tsururadio. » Martin

Peanut’s Playground: What The Hell Is Going On – What’s Up With Dutch Music

Martin — Wed, 18 May 2011 15:45:31 +0000

Peanut’s Playground is my bi-weekly verbal diarrhea. Every other Wednesday I plan to ramble about stuff I like (in my typically screwed up version of English) and hope you will like too. And in case you don’t… mweh.

The general consensus about Dutch music is that it sucks. Ok maybe not the general consensus, since there are a lot of people who don’t give a crap about Dutch music in general!

Whatever the public might thin,k my own opinion on Dutch music is well known. With the exception of a few great artists (most of which don’t record anymore) the majority of the tunes from the Nether regions sucks balls. I’ve always looked somewhat envious to our Belgian neighbors. The complete opposite of what is going in Holland is what’s normal over there. They have more great artists than sucky ones. At least it certainly seems that way.

Even though I think Dutch music sucks I’m still going to yabber a bit about it in this article. The reason for this is that somehow a bunch of very good artists have surfaced these past months, four of which I would like to introduce to you. All of them have ‘break-out’ potential and are definitely worthy of your attention.

First up are Amsterdam-based alternative rock band Alamo Race Track

I’ve written about them before, when they made my year-end list (top 5) with their second album Black Cat John Brown. They’ve just released their third long player called Unicorn Loves Deer on Excelsior Recordings, and although it’s completely different from their previous work, it’s an absolute winner! The melodies and instrumentation are both original and haunting. They might take some time to sink in, but when they do, they’re hard to get out of your head.

Alamo Race Track – Shake The Leaves

You can download their album here

Next up: Dazzled Kid

Dazzled Kid is the solo project of Voicst (alumnus of my 2009′ year-end list) singer Tjeerd Bomhof. Where his main band Voicst make fast paced rocking guitar pop, Tjeerd choose to tone it down a bit for this project, giving it a relaxed but still poppy singer-songwriter feel. Yes No Maybe is the lead-off single of his 2011′ debut album Fire Needs Air.

Dazzled Kid – Yes No Maybe

You can download the album here

Number three: De Staat

How does one describe a band that is totally indescribable? Because that’s exactly what the Nijmegen outfit De Staat are, utterly and completely unique and thus indescribable (to me at least). They call themselves ‘Musical Chameleons’ which sounds about right to me. You can stick any of a hundred genre labels on them and be right. There’s really only option left, and that’s to check out their second album Machinery asap.

De Staat – I’ll Never Marry You

You can download their album here

Last, but certainly not least. Dutch beauty Marike Jager

I’ve been in love with Marike Jager’s music ever since first seeing her play live back in 2007 (which feels like ages ago). Her somewhat quirky stage presence combined with a great voice and fine songwriting captured my interest from the start. Since then I’ve seen Marike progress into an artist Holland has not seen many of over the years. With each album and each performance she fine tuned here craft, resulting in her finest effort yet, this year’s Here Comes The Night. You really really should give that album some well deserved attention!

Marike Jager – Break The Law

You can download her album here

See you in two weeks!

- Martin

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: Live At The Budokan

Martin — Wed, 04 May 2011 15:45:45 +0000

In typical Peanut-style I’ve messed up my timeschedule and made (work related) appointments for about every single day in April and May. And what that means is….a quicky for today’s post and it’s about:

The Nippon Budokan

[Info stolen from wikipedia] The Nippon Budokan a.k.a. as The Budokan is an arena in the middle of Tokyo, Japan. I have no clue whatsoever what goes inside this arena besides the fact that a shitload of great live performances have been recorded there.

I’ve collected a few clips of the most memorable of those performances for your enjoyment. (Translation: these were the best ones I could find on Youtube while writing this article at the office) Yeah I’m a lazy basterd. Sue me.

