complete picture. And we realise that if a song is strong enough to alow us to incorporate time in its valuation, we can see beyond that last memory of faded red and see that it is actually one beautiful painting. From its beginning until now.
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Content
The Best Before: Issue
Dan Deacon
Dent May
Page 18
Page 28
Telepathe
Agenda
Page 24
Page 53
TOP 5 NEW MUSIC WE SAW YOU DAN DEACON TELEPATHE DENT MAY FEATURED ARTIST REVIEWS FILM
10 13 16 18 24 28 34 38 43
BOOKS FASHION FOOD HOROSCOPE AGENDA SUBBACULTCHA SHOWS OTHER SHOWS FREE STUFF AFTER MIDNIGHT
44 46 48 50 53 55 62 76 77
If you are reading this any time after 30 September 2012, put it away! This issue has expired. These shows have all come and gone; these bands are yesterday’s news. ’Cause everything expires. And these days it all expires just a little bit faster than before. Especially when it comes to music. I mean, be honest, do you remember what you were listing to, say, two months ago? Three months? A year? Well it’s about time we get to the bottom of this, before our internal hard drives end up being nothing more then a 1000TB trash folder. There’s gotta be something in there that’s worth saving, right? Enjoy! Page 6
in september o.a.
EYE Filmcafé in VPRO’s De Avonden Vanuit de EYE-Arena: o.a. acteur Jeroen Willems
Nicholas Ray: De gouden jaren filmprogramma
Turkish Beat
Nieuwe Turkse films van jonge makers
The Story of Film: An Odyssey
Filmgeschiedenis op het grote doek: v.a. 13 september
E*Cinema Academy
Flux Films, Dada Cinema, performances en muziek
Info & tickets: www.eyefilm.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 Interns: Bram Nigten and Eden van den Bogaard Good Girl: Loes Verputten Good Guys: Keimpe Koldijk, Michiel Klein and Bauke Karel Printing: Drukkerij Gewa, Arendonk, Belgium Contributors: Desiré van den Berg, Carly Blair, Basje Boer, Koen van Bommel, Brenda Bosma, Leon Caren, Zofia Ciechowska, Bobby Doherty, Viktor Hachmang, Marc van der Holst, Kathrin Klingner, Andrew Laumann, Glynnis McDaris, Bas Morsch, Carlijn Potma, Marinus de Ruiter, Christopher Schreck, Mandy Sharabani, Gert Verbeek and Isolde Woudstra. Distribution: Amsterdam: De Flyerman, Tessel Dekker, Elizabeth Prins, 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 Den Haag: Leroy Verbeet Rotterdam: Nahry Dougarem, Lukas Dikker, Ilse van der Spoel Leeuwarden: Jan Pier Brands Leiden: Milou Laan Haarlem: Yannick Tinbergen, Bert Zaremba Nijmegen Arno de Vreng 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, 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: The retro Nikes of Dan Deacon photographed by Andrew Lauman Page 8
And we are kindly provided by
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Top 5
1
Last month at our office
Party: Pictureplane @ Meneer Malasch
If dancing like a lunatic in the dark sweaty basement of an art gallery, while the temperature is rising, the beats keep getting louder and the drinks are cheap and plentiful is your thing, then this sure was one of those do-not-miss type of evenings. If you missed it, don’t worry. We’ll do it again some time.
2
Music: Spilt Milk - Carnet De Voyage
We are self-indulgent enough to say that this heavy 10” slap of milky white vinyl we are releasing is truly an amazing album. And that’s all there is to it!
3
Film: Holy Motors
Smart, spiritual, screamingly beautiful, intense, funny, unsettling, wise, puzzling, larger than life and referring to nothing but itself. Art.
4
Music: Summer Mixtape
On repeat at the office: ‘The House that Heaven Built’ (Japandroids), ‘Sod The Seed’ (Why?), ‘Twenty Two, Twenty Two’ (Street Gnar), ‘Best Friends’ (Dent May), ‘Only in My Dreams’ (Ariel Pink), ‘Compass Points’ (Rzca/Lines), ‘Human’ (DIIV), ‘Sleepwalker’ (Moon Duo)... Make it an Indian summer, baby!
5
Wining and Dining: Café Cook, ( James Cookstraat 2, Amsterdam)
After a warm summer’s day spent sipping beers in Erasmus park, we strolled towards Mercatorplein, making a stop at Café Cook for a nice dinner on their gorgeous terras. Summer in Amsterdam: need we say more?
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w w w.sae.edu
By Zofia Ciechowska
This month’s recommendations
New Music
Sasha Go Hard
www.twitter.com/SASHA_DARAPPER
Sasha Go Hard’s raps are the hottest thing to blast from the speakers of your gold-plated Blackberry at the back of the bus. Alternatively, you’re encouraged to pump them from your Ford Fiesta with platinum rims, ensuring that you make your neighbours’ windows jitter madly. Fresh like a cut from the up-and-coming Chicago rap scene, G Hard’s lyrics are unapologetically curt but catchy, beats cracking like a whip. There’s no nonsense with this girl with all her pouting, posing, hitting up the mall and hanging out in fast-food joints. Who the fuck is Azealia Banks again?
Sawi Lieu
www.soundcloud.com/wahana Sawi Lieu is a young Indonesian dude who makes extremely unusual but extremely beautiful synth music. It’s drone-y, it’s noisy and it’s dreamy. Hey, I’m almost tempted to call it a ‘punk version of new-age music’ or ‘Fuck Buttons on Quaaludes’. But just for the record, I’m not saying either of those things. Although I can’t deny it, there’s something about Lieu’s lush, blissful synth epics that does make me wanna get my meditation on. Close your eyes... Imagine you’re on a beach... Relax... You get me. Page 13
New Music
continued
Supreme Cuts
www.soundcloud.com/supremecuts Chicago producer duo Supreme Cuts, or separately known as Mike Perry and Austin Keultjes, dropped their LP Whispers in the Dark on Dovecote Records this summer and it’s sending us some deep, heavy vibezzzzz. The guys say you can even make up your own lyrics to it if you fancy (we might do that after a few beers and a swig of cough syrup) but for the moment we’re just going to bask in the supersonic drum loops and muscled bass of this trippy R&B hip-hop cauldron of bubbling beats. Think Clams Casino but in hypnotised double vision. Supreme Cuts have also teamed up with rapper-on-the-rise Haleek Maul. Be sure to check out their lovechild Chrome Lips, as well.
Rick Rab
www.soundcloud.com/rick-rab
I don’t know what the hell is wrong with Baltimore, but for some reason everything that comes from there always seems to sound like it has just teleported into my ears from an alternate universe. Like many of that city’s residents, Rick Rab, aka DJ Rick Rab, aka Nick Rivetti, produces utterly unique and totally insane musical art. In Rick Rab’s case, Baltimore’s infectious madness manifests itself in the form of squelchy, disjointed and deeply deranged club music. Sorta like a more hyperactive version of CoLa, or a more abstract version of some of Matthewdavid’s stuff. Okay, enough stupid comparisons. Just listen. Page 14
New Music
Howse
howsez.bandcamp.com
I would imagine Tri Angle Records’ Nathaniel Oak would wash down a kilogramme of Skittles with at least three cans of Red Bull while jumping on a pogo-stick before mixing his hyperactive rhythms, which just never seem to stop jittering and jolting. Howse’s music pumps with layered orgasmic gasps and ambient ravey beats that seem to be pounding from a faraway jungle and not Providence, Rhode Island. By the way things sound, I would even say that he can melt vinyl with his laser-ray vision. His Lay Hollow EP came out earlier this year. Check it out.
Ana Caprix
www.soundcloud.com/caprix It’s been a while since this column strayed into the ambient moody ghostlike realm of the post-witch house offshoot genre, but I’m taking a leap of faith with Ana Caprix, otherwise known as Tom Ensom from London, and his trippy spacey internet-y mixes. Tired of having to listen to the constant screaming of your parent/boyfriend/girlfriend/ child/neighbour? Pull out your earplugs and give this man’s music a shot with its dark, soft waves of immersive synth and cosmic glow. ‘Control’ is probably his best track, but I have a good hunch that there are more to come very, very soon. Page 15
We Saw You
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Spotted at Subbacultcha
Photo by DesirĂŠ van den Berg
What is your favourite song at the moment and for how long will it stay your favourite song? That would be ‘Bennington’ by John Maus. But not for long I hope, since the latter has been dominating my top lists for ages now. The balance is lost.
