S U B B A C U LT C H A ! U N R U LY M U S I C M A G A Z I N E
SEPTEMBER 2008
L.A. : T H E S M E LL ABE VIGODA P O N Y TA I L PRE PLUS: HOW TO BE A HIPSTER FREE CD’S
WWW.SUBBACULTCHA.NL
Album out on October 6 October 3 - Patronaat, Haarlem October 4 - Bitterzoet, Amsterdam (release party) October 10 - Merleyn, Nijmegen
Subbacultcha! Magazine is a publication of Subbacultcha!.
Subbacultcha! magazine september 2008
Grensstraat 14 II, 1091 SX Amsterdam, the Netherlands. www.subbacultcha.nl magazine@subbacultcha.nl
CONTENTS
To advertise in Subbacultcha! magazine send an email to magazine@subbacultcha.nl Subbacultcha! Magazine is distributed troughout the Netherlands. If you desire to be on the distribution list please send an email to magazine@subbacultcha.nl Join the Subbacultcha! mailinglist and get free entrance to our monthly magazine release parties and lots of other free stuff. Editors: Leon Caren and Bas Morsch Design: Bas Morsch This month’s featured artist: Jaap Scheeren Contributors: Leon Caren, Femke Dekker, Call Dewitt, Sasha Frere Jones, Nick Helderman, Bob van Heur, Keimpe Koldijk, Ken, Molly, Dustin and Jeremy from Ponytail, Nicole Martens, Steven McCarron, Bas Morsch, Sanstitre.ch and Oscar Smit. Cover photo: Jaap Scheeren Next month: The truth about New York
So here’s another Subbacultcha! magazine. Reporting on whatever’s hot in the NOT, turning you on to alternativism around the globe. This month we take a look at THE SMELL in LA, where a lot of ‘the new’ is emerging. Clearly the U.S. answer to De Nieuwe Anita. Dean from NO AGE tells us all about the wallpaper and then some. Also we have Portland’s Ponytail, who made one of the most exciting post-no-wave-art punk records of the year, asking themselves what the deal is with airplane food. There’s a review on the tropical sounds of Abe Vigoda and we pay lipservice to ZXZW who have a lot of great bands hitting the cosmopolitan region of outter Tilburg. There’s more fashionable stuff in between, and all the info on this month’s Subbacultcha! shows. ENJOY//
NAMEDROPPING THE SMELL FACT CHECK: ABE VIGODA THINGS THAT MATTER PRE HOLIDAY JAAP SCHEEREN PONYTAIL PROGRAMME
4 6 14 16 18 20 22 24 29
New music:
NAME DROPPING By Bob van Heur
If you wanna be hip, cool, fresh, exciting, out there and cutting edge. read these 431 words of Bob van Heur’s monthly column on the best new sound around.
MEN NAMED WOMEN
Morning. Let’s talk about Women. Canadian Women, who’re into The Velvet Underground and The Zombies. Women who are as hyperactive as Deerhoof and dance to the beat of the better examples of ’60s and ’70s jangle pop. Women who play music on ghettoblasters in small basements and enjoy claustrophobic noise with infectious Buy this hooks. Women who like to play with a guy called Chad VanGaalen (his new record Soft Airplane is out on Sub Pop early in September). Women that’ve made a selftitled lo-fi masterpiece which will see the light of day in October (Jajaguwar). Then there’s Ex Models, with their delightful vocals Bob van Heur that may remind you of Talking Heads and also the legworks for Belmont endary Liquid Liquid, atop repetitive drones and beats. As Bookings. One of the freshest indeit looks now, they’ll finally release a new album later this pendent booking year. agencies in the If you’re more into Brian Eno, Xiu Xiu, Dirty ProNetherlands jectors and Philip Glass, you’ll enjoy the Parenthetical 4
Girls from Portland, Oregon, who release a new album on Tomlab mid-September. Something completely different and sweet as candy will be the new album from Ohbijou. Well orchestrated pop music with angelic voices and irresistible melodies is their calling. More interesting new releases to look out for from big name indie stars include the new Grizzly Bear (April 2009), who recently previewed a new track on US television, and Deerhunter’s Microcastle (late 2008). Already out or just released: Ponytail’s Ice Cream Spiritual; HEALTH’s Disco (killer remixes); Abe Vigoda’s Skeleton; the singles collection 03/07 09/07 by High Places; Of Montreal’s Skeletal Lamping (out October 7); The Fiery Furnaces’ Remember; and