Hello again! I have been hibernating, but with this… it’s Now Time to write to you about this excellent release of loudly connected sound experimenters!
Amokian is the radio operator over here. With precise care this artist is knob twiddling to not settle on the clear boring channel of pop farts, but gladly presents us the inbetweens, the more interesting frequencies that hide between the rubbish content. These sounds go very well with Amokian’s very own interest and sound crafts. The artist profiles itself as one that wonderfully crafts circuitbending. The result of one of those experiments can be heard in ‘micro tonal computer music’. Of course these sounds will provoke ideas or images that will be different from person to person. You might hear it from an academic point of view, but to me these are very rhythmic (and dare I say: funky?’glitches made me think of a colony of ants raving. I just see them all dancing wildly while the queen ant is showing the most spectacular moves of them all. When my head really leans into this idea, I do find myself dancing like a lavish lunatic among them.
Speaking of tiny insects, Furchick takes over the show by a presentation that is named ‘Sawing up bugs’. Within this we hear very warm melodic mellow tones at the very heart, while among it we get laidback drums and a busily relentless scenery in which Furchick has her trusted saw as a friendly partner in the battle between her and bugs and a fly. I can assure you that the fly and the bugs have not made it out alive, but instead they have been legendarized for the future in this work. Furchick herself can be heard whooping around with joy, and the annoying fly is trying to escape fatality. I see it all as a cartoonish Tom and Jerry-ish episode in which no cat or mouse perform, but a Furchick battled the tiny annoyances and turned them all into audio art. The warm tones of the keyboard and the saw are the only creatures that will be alive towards the end of this bombastic, yet cheerful rumble.
Of course this kind of victory needs music to celebrate and I’m happy to inform you that Shakaboyd (excellently titled) ”Warfare’ is the perfect follow up track. This artist is beautifully skilled on the LSD gameboy music crafter, creating not a regular kind of chiptune tune, but a track that feels very grownup and original. It has that ‘Let’s march and destroy’kind of vibe, but also makes me simply want to dance. With the lower tones and kicks to match and follow, rhythmic elements feel like rattling gunfire. A happy high pitched melody in the middle to rinse your ears out and a bouncing bass to push every speaker into oblivion. I’m all for peace but this kind of warfare makes me want to sign up!
Theo Nugraha kicks in with the ideally suited (and album titled) ‘Now Time’. Here the artist takes no prisoners, but captures anyone who jumps in and takes them on a wild ride of industrial noise that seems to be loaded with sounds. I don’t know how others perceive it, but to me it feels like a hot bed of hallucinations in audio form. The main sound might be harsh, but its penetrating level of consistency is the ideal place to let out all your troubled thoughts, ideas or worries. Once you have settled in that realm that Theo Nugraha has set up, visions of another land, a world of street noises, radios, knife sharpeners, weird sounds that flips backwards and a swelling tone of busy activities flow all over you. It’s like being hypnotized by a noise musician that showcases a 10 minute journey into its close surroundings while at the same time shredding you to beautiful pieces in the same process. By the time that it ends, it feels as if my normally busy mind had been erased and refilled with the wild coded info that Theo Nugraha loaded in.
But there is no time to sit back and relax as there is Amokian, feeding us ‘literally the Magic Touch’. This is an excellent vibrant work in which we get catapulted into the essentials of electronic experimental sound and noise material. Things here flip out and go berserk. It makes me think of little bunnies with electrodes up their asses, these sounds flip out and go mentally ballistic and yes, that sounds like lots of fun. We also hear ‘Strange Glitch Technik’ , which gives us a more calmer sense of the experience. Something that feels like a combination of being a diver deep into the ocean and listening to a lo-fi radio while having tinnitus. The last track of this collaborative four way split is Stellar Readings also provided by Amokian. Here we hear high frequencies and lower ones in a shape that makes me feel like being aimlessly floating around in a lonely submarine. It’s the perfect end to such a very wild, but very fitting combination of artists of the noise and experimental genre connecting from Indonesia, USA and Australia. It’s now time to click the link below and hear it all:
Artist: Toxic Chicken Title: Amazing Animals Keywords: experimental ambient animal sounds animals drone experimental electronic experimental pop idm keyboard music keyboardtronica synth synth disco toy music toytronica vaporwave Label: Ingrown Records Reviewer: Spicky Lee Jones (the hamster)
artist:storyinsoil title:distillation keywords:electronic label: ingrown records
storyinsoil probably isn’t aware of recently popping up on online radio platform Beachy Head Radio. In programs like Phantom Circuit and most notably, yours truly Funderground”. (a shameless plug – check it out on mixcloud). And for good reason! This artist isn’t just doing handicraft with soil, with music that is moving way beyond that and I think it surely (don’t call me shirley) needs to be planted deeply in the soil of your inner your ears and flourish like the beautiful flowers that these tracks actually are.
take for example this wonderful release called Distillation over at the fruitful audio and music place called Ingrown Records. It immediately hits with that precise hammering of vibrant electronica that will tickle your under belly as well as the top of your scalp. The balance of bass and high melody move up like things as tall as Jack’s beanstalk, and to be fair it is even more magical and has no hungry giant at the top. No, here we are met with a simple life, a form of heaven in which repetitivity is the goddess and we are all sparkling in its mellow colors. In other , perhaps less magical words; it really climbs up and elevates the mood for the best!
And then we have Flux, a track that playfully goes for a bit of coolness, as if storyinsoil takes us under a nice bit of oceanic layer to see the sparkling sunshine glitter over its surface, while the darker depth of synthesis hides a whole spectrum of interesting sea life. Somehow it makes me think of sea horses twinkling between my toes & pinkish friendly sharks with shiny eyes passing by while nodding their heads in mutual agreement.
Then we have Lattice, which really hits in the vibes department. It has that kind synthesizer bubbling going on that evokes pure pleasure. It is like you are at the desk of a fascinating machine in which colored lights are pleasantly popping on and off. You can hear the passion and the wonder in the artist shining through, creatively giving us that infectious tone of bewildered discovery and pleasure of sound. The heavier long tones offer us something to hold on and the rhythmic watery sparkles add to the vibrant energy that proves again that good electronic music comes from the soul when done right. And let’s be clear: storyinsoil does this perfectly.
It showcases even more of this soul in the following track whose title i cant seem to type out on my keyboard. Here we can hear the artist play with emotive sound in a heavily sensitive arpeggiator style. It is like a cinematic score that feels like a modern version of a classical orchestra performed by one person that keeps us cool in that warm sparkling underwater world. In the end it becomes a tiny bit dark, but sunshine can’t always be left cloudless.
Advection is here, a very beautiful work that feels straight from the heart. The music has that pulse of being alive, of little flirtatious creatures slipping out of their watery bubbles towards the surface of life. The tones and warm pleasant melody evokes the feeling of being safe and sound of mind. Something that we seem to miss a lot lately in the so-called real life. This is followed by a rhythmic track that even though slow, it makes my whole body move in a surprisingly pleasant way. Some humans might call it dancing, but I wouldn’t go that far!
At this moment of the album, my personal favorite of ‘distillation’ pops up. It’s called Cascadia and is of course a true beauty. It has that perfect warmness, the ideal minimalism. It captures the purest essence of pleasant tones that to me presents nothing less than heaven. I also wonder if I’m influenced by the Cascadia synth that I find so beautiful to look at. It’s beautiful either way!
It all concludes with the pleasant embrace named Condensate, a very calm and essential track of pure essence in which the creator for the last time shows us humanity in its synthetic form. With a lovely tiny cute melody on top, it seems like the best way to lure us into a pleasant sleep. It is so very lovely and heartfelt. You would be really hating yourself if you would not go to the link at the bottom and listen to this wonderful creation by this kind human being that is storyinsoil: https://ingrown.bandcamp.com/album/distillation KN
Oh my goodness! The latest episode of Gifgrond was crazy! Crazy in the good kind of way! In fact when you attended you probably burned enough calories to never have to sport again! Luckily the tasty beverages so generously provided by Sophie and Bob at the special Gifgrond counter did a great job introducing some new toxic aquas into your body. So no overheating when the excellent party steam waltzes all over you!
Lucky curious people could have been there in the daytime, sniffing up the scene before it would be a sweaty floor of fun. There was a masterfully given workshop provided by Yuri Landman in which ten curious students learned how to solder a working wondrous device coming from the fascinating ear crackling experimental audio art laboratory over at Error Instruments. In the end all attendees had made their very own working microdoser, a device that magically creates a playful palette of fascinating noises that you feel in the back of the skull and far beyond. Also they look pretty cute and highly inspiring like everything else from Error Instruments. Everyone was happy, nobody burned themselves too much, so no smell of human bacon was in the air, but a nice toxic odour of thin for good measure. A perfect day time course in which everyone was ecstatic with the results. Proud as they should be!
Microdoser workshop by Yuri Lamdman
Not long after it became evening and the artists got served a wonderful curry cooked up with love and many more ingredients by the talented food artist Marcelle. I didn’t have the chance to eat any of it as it was so popular that everyone there ate their plates and cutlery too. I was left with an empty table which I licked clean for this report, just so I could inform you that it tasted great! With bellies full and a happy mood the evening started. Vicky and Nadine kindly welcomed everyone at the door as people wandered excitedly inside for an excellent one night Gifgrond extravaganza!
HAKAI 0+0 (photo by: Jostijn Ligtvoet Fotografie)
It started with the duo named HAKAI 0+0. This wasn’t just a normal duo, it consisted of nobody less than the legendary Paul Tas and Yuri Landman. Both artists are inventors of fascinating looking and inspiring sounding instruments, with their forces loosely bound together for good, the ears were treated to a whole scala of previously unheard noises. But also something that made me view the potential tea light candles in a whole different perspective. As here Paul Tas, the explorative genius that he is, used its flame to trigger or alter the sounds. The candle flame became not just a cozy light but an instrument that in all its fragility opened up a new level of thinking outside the box. Yuri Landman showed a whole new level of cool headedness. By some unfortunate miscommunication, his instruments and equipment to perform didn’t arrive, but that didn’t stop him in the slightest. Lucky helpers (thank you!) are always around when you need them. They kindly came to the rescue and borrowed him guitars, pedals and something to record sounds on. Yuri took the opportunity and gave a great improvised show by playing the guitars in all ways you normally don’t get to play them, while Paul Tas did all in his might to keep that flame from burning up!
HAKAI 0+0 (photo by: Jostijn Ligtvoet Fotografie)
Together they delivered tones that pass through your flesh, massaging your bones and mind at the same time. It’s fascinating to experience sound in a way previously unknown. Or to see how daily objects can become Instruments and instruments become objects. HAKAI 0+0 provided that ASMR sound that will crack the back of your head and bounce back forward towards your frontal lobe. It was a case of mad scientists at work and the audience being a big part of their excellently executed experiment. An unforgettable experience and a good showcase of ‘letting go’ and improvising!
Speaking of unforgettable: Earth Logoff! With drum and electronic noises this duo launched a fanatic frantic case of vigour excellence! Beats and rhythmic uproar of the buzzing rumbling kind certainly felt like the loudest fuel to satisfy the rawest kind of excitement! Excellent tight nastiness that proves that you don’t need to bring guitars to sound as wild and punk as it could be. Their metrical precision and sharp sounds were like machine guns aimed at the feet, making it into a ‘you have to dance’ situation. And that’s what we all did! This thunderous session was as ear splitting and as intense as it could be.
No allusions, no beatings around the bush; Earth Logoff were all kill and no chill! An absolute madness of clever innovation that surprisingly evokes happiness in all its mighty firmness. At times I was thinking of the sound of broken fax machines and old turn phones that raised up for a good case of havoc! At other moments it was like monstrous cacophony that was perfectly orchestrated. The in your face sound was absolute madness of clever innovation that provided that sheer oomph that everyone needed! Earth Logoff certainly made me feel like they successfully shut the earth off and pressed a big massive reset button!