You might have to turn up the volume a bit for some of these videos…

Cheap Trick – I Want You To Want Me (1978)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBQ9dm7zaQU

Skid Row – Monkey Business (1992)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7tUyY8iz9U

Ozzy Osbourne – Paranoid (2002)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b32Ll7cbIg4

Rainbow – Stranded (1984)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZg8hcWnHcM

Muse – Plug In Baby (2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zex3xeAc-C8

The Doobie Brothers – Listen To The Music (1993)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGfEm3q4S3o

Oasis – Live Forever (1998)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHgoPv8189o

The Beatles – NoWhere Man (1966)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YByXIEkuRn0

See you in two weeks!

- Martin

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: Forgotten Classics – 13. Mental Floss For The Globe by Urban Dance Squad

Martin — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:45:15 +0000

Number 13 in my series of Forgotten Classics:

Mental Floss For The Globe by Urban Dance Squad (1989)

Hi guys. Sorry that I missed my slot two weeks ago. Life suddenly caught up with me and well, that’s just how things go sometimes. But rest assured, I’m making it up with a whopper of a classic today! One that you’ve probably never heard of before but hey, what else is new.

Forget about mainstream acts like Red Hot Chili Peppers or Rage Against The Machine. Urban Dance Squad were the true original crossover pioneers. The Utrecht (in the Netherlands) based group combined rock (guitars) with rap (vocals) and old-skool (scratching) and turned it into something completely new.

They actually had some moderate success too. Not over here in the Nether Regions, but in the States. Deeper Shade Of Soul from their debut album actually made it all the way to #57 in the Billboard Hot 100. Which to Dutch standards is really really fucking succesful.

Anyway, this band doesn’t do their thang no more (whatever the hell that means), so digging into their back catalogue is all that’s left now. And there’s no better place to start than here. Because if you don’t like this album, there is seriously something wrong with your hearing.

Download Mental Floss For The Globe here

1. Fast Lane

2. No Kid

3. Deeper Shade of Soul

4. Prayer For My Demo

5. Big Apple

6. Piece Of Rock

7. Brainstorm On The U.D.S.

8. The Devil

9. Famous When You’re Dead

10. Mental Floss For The Globe

11. Hitchhike H.D.

12. God Blasts The Queen

See you in two weeks!

- Martin

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: Forgotten Classics – 12. Neon Golden by The Notwist

Martin — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:30:04 +0000

Number 12 in my series of Forgotten Classics:

Neon Golden by The Notwist (2002)

It was way back in 2002 that Neon Golden by the Germans of The Notwist was named Album Of The Year by the good people of the Dutch (aren’t I the multinational blogger) music magazine OOR. At the time I had no clue whatsoever what this album was all about and why in god’s name it should be crowned ‘King Of 2002′. After all, wasn’t this the same year that also saw the release of instant classics like (amongst others) Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Interpol’s Turn On The Bright Lights, The White Stripes’ White Blood Cells and Cody ChesnuTT’s The Headphone Masterpiece?

Being fashionably late it took me more than two years to finally discover why so many people liked this album. Because it’s fucking awesome, that’s why! Look here, even the acid pissing wankers of Pissfork listed it in their top 10:

Realizing that The Notwist started out as a (mediocre) post-hardcore outfit makes the musical journey that Neon Golden takes you on all the more amazing. Nothing on the band’s previous four full length releases could’ve hinted at the greatness they would achieve with their fifth album. The fluency in the fusion of (subtle) electronics and guitar-driven pop music is impressive to say the least. The closest comparison I can think of is what Radiohead achieved on Kid A, but with a lot less experimentation.

The focus on the songs make the album a lot more lovable at first listen than its experimental counterparts, and somehow without becoming boring after repeated listens. Even after almost 10 years. Hell, Consequence is still one the best songs of the 00s!

So if you happened to have missed out the first time around (like I did), make up for it now. Check out the sample songs and spend your cash on a great album. You will not regret it.

Download Neon Golden here

1. One Step Inside Doesn’t Mean You Understand

2. Pilot

3. Pick Up The Phone

4. Trashing Days

5. This Room

6. Solitaire

7. One With The Freaks

8. Neon Golden

9. Off The Rails

10. Consequence

11. Scoop

12. Propeller 9

13. Formiga

See you in two weeks!