Timo van Barneveld, spotted at the Pictureplane show in Meneer Malasch in Amsterdam on 10 August 2012
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Features
The Best Before: Issue
Dan Deacon
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Features
Nowadays busy bee Dan Deacon plays on and off with a whole ensemble, he’s made a filmscore for a Francis Ford Coppola film and just released his newest album America on Domino. The electronic wizard spoke of the relevance of the audience, holograms and the expiration date of raw milk. Don’t be surprised if you leave a Dan Deacon show with a milk moustache. One that doesn’t come off. Interview by Brenda Bosma Photos shot on film by Andrew Laumann in Baltimore, USA
The phrase ‘pasta poo time’ stuck with me after watching your new video for ‘True Thrush’. Is junk food important to you? That was just from making the video. But no, I eat healthy nowadays, though I love your ‘hagelslag’! You can give your audience a celebratory shower of sprinkles next time you’re here! Of course that won’t work if the audience stands there with their arms crossed. About that. Is the audience the secret chord on your keyboard or more like a rice grain in a percussion egg? They aren’t like any other instrument. The success of the perfor-
mance is just as rooted in the audience as it is in the performers. A band can perform amazingly, but if the audience is terrible the show will be terrible and vice versa. I like to interact with the audience and set up situations that couldn’t exist without one. I like to focus on what the performance is about and put that inside of the audience so they become spectator, participant and creator. Having that influence, and then seeing the audience react, that’s the biggest reward. And what’s the gift you are unwrapping? It’s not just plain fun is it? I think the goal is to make peoPage 19
Features
Dan Deacon
‘I’m an entertainer, I’m in show business. If you don’t care what other people think, why are you playing for other people?’ ple feel without inhibition. When they don’t, nothing would be embarrassing. Also I like to bounce back and forth between the individual and the collective and show how both of those things are important. Like grand gestures of warmth, maybe even love? Both those things are cool with me. [laughs] It’s as if you’re a TV presenter of a game show or a magician creating experiences. Does this insult you? No, it’s an unusual show, of course people are gonna perceive it in a wide variety of ways. There’s no wrong way. Why is audience participation so important to you? I just like it. It’s fun. If you have a room full of people and you get a chance to create a situation that would Page 20
otherwise never exist, it would be foolish not to do it. Are you a pleaser? Well, ultimately I’m an entertainer, I’m in show business. If you don’t care what other people think, why are you playing for other people? To counter that, I’m not making music to try to satisfy people’s checklist, but I am happy when people like what I do. Sometimes people tell me my music is comforting and helps them to get through. Not only an entertainer, but also a healer! I do occasionally burn some white sage before a show to rid the venue of bad energy. Will you ever bend spoons during a show? That never works when I practice
The Best Before: Issue
Features
‘I’d be raw milk in a bottle, highly perishable, but also extra nice and creamy. Just how I like it.’ it at home. Hypnotise people? That’s just so fucking creepy. What do you think of holograms? I bought a hologram of an owl in Amsterdam once! They can do tricks with their head. I’m sure they think we are creepy. Will you ever use a hologram in your show? I don’t think I’d force a dead person to perform with me. No duet with Biggie? I’d rather project a volcano erupting in the back. But vulcanoes don’t rap. That’s okay. I play a lot of Biggie on my iTunes, especially ‘Hypnotize’, but it’s dwarved by the song ‘Tequila’ by the Champs which I must have kept on repeat one day for ages. 1210 plays?!
What’s your top played album? ‘Harvest’ by Neil Young. Timeless. If you were a carton of milk what would be the expiration date? I wouldn’t be in a carton. I’d be raw milk in a bottle, highly perishable, but also extra nice and creamy. Just how I like it. Marlon Brando says in Apocalypse Now: ‘ You’re an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill.’ Who are these clerks do you think? I hope I don’t have these clerks. So you won’t know the price on the bill? I am the bill! Will you send Mr Coppola a holiday postcard with your face on it? I keep in better touch with Val Kilmer. I’d probably write something that he couldn’t find on Google. To make it more timeless. Page 21
Features
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The Best Before: Issue
Dan Deacon
Features
Dan Deacon plays on 22 September at Area51 in Eindhoven. The show is free for Subbacultcha! members. Other live dates: 23/09 - Bitterzoet, Amsterdam. Page 23
Features
Telepathe
After a three-year spell, Brooklyn-based electronic pop duo Telepathe are about to release their long-awaited second album. We caught up with Busy Gangnes right before their European tour and talked about Miami dance music, musical expiration dates and taking inspiration from short attention spans. Interview by Basje Boer Photos shot by Bobby Doherty in New York, USA
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The Best Before: Issue
How would you describe your taste in music? Very eclectic. I tend to lean towards non-mainstream music and underground music. I like classical music, I like hip hop music. When I was a teenager I feel like you had to define yourself into a subculture. If you liked punk, that was all you liked. But now my taste in music’s pretty eclectic – and Melissa would probably say the same thing. We share that. Do you take inspiration from all those different genres? Yes. Consciously or subconsciously, when we make songs, we go through a catalogue of music that we’re interested in. Or we get really focused. For our latest record we decided to specifically draw from the freestyle genre of music. You know, Miami dance music. We started making our beats on a 707, which is the drum machine that they use. What music are you listening to right now? I’ve been listening to some R&B. And also cold wave, French wave music. Actually, that was a side influence when we were making this last album. We will listen to that together and kind of get inspired by it, as a band. You actually meet up to listen to music? Yeah. Over the years that’s been
Features
the main reason for spending time together. It’s how we hang out, you know. So the music you’re listening to right now – will you still be listening to it in, say, six months? The cold wave stuff is kind of a trend in New York right now, amongst our friends and our extended community. There are some club nights surrounding it that are fun to go to. But, I mean, R&B music for example, that’s been pretty consistent for me since I was in high school. As for music that’s coming out right now, I’m really into Blood Orange. That’s a friend of ours, Dev. His new stuff is really influenced by Prince. Awesome. What makes an album stand the test of time? If it sounds inspired and consistent. If there’s some kind of underlying theme or energy to the songs. Also, if there’s something imperfect about it... Hmm, maybe I’m getting too abstract here. I feel like an album should take you on a journey, from start to finish, as you’re listening to it. Do you think there’s an expiration date on your music? At the time we made our first album we wanted it to sound very of the times, you know? We were listening to a lot of mainstream hip hop Page 25
Features
Telepathe
‘People have a really short attention span these days when it comes to accessing music and getting into music. It inspires me.’ and radio-style synth sounds. We get lumped into the Brooklyn scene a lot. We wanted to separate ourselves from that, but on the other hand we also wanted to represent it. But yeah, it was our specific intention to have it sound like nothing else and that in a few years it would still sound fresh, not like it was part of one scene that... expired, I guess you could say. But who knows, maybe I’ll listen back in a few years and just think it sounds like everything else I was listening to at the time. [Laughs] Is it your aim to make a classic album? You know, if it had the potential to be classic, that would be amazing. But it’s really time-consuming and hard to craft a consistent body of work. We spent a lot of time and effort on the two albums we made so far. I also like the idea of making a song and putting it on the internet. For a week people get really into it and then they forget about it. [Laughs] People have a really short attention span these days when it comes to accessing music and getting into music. It inspires me. Page 26
How does the second album compare to the first one? I think it still sounds like us. If we’ve created a signature sound, then we’ve continued that. But some of the beats are more straightforward. We did that intentionally; we wanted it to be less of a headphones experience and more of a dance-floor experience. So in a way it’s a little bit more simplified than the stuff we made before. We both like really complex rhythms so it wasn’t that easy to do that, you know, to make stuff more four-tothe-floor. But we wanted to try it. Have you tried it out live yet? Yeah, we’ve played live four times with our new material. We just played last night in Williamsburg. And were people dancing to it? Actually, it wasn’t really a club setting. But yeah, they were moving to the music. Telepathe play on 13 September at OT301 in Amsterdam. The show is free for Subbacultcha! members.