much more. As always, it never stops. So by the time you’re reading this, lots of brilliant new albums have already been released. Oh, yeah! One of the best Dutch albums to come this year will undoubtedly be the new zZz disc, including the brilliant new Roel Wouters video clip for ‘Running With the Beast’. [is this the zZz song title? smc] What else is around the corner? Folky Canadians, The Acorn (on Bella Union); weird folk from Elfin Saddle; UK drones and ambience from Gentle Friendly; electro-trash from Finnish cuties Le Corps Mince de Françoise; the new O’Death album (City Slang); ‘60s pop by the Little Ones; a UK version of Bright Eyes called the Slow Club (on Moshi Moshi); from Brooklyn, NY, free jazz mixed with over-the-top pop from Stars Like Fleas; and then in late 2008, or even early 2009, a new Pink Mountaintops album will be released. I don’t know. Is it all worth it? I think so, but we’ll see... More next time! END 5
Feature:
ON THE SCENE OF L.A. By Bas Morsch Photos by Sasha Frere Jones and Cali Dewitt (Teenage Teardrops)
SNIFFING OUT THE SMELL L.A. CLUB ‘THE SMELL’ IS HOME TO SOME OF THE MOST EXCITING BANDS OF THE PAST YEARS. DEAN SPUNT OF THE BAND NO AGE EXPLAINS WHAT’S IN THE WATER.
Every month Subbacultcha! focusses on an alternative musicscene somewhere in the world. This month it’s L.A. and the scene around the club ‘The Smell’. 6
“Since 1998 The Smell has been a community oriented art and music space open to people of all ages who are interested in participating in and supporting an environment of creativity and artistic innovation and freedom.” It says on the website of the Smell ... “In the interest of these principles, and in keeping with our commitment to creating and maintaining a space that is dedicated first and foremost to the art and the music, and to complete artistic freedom and innovation, The Smell is open to people of all ages and is alcohol free.” There is a Vegan snackbar though. We emailed some questions to Dean Spunt. This is what he had to say.
How do you feel about not talking about No Age? I love not talking about No Age. Ha. Would you like to talk about the Smell? I would love it. Just to get an idea... Let’s say I come in the door on a friday night... What’s the first thing I see? Jim (Smith, the owner [red.]) and a volunteer at the door. What kind of people are there? Some cool kids, not so cool kids and some bands. How old are they? Between 16 and 40 usually. What are they wearing? Dirty pants, funny hats, Mika Miko t-shirts. What are their names? Jim Smith, Jordan Espino, Randy Randall.
CONTINUE 7
Dean Allen Spunt is the singing drummer of No Age. The band take their name from the title of a 1987 SST instrumental compilation, which Dean discovered while working at Aron's, a record store in L.A.
Are they smiling? Oh yeah! Are they pretty? In that DIY way, ha. Who’s the prettiest? Jim Smith and Jennifer Clavin. Do they all have cars? No, a lot of people have bikes. What’s the temperature? Really hot and sweaty in the summer, and cold in the winter. How does it smell? Like piss and sweat. What music is playing? No Age maybe? Abe Vigoda, Health, Protect Me, Infinite Body, Dave Stone. Is the music loud? Yes. What’s written on the walls? “SMELLYESSS” . The other half of Posters? All the old Smell posters by Andy Ward. No Age is called Furniture? A couple of couches, and a medical chair. Randy Randall. No Age recently What’s the dominant colour? White and pink. released the Is the interiour thought about.. or is it all a coincialbum ‘Nouns’ on the label Sub Pop. dence. It changes, people paint over it all the time. Do you believe in coincidence? Sure. Is the floor dirty? It gets swept every night. How are the toilets? Amazing. Are there seperate toilets for men and women? There are two, but it is unisex. Are people getting drunk? Nope. For the album cover of their pre- Smoking? Nope. Pot? Nope. vious album, ‘Weirdo Rippers’, Are there any anoying people? Probably. A large mural was Any freaks? Weirdos. painted on the What are their names? Everyone. facade of the Smell. Anything you’d like to add? It rules.