- Martin

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: Forgotten Classics – 11. Sugar – File Under Easy Listening

Martin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 20:24:47 +0000

Photography by LittleFlair…

Hüsker Dü means nothing to me. Bob Mould means nothing to me either. That is to say, the music that the Dü and the Mould made/make isn’t really the music that I like the Bob to make. The music I love is this:

Sugar – File Under Easy Listening (1994)

1994 was a great year in music, and File Under Easy Listening (or F.U.E.L.) was one of its highlights.

Roaring guitars. Loud guitars. But also, beautiful melodies. A combination I’ve gotten to love, and few albums have gotten it better than F.U.E.L. Bob Mould’s voice has never been angelic or smooth or anything like that, but who knew how well it would fit melodic songs instead of just raging rockers. His gritty vocals over the infectious grooves and chords are exactly what keep this album interesting.

Every song is memorable. Memorable in such a way that even after listening to it only once it will have you singing along full force! The song structures are, without exception, simple and easy to grasp. But simple does not equal dull. It’s never dull! Better still, it keeps on surprising you, more than 16 years after its release.

All the traits of a timeless classic if I’ve ever heard one.

DOWNLOAD FILE UNDER EASY LISTENING HERE

1. Gift

2. Company Book

3. Your Favorite Thing

4. What You Want It To Be

5. Gee Angel

6. Panama City Motel

7. Can’t Help You Anymore

8. Granny Cool

9. Believe What You’re Saying

10. Explode And Make Up

Don’t forget to check out my other articles, in case you’ve missed them (which would be an absolute shame, because they’re great and shit).

Tudels,

Peanut

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: Forgotten Classics – 10. The Dears – Gang Of Losers

Martin — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 19:36:41 +0000

Photography by shinelikestars00…

I was going to write about The Dears’ new album Degeneration Street but I opted to do a forgotten classic post instead. This is number 10 in my ongoing series honoring wonderful and often underrated albums:

The Dears – Gang Of Losers (2006)

The reason I’m not writing about the new album is because I really need to listen to it some more before judging. I already know it’s good but I still have to decide how good it really is. For Gang Of Losers I already made up my mind back in 2006.

Of all albums released in the noughties only two have made my all-time top 20 list, and this is one of those two. And in contrast with how many of my favorite music has captured my attention, this time it was the lyrics that pulled me in.

Frontman Murray Lightburn sings about being homeless. Being discriminated. Being deemed a loser. But also about optimism. About the things that are good in the world. And what makes his stories all the more impressive, is the fact that he’s live through it all. He’s actually been there, living on the streets, getting shit dumped upon him. And somehow, someway, this man has managed to make a series of fantastic albums of which Gang Of Losers is (imo) by far the most impressive.

Every song here is memorable. Instantly. And while most of the time this is a bad sign; this time it’s not. I’ve revisited this album at average at least twice a month since its release. And even now, almost five years later songs like Death or Life We Want You and There Goes My Outfit still give me goosebumps, and this is the main sign of a classic if you ask me.

DOWNLOAD GANG OF LOSERS HERE

1. Sinthtro

2. Ticket to Immortality

3. Death or Life We Want You

4. Hate, Then Love

5. There Goes My Outfit

6. Bandwagoneers

7. Fear Made The World Go ‘Round

8. Gang of Losers

9. Whites Only Party

10. Ballad of Humankindness

11. I Fell Deep

12. Find Our Way To Freedom

Don’t forget to check out my other articles, in case you’ve missed them (which would be an absolute shame, because they’re great and shit).

Tudels,

Peanut

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: Sweep, Swoop, Swept And Mondo Amore By Nicole Atkins

Martin — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 18:45:27 +0000

Photography by SimonSawSunlight…

If there’s one lady in music who has swept me of my feet it’s this one!

Nicole Atkins – Mondo Amore

Besides the fact that Nicole Atkins is one great chica (check out her twitter if you don’t believe me) she also makes some bloody fantastic music as well!