The Best Before: Issue
Features
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The Best Before: Issue
Dent May
Dent May is known for his amazing ukelele skills, his witty songs and his suave vocal performances. He also listens to R Kelly and plans on making a futuristic R&B album, as soon as he figures out how to do it. ’Cause according to Dent it’s all about combining the past, the present and the future into one thing that no one’s heard yet. ‘I never want to be one of those grouchy record nerds bitching that music isn’t what it used to be.’ Interview by Koen van Bommel Photos shot by Glynnis McDaris at Dent’s home in Oxford, Mississipi, USA
Hi Dent! We’re talking about the ‘best before date’ in music. What’s the best time to consume music? Any time is best to consume music, but the time of day does dictate what I’m listening to. I wake up to songs that pump me up for the day, then I fall asleep to calm ambient music. Page 28
Do you listen to the same stuff over and over, or are you done with an album after a few listens? I’m trying to discover new stuff every day, but there’s tons of albums that I’ve played hundreds if not thousands of times. Then there’s albums like Brandy’s debut from 1994. That was one of the first CDs I ever
Features
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Dent May
‘It’s been a big thing with my own music. I realise that a lot of my stuff sounds kind of retro, but that’s something I want to get away from.’ bought. A few days ago I sort of rediscovered it on Spotify. It’s been on pretty much all week. What’s the latest thing you’ve discovered? Not necessarily 2012 new. It’s usually something from the past that I hadn’t gotten around to checking out. There’s actually this guy James Taylor, not the famous one, a different guy. He put out a private-press synth boogie funk LP called No Way Out in the ’80s. He’s actually from Mississippi, where I’m from, so that’s exciting. I’m always looking for weird stuff from down here, because most people think of the blues, which isn’t really my thing. I like a lot of homemade pop music, but I also like expensive pop music that time sort of forgot. Like this album called Cheers 2 U by Playa. It was produced by Timbaland in the late ’90s. I guess it was kinda big at the time, but I didn’t know about it. Would you say that older music has a more timeless quality than some of the new stuff that’s coming out? Page 30
Actually, no. I always think the coolest shit is in the present and in the future. I never want to be one of those grouchy record nerds bitching that music isn’t what it used to be. The most interesting sounds to me are those that haven’t been made yet. I listen to a ton of current music too, especially rap and R&B and dance music. It’s been a big thing with my own music. I realise that a lot of my stuff sounds kind of retro, but that’s something I want to get away from. As a songwriter and producer I feel like I’m just exploring the possibilities of music, and I have a long way to go. Your next album will be a futuristic R&B record? I’d like to hear that. I definitely want to push things in that direction, but who knows how it will turn out. I’d like to buy some contemporary keyboards and workstations, rather than use vintage synths on the next album. But I do want to use real instruments; pianos, guitars, horns and whatnot. The truth is, I don’t really know how to make futuristic-sounding
The Best Before: Issue
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Dent May
R&B music at the moment. I’m just doing things the best I can. I try to turn my critical thinking brain off, search inside myself and naturally channel my interests, my emotions, my influences... And just see what happens. Would you rather collaborate with someone like Drake, or a veteran player like R Kelly? R Kelly is a personal hero, so he might be at the top of my list. I really want to work with some current producers like Hit-Boy or Danja, but I Page 32
don’t have any money to spend on it. Doing everything myself just makes the most sense at the moment, but a boy can dream. Have you heard R Kelly’s new album? Not yet, but I was disappointed to learn that his ‘Love Letter Cruise’ was cancelled. I would love to have been on that boat if the plans had worked out. Something else, the press release of your latest album said something about it being Pet Sounds for the Smirnoff Ice Generation. Do you like Smirnoff Ice?
The Best Before: Issue
I don’t care for the way it tastes, but I did enjoy that one summer when everyone was ‘icing’ each other. I guess that phrase, ‘Pet Sounds for the Smirnoff Ice Generation’, kind of describes what I was talking about. I want to combine the past, the present and the future into one thing that no one’s heard yet, but still taps into those basic human emotions like Brian Wilson was able to do. And have a lot of fun while I’m doing it. There’s also a song called ‘Fun’ on the album. What do you think is funny?
Features
The funniest thing I’ve seen this week is Hedo Rick (youtu.be/YV tEX1J7tXQ). It’s an old one, but I watch it often to remind me what’s important in life. Wow. He sure can dance. Can you dance like that? Yes. Dent May plays on 08 September at MC Theater in Amsterdam and on 09 September at dB’s in Utrecht. Both shows are free for Subbacultcha! members. Other live dates: 11/09 - Merleyn, Nijmegen. Page 33
Art
Featured artist
Marijn van Kreij
Artist Marijn van Kreij (1978) lives and works in Amsterdam. He uses a range of media, including drawing, sculpture and video. Van Kreij’s pieces often borrow lyrics from pop songs or re-visit historical works of art. Central to his work is a unique process of appropriation, repetition and copying. Whether Van Kreij is hand copying his seemingly absent-minded doodles or creating handdrawn patterns with perfect imperfection, through all his sensitive and seemingly effortless works shimmer calculated systems and a very strong identity. Upcoming exhibition: Riffs and Variations, Galerie Paul Andriesse, Amsterdam (solo exhibition). Opening: 8 september 2012, 17.00. Until 14 October.
marijnvankreij.nl
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Art
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Featured artist
Marijn van Kreij
Art
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Music Reviews
New releases worth your while
By Carly Blair
Animal Collective Centipede Hz
Dan Deacon America
While preparing the follow-up to their landmark 2009 album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, vocalist Panda Bear says, ‘We were throwing around the idea that there could be this alien band hearing bits of sound coming from the Earth, and then thinking about what sounds an alien band would make.’ In realising this concept on Centipede Hz, Avey Tare and Panda Bear take on the role of the alien vocalists, their joyous harmonies imposing some extraterrestrial sense of order to scrambled and smashed sounds lovingly collected from the ether. Every time I hear a new Animal Collective album, my brain has to relearn how to experience music, and Centipede Hz affirms that like the universe to which their music is transmitted, the lessons Animal Collective have to teach my ears are seemingly infinite.
Equally adept at composing Steve Reich-channelling contemporary classical music as multicoloured, spastic 8-bit symphonies to God, Baltimore’s Dan Deacon certainly has to be one of the most fun musicians to ever play Carnegie Hall. In the face of socio-economic turmoil in the US, he set out to make an album contemplating the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave as it stands today. America, in all its chaotic beauty and furore, represents not only the most seamless fusion of his classical and electronic work, but also a redemptive and pretty magnificent tribute to the flawed grandeur of the American landscape and to the power of people united in their quest for a more perfect union.
(Domino)
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(Domino)
Music Reviews
Matthew Dear Beams
Wild Nothing Nocturne
Matthew Dear is a man of many facets: founder of Ghostly International, DJ and producer/performer under no less than four distinct aliases. Dear has said, ‘I’m about four to five different people at any given time. By allowing all of those different personalities to exist... the most pure and direct self can come through in the music.’ This statement serves as a perfect reference when approaching his fourth full-length. Ranging from funk to driving dance punk to thoughtful meditations, it could easily be the work of four to five different people. But rather than coming off as schizophrenic, Beams acts as a sort of prism through which one person’s myriad self is refracted into a varied and delightful rainbow of ideas, moods and desires.
Jack Tatum’s 2010 debut, Gemini, was very well received in spite of being heavily indebted to C-86 bands, partly because of the timeliness of Tatum’s nostalgia, but more importantly because of his preternatural gift for memorable melodies. A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night, and the collection of nocturnal transmissions on his sophomore album is dreamy indeed. Tatum has said that this album represents ‘what pop music would be in my ideal world’, and since in practice that means timelesssounding pop filled with graceful guitar melodies, Tatum’s is a world I’m glad to occupy, if only for the length of an album.
(Ghostly International)
(Captured Tracks)
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Music Reviews
continued
Teen In Limbo (Carpark)
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti Mature Themes (4AD)
Brooklyn’s Teeny Lieberson left her main gig with Here We Go Magic to form Teen along with her sisters Katherine and Lizzy and their longtime friend Jane Herships. There’s a glut of all-girl groups out there, most channeling Phil Spector groups like the Ronettes, but while Teen do draw inspiration from the ’60s it’s more in the form of psychedelia; take production by Spacemen3’s Sonic Boom as evidence. When these ladies get into a hypnotic, uptempo groove, the results can be pretty spectacular. In Limbo has some pimples, but Teen are precocious enough to have me wondering what kind of band they’ll grow up into.
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Ariel Pink’s 2010 breakout album, Before Today, possessed many of the bizarre elements that earned him a devoted cult following in the first place, but was cleanly produced and accessible enough to introduce his music to a much broader audience. Mature Themes doesn’t present too big a departure, although the songwriting process was apparently more collaborative than ever this time around. Maybe Pink slipped the sonic equivalent of GHB into my ears with Before Today in preparation for this moment; I find myself feeling oblivious to the smug irony that irritated me with his previous work. Or maybe Mature Themes is simply the best thing he’s done yet. Try asking me again tomorrow morning.
OUT NOW ON SUBBACULTCHA!
SPILT MILK - CARNET DE VOYAGE
By Gert Verbeek and Basje Boer
Film
New films and DVDs
Laurence Anyways
Mondomanila
I can never believe the balls on Xavier Dolan. Despite his disturbingly young age (he was born in 1989), this Canadian filmmaker has directed three (three!) critically acclaimed, highly praised, award-winning and festival-travelling films. Besides, these movies are actually good. They’re both modern and timeless, delightfully dramatic and as pretty as lipstickcoloured petits fours. Dolan’s third film, Laurence Anyways, is an epic love story featuring an awesomely cool lady called Fred (Fred!) and her boyfriend Laurence, who comes out to her as a transsexual. We follow the couple’s struggle throughout the Nineties, a journey paved with cool music and lush visuals. Like I said, ballsy. (BB) In theatres 20 September
Mondomanila comes straight from the sewers of the Philippine capital, drenched in mud and bodily fluids. Director Khavn digs deep into the city slums to portray the lives of Tony D and his teenage delinquent friends, a bunch of deranged, rat-eating misfits. Some are toothless or limbless; all of them are penniless and motivated by an insatiable sex drive. Stylistically Mondomanila goes all over the place, from hiphop video to theatrical histrionics, karaoke song to revenge story, alternating between gritty black-and-white and sugar-cane colours. Eager to shock and never to please, it’s Mondo Cane with a punk attitude and Los Olvidados remade in Troma style. Not for the easily offended. (GV) Out now on DVD
Xavier Dolan, 2012
Khavn, 2011
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Books
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Illustration by Viktor Hachmang
By Marc van der Holst
How to read...
Books
Philip K Dick Listen, none of this is real. We are living in a false reality. And there is no true reality. Also, drugs are cool. I know, because I’ve been through all of Philip K Dick’s books. Except that now I’m not sure if I actually read them or just dreamed about them or something. Perhaps the ultimate cult writer, Dick’s writing is estranging in the best way. The Man in the High Castle, for example, has the Germans winning the Second World War. Except that the book-withinthe-book, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, has the Allies winning it. In 1947, that is. I don’t know if that reality also has everybody consulting the I Ching all the time (and acting on its answers no matter what), but it sure is cool. Better still is the semi-autobiographical A Scanner Darkly. Set in a fictitious 1994 (which, because of all the hippie slang, feels a lot like the ‘true’ timeframe of the early ’70s), this is one hell of
a disorienting and, well, druggy story about drugs (‘Substance D’, or ‘Slow Death’), and has one of the most moving endings ever. Not to mention the afterword, which lists all the ‘real’ friends Dick lost to drugs... Still, I’d really like to get my hands on some ‘D’. So will you. I also dreamed, or hallucinated, or, I don’t know, something about something called Ubik (more alternate realities), The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (more drugs, this time ‘Can-D’), Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep? (you know, Blade Runner), some short stories, including Minority Report and We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (Total Recall)... I might still be dreaming, though. Somebody please pinch me. And then pinch me again. And again. And again.
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Fashion
€15 outfits
By Mandy Sharabani
Every month we give €15 to someone to compose a full outfit for a good night out. Yes, quite a challenge. This month trend-watching fashion blogger Renske Francissen was inspired by Telepathe for her 1980s all-over-crazy-prints and glitters outfit. Renske has her own vintage webshop named Morningbird. Isn’t that cheating? What do you think of the challenge? Super fun! Usually I shop for clothes around €1 or €2. What places did you go? All thrift stores around Amsterdam and Den Bosch.
Jacket Thrift store Amsterdam - €4.50 ‘I thought the polkadots were very modern.’ Leggings Action €2.59 ‘Actually, they were children’s leggings, but I customised them.’
How did you put the outfit together, inspired by danceable Telepathe? Bathing suit I was thinking 1980s aerobics: Thrift store Den Bosch - €2.25 colourful, sporty and comfort- ‘Matched perfectly with the legable, also I wanted it to be con- gings.’ temporary. I’m a fan of tattoos around people’s knees, therefore Heart stickers I placed the heart stickers there Hema €1.95 as decoration. It shows my love ‘My favourite fake tattoos.’ for the band. What is your best dance move? Bodyroll for sure, horizontally.
Glitter make-up Carnival store - €1.99
Wow, how flexible are you, on a Wanna go shopping for a €15 scale from 1 to 10? outfit? Please send an email to I would say an 8. fashion@subbacultcha.nl. Page 46
Photos by Isolde Woudstra
Fashion
â‚Ź15 Outfit
Renske Francissen (29) dressing up for Telepathe Budget spent: â‚Ź13.28 Page 47
Food
Cooking with...
By Zofia Ciechowska
Black Dice’s Bjorn Copeland Tell me about your eating habits. My wife and I always eat really simple stuff. The area we live in has a lot of Thai restaurants so we eat a load of rice and vegetables. We had a big chunk of time when the gas in our apartment was shut off. Picture my kitchen – there’s a small electric hot plate on top of the stove, a toaster, a microwave and one of those folding electric sandwich makers. We just made a lot of stir fries on the hot plate or we cracked eggs in the electric sandwich maker and made fried-egg sandwiches on leftover wheat bread from the local coffee shop with cheese and avocados and some arugula. That was a big staple of our diet for a while. Great for when you don’t have a lot of money... or gas. When Black Dice started touring around 1997, we read an article about these dudes who wrote a cookbook about cooking stuff while you’re driving and you just wrap all the ingredients in tin foil, Page 48
pack them in the car engine and they’re cooked when you get to your destination. Sometimes you have to be creative. So here’s a recipe for a nice hotplate stir fry. We have a big sack of Japanese sticky rice in the kitchen that we cook for this dish by the way. Rice is just the best. It reminds me of this time back in high school when I made this paper pulp for sculptures and I had so much of it I just starting throwing it out of the window of the studio on the fourth floor. Most of it just splattered on the ground and made these paper pancakes that cooked in the sun but sometimes it would hit a moving car and you could totally hear the pulp crease the roof. I kind of imagine rice could be similar. Black Dice play on 03 October at OT301 in Amsterdam. The show is free for Subbacultcha! members. You can also catch them live at the Incubate Festival.
Food
Photo by Carlijn Potma
Bjorn Copeland’s Hot-Plate Stir Fry
• Sauté some garlic and onions in an oiled wok on a cheap hot plate, or a fancy gas stove if you’re feeling eccentric. • Add some chopped-up tofu and fry until golden. • Add three chopped green onions, two handfuls of mushrooms from your local Asian shop, a handful of chopped carrots and a handful of chopped peppers. • Stir in some ready-made chilli paste and add a slug of rice vinegar, and some salt or some soy sauce to taste.
• Keep on cooking until the vegetables are coated in all the flavours, but don’t overcook them; a few minutes is all they need. Keep them crispy! • Make some peanut sauce with a bit of peanut butter, rice vinegar and oil mixed together. • Serve the vegetables on a plate of steamed sticky rice and top it off with the peanut sauce. • Do not throw out of the window.
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Horoscope LIBRA
23 Sept–22 Oct
You seek refuge in the fridge. You know you’re not a carton of milk, right? Not that you won’t expire eventually. It’s a fridge. It cannot help you in your quest for warmth.
SCORPIO
23 Oct–21 Nov
Your sexuality isn’t defined by big butts in hot pants any more. We think it is broke. Unfortunately it’s not a question of putting in some AAA batteries. Maybe you should start cuddling for a change?
SAGITTARIUS
22 Nov–21 Dec
You’re dancing like those waving canes in fifth-century Chinese poetry from the Song Dynasty. You are very very very dwunk.
CAPRICORN
22 Dec–20 Jan
Of course your turmoil doesn’t amuse us. Guess we thought you were approaching it with more sarcasm than this miserable kind of laughing at your own pain. No, we don’t think you are a sad clown at all. We love you, corndog!
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By Brenda Bosma
AQUARIUS
21 Jan-19 Feb
Life is temporary and so is the internet. You can tweet and ‘like’ all you want, but it’ll all fall into oblivion. Yes, we know: crazy shit.
PISCES
20 Feb–20 March
We worry and are scared shitless. We wonder why the cosmos can go on ignoring us like that. Are we not on its top priority list? Move your flippers, little fish, you are the priority list.
ARIES
21 March–20 April
You have a glazed look in your eyes, there’s drool dripping from the corner of your mouth and your jumpsuit is on the floor. It’s as if you’re knee deep in your own puddle of testosterone, but you’re standing in a supermarket holding a packet of Cocoa Puffs. Oh my, this person has a rather strange effect on you.
TAURUS
21 April–21 May
Being dragged behind a speedboat is not your typical idea of fun. We agree it’s a world away from drinking iced cappuccino and playing Wordfeud while hunkering down for some crackers and cheese on the coffee table. We say: ‘Hold on tight to the rope, Rusty!’