8
The Smell
Jennifer Clavin of Mika Miko
Randy Randall, Jim Smith and Dean Spunt (r) CONTINUE 9
Abe Vigoda performing at the Smell
“SMELLYNESSS”
10
No Age performing at the Smell CONTINUE 11
“FUCK HYPE, THE DIY SCENE IS AWESOME, ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, AND L.A. IS A SMALL PART OF THAT AND THE SMELL IS A RAD CLUB.”
I read in an article in the New Yorker in november 2007 that Randy (Randall, the other half of No Age) had been working on fixing up the bathroom for four years.... Is it finished yet? Just barely. Did he get compliments for fixing the toilet? Everybody loved it. Did he injure himself while doing it? No. Does the Smell have a first aid kit? Yes. Is Jim (Smith) a caring person? Very much. Does he love music? More than any of us. Does he make a lot money with loving music? No. Do you like his taste in music? Yes. Do you also get bad bands in the Smell? No comment. Is the Smell a good business? Yes. Is it run in a professional way? In our way. Is there a fire extinguisher in the Smell? I think so. Well now..... It seems that there is a little hype going on around the Smell. How do you feel about that. People are writing about it, but there are still kids there, and it is still dirty and most people wouldn’t like it if they’d go there, so…. Do you feel the little hype is justified... Is there really something going in the Smell or is this hype more a cultural phenomenon... a result of some sort of need of journalists and consumers to mystify music and bands for the sake of fulfilling the egocentric need to be ‘so out there’ and ‘quirky enough to relate to that kind of crazy shit’... when actually you are just a bunch of people making music because you want to,.... and we all want to belong somewhere... don’t we?
12
Fuck hype, the DIY scene is awesome, all over the country, and LA is a small part of that and the Smell is a rad club. Can you give me a list of 5 bands to watch out for in 2009? Infinite Body, Gun Outfit, White Shit, Protect Me, Audacity. Can you please also give me short description of each of them? Loud and beautiful noise, awesome jams, hardcore punky bad ass, dance and fun, amazing. Dean also runs a small label Post Present Medium which features bands like Abe Vigoda, Barr and Mika Miko Is it a cool label? Hell yeah! Ambitious? Maybe. Do bands expect a lot from you? No, not really, just to be nice and get records made, and maybe sell them. Do you expect a lot from the bands? No, just to make music and tour. From what band do you expect the most? Abe Vigoda. They need to bust their pretty little asses so I can get a Porsche. So... in half a year... the little hype around the Smell The Smell is probably gone... what’s next on the US music 247 S. Main Street, Los Angeles scene? I don’t know. thesmell.org
And what’s next for you? Music.
Check our website subbacultcha.nl to find mp3’s of the bands mentioned (click ‘media’) END 13
Fact Check:
ABE VIGODA SKELETON Door Oscar Smit
Iedere maand bespreekt Oscar Smit op zeer feitelijke wijze een plaat die er om één of andere reden toe lijkt te doen. 14
TROPICAL PUNK ...emmmm Of het nu komt door de zon in Los Angeles of omdat kenners tropische invloeden in hun muziek horen weet ik niet, maar in ieder geval valt bij de band Abe Vigoda veelvuldig de term Tropical Punk. De vier jongens uit LA timmeren al een paar jaar aan de weg in en rond LA maar doen deze zomer, met hun derde album op zak, voor het eerst een lange tour door de States en Canada. Op de nieuwe CD Skeleton staan 14 songs die samen 32 minuten duren. Wat is daar zo Tropical en Punk aan? Om met het laatste te beginnen: dat zit wel goed. De liedjes zijn snel en kort. Bovendien bestaat Abe Vigoda uit vier jonge (van 20-22 jaar) dudes die een duidelijke DIY mentaliteit hebben. Hun drummer speelde zelfs niet eens drums voor hij in de band terechtkwam, dat heeft hij al doende geleerd. In de term Tropical kan ik me evenwel niet vinden. Last FM noemt ze een ‘experimental, tropical punk rock band’. Elders op internet spreekt men over Afrikaanse invloeden en wordt de band vergeleken met hippe namen als Vampire Weekend of MGMT. Ik hoor eigenlijk alleen maar een eigenwijze drummer aan het werk, die op een maniakale manier zijn hypnotiserende drumpatronen neerlegt. Die doen me