Green Milk From The Planet Orange (photo by: Jostijn Ligtvoet Fotografie)
Green Milk From The Planet Orange came all the way from Japan to conquer the night with a massive wall of sheer energy. Their psychedelic slush rock of pure outer space craziness had no place for sleepovers, they brought the riffs, bass, voice and drums and continuously played one trance inducing rush into a mind boggling matter. They are on a mission and that seems to me ‘to be one of the best and wildest psychedelic bands possible’. It was impossible to resist this melting pot of pure melodic bold adrenaline. It was loud and euphoric & their tight togetherness of playing was superbly playful, suggesting that the members of the band were excellent friends that know each other inside out in order to pull this music off.
Green Milk From Planet Orange (photo by: Jostijn Ligtvoet Fotografie)
They played loose while secretly being tight as heck. When they go full throttle (which was almost continuously) I felt like being on a rocket at high speed & when I thought that it couldn’t get any better, crazier, wilder, more excellent; it would level up multiple times to break the boundaries of what should be even possible! The vocalist is as stellar as the entire sound. Green Milk From Planet Orange brought absolute madness that teleports to different dimensions and even breaks through them! My head and ears would be spaced out for days and that’s just from this superb band along! Ridiculously raw combined with amazing madness! With so much euphoria in the air, the 95th episode of Gifgrond was on another level!
Green Milk From Planet Orange (photo by: Jostijn Ligtvoet Fotografie)
Luckily for us all there was the familiar face of DJ Krikkrak to steer the night away and top it off with a classic absurd set of danceable goodness that made the party complete! And trust me that’s not an easy task after having such a great rush inducing bunch of excellent live bands before you! But you can always count on Krikkrak to deliver the ideal followup party music that will leave you in delightful high spirits for days!
DJ Krikkrak (photo by: Frank Janssens)
I must also give credits to Erwin and Rowena who worked their asses off with engineering the sound of the bands. They sounded all so well that even the neighborhood probably nodded along happily! Edition 95 of Gifgrond was one of sheer euphoric heights, strong relentless musicianship, long bonding friendships, great volunteers & talented photographers and of course an incredible audience! www.gifgrond.nl
Artist: Bogie Bogie Title: Bogie Bogie Keywords: art rock, experimental, ambient , psychedelic Label: ingrown records
This Bogie Bogie certainly seems to have a whole variety of moods captured here on their first collection of well played Bogie Bogie entertainment. It offers a very nice balance of high voltage energetic music and moments of utterly relaxed pleasant listening music. Ideal when you go full on nuts while dancing like a lunatic & need an equally stunning listening moment after, ready to recharge your inner battery in order to give it your all in the next energy bomb!
For some odd reason the Trudge Asshole tune is my personal favourite on this collection of goodies. It sure sits nicely balanced in between these extremities of styles. It’s nasty like a fart spray, raw like a ripped behind after eating out and it makes me feel like an unshaven neanderthal… Something I always wanted to experience once! So thanks Bogie Bogie! But let’s be clear, the entirety of Bogie Bogie is far from caveman basics, it’s all utterly classy without snobbery. Clearly made by humans who know their instruments well and are all up for surprising surprises.
Think of an excellent show of craft and skill that suits people that are easily bored (and music lovers!) as it’s hard to get bored here. Every time a new tune arrives into your ears it’s a welcomed alternative gift in mood and style. From slap bass, cowbell, ripping riffs that will make you feel like a cowboy stumbling over a bypassing organ to a cute funny affair of country music late at night with the ladies from the local book club.
The diversity is key here and none of it sounds forced, all is touched and made with that 100 percent of dedication and love for music. Something that sounds precious in a world snowballed in by farticial intelligence but gives a lot of hope for humanity and that real musicianship will never cease to amaze. If you want to throw a dance party, wiggle a baby in your hands, need a soundtrack to go wild and one to hold hands while staring calmly at a sunset Bogie Bogie will be there for you! https://ingrown.bandcamp.com/album/bogie-bogie KN
Artist: Folina E. Vili Title: Never Enough Keywords: experimental Label: dubbed tapes
I was tip-toeing around with joy while discovering ‘Never Enough’ by Folina E. Vili. Somehow it had been slipping through the cracks and when it arrived it was just utter joy! Like stumbling upon a treasure without having to dig around in a mine like a goblin with a fever. Yes, luxury! Never Enough is the follow up on Uneasy Listening and this one is one that really feels like a gift that keeps on giving. I get very enthusiastic about it and I’m pretty sure you will be ecstatic if you haven’t heard of it yet. Just plug yourself in and let Folina E. Vili do the rest!
How does it sound? Absolutely humane! Outmost sincere! Personal and direct, in your face, heartwarming, soul burning and like something that feels so authentic and precious that it just feels utterly special. You might compare it to finding a personal diary of someone whose world is opening up in front of your eyes and ears and you will love every word and sound of it.
With the tonal warmth of a campfire burning comfortably deep within your brain tissue. Folina E Vili brings in all the realness and warmest sounds of homebrew punk performed on the loveliest sounds of nostalgia. The sweet sounds of crappy keyboards combined with a voice that is equally an instrument that reaches levels that go through my head like a pleasant piercing, nestling itself to live there forever rent free.
It’s just mind blowing and so warming. Folina really carries the heart outward as lullabies are delivered in such a style that it feels like being comfortable in the campfire that is kindly burning in the artist’s personal soul. It has the sentiment, the soothing style of being an alien that found the sign that it isn’t all that alone in the crazily cold world.
Every tune, every sound, every note, every noisy artefact, every tone hits hard in sincerity and honesty. I don’t think there is much like it & I’m pretty sure I will never get enough of these recordings. After one listen to these songs, sounds and melodies will live rent free in your head, which underlines how unforgettable good this is! Tune in and become absolutely amazed! https://dubbedtapes.bandcamp.com/album/never-enough KN
Artist: The Dead Heads Title: Cat Food Combat Keywords: experimental, comedy, rock
Even when the whole world is in shambles you can count on The Dead Heads. They have been dead heads for years, so it’s hard to end that. In fact they have been very alive music wise. They still know how to dance and make fun like nobody is watching (and hearing) which results in this absolute fun style of music that sounds unlike any other.
