The Slovenian/Croatian label Moonlee Records distributes the Gone Bald album Waiting It Out. It already got some great reviews over there from Helly Cherry, Zurnal, New Noise, Radio Student Ljubjana, Rockline and Pot Lista. Incendiary Magazine says ‘there’s no denying the record’s quality’ and Kwadratuur thinks ‘it could be a brilliant record for noise fans’. Kwadratuur also reviews De Objectieve Lach by Puin+Hoop + Herman Wilken + Coen Oscar Polack and rates it 4 out of 5. Door by Puin + Hoop got 4,5 out of 5 stars from Kwadratuur and an excellent review from Chain D.L.K.: ‘A remarkable release. Highly recommended.’
De Objectieve Lach by Puin+Hoop + Herman Wilken + Coen Oscar Polack got 8 out of 10 stars from Dark Entries: ‘An enchanted piece of industrial.’ Subjectivisten/Caleidoscoop calls the album ‘an apocalyptic pleasure that won’t let you go easily.’ Festivalinfo says it’s ‘a must for electro fanatics.’ Beautiful Extremes, an online radio show hosted by Oscar Smit, played an extract of De Objectieve Lach:
Beautiful Extremes (11-01-2011) by Studio 80
3voor12/Utrecht called Door by Puin + Hoop ‘breathtaking’. Kutplaneet by Het Fukking Licht got 3,5 out of 5 stars from Kwadratuur. Side-Line says the debut album by Hunter Complex ‘is the kind of record that might please the 80s die-hard freaks!’ Aufabewegen reviews Quasi Quasi by Kruno JoÅ¡t | Gijs Borstlap: ‘Lustig ist das nicht’. Fret reviews Waiting It Out by Gone Bald and says ‘there is more space for the imaginative guitar parts.’ The album also got a 9 out of 10 from terapija.net.
Dark Entries published an in-depth interview with Gone Bald. They talk about the 16 year history of the band, baldness, underground music, the line-up changes, being a duo, improvisation and their favorite records. Read it all here.
The latest Gone Bald album Waiting It Out also got some great new reviews. Built on a Weak Spot says that ‘Waiting it Out it shows that Gone Bald are still overflowing with ideas, even if the presentation hasn’t necessarily budged.’ Perte et Fracas says ‘Waiting It Out is the best album of Gone Bald.’ Festivalinfo rates the album 3,5 out of 5. ‘The guitarwork is razorsharp and the drums are raw and aggressive.’ The track Christmas Song got a mention on the website Stubby’s House of Christmas: ‘For two people, they sure make a lot of noise.’
Door by Puin + Hoop was pronounced Album of the Moment by Written in Music: ‘One of the most memorable Dutch albums of the year.’ Den Helder Actueel compares Puin + Hoop to early Pink Floyd and krautrock bands like Faust. ‘A remarkable audio trip.’ Vital Weekly says De Objectieve Lach, Puin + Hoop’s collaboration with Herman Wilken and Coen Oscar Polack, ‘is not as strong as Door, but then this is undoubtedly more a work of improvisation.’
The Fine China Superbone album Make-Machine got 3 out 5 stars from the Belgian zine Kwadratuur: ‘It sounds like four conservatory educated artrockers took speed and started experimenting.’
The track Flutheelal by het Het Fukking Licht from their sold out album Kutplaneet was included in the mix Secret Chords & Apparitions by Peter Van Cooten from ambientblog.net. Listen to it on Fluid Radio.
Quasi Quasi by Kruno JoÅ¡t | Gijs Borstlap got 4 out of 5 stars from Chain D.L.K.: ‘If you are looking for guitar improvisation that doesn’t quite cross the line into straight noise, this would be up your alley.’
Spoelstra turned the house upside down at the Onderboek in Nijmegen earlier this month. Go here for a live review by 3voor12.
For all the press on Christmas Cover Up, the compilation including exclusive tracks by Hunter Complex and Spoelstra, go here.
Dutch magazine Oor wrote a very nice piece about our 10 year anniversary. Belgian e-zine Kwadratuur interviewed Lars Meijer about 10 years of Narrominded. They also wrote a review of the Here Is the Night EP by Hunter Complex and reviewed the track Here Is the Night (including streaming audio). Cheers to them!