Illustrations by Kathrin Klingner
Horoscope
GEMINI
22 May–21 June
Oh, how you would go vegan, Fairtrade, local organic for this person, but you know you just cannot resist a juicy Whopper every once in a while. You’d be thinking of bacon every time you kissed. And you know The Vegan will know. Thoughts are not all we have.
VIRGO
23 August–22 September
CANCER
22 June–22 July
You are moved intensely by the flickering of the low-energy light bulb. It pops on ever so gently and then all of a sudden there is light. It is shining ever so softly, but there is light. A tear falls from your eye.
You just hate it when you’ve finally downloaded that obscure B-side and you realise it’s a FLAC file. Yet again you waste time figuring out how to convert the FLAC into an mp3 and inLEO stalling the associated software. 23 July–22 Aug The first five times you don’t We’re going to spend succeed due to the fucked-upa lot of our lives alone in rooms. Sometimes you will chat with the ness of the universe and just the UPS delivery man; sometimes you sky being rigor-mortis blue. The will chat with your reflection in the sixth time you ask someone else mirror. Chats are all we have. But to do it. Life is what happens to Leos know the chats will always you while you’re busy unpacking come to them. FLAC files.
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Subbacultcha!
Muziekgebouw Tip
VocaalLAB Les Anges (Works by John Cage, Erik Satie and Iammis Xenakis) 12 September - 20:15 In the Fall of 2012, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ celebrates the 100th birthday of John Cage with a series of cutting-edge concerts. In tonight’s celebration, VocaalLAB mixes works by Erik Satie, Iannis Xenakis and Mr Cage himself into a rough and razorsharp gem of musical vituosity. Each of these three modern classical pioneers are renowned for their free spirits and their out-of-the-box musical approach. Promising.
Early Birds Experience this concert for only €10 with an Early Bird Ticket. If you are under 30 and buy your ticket early, you can see 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 55
Other shows Page 62 Free tickets Page 76
These are Brian King and David Prowse, aka Japandroids. The photo was made by David Zilber in Vancouver, Canada. This month, Japandroids play at Incubate Festival, Paradiso (Amsterdam) and Rotown (Rotterdam). The Rotown show is free for Subbacultcha! members.
See all these shows for free. Sign up at www.subbacultcha.nl.
Night of the Unexpected
6 September – Tivoli, Utrecht (20.30 | €17.50), 7 September – Paradiso, Amsterdam (20.00 | €17.50) 8 September – Effenaar, Eindhoven (19.30 | €13.50) Free for Subbacultcha! members
Heard it all before? The Night of the Unexpected begs to differ. This travelling mini-festival challenges your ears with a rapid succession of short music performances, presenting experimental pop alongside electronic, composed and improvised music. Luring you in with buzzing names the Night gradually transcends the familiar. An orchestral performance of a composition by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood could be followed by six people playing woodblocks (Timber by Michael Gordon) or four musicians rhythmically tapping various parts of a piano with microphones (Microphones Quartet by Sergey Khismatov). Can classical instruments approach sounds of machines, radio static or other random noise? Composer Annie Gosfield finds surprisingly attractive answers in pieces such as Flying Sparks and Heavy Machinery. With the help of live sampling and an amazing array of trumpet techniques, improviser Nate Wooley reaches for the truly unexpected in his solo performances, which can range from hypnotic stillness to ecstatic eruption. Flutter tonguing, circular breathing, split tones and lip trills are only means to an end in his journey towards sonic enlightenment. Page 55
See all these shows for free. Sign up at www.subbacultcha.nl.
Dent May
08 September - MC Theater, Amsterdam 22.00 | €8 | Free for Subbacultcha! members 09 September - dB’s, Utrecht (+ The Telescopes) 20.30 | €10 | Free for Subbacultcha! members Dent May specialises in ‘good feeling music’ that has earned him comparisons to the likes of Jens Lekman and Jonathan Richman. At first he was crooning charmingly cheesy lounge-pop songs whilst strumming on his magnificent ukulele, but on his latest album, Do Things, he’s swapped the uke for synths, acoustic guitars and hints of psychedelia, giving his cheese a funkier flavour.
Telepathe + Bismuth (ft. Yuri Landman) 13 September - OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €8 | Free for Subbacultcha! members
After almost two years of radio-silence, Telepathe are back in the studio and back on the road. Starting out as impro-noise musicians, the duo made a strong shift towards synth-driven dance-pop with 2009’s aptly titled Dance Mother. Said album’s producer, TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, is releasing their sophomore effort on his own label at the end of this summer. On this new LP they mix in some noisy bits that hark back to the band’s beginnings, while retaining and complementing the danceability of their sound. Bismuth is the new project of guitar builder extraordinaire Yuri Landman. Expect far-out instruments and groovy beats. Page 56
As a member you will also receive this magazine every month plus a stylish tote bag
King Tuff + The Happy Demons 14 September - De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam 20.00 | €7 | Free for Subbacultcha! members
Vermont native and LA transplant Kyle Thomas has played in stoner-metal band Witch (along with J Mascis), freak-folk band Feathers and lo-fi pop band Happy Birthday. He lives in a cave but looks like he sleeps in a car, and has a tattoo of a one-eyed cave woman on his arm and the voice of a child. Under the name King Tuff, he also makes guileless garage-pop so jam-packed with stadium guitar riffs and ridiculously catchy melodies, you’ll want to play it on repeat at a house party you don’t have to clean up after.
Mmoths + The Haxan Cloak + Glass Eyes 15 September - OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €7 | Free for Subbacultcha! members (until 23.00)
As a teenager, Jack Colleran opted to lock himself indoors and start recording his own music, rather than go out and play with his friends. His enchanting electronica belies his young age, and is warm and inviting enough to attract listeners like moths to a flame. Meanwhile, Bobby Krlic aka The Haxan Cloak plays dark and mostly instrumental music, ranging from drawn-out drones and soundcapes to more beat-driven compositions. Amsterdambased producer Glass Eyes will be (kick)starting the evening and in between live sets The Inc. will be spinning some dark and pulsating tunes. Page 57
See all these shows for free. Sign up at www.subbacultcha.nl.
Japandroids
19 September - Rotown, Rotterdam 21.00 | €11 | Free for Subbacultcha! members After self-releasing two EPs and recording their debut full-length, PostNothing, also slated for self-release, this Vancouver rock duo had every intention of packing it up and calling it quits, frustrated by the lukewarm response they were receiving in their hometown. Just as their young hearts’ fire was dying out, Pitchfork tossed a Molotov cocktail into the embers in the form of a ‘Best New Music’ nod. The sudden recognition led to relentless touring, and in May of this year their sophomore album, Celebration Rock. With the energy and reckless abandon to match their debut and the epic, high-density thrills to supercede it, it ranks among the rock most worth celebrating so far this century.
Dan Deacon
22 September - Area 51, Eindhoven 20.30 | €9 | Free for Subbacultcha! members
Dan Deacon got a graduate degree in electro-acoustic and computer music composition in New York before relocating to the fertile Baltimore music scene, where he and some college friends founded the Wham City arts and music collective. Equally adept at composing contemporary classical music as well as multi-coloured, spastic 8-bit symphonies, Deacon certainly has to be one of the most fun musicians to ever play Carnegie Hall. His upcoming album, grandly entitled America, represents the most seamless fusion of his classical and electronic work, and his highly interactive live shows are the stuff of legend. This one’s a must see! Page 58
Shows in September
Agenda
As a member you will also receive this magazine every month plus a stylish tote bag
Chains of Love
23 September - Café Altstadt, Eindhoven 20.30 | €7.50 | Free for Subbacultcha! members
Life’s simple pleasures, like playing with a kitten or cracking open an ice cold beer on a hot day, don’t get old just ’cause you’ve experienced them a million times – as long as the kitten is sweet and the beer isn’t shitty, that is. Same goes for the Phil Spector girl group sound, and Vancouver’s Chains of Love’s appealingly unpolished take on it keeps things simple and pleasurable indeed.
Ignite 20
26 September - Mediamatic Bank, Amsterdam 20.00 | €7 | Free for Subbacultcha! members
Ignite is a fast-paced event hosting local speakers who are sure to spark your interest. Each person will get five minutes and 20 slides to pitch an innovative idea. This edition marks the 20th Ignite in just two years, and should make for a celebratory kick-off to their new season.