Her 2007′ album Neptune City is among the very few albums from my year-end-list of that year that I actually still listen to. Listen to a lot actually. The combination of grand orchestration, lush arrangements and huge but lovely vocals has proven to be seriously addictive. That she’s able to add really memorable melodies to that mix makes her even easier to love.

Where Neptune City was like the pop-music version of a Vaudeville show, Mondo Amore is Nicole dragging the whole shebang over to the Jersey shores and kicking the crap out of the can-can dancers! Sure there’s her trademark swooping ballads to be found here (Hotel Plaster, Heavy Boots amongst others) but the majority of this album kicks ass and promisses to be just as addictive as her earlier work.

Go check her out if you haven’t done so before, you know you want to!

Download Mondo Amore here

1. Vultures

2. Cry Cry Cry

3. Hotel Plaster

4. You Come To Me

5. My Baby Don’t Lie

6. This Is For Love

7. You Were The Devil

8. War Is Hell

9. Heavy Boots

10. The Tower

Don’t forget to check out my other articles, in case you’ve missed them (which would be an absolute shame, because they’re great and shit).

Tudels,

Peanut

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: Gimme Some By Peter Björn And John, Something To Love That Is!

Martin — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 18:00:15 +0000

Photography by complejo…

Everyone that has read more than one of my articles over the past 5 years will already know that this Swedish three-man-band has been one of my faves ever since discovering them.

So there should be no surprise to learn that I was extremely excited about their new album:

Peter Björn And John – Gimme Some

If you happen to be unfamiliar with Peter Björn And John’s music (which wouldn’t be that surprising), then I suggest you hop over to their website asap to get some free sample mp3s and videos: PBJ.com and then return here to read on a bit.

Go on.

I’ll wait.

*dumdidumdidumdidum*

Oh hello! Welcome back!

I can only imagine that you’re just as amazed as I was when first hearing their music. If you aren’t, well frankly I think there’s something seriously wrong with you and you should stop reading this and every other future article I write.

Gimme Some is the band’s 6th album (5th proper one) since their start in 1999. Their first glimpse of fame came when their track Young Folks (the whistling song) from 2006′ Writer’s Block was picked up by a massive amount of websites and radiostations. To date they have yet to deliver a bad piece of music, although I will admit that their 2008′ instrumental release Seaside Rock was sub-par to say the least.

After the bit more adventurous Living Thing from 2009 for Gimme Some the band have returned to what their good great at. Making energetic guitar driven pop/rock with hooks that are all over the place. The album is filled with potential singles, the best one of which has just been released as just that. Second Chance is one of the best songs you’ll hear this year, trust me on that one, and the rest of the bunch ain’t too shabby either. Enjoy!

Visit the band’s website to stay updated

1. Tomorrow Has To Wait

2. Dig A Little Deeper

3. Second Chance

4. Eyes

5. Breaker Breaker

6. May Seem Macabre

7. (Don’t Let Them) Cool Off

8. Black Book

9. Down Like Me

10. Lies

11. I Know You Don’t Love Me

Don’t forget to check out my other articles, in case you’ve missed them (which would be an absolute shame, because they’re great and shit).

Tudels,

Peanut

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: Forgotten Classics – 9. Kyuss – Welcome To Sky Valley

Martin — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:00:53 +0000

Photography by VexingART…

Everybody and his brother’s dog knows Queens Of The Stone Age. Well fuck Queens Of The Stone Age! There’s only band that Josh Homme should be known for and that’s:

Kyuss – Welcome To Sky Valley (1994)

There isn’t a band in history that has earned weirder tags than Kyuss. ‘Stoner rock’. Ehh what? Stones that rock? Sure. ‘Desert rock’. Last time I checked the desert it was quiet as fuck, so this makes no sense whatsoever. Oh wait, they had jam sessions in the desert you say? Well I sing in the toilet, so maybe that explains why I make shitty music…

1992′ Blues For The Red Sun might have gained the ‘classic’ label but this here Welcome To Sky Valley is truly the real deal when it comes to Kyuss. It hasn’t got anything close to something that could be considered a single candidate (although Demon Cleaner has appeared in the latest Guitar Hero game) but when it comes to fulfilling the potential that Kyuss had you need not look any further.