The British online music magazine Sonomu reviewed Retro Retry 2: Another Another Green World: ‘Taken as a whole it’s an admirable effort.’ Belgian music mag Kwadratuur reviewed The Almighty Internet by Spoelstra: ‘A mush of sweet 8-bit melodies.’ Roodkapje (Little Red Riding Hood in English) of the hipster magazine Vice didn’t like the Hunter Complex debut album and named it worst album of the month. Apparently Hunter Complex is not good music to wash dishes to. Too bad. The Here Is the Night EP by Hunter Complex did get a nice review by the Dutch music mag Fret: ‘Typical eighties synthpop of the same level as New Order and He Said.’ Beautiful Extremes, the online radio show by Studio 80, played two tracks from that EP, the album version of Here Is the Night and the Cosmic Manifestation Mix by Garçon Taupe, and the track Day of the System from Spoelstra’s The Almighty Internet. Listen to the fragment of the broadcast on March 23 2010 in the player below.
Beautiful Extremes also played Apparatus Erectus by Spoelstra from The Almighty Internet on March 30 2010. Listen to that fragment in the player below.
The debut album by Hunter Complex gets positive reviews all around the world. Dutch music magazine Oor: ‘Beautiful, almost dubby synthpopdisco. Who wants to know how the future once sounded, finds comfort with Hunter Complex.’ The Belgian website Kwadratuur: ‘lightly disturbed synthwave songs!’ Dutch website File Under says ‘Hunter Complex sounds both icy cool as melancholically moving.’ Beats & Beyond rates the album 8,5 out of 10 and thinks ‘retrofuturism never sounded so fresh.’ The website Outlands, based in Macedonia, is also enthusiastic: ‘some of the songs are a real uncanny candies.’ Outlands also interviewed Hunter Complex aka Lars Meijer. The radio show Beautiful Extremes played the track Moonset by Hunter Complex on March 9 2010. Listen to the fragment in the player below.
The Dutch magazine Fret reviews three Narrominded releases in their January/February issue. On Retro Retry 2: Another Another Green World: ‘This other other green world doesn’t make you happy; hopefully this gloomy undertone isn’t a prediction for the near future. But besides that, this compilation is cool, relaxed, deep and groovy.’ [read more] They were a little less enthousiastic about Slow Country for Old Men by Psychon: ‘A carefully composed diary that never actually gets exciting, but nonetheless is nice to listen to.’ [read more] However, they recommend Korrels by Living Ornaments: ‘A firm and powerful piece of work.’ [read more] Belgian e-zine Kwadratuur is also very excited about Korrels: ‘The two sound doctors behind this project are very talented.’ And last but not least, the radio program Beautiful Extremes again played some Narrominded tracks: Here Is the Night (Another Version by Spoelstra) by Hunter Complex from the Here Is the Night EP and Huppy Capsule by Garçon Taupe from Split LP #4. Listen to the fragment from the broadcast on January 19 in the player below.
Some Narrominded related press in the first week of 2010! Newspaper Haarlems Dagblad published a small article about Garçon Taupe’s election for best dance track of 2009 and his contributions to Poke 20 and Retro Retry 2. Read the article here. Belgian website Kwadratuur reviews Retro Retry 2: ‘This pleasant listen brings you contemporary and slightly futuristic electronics. This album makes a very nice blueprint for the latest generation of laptop artists in the Netherlands.’ USA based webzine PopMatters has some doubts about the album: ‘Too much context gets sacrificed for too little connection’. And finally, the Dutch website Festivalinfo writes: ‘Narrominded again presents a delicious collection of underground tracks on their fourth Split LP. Maybe the disadvantage of the Split LP format is that the styles don’t match completely, but the electro fan will find two great EP’s here anyway.’ There are also some charts going on: Split LP #4 holds a #2 position on OOR’s Underground Top 5, and Garçon Taupe’s Lobo holds a #8 in Remute’s RA DJ Charts. Also, the radio program Beautiful Extremes, hosted by Oscar Smit, played the tracks Lobo by Garçon Taupe and Here Is the Night (Coen Oscar Polack’s Morning Version) by Hunter Complex from the Here Is the Night EP. Listen to the fragment from the broadcast on January 5 in the player below.
Belgian ezine Kwadratuur reviewed Spoelstra‘s 10 inch record I Got Issues The Shape Of Italy:
“An intriguing album…It’s a tough listen: The production is bad and the cover is very ugly. Nevertheless this is a very exciting, dirty and sometimes touching record.” Click here for the review (in Dutch!).