onwillekeurig denken aan de drumroffels van de Engelse band Theater Of Hate. Wie kent ze nog? Begin jaren tachtig waren ze korte tijd een bekende naam door hun enige hit Do You Believe In The Westworld. In de toenmalige Amsterdamse club Mazzo was dit nummer een grote floorfiller. Dè man van deze band was Kirk Brandon, een soort rockabilly punk met peroxide haar. Hij was de lieveling van Engelse muziekbladen als NME, Sounds en Melody Maker. Theater Of Hate maakte slechts één studio-album, Westworld, plus een handvol bootleg-achtige liveplaten. In 1983 viel de band uit elkaar en vinden we Brandon terug in zijn nieuwe band Spear Of Destiny. Gitarist Billy Duffy begon samen met ene Ian Astbury een bandje waarvan de naam later werd omgedoopt in The Cult, een gezelschap dat anno 2008 nog steeds de podia op diverse rockfestivals onveilig maakt. Spear Of Destiny lijkt ook nog steeds te bestaan maar Brandon is buiten de UK in de vergetelheid geraakt. In 1995 kwam hij er even uit toen Boy George in zijn autobiografie beweerde een relatie gehad te hebben met Brandon. De inmiddels getrouwde Brandon verloor echter de rechtzaak die hij tegen Boy George had aangespannen, waarop laatstgenoemde zelfs beweerde dat Brandon zijn ‘love of his life’ was! Zover is het nog lang niet met het viertal van Abe Vigoda ze staan pas aan het begin van hun carrière. Ze zijn nog niet eens zo beroemd als de Amerikaanse acteur waarvan ze de naam pikten. (De nu 87-jarige Vigoda speelde o.a in The Godfather). De avonturen van onze vier punks beperken zich vooral tot hun weblogs en daar staan voorlopig alleen onschuldige foto’s. Ze hebben nog alle tijd om beroemd te worden. Abe Vigoda- Skeleton (CD/ Post Present Medium) http://www.myspace.com/abevigoda
Abe Vigoda
Boy George
Kirk Brandon
END 15
16
Things that matter By Femke Dekker and Nicole Martens Subbacultcha’s personal realm of things, friends, sound and objects that have surprised, delighted, annoyed and rocked us lately.
17
What should be the headline for this very little interview? NOPE.... And the subhead? PRE FUN Pre is hip and Should it have a pull-quote? If yes, what should it be? this is a very NO - JERKS / / NOPE - FUN awkward colShould the article mention your names and ages? lection of words to con- NOPE Should your band name be explained? vince you of that fact. NOPE Should we describe your music? See Pre on YES 20 September As? in Studio-K, NO - JERKS - THE GUNS N ROSES IT’S OK TO LIKE Amsterdam Should we ask you about the recording process? and on 21 September at NOPE the ZXZW Should we ask you about the live shows? festival in NOPE Tilburg Should we ask you what your future plans are? NOPE How would you feel if we misinterpreted everything you say? THAT’S YOUR PREROGATIVE, RIGHT? What do you think are the chances that we’d do that? GOOD TO FIRM What do you think about this interview? NOTHING Subbacultcha! Must See
18
result
NOPE fun NO - JERKS / / NOPE - FUN
Pre sounds like NO - JERKS - THE GUNS N ROSES IT’S OK TO LIKE
What does your ordinary day look like? Please describe briefly, from waking up to sleep. IT LOOKS BLACK, UNTIL AROUND 3.37PM WHEN IT TURNS PINK FOR AROUND 1 MINUTE 15 SECONDS. THEN IT RETURNS TO BLACK TILL BEDDY BYES WHEN THINGS GET WEIRDLY MULTI-COLOLOLOLOURED F.O.R.E.V.E.R././././././
END 19
20
Design Inbox by Sanstitre
22
THIS MONTH’S FEATURED ARTIST: JAAP SCHEEREN 23
Interview with self:
PONYTAIL Art punk band Ponytail interviews Art punk band Ponytail By Ken, Molly, Dustin and Jeremy
Every month Subbacultcha! asks a band to interview themselves. This time it’s Ponytail. 24
Question: WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH AIRPLANE FOOD? Answer: JERRY SEINFELD? Ponytail are an art-noise-no wave-punk & dance band from Baltimore, USA. Behind the name are Jeremy Hyman on Drums, Dustin Wong and Ken Seeno on Guitar and Molly Siegel doing vocals. Since these kids look so damned happy in all their press photos, we thought we’d let them interview each other and see if there actually is any menace behind the smiles. It turns out, probably not. Which is for the best, seeing as they’ll spend the rest of this year on the road promoting their new album ‘Ice Cream Spiritual’.