Here we have ‘cat food combat’ that comes with an equal video clip that shows that fun is where it is at. I’m not sure what it is about, but I imagine them going to the shops cleaning out the cat food cans to munch upon the contents. I picture them using some of it on a mouse trap to lure Micky mouse (so they can fry up that rat later for a feast!)
It doesn’t matter what these two are eating as I think they can survive on anything as long as they keep on taking life with a grain of salt. I can easily view them munching on their good sense of humour and fun and still have boxes full of it! Nom nom nom nom. But for now it seems they are rocking out in the cat food isle. It’s the new caviar! https://deadheadsmusic.bandcamp.com/track/cat-food-combat KN
Artists: various Title: Thinning Veil Compilation Keywords: ambient, synth, idm, electronic, experimental Label: ingrown records https://ingrown.bandcamp.com/
Ring the alarms, the gongs and the bells! A gigantic release of fresh music by a variety of artists popped up on the screen. As mysterious as a bearded lady hiding behind a thick veil, this massive compilation is not at all hiding its charms. In fact these tracks flaunt their styles like a peacock showing its feathers in mating season! Shall we dive in? It’s been a while!
The title says that there is a veil but the music on this compilation seems all clear and out in the open! A whole list of unknown and known underground projects that all seem to have come together, to support mind-melting label Ingrown Records. Support in the sense that they promise that every penny spent on it will go towards physical productions of the label. Think of those beautiful cassette tapes or perhaps a CD! Or perhaps a T-shirt, although I’m not sure what kind of player would play that… perhaps a washing machine!
All well and good, but this two-hour-long album might look gigantic, but in reality it flies by like a bee clinging onto the wing of a jet airplane. It starts with the always present in the underground: Humanfobia. Who here delivers an almost vaporware bit of music? It has that mangled videotape sound & that sentimental empty warehouse wanderings feel and vibe along with some polite kawaii bits. It provides the ideal welcome if you’d ask me.
What follows is Joe Nally with The Body Snatcher. This one comes in banging. Like a sneaky dealer behind a curtain (or was it a thin veil?) who offers us a postal stamp with some acid along with some nice phat stomping drums. I’m immediately doing the robot dance as if it’s back in the day when that was a thing! Breaking my back in robotic backflips never had the righteous immersive backdrop music until this one dropped into existence. It’s all flashy, sparkly, and bouncy! It’s no Raygun, but it’s certainly fun!
Also Cibo does a mind-melting job with a track called Megastructure Mosey. This one is nice and scratchy. Like a nephew of Freddy Krueger who peeks out from behind the veil, ready to grab us for a fascinating stroll through back alleyways… Darkness of synths never sounded as fancy as we wobble along on these grimy yet highly interesting back streets.
And then, when all you can think of is a potential slaughter fest… a party starts: It’s Neverending Audit taking over with a fantastic energy and goofy music that easily flips the switch halfway into a variety of English-sounding underground electronic genres. It’s here when you feel like you have been doped up with a colorful bit of energy that resulted in a mad feast of various fancy raves. Cold breaths breathing in your neck, and all is good!
It’s the perfect match with JJ Wilson – Extratemporal Spaces, who throws in the exciting rattling beats along with the bleepy noises and subtle jazzy vibes, all warmly dressed in subtle pleasant ambient synthesis. It has a nice balance of dark and light, of energetic hecticness and calm. It’s some kind of audio marriage between robots and humanity. It’s hard not to find something in here that doesn’t do ‘it’ for you. And I’m not talking about that IT clown. I’m trying to get the word out that this track is a true joyous crowd pleaser!
Speaking of pleasing… Delia Ra’s Touch the Plants is absolutely remarkable in how lovely it sounds. A very happy mood that feels as if it will make the flowers grow and the plants wobble in the friendly tones of sound. This brings out the love in a super pleasant work of horn and electric twinkling. It’s as if the plants are waving around in wonder, opening up a walk in nature on a very lovely and cozy day. Oh, and it has those fuzzy crackling crackles at the end… Just to drizzle up that bonus bit of cozy nostalgia!
Up next is Donnie Cigs with Apricity. This all starts as if we just popped in a vhs tape of the glorious eighties. I imagine people blitzing around while sporting in fabulous spandex, armed with gigantic hairdos and the smell of hairspray that forms high-making clouds in the air. Music-wise, it has that vibe of the good times in which everyone was smiling on TV with bright toothpaste faces. A nice touch of the glorious synth days! Who can be sad when there is music that floats your mood so well? Yes, cheesy it might be, but it’s oh so tasty!
At this reasonable moment on the compilation, some odd chicken named Toxic Chicken appears. I think you should listen to it, as I cannot even describe it! Doctors recommend it!
Radley Sanders follows with a nice, slow-moving smasher. It’s dark and cool like a cold drink, sipped in the shadows in which large goths hang out upside down and offer you a place to hang and chill. They take you under their wings as this music does. It’s like a comfortable blanket with drowsy vibes and drowned-out energy drums. If you think that my writing is slightly nuts, you might have to try describing these tunes yourself!
autodealer’s Shoreline Lost is up next. The word that comes to my mind is beautiful. It makes me think of the sound of the sea. The slow waves that crash on land majestically. And that in music and melody form. It’s so top-notch and warm and overly well produced that even the rhythmic shakers are sucking me in. I’m pleasantly hijacked into this piece of music and find myself lovingly lost within this gorgeous beach without any bothersome thought in mind. It’s so good!
But the compilation moves on and it’s Wilfried Hanrath tempting us with The Tempest This feels like lots of sparkles are happening in all areas of the mind. I’m not sure what we hear but it’s like a wooden and pretty synths evoking sunshine in my eyes. A lovely line of growling oddness as a bassy backbone really stabilized this hypnotic world of loopy music. And when a wordless voice pops up, it’s like we are in the belly of a mother who sings to us as if we are her baby. Funny how music works! If this music is the womb, I certainly want to move back in!