Spilt Milk + Moon and Sun
28 September - Roodkapje, Rotterdam 21.00 | €7 | Free for Subbacultcha! members
Much like the sacred liquid that has transformed so many spindly children into grown-up hunks and babes, Amsterdam’s Spilt Milk also does a body good. This drone-folk quintet takes one part Mountain Goats acoustic guitar strums, one part Velvet Underground, sprinkles in some highly literate lyrPage 59
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See all these shows for free. Sign up at www.subbacultcha.nl.
+ SPECIAL GUEST
3 DECEMBER 2012 ZIGGO DOME - AMSTERDAM KAARTVERKOOP via WWW.LIVENATION.NL
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09-05-12 15:48
Shows in September
Agenda
As a member you will also receive this magazine every month plus a stylish tote bag
ics, drizzles some female lead vocals as soothing and sweet as honey over the top, then hits blend, whipping up a Spilt Milkshake that brings all the boys and girls to the yard. Support by dreamy soft pop band Moon and Sun.
Nzca/Lines + Spilt Milk
29 September - Ekko, Utrecht 20.00 | €7 | Free for Subbacultcha! members
The Nazca Lines are a series of ancient geoglyphs created by the Nazca people thousands of years ago in the desert in southern Peru. Though the lines are shallow, made by simply removing the surface’s reddish pebbles to uncover the whitish ground beneath, they have been preserved for thousands of years because the plateau on which they are etched is dry, windless and geographically isolated. Likewise Michael Lovett’s work as Nzca/ Lines is similarly indelible in spite of its seemingly delicate and superficial nature, his falsetto vocals tracing out lyrical shapes across a roseate and peaceful plain of lush arrangements and synth-pop melodies.
All month: Mediamatic Fabriek 12.00 - 18.00 | Free for Subbacultcha! members
Mediamatic hosts several events in their gigantic old factory hall. Untill 22 September The Schommelclub (€2) is a playground for kids and adults alike. Get down for some serious trampoline, swing and trapeze action. And from 27 September untill 7 October they host Watertanden (€5); an interactive exhibition that explores the social, biological and imaginative aspects of tasting and experiencing food.
All month: Foam Photography Museum Open daily 10.00-18.00, Thurs and Fri until 21.00 €8 | Free for Subbacultcha! members
Subbacultcha! members get free entry to Foam Photography Museum. Sweet! Check the Foam website for programme info. Page 61
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Agenda
Focus
TodaysArt The future shakes hands with the past at TodaysArt, the annual music and media fest which immerses the heart of The Hague in a pool of light, sound and engaging technology. Previous editions have seen the city’s remarkable town hall transformed into a dance performance space; churches converted into ambiances for electronic music; city squares filled with mobile art installations; and theatres infiltrated by dubstep pioneers and noise radicals. 21 & 22 September - Various locations, Den Haag The 2012 edition of TodaysArt is all about the digital generation getting to grips with old media, rather than discarding them. This idea will be expressed most literally in architectural sculptures such a rolling landscape made of 65,000 used CDs (WasteLandscape by Élise Morin and Clémence Eliard) or an equally substantial building made of recycled materials (Big Crunch by Raumlabor). Among the new-school performers obsessed with old-school media is Japanese musician Ei Wada. His Open Reel Ensemble uses reel-to-reel tape decks, and in his Braun Tube Jazz Band he creates percussion instruments out of tube-TV screens. Archived vinyl, VHS and audio tapes are at the core of the futuristic music of Slant Azymuth, consisting of Demdike Stare’s Sean Canty plus Andy Votel. A more symbolic form of recycling is taken on by one of the headliners, electronic wunderkind and guitar manipulator Ben Frost. His Music for Solaris celebrates the 50th anniversary of the classic SF book Solaris by Stanislaw Lem by taking elements of the eerie man-versus-machine mind-teaser to Page 62
create his own world. Frost’s spectacle features, among others, the Royal Orchestra of Krakow and images from Andrei Tarkovsky’s film version of Solaris manipulated by Brian Eno. Post-techno mastermind Pantha du Prince goes back even further, to medieval media. His performance Elements of Light features a 64-piece carillon, live percussion and a mysterious cast of musicians shrouded in monks’ habits. TodaysArt is not just about encountering audiences in exhibition or performance spaces, but outside as well. The mobile sound system Panzer by Kim Nowak is inspired by 1980s street jams, boom cars and outdoor raves. With his speaker-filled vehicle the Berlin artist intends to shout down the increasing anonymity of life in the age of social media. Also refusing to be ignored or clicked away is Anarchy Dance Theatre, the Taiwanese company which puts its dancers through a web of interactive 3D graphics. More info: www.todaysart.org
by Marinus de Ruiter
Agenda
Ei Wada
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Agenda
Focus
Gogbot For a healthy dose of sensory overload you can’t go wrong with GOGBOT, the annual explosion of audiovisual multimedia terror. From digital pop art to electronic music at its craziest, the four-day festival of arts organisation PLANETART incites an electro-exodus to the far east of the Netherlands, with international guests from Berlin, Belarus, Budapest and more. Go GOGBOT! 06-09 September - Various locations, Enschede
Byetone
15 years of Raster Noton Half records and half art objects, that’s what German record label Raster Noton has been releasing for the last 15 years. The self-declared ‘archive for tone and no tone’ celebrates its anniversary in its distinct minimalistic way with an exhibition and performances by resident artist Byetone and label co-founder Frank Bretschneider. Theme: internet memes Visual art at GOGBOT 2012 displays an obsession with internet memes, or the usergenerated videos, silly images and other attention-grabbing media that have infiltrated culture via the internet. These forms of digital folklore will be exhibited in conjunction with presentations by, among many others, Floris Kaayk, the animation artist behind the Human Bird Wings hoax, and Jason Forrest, aka DJ Donna Summer, sampling Page 64
White Line by Raster Noton
musician and creator of Network Awesome (what’s in a name?). Dubstep XL GOGBOT presents dubstep at its darkest and heaviest on the festival’s Saturday night at club Atak, with UK acts BAR9, Stinkahbell and DJ Madd. On the same night the open-air stage will be headlined by German duo Schlachthofbronx, originators of a new low-end dance music called Munich Bass. More info: www.gogbot.nl
Focus
Agenda
Incubate Festival 2012 marks the eighth edition of Tilburg’s annual celebration of cutting-edge indie culture. Incubate has developed an excellent reputation not only for its rich and incredibly diverse line-up, but also for its unbridled sense of adventure, which aims to bring progressive music, contemporary dance, film and visual arts to an international audience in an intimate atmosphere. 10-16 September 2012 - Various locations, Tilburg
Nguzunguzu
Mogwai Legendary Glaswegian post-rock band, known for their knack for seamlessly transitioning from delicate soundscapes to eardrum-shattering white noise. Japandroids This Vancouver duo’s latest album ranks among the rock most worth celebrating so far this century. Black Dice These Brooklyn veterans make extraterrestrial electronic jazz punk that 15 years into their existence sounds as uncompromising and vital as ever. The Men Brooklyn four-piece The Men are as virile and no-frills as their name implies, playing hardcore post-punk that’s melodic, distorted and LOUD. Mmoths Producer Jack Colleran makes enchanting electronica warm and inviting
Iceage
enough to attract listeners like mmoths to a flame. Nguzunguzu These LA DJs/producers specialise in chilly, stuttering electronica that defies stereotypes and easy categorisation. Iceage The energetic mix of goth, hardcore and post-punk these precocious Danes have concocted has people labelling them the saviors of punk rock. Mi Ami/Sex Worker Audiences can delight doubly in Daniel Martin McCormick’s open and energetic stage presence with his main project Mi Ami, as well as his raw and intimate solo Sex Worker work. More info: www.incubate.org
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BINNENKORT O.A. DO/06/SEP
E K K O & T I V O L I P R E S E N T EREN:
ADRIAN YOUNGE P R E S E N T S V E N I C E D AWN
VR/28/SEP
CULTFARM
ZO/21/OKT
DO/13/SEP
LOCATIE: KARGADOOR
DOUG PAISLEY
+ WOLVES IN LOVELAND
SUNDAY NOISE: MOON DUO + MAN FOREVER
VR/05/OKT
EMANUEL AND THE FEAR
ZO/16/SEP
LOCATIE: METAAL KATHEDRAAL
+ DENIS JONES
OAKFEST: I AM OAK + KIM JANSSEN + JESSICA SLIGTER
VR/19/OKT
UFOMAMMUT
+ INCOMING CEREBRAL OVERDRIVE VR/21/SEP
OPKIKKER
VOLLEDIG PROGRAMMA & TIJDEN:
POPPODIUM EKKO | BEMUURDE WEERD WZ 3 | 3513 BH UTRECHT | WWW.EKKO.NL
Agenda
Shows in September
Fringe Festival
Gogbot
30 August - 9 September - Various locations, Amsterdam
06-09 September - Various locations, Enschede
Amsterdam’s Fringe Festival takes cues from the successful Fringe Festival format previously established in cities such as Edinburgh, New York and Dublin. Over ten days visitors can catch 80 unorthodox theatre groups performing at more than 30 different locations spread throughout the city. Bonus: their extensive ‘Language No Problem’ programme makes about 50 per cent of the shows accessible to non-Dutch speakers, since they’re either in English or make no use of words or language at all.
The Night of the Unexpected 06 September - Tivoli Oudegracht, Utrecht 07 September - Paradiso, Amsterdam 08 September - Effenaar, Eindhoven The ridiculously diverse programme of this year’s Night of the Unexpected has its core in jazz and classical music, but spirals outwards to the far reaches of contemporary music. Read more on page 55.
Head down to Eschede for this excitingly weird art, music and technology festival. Read more on page 64.
Transnatural Festival 07 September - 07 October - Various locations, Amsterdam The Transnatural Festival offers a multidisciplinary programme that features a monthlong exhibition and a musical programme as well as a conference, all devoted to the theme of innovation within the creative industries. One of the highlights is a live performance by Swedish Electronic artist The Field at NEMO on 07 September.
Subbacultcha! @ Magneet Electric 08 September - Oostpunt, Amsterdam From 24 August till 16 September, the crowdsourced Magneet Festival will be setPage 67
ZA 1 J.G. BALLARD, A TRIBUTE
T/M ZO 30 SEPT
EEN HOMMAGE AAN DE ENGELSE SCHRIJVER MET MUZIEK, FILM, BEELDENDE KUNST EN LEZINGEN
WO 5 SEP WILL AND THE PEOPLE DI 11 SEP THE VIEW ZA 15 SEP HELEMAAL MELKWEG
MET O.A. GET WELL SOON, THE KIK, BUSDRIVER THE DON’T TOUCH MY CROQUE-MONSIEURS
DI 18 SEP GRAHAM COXON (BLUR) MA 24 SEP OMAR RODRIGUEZ LOPEZ GROUP
Agenda
Shows in September
ting up shop at Oostpunt in Amsterdam. On 08 September various Amsterdam-based organisations will be hosting a stage, and we’re teaming up with Paradiso to bring you a live programme featuring some of the best bands the Dutch underground has to offer. Come on down for live sets by Wolvon, Crowds, Spilt Milk and lots more.
Spilt Milk September 08 - Magneet Festival, Amsterdam September 11 - Merleyn, Nijmegen September 28 - Roodkapje, Rotterdam September 29 - EKKO, Utrecht Spilt Milk’s literate drone-folk does a body good. Read more on page 59.
JG Ballard Tribute ft. Blanck Mass, Stellar OM Source 8 September - Paradiso, Amsterdam Paradiso and the Melkweg are paying tribute to British author JG Ballard, whose obsessions with urbanisation, migration and mass consumerism inspired the likes of Joy Division, Gary Numan and Throbbing Gristle. Stellar Om Source, will offer a Ballardinspired take on her own warped retro-futuristic house music, while the psychedelic drones of Fuck Button’s Benjamin John Powers’ Blanck Mass project will be accompanied by images from director Alex Turrey.
Perfume Genius 08 September - Vera, Groningen 09 September - Into the Great Wide Open, Vlieland Seattle singer-songwriter Mike Hadreas is known for his gut-wrenchingly honest tales of misplaced lust and confusion sung atop gorgeous piano ballads. He has said, ‘Being emotional might not be innovative, but it’s definitely not wimpy.’ This is empowerment for the fragile in musical form.
Stad Als Podium 08-09 September - Various locations, Haarlem This small festival offers a nice little opportunity to see Haarlem’s cultural institutions in a different light, with diverse musical acts staged in unconventional locations. If you keep your eyes peeled, you might even inadvertently absorb some good old-fashioned culture along the way.
Dent May 08 September - MC Theater, Amsterdam 09 September - dB’s, Utrecht 11 September - Merleyn, Nijmegen The ‘softest boy in Mississippi’ specialises in ‘good feeling music’ Read more on page 55.
Incubate Festival 10-16 September - Various Locations, Tilburg 2012 marks the eighth edition of Tilburg’s annual celebration of indie culture. Read more on page 65.
The Rest Is Noise ft. Angel Olsen 11 September - Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, Amsterdam The Rest Is Noise is a new concert series showcasing progressive pop music in the unique setting of the small hall of Muziekgebouw aan t’t IJ. Tonight’s edition features lo-fi folk-singer Angel Olson.
MV & EE and the Comfort Sound System 12 September - Paradiso, Amsterdam 15 September - TBA, Tilburg (Incubate) These multi-instrumentalists have cranked out no less than 33 albums in ten years, filled with meandering psychedelic folk. Page 69
Agenda
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DI 11 SEPT WO 12 sept za 15 sept ma 17 sept ma 17 sept di 18 sept wo 19 sept do 20 sept vr 21 sept vr 21 sept zo 23 sept wo 26 sept ma 1 okt
Shows in July and August
THE STEPKIDS @ BITTERZOET MV & EE WITH THE HOME COMFORT SOUND SYstem amen dunes Yeasayer , TRust 2:54 @ BITTERZOET japandroids Ms mr best coast stereo total @ bitterzoet pup presents: artifest dan deacon @ bitterzoet lemonade sleepy sun, white hills
Agenda
Shows in September
King Tuff 12 September - Area 51, Eindhoven 13 September - Vera, Groningen 14 September - De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam As King Tuff, Kyle Thomas makes guileless garage pop jam-packed with stadium guitar riffs and ridiculously catchy melodies. Read more on page 56.
Deep Time 14 September - Incubate Festival, Tilburg 15 September - Vera, Groningen 22 September - OCCII, Amsterdam (+ Blood Beach) ‘Deep time’ is a concept that addresses the fact that human history is very brief when compared with the vastness of the geologic time scale. But brief and small certainly doesn’t mean insignificant! Austin duo Deep Time touch on this idea nicely, their streamlined pop leaving quite the impression in spite of its minimalist approach. Portland quartet Blood Beach comes from another planet entirely, but their fuzzy garage pop comes in peace.
Wereld van de Witte de With 14 - 16 September - Various locations, Rotterdam Amsterdam may hog most of the cool concerts, but art-wise Rotterdam has something special going on, and this international modern art festival is no exception. Centred around the Rotterdam art axis Witte de Withstraat, around 30 institutions become a stage for inspiring and interactive exhibits. This year various Berlin artists will give the festival a special Berlin flavour.
Mmoths + The Haxan Cloak 14 September - O13, Tilburg (Incubate) 15 September - OT301, Amsterdam
Mmoths’ Jack Colleran makes enchanting electronica warm and inviting enough to attract listeners like mmoths to a flame. Read more on page 56.
Cheek Mountain Thief 15 September - O13, Tilburg (Incubate) 15 September - Merleyn, Nijmegen 16 September - Tivoli, Utrecht (Spiegel Bar) Mike Lindsay’s tenure with the British band Tunng took a twist when he played Iceland Airwaves and felt so charmed by the country and its people, he decided to spend two months there writing and recording. The small studio he built faced the Kinnafjoll (‘Cheek Mountains’), and rather than turn the other kinn after those two months were up, he moved his newly-named folk project there for good.
Amen Dunes 15 September - Paradiso, Amsterdam 16 September - O13, Tilburg (Incubate) Damon McMahon’s first album under the moniker Amen Dunes was recorded in a cabin and then promptly shelved, a druggy and claustrophobic collection meant for McMahon’s ears alone. He then moved to Beijing for a few years and basically stopped making music. Those early recordings were eventually released as his debut full-length in 2009, and well-received enough to inspire him to return to the US and form a band. The full-length that resulted, Through Donkey Jaw, finds the skeletons of ideas from his debut fleshing out into beautiful, benumbing lo-fi pop.
The Men 15 September - Vera, Groningen 16 September - O13, Tilburg (Incubate) Brooklyn four-piece The Men are as virile and no-frills as their name implies, playingPage 71
MC THEATER PRESENTS
more concerts! ªªªªªªªªª
8 SEPT
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ADRIAN YOUNGE ªªªªªªªª
9 SEPT
DENT MAY ªªªªªªªªªªªª
PRESENTS VENICE DAWN ªªªªªªªª
14 SEPT
QUADRON ªªªªªªªªªªªª
ª 23 SEPT BUGGE WESSELTOFT (SOLO) ªªªª ªªªªªª
13 OKT
THEO PARRISH ªªªªªªªªª MORE INFO WWW.MCONLINE.NL
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Agenda
Shows in September
hardcore post-punk that’s melodic, distorted and LOUD. They come off as the kind of dudes that would shove you in the pit but immediately pick you back up if you fell, foaming beers in hand, faces flushed and beaming all the while.
XXYYXX + Giraffage 15 September - Club Up, Amsterdam 23 September - Tivoli Spiegelbar, Utrecht San Francisco producer Charlie Yin, aka Giraffage, and 16-year-old Orlando producer Marcel Everett, aka XXYYXX, collaborated earlier this year on the lovely track ‘Even Though’ before heading out on an extended European tour together. Their mellow, blissed-out production styles are perfectly complementary, the kind of stoned and sexy stuff dreams are made of.
Japandroids 16 September - O13, Tilburg (Incubate) 18 September - Paradiso, Amsterdam 19 September - Rotown, Rotterdam This Vancouver duo’s latest album ranks among the rock most worth celebrating so far this century. Bruce Springsteen meets No Age. Read more on page 57.
Yeasayer + Trust 17 September - Paradiso, Amsterdam Many fans of this eclectic Brooklyn quartet were shocked when the distinctly hippie-centric sound of their debut album gave way to the sample-heavy and shockingly danceable tracks on their 2010 sophomore release, Odd Blood. ‘Henrietta’, the lead single of their upcoming third album Fragrant World, fuses their early flirtations with psychedelia and world music with their more recent obsession with synths nicely. Toronto’s Trust are pretty skilled with synths themselves, making this one danceable double bill.
Unseen 19 - 23 September - Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam Initiated by Foam photography museum, more than 50 galleries from around the world will participate in this first edition of the Unseen Photo Fair, offering a progressive look on the contemporary world of photography.
Best Coast 20 September - Paradiso, Amsterdam Much of the media attention Bethany Cosentino gets nowadays has to do with her being a corporate shill, her relationship with Nathan from Wavves, weed, her cat Snacks, her Twitter or her cat Snacks’ Twitter. Nevertheless, she and her band do occasionally make lo-fi pop songs featuring Bobb Bruno’s guitar chops and Cosentino’s big, beautiful voice.
CLUB4REEL! ft Heatsick 21 September - OCCII, Amsterdam Club 4 Reel is an electronic club night started earlier this year combining DJs with live experimental dance music. Much like several of his contemporaries on the 100% Silk label, Berlin-based producer Steven Warwick, aka Heatsick, offers a warped take on classic dance music. His perhaps intentionally imperfect and unpredictable execution keeps listeners on their toes, if only because their feet can’t stop moving.
TodaysArt Festival ft. Pantha du Prince, Demdike Stare 21-22 September - Various locations, The Hague TodaysArt prides itself on being one of the world’s most accessible contemporary art, music and technology festivals. Read more on page 62. Page 73
Agenda
Shows in July and August
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TOMOKO KAWACHI
15 sept – 18 nov 2012 www.dehallenhaarlem.nl
© stofrotterdam
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De Hallen Haarlem DE RK TH IJS
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Agenda
Shows in September
Chains of Love 22 September - Patronaat, Haarlem 23 September - Café Altstadt, Eindhoven 24 September - Paradiso, Amsterdam Vancouver’s Chains of Love’s appealingly unpolished take on the Phil Spector girl group sound keeps things simple and pleasurable. Read more on page 59.
Dan Deacon 22 September - Area 51, Eindhoven 23 September - Bitterzoet, Amsterdam Dan Deacon makes spastic 8-bit symphonies to God, and his highly interactive live shows are the stuff of legend. Read more on page 57.
El-P 22 September - Melkweg, Amsterdam Dense and superbly aggressive hip hop from Brooklyn’s maestro rapper. Earlier this year he returned with Cancer 4 Cure, a challenging piece that simply refuses to play by the hip hop rules.
Ignite 20 26 September - Mediamatic Bank, Amsterdam Ignite is Mediamatic’s fast-paced event hosting an array of local speakers that are sure to spark your interest. Read more on page 59.
Lemonade 26 September - Paradiso, Amsterdam While the dance pop this Brooklyn-by-wayof-San Francisco group served up on their self-titled 2008 debut was as sunshiney and sweat-inducing as the days on which their eponymous beverage is served, lately they’ve put their sound on ice, favouring sensitive vocals and glossier production.
Off Centre ft. Stay+, Joy Orbison, Gold Panda 27-29 September - Melkweg, Amsterdam Off Centre aims to bridge the gap between electronic and live music. Previous editions have featured relative unknowns that went on to become hot shots (eg James Blake, Mount Kimbie), so you’d be wise to check out next year’s big names while it’s still cool to like them. ;)
Discovery Festival 28 September - Amsterdam (NEMO) / Rotterdam (Museumpark) / Eindhoven (Klokgebouw) Discovery Festival calls itself ‘a night out, with content’, and by that they mean a night filled with experiments in new science, new art and new music. There will be booze and dancing to entertain even those who aren’t fans of book learnin’, and the only way you’ll find out if there’s a meth lab tucked away in some corner is to show up! The festival takes place in three cities on the same night. An experiment in itself.
Nzca/Lines 29 September - Ekko, Utrecht Michael Lovett’s work as Nzca/Lines etches out memorable vocals across a peaceful plain of lush arrangements and synth pop melodies. Read more on page 61.
White Hills 29 September - Vera, Groningen 30 September - Doornroosje, Nijmegen 01 October - Paradiso, Amsterdam New York’s White HiIls make space rock for 21st-century musical astronauts, and their blend of massive guitar riffs with fuzzy psychedelia and adventurous, explosive live performances has earned them a devoted following. Page 75
Free Stuff
Free tickets and goodies
To win, sign up to our mailing list on www.subbacultcha.nl. 3X2 TICKETS TRANSNATURAL FESTIVAL (OPENING NIGHT WITH THE FIELD)
3X2 TICKETS GOGBOT FESTIVAL
2X2 TICKETS INCUBATE FESTIVAL
07 September NEMO, Amsterdam
06-09 September Enschede
10-16 September Tilburg
2X2 TICKETS UNSEEN FOAM TALENT LAUNCH
3X2 TICKETS LEMONADE
6X2 TICKETS DISCOVERY FESTIVAL
21 September MC Theater, Amsterdam
26 September Paradiso, Amsterdam
28 September Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Eindhoven
We’re also giving away tickets to Amen Dunes, Blanck mass, White Hills, Cheek Mountain Thief, Dent May, King Tuff, Soap & Skin, Stad Als Podium, JG Ballard Tribute and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez 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 Reinilde Jonkhout Page 77
Overview of all Subbacultcha! shows in September
Until 22 September
Schommelclub Mediamatic Fabriek 12.00-18.00 | €2 | Free for members
06 - 08 September
The Night of the Unexpected
06 Sept. - Tivoli, Utrecht 20.30 | €17.50 07 Sept. - Paradiso, Amsterdam 20.00 | €17.50 08 Sept. - Effenaar, Eindhoven 19.30 | €13.50 All three days free for members
08 September
Dent May
MC Theater, Amsterdam 22.00 | € 8 | Free for members
09 September
Dent May + The Telescopes
dB’s, Utrecht 20.30 | € 10 | Free for members
13 September
Telepathe + Bismuth
OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | € 8 | Free for members
14 September
26 September
King Tuff + The Happy Demons
Mediamatic Bank, Amsterdam 20.00 | €7 | Free for members
15 September
27 September 7 October
De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam 20.00 | € 7 | Free for members
Otopia Festival ft. The Haxan Cloak + Mmoths + Glass Eyes + The Inc OT301, Amsterdam 20.30 | €7 | Free for members (until 23.00)
19 September
Japandroids
Rotown, Rotterdam 21.30 | €11 | Free for members
22 September
Dan Deacon
Area 51, Eindhoven 20.30 | €9 | Free for members
23 September
Chains of Love
Altstadt, Eindhoven 20.30 | €7.50 | Free for members
Ignite 20
Exhibition Watertanden Mediamatic Fabriek 12.00-18.00 | €5 | Free for members
28 September
Spilt Milk + Moon & Sun
Roodkapje, Rotterdam 21.00 | €7 | Free for members
29 September
Nzca/Lines + Spilt Milk
EKKO, Utrecht 20.00 | €7 | Free for members
All Month
Foam
Open daily 10.00-18.00, Thur and Fri until 21.00 | €8 | Free for members
See all these shows for free. Join at www.subbacultcha.nl Page 78