We asked Ponytail to photograph themselves in a mirror. They did.
CONTINUE 25
IF FISH COULD TALK, WHY TALK TO HUMANS? I’LL SWIM WITH MY SCHOOL, YO!
Dustin: What types of sound do you like to hear? Jeremy: Sometimes I like natural sounds, like the wind rustling the trees or running water. But then it’s really fun to go the other way and listen to pure tones like sine waves wiggling around. It’s cool when they all come together and make music...ya know? Ken: Natural sounds and electronic tones. They enter my head directly. Molly: I’ve always loved clicking and popping noises. Ken: Name your three favourite places Molly: Montana, Baltimore, at my Grandma’s house. Dustin: bedroom, bathroom, livingroom. Jeremy: the ocean, the grocery store, cyberspace. Ken: Pennsylvania Woods, California, Austria. Dustin: What do you think is my weak point? Jeremy: You are a rebel without a cause. Molly: Too nice sometimes. Ken: You are a man trapped inside a man’s body. Dustin: I’ll work on it thanks. Jeremy: How do you calm yourself when you get flustered? Molly: It changes. I tell myself not to be paranoid that things can be at once the most important thing and not really important at all. Dustin: I try to close my eyes and just breathe. A cigarette sometimes helps. But support from friends is the best. Ken: I take deep breaths of fresh, pure air. Ken: What’s the deal with airplane food? Molly: Jerry Seinfeld? Dustin: I think there is a mini-farm in every airport and they only grow cows and chickens.
26
Jeremy: What is the juice stuff that airplane peaches come in? Dustin: Mmmmm!!! Yum. Ken: Saliva. Ken: Would you live underwater if you could never talk to humans ever again and you could only communicate with fish? Dustin: If fish could talk why talk to humans? I’ll swim with my school, yo! Molly: If Ariel was there. ;) Jeremy: Europe is kinda like a look into Americas past...and future? Ken: America is kind of like looking in a mirror where there is no reflection. Dustin: Yeah man, it’s probably a hole, and at the end of it, it’s actually China. Jeremy: And it’s a vision of you, winning the 100-meter dash at the Olympics. Ken: What’s your favorite colour? Jeremy: A whiter shade of pale. Ken: Purple haze. Dustin: Doo doo Brown. Molly: Green Day. Jeremy: I watched Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection not too long ago. I really loved them, and I think I’m still scared when I’m alone in the dark... Why is that? Dustin: I think we are all afraid of the dark, man. Kids and adults alike. I think adults pretend they aren’t afraid of what they can’t see, but we are all afraid. We all need love. Jeremy: No-one can hear you scream in space! :/
END 27
SUBBACULTCHA! PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER 2008
SUBBACULTCHA! PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER 2008
PRE P O N Y TA I L J E R E M Y J AY MUNCH MUNCH AND MUCH MUCH MORE
29
SUBBACULTCHA! PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER 2008
M M
U U
N N
C C
(TOMLAB, UK)
What the hell is this shit?