Sky Valley is split up in three ‘suits’, otherwise known as three Roman numerals on the back cover of the album. Seriously, there ain’t nothing more to it than that. And be glad for that! Most albums that work with ‘suits’ turn out to be pretentious and unlistenable pieces of crap, and this is not.

The sound is all over the place but at the same time it’s 100% Kyuss and unique in that way. Thrashing, laidback, psychedelic, rocking and thunderous. This has got it all. And all of this accompanied by the Southern wail of John Garcia and Josh Homme’s guitar played through a bass amp.

Welcome To Sky Valley is a unique and amazing album by a band that would’ve been completely relevant had they still existed today. In case you overlooked Kyuss back in the early 90′s, here’s your chance to redeem yourselves.

DOWNLOAD WELCOME TO SKY VALLEY HERE

1. Gardenia

2. Asteroid

3. Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop

4. 100 Degrees

5. Space Cadet

6. Demon Cleaner

III

7. Odyssey

8. Conan Troutman

9. N.O.

10. Whitewater

Don’t forget to check out my other articles, in case you’ve missed them (which would be an absolute shame, because they’re great and shit).

Tudels,

Peanut

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: How Something New That Seemed To Be Shite Turned Out To Be Quite Good And Mine Is Yours By Cold War Kids

Martin — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 19:49:35 +0000

Photography by iNeedChemicalX…

Now this is a release that I have been waiting for like fucking forever! Well actually the wait’s only been a little less than 3 years but it sure felt like forever to me, but finally FINALLY it’s here:

Cold War Kids – Mine Is Yours

And fuck what a disappointment this album was at first listen!

Wanna know why? Lemme tell you why.

I saw Cold War Kids play live at the Amsterdam Paradiso somewhere in 2006, and they were the most intense act I had ever witnessed on stage. These guys were nothing less than possessed! The drummer was pounding away. The singer ripped his lungs out and the guitars seared with emotion drenched in blood, sweat and tears. They were in one word, amazing!

This is the kind of amazing that I’m talking about:

Imagine my surprise when the first song from Mine Is Yours that actually draw my attention was this one:

Finally Begin

WTF??!! This can’t be the same band!

Don’t get me wrong here; I like this song. I actually like it a lot, but it sounds like something that George Michael could’ve released. And the sound of Ol’ Georgiakis Michaelopopopopoplis isn’t exactly what I had expected from these here guys.

Anyway the initial surprise eventually turned into utter disappointment. Disappointment made me stop listening to the album. Even more so, disappointment actually made me afraid to listen to the album any further. I was actually afraid of the fact that I might start to like this new direction that Cold War Kids had gone into.

In the end it was the sheer quality of Finally Begin managed to steer me to the dark light side and I decided to push on, and what I found surprised me.

Sure there were more songs in the same vein as Finally Begin (read: darn right cathcy/poppy) but not as much as one might expect. Four songs turned out to be ‘new style’. The other 7 could’ve fit in snugly with the band’s previous releases. Intense songs, firmly rooted in blue-collar American rock traditions. And I like ‘em!

All in all this turned out to be a wild ride for a devoted fan like me, but with a happy ending after all. I see this album spinning in my iTunes for quite some time to come. Go check it out!

Download Mine Is Yours Here

1. Mine Is Yours

2. Louder Than Ever

3. Royal Blue

4. Finally Begin

5. Out Of The Wilderness

6. Skip The Charades

7. Sensitive Kid

8. Bulldozer

9. Broken Open

10. Cold Toes On The Cold Floor

11. Flying Upside Down

Don’t forget to check out my other articles, in case you’ve missed them (which would be an absolute shame, because they’re great and shit).

Tudels,

Peanut

Link up with me here: