vrijdag 15 februari 2008

Madadayo

And at the end of 2004 shortly after the death of Hessel’s father and mother “MADADAYO” was born. Y Create (NL) ‘Madadayo’CD-December 2004 300 copies. (released by EE Tapes, Belgium) http://www.eetapes.be/ ”Musician and home-tape veteran Hessel Veldman, known from the legendary Gorgonzola Legs, F.N.T.C. and the Exart label ( IJmuiden, Holland 1982 – 1995), finally returns back to earth with the resurrection of his solo-project Y CREATE: a full-length CD (76:54) with new dark earplays, now for the first time available! All material on ‘ Madadayo’ was processed with original sounds from the rich Exart-archives.” Knowing absolutely nothing of this artist, after undertaking a little background research it seems that solo musician Hessel Veldman ran a tape label Exart from 1982 to 1995. Thus with a wealth of archival material to draw from, Hessel sampled, collated, arranged and mixed sounds to construct the final compositions on this album.Whist the promo blurb might bill this as dark ambient, to my mind this description is far too narrow to adequately capture the diversity of ideas at play. Admittedly the opening track ‘The white house walk’ might subscribe to a standard dark ambient sound, yet, things really take flight on ‘A tale from the dark side’ with a rhythmic tribal composition. The moody synth melodies of the title track avoid clichés given the underscoring trip hop beats introduced mid way through. ‘Daisy daisy’ likewise is truly wondrous, forging a halcyon sonic miasma, and yet another example of this CD being well above beyond a mere dark ambient tag.Without resorting to describing each individual track and its particular elements and sounds, Y Create’s album is truly one of the most diverse, professional, interesting and welcomed surprises I have come across in recent times. Lastly, the CD comes housed is a 7” record sleeve & is limited to 325 copies. 2005 - RJS (Aural Pressure) For more information, correspondence, sounds and music-exchange contact: HESSEL VELDMAN VELSERDUINWEG 52c 1971 ZE IJMUIDEN THE NETHERLANDS E-MAIL: djima@telfort.nl

EXART retrospective

Label, Studio and Archive Projects and Issues RETROSPECTIVE (1982-1995) Exart, founded by Hessel Veldman and Nicole, started its activities in october 1982. In 1978 Hessel started composing experimental music and before 1978 he was playing guitar in several local blues- and rock-bands. The label was there to spread new experimental and improvised music. The studio was the place to make compositions, recordings, radio-programmes, mixes and remixes. And at the same time Hessel started to preserve sounds in the EXART archive.
The first EXART issue was a tape by ROTTERDANS, a group of people from Rotterdam, who made their own city folk-music in an old building; one of the few that were left after World War II. Soon after the first EXART-release “United States XV” was issued. A one-month-tour through the States gave Hessel so much inspiration that fifteen soundscapes could be heard on this C-90 musiccassette. Things started to move fast after the first two releases. There was a lot of publicity in local newspapers and national music magazines. During that period Hessel and Nicole were recording their own music in IJmuiden, but also started to do recording-sessions with many other musicians. Constantly the studio was recording sounds of Kees Beukelaar, Herman te Loo, Jos van Ommen, Kees van Ede and Willem de Ridder. A lot of these improvisations and compositions were compiled on several Y CREATE issues. (Why create? or IJmuidense creations)
With Kees van Ede and Willem de Ridder live concerts started.Extra information about Willem: http://www.willemderidder.com/
Famous are the AORTA-concerts in Amsterdam and the live-broadcasts on the Dutch National Radio (V.P.R.O.). In June 1983 Willem de Ridder, Kees van Ede, Annie Sprinkle (http://www.anniesprinkle.org/), Veronica Vera (http://www.missvera.com/), and Hessel Veldman shocked Amsterdam, during the Holland Festival, with their four-day-erotic-soundscape-performance: “PORTABLE VAUDEVILLE”.
Meanwhile Kees van Ede and Hessel developed a complete new glass-organ, that could be played with human hands, but was amplified with special made equipment. Kees and Hessel worked on this instrument for almost a year and the result could be heard on the tape “VAN EDE’S GLASWERK”, which was completely recorded at the STEIM-STUDIO (http://www.steim.org/) in Amsterdam. 1984 was the year in which Gert Jan Prins (www.gjp.info/) visited Hessel and Nicole at their appartment on the 11th floor, overlooking a big industrial landscape. Recording-sessions were started at Gert Jan’s “Fish Warehouse”-studio. Gert Jan Prins, Hessel Veldman, Herman te Loo and Jos van Duyne became GORGONZOLA LEGS. Hundreds and hundreds of hours of “live”-recording sessions took place. At some of these sessions other musicians were present, such as: Jos van Ommen, Ruud Junge, Martijn Swart and Masaki Oishi. At the end of 1984 “GORGONZOLA LEGS” was released. On this one hour cassette the first mixed recordings could be heard. The group also wanted to do concerts and so GORGONZOLA LEGS more and more became a “live”-band.
In 1986 a second tape was released, entitled “SALMON SQUEEZING IN WEIRD WEIRS’, a new compilation of “Fish Warehouse”-recordings. “BUNKER” was recorded live at the Bunker in Rotterdam, october ’86. The complete concert could be heard on another EXART-issue. In 1987 the powerfull voice of the Japanese singer Masaki Oishi gave a new dimension to the sound of GORGONZOLA LEGS. Hours and hours of recordings were made. At the end of the year 6 hours of mixed material had to be remixed to L.P.-format. In april 1988 EXART decided to make it Holland’s first independent C.D.-release: “PISCATORIAL DEBRIS’. At the same time, with the great help of Henry van Kleeff, the “PISCATORIAL DEBRIS”-video was made. A beautiful 20 minutes sound sculpture video was realized. The video and C.D. got a lot of international attention and was performed on several big music/video festivals.During the late 80’s GORGONZOLA LEGS-material was also released on labels in Portugal, Italy and the U.S.A.
In the meantime Hessel and Nicole also were involved in the FANATIC-project. This project started after the Holland Festival shows in 1983. Willem de Ridder and Hessel allready started making radio programmes in the late seventies: normal stories and fairy-tales for children and experimental Radio Plays for adults.The first experimental Radio Plays were made in the EXART-studio and released on tape or broadcasted live on independent radiostations. But during all these recordingsessions also Nicole and Cora became part of the Radio Plays. So we needed a name: FANATIC was born. And FANATIC appeared more and more “on stage”, doing strange perverse sexual performances while audiences were blindfolded and/or confrontated with extreme sounds. In 1985 the name was changed into F.N.T.C. and several music- and videotapes were released during the late 80’s. “NEUROPA”(feat. William Levy) and “OPERA”(feat. Jon Rose; http://www.jonroseweb.com/) soon became top issues and were broadcasted in many different countries.
By distributing, performing and broadcasting music EXART became part of a big independent underground network of hometaping musicians. This was the reason EXART also started to release music from other cities and countries, where musicians were creating their own sounds and were searching for any kind of output. So, a long list of musicians found their music on EXART issues. ENNO VELTHUYS, from Den Haag, even made three musictapes to be released by EXART. BROBAT ENEMA, ENEMA DIGEST and PAUL DANIELS, from the U.K., also had their three projects released, working under different names. But there were many more complete tapes or tracks on EXART. For instance: SEEMEN (U.S.A.) (http://www.seemen.org/) , QUINTET DE L’ART (France), SEMPITERNELS/VRISCHIKA (France), THE DETECTIVE (U.K.), HOWARD INGRAM (N.Ireland), AUDIO LETTER with DON CHERRY (U.S.A.), GERT JAN PRINS (N.L.), BIG CITY ORCHESTRA (U.S.A.), BRUME (France), KLIMPEREI and DELETED (France) (www.homme-moderne.org/les2/) , LIZA NELIAZ (France) en PETER CORNELISSEN (N.L.). (This part of the retrospective is a short version of the one that was made for the exhibition “UNDERCURRENTS” in March 1991. Organised by N.D.Magazine and the MEXIC-ARTE Museum, Austin, Texas, U.S.A.)

woensdag 13 februari 2008

Art Radio Mix /OPERA\

A live recording of FNTC's famous 3 dimensional hearplay. During this performance the audience was blindfolded and stretched out on couches. The sound came from all sides. Recorded and mixed in the summer of 1986. Use headphones while laying down. Opera has been featured in the All Chemix Radio Series and has been broadcasted by Stations in Canada, USA, Australia, Germany and The Netherlands. Willem de Ridder and Hessel allready started making radio programmes in the late seventies: normal stories and fairy-tales for children and experimental Radio Plays for adults.The first experimental Radio Plays were made in the EXART-studio and released on tape or broadcasted live on independent radiostations. But during all these recordingsessions also Nicole and Cora became part of the Radio Plays. So we needed a name: FANATIC was born. And FANATIC appeared more and more “on stage”, doing strange perverse sexual performances while audiences were blindfolded and/or confrontated with extreme sounds. In 1985 the name was changed into F.N.T.C. and several music- and videotapes were released during the late 80’s. “NEUROPA”(feat. William Levy) and “OPERA”(feat. Jon Rose; http://www.jonroseweb.com/) soon became top issues and were broadcasted in many different countries.

Art Radio Mix for Concertzender

Tune in on Monday the 8th of September 2008. At 24:00 Amsterdam-time. POP-ART: BEDROOM COMMUNITY (labelspecial).
Tune in on Monday the 29th of September 2008.
At 22:00 Amsterdam-time.
230 VOLT: FLOAT......TO THE FLUTE OF DEATH.
Tune in on Monday the 13th of October 2008. At 24:00 Amsterdam-time. POP-ART: GNAW THEIR TONGUES. Tune in on Monday the 10th of November 2008. At 24:00: Amsterdam-time. POP-ART: THE FRUIT OF THE ORIGINAL SIN. Tune in on Monday the 8th of December 2008. At 24:00: Amsterdam-time. POP-ART: BORIS.
(Live Audio, Radio On Demand and Podcasts; High Quality)
Also by satellite, digitenne and DAB-radio.
Every program is an adventurous journey through the world of new extreme music.
A 1 hour special, a two hour theme-program or a 5 hour night broadcasting of pure sound,
with no disturbing announcements and adverts.
Soundsculptures related to a theme, a label, a musician or a composer.
As music consumer, musician and producer for about 40 years I’ve a great interest in strange, obscure and extreme music. I’ve been part of the cassette-network in the eighties and a musician in the Dutch modern jazz scene, avant-garde and rock scene over the last 35 years. At this moment I’m working as a musical adviser for Dutch Music Libraries and as radio-producer, for the CONCERTZENDER and RADIO 6. For the CONCERTZENDER I’ve planned to do theme-programs in which labels, musicians and music-magazines will get an one or two hour presentation. I will create a soundscape format (58/114 min.) by using the collage-technique. So I’m not only producing the program, but will do the mixing (broadcasting) and press information (magazine/website text) as well. I contact the labels or artists I find interesting. When I have gathered enough (promotion)material to create a various soundscape, I mix the program in real time. When people add voice-info to their promotion material I even decide if it’s usable to be mixed through the program. All music will be administrated and credits will go to the label and/or artists involved. About the music itself. Any kind of music can fit into the program. The main goal for me is to pay attention to music that hardly can be heard on radio, difficult to find in CD-shops/Music-shops. Because I hear so much beautiful music, that it’s a pity that no one knows it exists. So I suggest, you make a promotional package, with those things of which you think will be interesting for a new audience to hear. And if you want your products back, after they have been used. No problem. You can have them in return. Just ask for it! Otherwise they will stay in the CONCERTZENDER archive. Also I send you a copy of the radio-program itself and the date the programme will be broadcasted on radio and the internet. After broadcasting any time people can listen to your program with “Radio on Demand” (the Concertzender Podcast service). If you are interested in finding a new stage to perform your music send me some of your work on CD. So, suddenly you can hear your music on Dutch radio. contact Hessel Veldman Velserduinweg 52c 1971 ZE IJmuiden The Netherlands djima@telfort.nl