More heaven we get from this artist named prottto. Here we find a cool space. A moment of relaxation. Something to hang around in with here and there a tiny bit of an eerie pleasant twist. But mostly it made me think that I woke up after a church-like revelation. It has that kind of angelic vibe that is abstract and yet almost touchable. This churchy vibe perfectly fits the Zazie Productions’d Moving in Perpetual Slumber. We are treated by a lovely bit of audio textures over here. Everything is warm and even hot here. Beautiful noise to feel all blessed and joyful about. I want to scream hallelujah when the whole thing moves up!
Matthew Mirliani’s Utopian Scholastic brings somehow the more nerdy vibes to the table. Like an intellectual troubadour sitting on a pile of books, doing research as pans rattle on their own. It’s something that could easily pop out of some kind of magical scene cut out from a Harry Potter book. If music is dinner then this would be my kind of food to go to. Speaking of food and dinner, the rhythmic elements certainly make me think of cutlery in cooking pots…
We have enkaytee popping up with a lovely dessert of music named Too Late. It is filled with pretty sparkly and glitchy vibes that feel like opening the curtains and letting the outside sunshine in. Imaginary cartoon characters walk by as you look out of that sunny landscape outside that window. Don’t they look fun with the carefree silly walks and their gigantic smiles? Its sheer happiness in music!
Kisstiki provide a moment of calmth and cuteness, both carefully holding hands together as they throw flat pebbles onto a frozen lake of wonders. I don’t know much about the 6th of May (the title of the track) but hearing this it must be a lovely day for Kisstiki. I imagine a thin layer of ice that bounces when you throw that perfect rock with every note. Fascinating in the nicest kind of way.
We also have an odd person coming over to bring us ‘even floating kingdoms crumble’. An odd title but perhaps not for an odd person. This is the one that brings the kind of pleasant synth sound that’s more of the traditional kind. It ping pongs here for a coolness no sunglass can fight against. It’s balancing its ping pong game through feelings undetermined. But oh, it sounds so good and hypnotic. I could listen to this all day (and night) (and always with sunglasses on!)
I’ve seen pjpriiincess popping up a lot on bluesky and now the artist says hi on this comp. It’s the most experimental piece so far, mingling with sound that feels as out there as it could be, wrapping and twirling like a twisted blanket that is all warped up in weird kindness. It’s art without the prize tag and no snobbery. A collage of far out weirdness and yet, oddly pleasant to be super lost in.
We have Bit Cloudy bringing in Origin Valley to the compilation. It’s sublime and outstanding high level material in a high fidelity top notch (and then some more) sound style. Hyperbole pop without the actual pop, the anti lo-fi low bit opposite that sounds so crisp and fresh that it might be able to blow up your brain. It invades the audiophile mind like some top tier audio magician. Incredible! For a bit cloudy, it certainly feels crystal clear and in full detail! Did I already say that it’s incredibly well produced?
Thank goodness for Christian Michael Filardo’s Prognostication of the Paladin. This to me speaks to the sound of the underdog. The butler, Santa’s little unloved little helper.. or perhaps a Quasimodo lurking over the world from the chapel and scraping. It has that grimy feel of the oppressed that secretly is the lead, while playing in the background. It has the hymns, the sound of star fields passing by, of lost audio fidelity rising up like unexpected super heroes. It warms my heart!
Next is Zeynep Sophia, The Primary Phase Principle’s When the Alp Visits. It has little pretty piano bits of a childish allure and a clock that ticks away the time. Something breathing coldly in our necks. This could be the hair rising music of dreams and nightmares. There is something creepy to it all, I’m expecting a little girl voice doing some evil giggle but that never comes. It’s all in my head eventually. Alps are apparently the demons that sit on you at night to give you nightmares. Here one will pop up and overpower you at the end with a true freight. Great work if you like to be shocked in the best orchestrated way. It certainly worked over here! Who needs movies or coffee with cinematic spooky music like this?
Wasir is taking over. I love the excellent audio music madness presented here. It’s like the cutest cacophony that just makes sense, while totally standing in a world of its very own. The artist clearly loves sound and approaches all kinds of ways that will make it play with your mind. Odd playfulness that sucks you into micro stories that are interesting and intriguing and at the same time mind bogglingly pleasant. Impossible to define and ideal for short attention spans as there is no second that you aren’t surprised with Wasir’s music here. It’s delightful lunacy, a joyful ride through the loony bin of expert audio adventures.
And now we have come down to teaming in chess’s With purpose like play doh.The first dip in an utter alternative taint in which the usual guitars are replaced by distorted electrics, Keltic troubadour Play-Doh with vocals and jazz bass along plinkety plonky electric. It’s an anthem for the mentally out there. It’s highly interesting, as if multiple genres that normally won’t even share a room together are now interchanged successfully. It’s most original and if this tune doesn’t bring you any light bulb moments idea wise, you might need to see a doctor! Very good stuff!
Oh and there is Chuck W. bringing us some Dark Funk! It’s so cool. It makes me think of Dr Phibes playing organ while being in a folk punk band. It’s ridiculous and outrageous and manically bombastic and I’m all for it. Funky doom mental asylum style!
Xim Sonada’s EMUlation is… Mmm.. lovely… lovely sounds. Retro spaceship music that floats like pleasant fm oldness into my ears for a delightful audio eargasm. It’s like multiple showcases of audio cleverness. From Plinkety ploinkery that throws us into the night in which crickets rattle and frogs say hello. But also odd dentists that show off their noisy equipment. Parrots scratching vinyl and other excellent stuff that feels like the ultimate talent show done by a single artist.
This surprisingly goes smoothly well with the little bit of peace provided by Toxic chicken. You might have to hear it for yourself as I can’t do it for you.
XOR takes over with ‘started as piano (decayed mix)’. This comes across like floating in heaven. Like it’s played by a winged orchestra of minimal needs, carefully crafted in utter sophistication to dream away with. Perhaps they are seated on fluffy clouds as the music makes me feel very lightweight and blessed too. What can I say? It’s utterly lovely.
Trevlad’s Blast Level Codes is another excellent synthesizer journey. My first thought was simply: My goodness! This is a wonderful warm excursion in Trevlad’s private world. It’s the ideal warm welcome in which little bright sparkles open up a galaxy in which everyone can be held captive in a delightful bliss. It’s like traditional synthesizer music that comes from another galaxy far away, with lots of stars and things of sheer wonder. Moving and yet alien. I’m impressed, drooling and dreaming away at the same time.
Menagerie by storyinsoil snuggles out ears into a much colder corner. It makes me think of empty alleyways in Gotham city, perhaps roaming the pipes in the sewer system with here and there a curious rat running around. The sound is dramatic and yet calm. It feels as if something dark is keeping an eye on us but never really reveals itself. And that is perfectly fine by me 🙂
Ghostbird’s Parcing provided the sound of an odd but curious cute animal that loves to see us, happily parading and showing off its fur, whiskers, tail and what not. It’s the cutest thing you have ever seen and heard. It makes you happy with wonder as it lets you stroke it from close. Does it start to purr electrically? Or am I going slightly nuts? I’m basically saying that this synthesizer bit of music is like the kindest and cutest cat that you have ever met! And I stand by that opinion!
Hypnotic Transmissions is the one that brings more of a dark and raw kind of electronic body music. The kind that makes me think of a future in which futuristic killers have this blasting out of their speakers as they drive on supersonic flying motorcycles in apocalyptic streets. aztechsounds’s ataraxia is that ideal plaster on our bleeding wounds. Healing like a beautiful opening of something better. Like a breath of fresh air, kind and humble that washes way too quickly all over us.
Thank goodness that ‘Of Mountains and Seas’s Home’ comes up next. It takes time and what a fine time it is. It’s the calm relaxing moment that feels like a nostalgic memory of a beloved cherished memory. Towards the end the music wakes us up somewhere in beautiful nature on a high hill with an amazing view and lots of cute birds that are our delighted companions. Absolutely breathtaking.
More niceness comes with Blear Moon’s Iceland in March. It brings us a crunchy and smooth drone to slowly dream and float away in. Not much to say than it brings the excellent energy to just being content in the warmth of the perfect moment. Who needs a wellness centre when you can listen to music like this instead?
KalloHumina seems to be the perfect odd one to play the guitar like no one else would. It’s highly experimental but not in the arty farty snobbish way. More like we have dipped our hands in a jar of magic mushrooms and are now looking at the moving patterns on the melting wallpaper.
But before completely spacing out we have Della Sol Quintet brings some excellent Red Hot Chilli. It’s super duper dopey, nice mega chill lounge lizards for the kindest laid-back easy listening jazz you could ever imagine. What a surprise and sooooo chilled out. I’m in utter bliss dreaming of Jessica Rabbit as this music smoothly shows its outer world vibes that are simply excellent. What a blessing!
15 to totality – 4.4.24, 11.25PM… one of the few weird artist names and even more odder titles on the compilation… But music wise it stands its ground fiercely with prominent nice flows that are brilliantly sparkling. It’s a new age to the max. I imagine hippies wishing us well as we float down in an abyss of pure zen. They happily and slowly throw some glitter in our eyes and ears… What’s not to love? It’s all about love! Peace and love! Oh yes! Can someone pass on the blunt?
It’s time to get mega high as Rapides in Dub / Dirty Bongo gets its turn to reveal itself. It’s exactly as you would expect it to be. I’m getting stoned just from listening to this music. Highly dubby, utter stoney and taking its time as why rush? Peace to me! If you don’t want to come down yet, Kinderapple continues the rubber dub style. But this one is more electronic and has a fancy energy that is ideal to skank on. A little dance to grow your dreadlocks and a good reason to wobble your feet! Who got the spliff?
Please Close Your Eyes is one of those artists that has the perfect name for its music. The track brought onto the compilation is stunning. Like prairie sunsets of the kindest kind. Guitar being played in the most spacious and non intrusive way possible. Proving a lovely warm home that feels familiar and safe and yet fairly unknown at the same time. Do I hear a singing saw or a theremin? Or is it just an angel calling?
We certainly have reached the after party chill out zone with Sweet Freeze. It feels like we are waking up after the rush of a feast, slowly heading back to our normal senses. Piano, melodica, lovely backdrop moments and a warm wordless vocal shakes us back to reality, but all done in a kind and sensible way.
Lost Harbours fits this mood perfectly, bringing us a wonderful and relaxed music peace of humanity. A little bit of noise to resemble the upcoming hangover. And Rische famtorus mingles in all the left overs of the party for a sound collage that feels to me like the ideal soundtrack to stumble around in the messy room. The perfect end is near as we brush off our clothes and try to find our way out in an ideal drunken style and a kindly dazed mind.
And then we find the exit. An interesting orgasm of bright light, of cheerful pleasantries that shines like the warmest sunshine on our bare face. No more veils to hide! The music provided by Wheel is outrageously perfect to end this amazing compilation. It’s truly stunning, wonderful and pleasant. We had a great time, now we go home and sleep & do it all over tomorrow again! It’s that kind of vibe. Perfection!
Gifgrond #94 really made it feel as if the venue threw together a party specially for its visiting visitors. It always is, of course, but this edition really went that extra mile to make everyone feel special. As if everyone was celebrating their own or their best friend’s birthday bash. Not just the audience got this vibe, but also the performers of this specific night. They were treated with the warmest of welcomes and lots of food that was so good for their tongues and stomachs. Their meals consisted of courgette and pumpkin soup with bread, cheesy cheeses, and grapes! All wonderfully prepared by Marcelle, who was clearly able to put in the best kind of ingredient: lots of love. How do I know this? I was there when everyone was not paying attention and licked out the pans, sniffed out the bowls, and ate whatever the artists had left behind. I now understood the good energy that these people would bring to this event. It was one big massive love bomb with lots of happy people and bloody good music!
Pickls Xp (photo by: Frank Janssens)
Oh, and yes, there was a very legendary tombola! As if being inside the hottest venue in Tillywood wasn’t enough luck! The Tombola, cleverly organized by the Belgian-based Pickls Xp crew, really knew how to pick(le) one up and put them in the pleasurable spotlight. Winners got a personal goody bag with plenty of pickls made fun! The Pickls Xp crew seemed to shine when giving out the prizes, from records, stickers, noses, bags, and self-made pickls to iron on your clothes. It came as no surprise that the winners of the tombola equally glowed from happy excitement.
Pickls Experience Pickls by Pickls Xp
Bar people Paul and Gerrie had their hands full as they had the crucial task of hydrating everyone at the perfect level. Luckily they had popularized Gifgrond’s very own Gifmix drink again, which was delivering the uniquely suitable flavor to match all the fun. At Gifgrond nobody is left thirsty or silent. The Pickls Xp tombola was nicely held between the bands setting up, but one of the Pickls Xp members named Suzie Cue also got behind the deejay desk to provide a great atmospheric set to set the scene. What a feast and treat! Wonderful!
Suzie Cue (photo by: Frank Janssens)
The first live act was Staxl. It was like being in a movie in which the entire crowd turned into a hacking head office all around Staxl, who was hacking into the mainframe of what could be the White House. That would be odd, but not too out there, as with Staxl’s quick and witty live coding skills, everything could be possible. Luckily, Staxl main purpose of the night’s performance was to hack into the sound system and deliver an electronic energy of rhythms and sounds with each and every line of code. Staxl’s fingers were quicker than any secretary in the world, mesmerizing the people with the right rattling of beats. Bonus points came because we, as cheering onlookers, didn’t have to wreck our necks by peeking secretly over this mathematical musician’s shoulders, as Staxl broadcast the entire process on a mega screen! Super intriguing!
Staxl (photo by: Frank Janssens)
Montagne Rouge came back to Gifgrond from an earlier delicious presentation of mayhem. This time the band brought even triple the amount of hard waves. You could see each band member totally reacting positively to their fellow band members playing, creating a together sound that kept spiraling up with lots of fanatic fun. This was not only fantastic to watch but, above all, very great to feel and hear!
Montagne Rouge (photo by: Frank Janssens)
The trio of Montagne Rouge frantically (but also somehow lightly) played the strings like they were actually playing the hairs deeply in your inner ears, & the enthusiastic drummer kept them all together in a solid mental state in which you just want to hop up and down like a freshly born bunny that was born ready to rock! An absolutely great, ground-shaking, phenomenal band!
Vive La Pop (photo by: Frank Janssens)
Vive La Pop certainly earned the pop by blowing up a bass box, but holy moly, it was necessary and needed! The second coming of (to Gifgrond) Vive La Pop got the entire place moving like we were in some underground hot boiling boiler room. Everyone was dancing to the hottest kicks and the face-melting bass that Vive La Pop created in the middle of it. It was impossible to resist, and I was glad to see that everyone was being swept away by these reliant groove makers. You could feel the speakers create rippling sound waves in the air, directly punching you in the right direction, so even if you came to Gifgrond without any dancing skills, the massive rhythmic sounds would direct you more persistently than a dance teacher!
DJoker (photo by: Frank Janssens)
At the final end (after more festive Pickls Xp tombola), DJoker took over and smacked on an energetic set to finish this excellent party off in style. It was a busy edition, enough for me to hide in plain sight among the people, but my goodness, it really outdid itself! If you don’t feel energized, happy, or jolly when leaving Gifgrond then you might have to see a doctor. It was truly one of those parties that seemed to be made to be a positive blast for all involved! Everyone was a bit the birthday girl/boy, and Gifgrond was everybody’s gift! Thanks all for making it happen!
Micro Doser workshop by Yuri Landman / Error Instruments
And now if you think that this is possible, the final blast of Gifgrond (as who could top this night?) You are pretty wrong, as Gifgrond will return in the new year! It starts off with a very unique and interesting opportunity! Yuri Landman will come in the daylight to give an Error Instruments ‘Micro Doser’ workshop. Micro Doser is a fantastic exploring happy accident sound device that lets you explore micro-glitches, crackling sounds, and ASMR soundscapes! At this workshop you will be guided to make one of these fun machines yourself! It will be on the 17th of January from 12:00 to 16:00… If you want to take part contact [email protected]
After a long session of collectively worshiping the sun in an endless summer hiatus, our party home away from home, the wonderful Gifgrond, opened the doors for its energetic 93th edition! You could physically hear the signs of relief from the flock of people that found this magical place buzzing once again. Times might have changed, but thanks to new and familiar faces, it became a celebration worthy of the good old Gifgrond times! From the outside, I could smell the familiar delicious food that must have clearly been cooked up for the artists by Brigitte from ‘op het landje’ fame. It smelled so good that it would make my toes curl!
At the entrance, there were Bob and Donné doing an excellent job being the welcoming hosts for the night. Inside I noticed the familiar face of Jostijn Ligtvoet who did his absolute best again to capture the artists in their best moments with his camera. As you can see in this article, he has again succeeded in this goal. On the floor, I noticed the sound engineer and light man Erwin. He was joined that night by Rowena, who were working together to elevate the sound quality of the band’s sound to probably sound the best that they had ever heard themselves before. That was of course good for the music makers and the audience alike, but I wanted to check out the friendly helpers at the bar. There I saw bar-veteran Gerrie and a very joyous new bar-face named Vicky who were doing an excellent job making the thirsty people happily hydrated. With such a crew for this edition, things could simply not go down the drain, but only go up! And up we went! Through the roof!
DJ Krampspier (photo by Jostijn Ligtvoet fotografie)
This seemed to be high on the to-do list of the deejay of the night: DJ Krampspier! Also known as DJ MC (Muscle Cramps). A brand-new name on the flyer, one that instantly made an impact, but with the face and body of nobody less than the familiar ‘Ibrahim Kazoo’, who had been giving life to the Gifgrond party on many occasions before! Success guaranteed! And indeed, DJ Krampspier took us on a nice journey in front & between the live music, without holding back & with a seemingly unlimited amount of energetic joy that made the visitors dance on a whole arrangement of fun weirdness. And when the live acts stopped, he still went full throttle to deliver the grand finale in which he would make the lucky ones at Gifgrond dance like they had never danced before! In fact, DJ Krampspier’s delighted cheerfulness that came with each tune that he provided was so infectious, that it was like a happy virus going around infecting everyone and no vaccin could be used to stop it. Everyone is happy when DJ Krampspier is the deejay!
If Gifgrond was an oven, everyone would already be well baked by now. But nope, Gifgrond’s 93th edition was just getting started! Another hit among familiar and new, took the center of attention… Returning Gifgrond visitors might know the first live performer as Cesar Palace, but now he has taken over as his true identity, BÖ.SENBERG. He had always been good, but under this name the artist got on a whole new level of playing! I keep his name in bold letters, as that is the kind of respect BÖ.SENBERG gets after his full-on-earth-shattering session of a concert! This phenomenal performer seemed to be the wisest and strongest mathematical entertainer out there! With drums and a whole variety of interesting rhythms, BÖ.SENBERG truly showed that ideas, structure, discipline and physical endurance + that trusted weapon of strong arms & a drum kit are all that is needed to elevate the place to even higher buzzing heights. Afterwards, you could only speak about BÖ.SENBERG while shouting its name in bold letters. Such a combo of energy and strict play style that it easily becomes food for thought. He forcibly served all the bangers without the mash! Terrifically good!
The heat level of the act leveled up to the extent that everyone was happy that the drinks were served so nicely cold by Vicky and Gerrie. I must give extra credit to the mastermind behind Gifgrond (hi T!) for having fridges around. I secretly witnessed Gerrie sticking her head in it for comfort. I guess that’s the kind of benefit you have as a bar person!
Edi Pou (photo by: Jostijn Ligtvoet fotografie)
Before I get lost in details, I need to talk about the feast, which was the next live act named Edi Pou. For someone known as the Iberian benchmark for alternative and improvised music, Edi Pou certainly did not provide a bench for people to lazily shimmer away in. No, Edi Pou seemed to be tuned into the wild energy that was going around everyone’s veins by being the deliverer of minimal needs for maximum deeds! To put him up as second live act of the evening was a terrific choice. The enthusiasm and tight playfulness was contagious, as it was jolly. Edi Pou’s tools for maximum minimalism included drums, mic and a sampler & a lot of personality. This artist had enough swag to create a forcefield of power & plenty of range to keep everyone included. Think of polyrhythms, fun melodic bits, eccentric mind-boggling vocal happenings, tricky sticky tricks and lots of very loud and determined drumming. No hearing aids are needed when Edi Pou is doing its workout. Lots of fun craft skills brought to our ears and eyes right in front of us. His flamboyant mustache shined proudly on Edi Pou’s face. It was clearly (and rightly so!) very proud to be there!
Hassan K. (Photo by Jostijn Ligtvoet fotografie)
At the right time, a familiar face on Gifgrond was jumping in with Edi Pou! Yes, this was Hassan K. who plugged into this wild mayhem as stylish as a prince of the far lands full of exotic spirits. Someone really should make a dashboard bumpy head toy resembling Hassan K as this man has the best headbanger moves that simply deserves something epic like that. Together, Edi Pou and Hassan K succeeded in powering the steamy warmth to the level of utter fun mayhem. But Hassan K also kept that level of energy up when he went full throttle on his very own. With his very fanatic playing style, Hassan K proved once again to the Gifgrond environment that a one-man band could possibly do more damage than a group! No arguments, no conflicting egos: just pure focus on excellent playfulness! Hassan K became the one that took us to adventurous heights in which fantastic fantasies of melodic mayhem and raw wildness go hand in hand together. It was like being tossed into the lion’s den and being at a secret belly dance meeting at the same time. He was riding his stringed instrument like a fakir, and its flute, while the audience was the hypnotic snake that could not resist any of those tunes. We flew on flying carpets, worshiped the rock god as he somehow played so star-like that I was imagining a bright spotlight that lighted him up like a Christmas tree. He rose above the flames! Such an amazing entertainer! The nonstop whiplash-inducing neck moves! Who needs Prince when you have Hassan K plunging around with his talent and skill!? Some people just squeezed their own cheeks, to check if they were still on earth and not trapped in a feverish dream!
KUNTARI (photo by: Jostijn Ligtvoet fotografie)
Things would still get even a lot hotter and steamier when the final live act started to play. It was the beast of beasts! I’m talking about KUNTARI! This duo should not be called a band, but something more of a collection of primal music wizards that, (through various sounds and rhythms) brought the sound and energy of ancient animals back to life! The sound of a trumpet sounded like I had never heard before. Along with interesting rhythms and Indonesian percussive themes, KUNTARI seems to be able to open up a portal to another dimension, bring out all the magical creatures and let them dance around, seemingly in the possession of the now ecstatic public. I envisioned mammoths making their mating calls, while KUNTARI also brought in the meteors that would end them all. There was something so otherworldly about the live music of KUNTARI. It was like witnessing the birth of earth while being at the very front row of it all. At times hard annihilation by excellent hard riffs and Indo chimes … It’s hard to describe as you should just have been there to know what I mean! Ear shattering rawness, superb dedication, magical power trips that would create earthquakes and give birth to primal screams at the same time! My mind and eardrums were blown away! What a set, what a show, what an experience!
KUNTARI (photo by: Jostijn Ligtvoet fotografie)
Gifgrond #93 was a huge feast, something that made me want to thank everyone involved that made this night happen, including the very engaged audience. As without all of them, I would have been standing alone in an empty place. Which could have been true, but luckily, with the photos of Jostijn there is proof that this epic evening did actually happen! So should you go and check out a future Gifgrond episode? Most definitely! It will instantly fuel up your inner battery and make you feel very much alive!
Yeah I Know It Sucks 