“What the hell is this shit? It sounds like the singer’s having his nuts used as a punch-bag by some particularly vengeful midgets!” So claims an anonymous reviewer of an unknown source. Need more? “What they would call performance art, I prefer to think of as mayhem” “Munch Munch create something bolted together by a dyslexic IKEA enthusiast building a pop wardrobe. That or they’ve learned music from scribbled descriptions pushed under a cell door. Great!” The lyrics were poor at best. By way of example, a ‘stand-out’ line was, ‘Touch my freaky body or you’ll be sorry…’” And finally a quote from a Subbacultcha-employee: “Munch Munch, wolf wolf, buss buss, eat eat…. Buuuuuuuuuuuurp!”
S E P T E M B E R 5 PATRO NAAT, HAARLEM + E LI P H A N T M IC AH + BO U TRO S BU BB A S E P T E M B E R 1 5 ZXZW, TILBURG 30
H H
SUBBACULTCHA! PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER 2008
P O N Y TA I L (WE ARE FREE, USA)
frothy, candied art-punk
SEPTEMBER 18TH, BITTERZ O ET, A M S T E R DA M + P O N Y PAC K SEPTEMBER 19TH, ZXZW, TILBURG
Just like their former peers from Baltimore, Animal Collective and Dan Deacon, Ponytail throw a childlike playfulness into their music, which blossoms alongside their energetic noise-rock and reverb-heavy guitars. And it seems Ponytail have gone and let their hair grow long, too. The quartet’s 2006 debut, Kamehameha, utilised frothy, candied art-punk with surf-splotched guitars and ricocheting drums as a shiny playpen for vocalist Molly Sigel’s improvisatory farm-animal ululations. As with a lot of what’s been coming out of their city lately, that shit was weirdly compelling. ‘Celebrate the Body Electric (It Came from an Angel)’. The lead single from Ponytail’s forthcoming follow-up, Ice Cream Spiritual, for Baltimore imprint We*Are*Free, stretches out the fun-fuelled chaos to an epic seven minutes of crests, eddies, Tsunamis, and “hey wowie wow”! Giving a Deerhoof-like scissor kick to traditional song structure, the track jerks from No Age’s loose, trilling ambience to wiry, explosive bursts, offering up spaghetti Western backing vocals and Sigel chirping something like, “Awaywegonowawaywego!” There’s calm eventually, too, as Sigel’s rooster crow turns into a canary chirp. But before long, everything goes berserk once more. It’s all enough to make you believe in the spirituality of ice cream. Anyway we go for 31 flavours. 31
SUBBACULTCHA! PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER 2008
JEREMY JAY (K-REC, USA)
Jeremy Jay lives in Angel Town in Los Angeles, next to Larchmont, where he hangs out. He’s tall (6’3), blond (really) and handsome. And he’d love a cat for his apartment. He writes and plays piano and guitar. He says one of his favourite things to do is drive around with the moonroof open and listen to music
with his friends. It seems that he’s both a small-town boy and a big city lover in one. Jeremy’s writing is influenced by dreams and the more fantastic surrealist sensibility linked with the French New Wave and the Art Deco era storybook romance. He’s got a new record out on K-REC.
He’s tall (6’3), blond (really) and handsome
S E P T E M B E R 1 9 T H , DE NIEU WE ANITA, AMS TERDAM + LES S INGES S E P T E M B E R 2 1 S T , ZXZW, TILBURG 32
SUBBACULTCHA! PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER 2008
TV extremely loud psychedelia
BUDDHAS (ISR)
There’s still smoke rising from DNA and OCCII since TV Buddhas landed in Amsterdam a while ago, blowing venues apart with their extremely loud psychedelia. To say that TV Buddhas produce more sound than one would have thought possible of two people is something of an understatement. Mixing up pounding waves of noise in a Sunn O))) style with old school reverbed hard rock from the Seventies, and still daring to turn the volume up yet more, the real magic of a TV Buddhas show is the serene silence after the last note has faded into its grave. So we’re certainly not tired of them. And for those who didn’t get to experience the two holy Buddhas last time, they’re coming round again, touring their asses off. This time they’ll attempt to destroy Studio-K with a little extra dynamite from Eva Braun and PRE.
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 T H S TU DIO - K, AMS TERDAM + P R E + E VA B R AU N + F N N N N S E P T E M B E R 2 1 S T ZXZW, TILBURG 33
SUBBACULTCHA! PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER 2008
PRE (SKINGRAFT, UK)
Born in a basement in London, the first live outing of PRE had the entire audience locked outside, watching through barred windows from above. To the assemblage up top, it was clear that these five noise sprinkled nu-wavers had already figured it out; sound moves quicker in high pressure. Digging up old no-wave habits and combining them with a modern punk attitude, Pre have already shared stages with the likes of Aids Wolf, HEALTH, These Are Powers and Silver Daggers. noise sprinkled nu-wavers
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 T H , S TU DIO - K, AMS TERDAM + T V B U D D H A S + E VA B R AU N + F N N N N S E P T E M B E R 2 1 S T , ZXZW, TILBURG
SUBBACULTCHA! PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER 2008
EVA BRAUN (NL)
WaveGaragePostPunk
S E P T E M B E R 1 9 T H ZXZW, TILBURG S E P T E M B E R 2 0 T H , S TU DIO - K, AMS TERDAM + PRE + TV BUDDHAS + FNNNN
Extremely talented Wave-Garage-Post-Punk from Amsterdam. On stage, this trio attempts to destroy every musical rule there is by putting up a rattling, shaking curtain of noise and yelling, taking them to higher and higher echelons of the noise genre. If you try real hard, somewhere in the distance you can still hear the influences of Teenage Jesus & The Jerks, DNA and Siouxsie and the Banshees. 36
SUBBACULTCHA! PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER 2008
VOX VON BRAUN (SUBROUTINE, NL)
Vox Von Braun play the kind of music that should be emanating from the transistor radio of two peroxide-blondes, driving a convertible in any of your favourite mid-Seventies road movies. The band was founded in 2004 by Wymer Vaatstra (ex-the Gluemen), Frank Hiep (Propeller) and Maike Doornebosch. Early shows were characterised by excessive bouts of noise, resulting in a sound reminiscent of shoegaze and ’60s punk rock. Influences stretch from The Other Half to My Bloody Valentine, and from Lee Hazlewood to Stephen Malkmus. Early in 2007, two new songs were released on a split 7” single with the former De Nieuwe Vrolijkheid. Since this spring, the band has been accompanied by fourth member, Ben Wennekers, on guitar and organ, making their poppy feedback sounds even more gritty and playful than ever. Their forthcoming debut album is to be released following the death of summer of 2008 on Subroutine poppy Records, hopefully around the time you’re reading this. feedback sounds
SEPTEMBER 26TH D E NIEU WE ANITA, A M S T E R DA M + H O S P ITAL BO MBERS
violent and noisy indie pop
APPIE KIM (WILLY ANDERSON, NL)
Appie Kim emerged after the tragic split of one of the most exciting and promising noise-act from the Netherlands: De Nieuwe Vrolijkheid. Starting off playing songs from that band, Natasha swiftly developed a brand new blend of violent and noisy indie pop goodies. Think Sonic Youth vs Velvet Underground with PJ Harvey hanging over the ropes to shout encouragement. 37
SUBBACULTCHA! PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER 2008
HOSPITAL BOMBERS (EXCELSIOR, NL)
protest songs against broken hearts
S E P T E M B E R 2 6 T H D E NIEU WE ANITA, AMS TERDAM + VOX VO N B R AU N + A P P I E K I M
Holland’s finest retro-indie rockers are back on Subbacultcha! According to the press, Hospital Bombers (without ‘The’) play “Lofi indie pop with ’60s influences.” They’re so much more, though. So for now, we’ll let the band add “protest songs against broken hearts with stadium rock aspirations” to that description. At least until you get a chance to make up your own Hospital Bombers rules. Thrive on their songs of not much more than three chords, but dripping with tales of love, life and the misery of this world. Oh, and they also like peanut butter. A lot. 38
SUBBACULTCHA! PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER 2008
CHOPS TWO MINUTE NOODLES (UPSET THE RYTHM, UK)
(UK)
Dysfunctional big beat drums propel limb shaking guitar and bass, a combination of vintage analogue synths, crunked up digital keys, shifted and twisted alto sax, baritone euphonium, and assorted miscellaneous electronics at catastrophic levels of amplification, targeted directly to the centre of your mind and affecting every inch of your physical being. A cleansing and nutritious experience of euphoric molten instrumentation and motivational techniques, balanced on the fine line between improvisation, vaguely orchestrated structures and composed backbones, skipping haphazardly amongst full-blown noise, R&B pop, calypso, lounge jazz and progressive experimentation, all with joyous, reckless abandon. Chops and Two Minute Noodles take the improvised disco patter of Dinosaur L and mill it through a woozy blender until the resulting product becomes a groggy and magnificently hard-to-dance-to ultimate party soundtrack... like prancing drunkenly through a wind farm. We have no taste, but, ladies and gentlemen, we are your chefs tonight! Dysfunctional big beat drums propel limb shaking guitar and bass
S E P T E M B E R 2 1 S T Z X Z W, TILBU RG S E P T E M B E R 2 7 T H DB’ S , U TREC HT 39
SUBBACULTCHA! PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER 2008
ADRESSES BITTERZOET STUDIO-K DE NIEUWE ANITA PATRONAAT DB'S
SPUISTRAAT 2, AMSTERDAM TIMORPLEIN 62, AMSTERDAM FREDERIK HENDRIKSTRAAT 111, AMSTERDAM ZIJLSINGEL 2, HAARLEM CARTESIUSWEG 90 A, UTRECHT
FREE CD’S SUBBACULTCHA! IS GIVING AWAY TONS OF NEW RELEASES FOR FREE! THIS MONTH A.O.
Pre
Munch Munch
Ponytail
Jeremy Jay
FREE PARTIES SIGN UP TO THE SUBBACULTCHA MAILINGLIST AND GET INTO OUR MONTHLY MAGAZINE RELEASE PARTIES FOR FREE. CHECK WWW.SUBBACULTCHA.NL FOR DETAILS
NEXT MONTH THE TRUTH ABOUT NEW YORK
42
www.concertomania.nl
SUBBACULTCHA! PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER 2008
SUBBACULTCHA! IS LOOKING FOR HIPSTERS Subbacultcha! is looking for a sales and marketing person for flexible hours. Tasks include: selling advertisements for Subbacultcha! magazine and coming up with ideas for commercial exploitation of Subbacultcha! Are you worth 5000 euros a month but are you willing to do it on a commission basis please contact magazine@subbacultcha.nl Also, feel free to contact us if you have ideas on how you could contribute to Subbacultcha! in any other way.
43
SUBBACULTCHA! PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER 2008 FRI AUG 29 DE NIEUWE ANITA STARTS 20.00 | COVER 5 EURO FREE FOR MEMBERS OF THE SUBBACULTCHA! MAILINGLIST
FRI SEPT 5 PATRONAAT STARTS 22.00 | ENTRANCE FREE
THU SEPT 18 BITTERZOET STARTS 20.30 | COVER 6 EURO
FRI SEPT 19 DE NIEUWE ANITA STARTS 20.00 | COVER 7 EURO
SAT SEPT 20 STUDIO-K STARTS 21.30 | COVER 6 EURO FREE TILL 22.00 !
FRI SEPT 26 DE NIEUWE ANITA STARTS 20.00 | COVER 6 EURO
SAT DB’S
SEPT 27
STARTS 21.00 | COVER 6 EURO
MAGAZINE RELEASE PARTY!! MUNCH MUNCH (UK, TOMBLAB) ELEPHANT MICAH BOUTROS BUBBA PONYTAIL (USA, WE ARE FREE) + PONYPACK JEREMY JAY (USA, K-REC) LES SINGES PRE (UK, SKINGRAFT) TV BUDDHAS (ISR) EVA BRAUN FNNNN (DJ SET) VOX VON BRAUN (CD PARTY) APPIE KIM HOSPITAL BOMBERS CHOPS (UK, UPSET THE RYTHM) TWO MINUTE NOODLES (UK)
COMING UP IN OCTOBER
ADEPT, THE MOI NON PLUS, SIXTEENS, MAHJONGG, ANAVAN & MORE!