Do It Without Love (watch 3)

Right!

The album

Yes it's time to get myself together...or not. I've been recording again, a lot of ideas fell into place so it's been fun and I guess I can come up with a new album next year, but.... it's too predictable now. Yes, I can look back at this great body of work now and be proud, but something is missing... I've been doing that for so many years now, it has become a habit, maybe a nice routine. The latest reviews have giving me exactly the kick in that direction. Break with the mold. Every song has been worth releasing, so no regrets in that department. I just want to experiment, explore more with ideas so I need time and space to do that. I'm gonna break with the "releasing things" to the public every year. Quality comes first.
Will I ever release a song again, you wonder? Only when I'm perfectly and naturally okay with it, but I'm too addicted to songwriting, recording, playing singing to give it all up. Hey TVD, let's not get too serious, nothing is broken. Let's have fun again. I've got the toys and the playground!

Motivation is the key, I can't do it without love.

Tat's a song from the last album. I'm profetic I guess!
This song is about love...without feeling it exactly. Written in a burst of energy on acoustic guitar, I found a fitting melody on the piano and the rest followed.
Just let it flow.....
Spotify
Video

Everybody, thanks for your support. I'm gonna vanish again, but I'll be back.

Compilation 2005-2013

I Forgot about this! I don't like compilation in general, but this one... well, I had the chance to put together a few favourite songs and release it. Et voila! On apple music

Doesn't Ring A Bell : the story behind the Songs

Doesn't Ring A Bell Front & Backcover

Hey!
I do ring a bell once in a while... 12 times!
I didn't expect to do an album like this again, as I've put out a lot of those I guess, but.... I couldn't help myself. I'm writing "all of the time". Some sort of positive energy creeps in.

I had a lot of fun writing again in a more traditional way (on guitar or on piano). Tried to keep things upbeat, melodic, groovy. You can hear that in the first 6 songs. Then it gets a bit serious, deep, slow, but not that you fall asleep. Did ya? Noooo..

01.The Heavy Donut Discount Blues

Well this started the whole process all over again! I thought I lost my muze, but the melodies and the upbeat, bluesy chord progression took me by surprise, it's all very infectious. A lot happening here. I was inspired to challenge myself here. A bit classical (intro), latinesque and poppy. A quick write on guitar then! About donuts...

02.Flower Power Festival

I was on a roll as this song continued the melodic side I seem the pursue. Fun to do. Just some chords on guitar and melody (written on piano).

03.When U Go Rong

Still in the upbeat mode, this latinesque number had me by the balls, as I had to push the energy factor up high. All fun to do. Can't go rong...

04.Do It Without Love

A simple, easy to the ears, melody, sometimes does the trick. I am proud of this one, because it only took a symbolic 5 minutes to write. Well... the arrangements, that's a whole different story...!
10cc's "I'm not in Love" comes to mind i guess, hence the title: anti-love song.

05.Smart

This is one of the finest, compact grooves I've made thus far. I've worked hard all of these years to get to this. It all began to float when I had the melody to the chorus: "Do you wipe your ass before You Shit?" across that slapping bass.
I had an enormous kick doing this. Without a wipe!

06.And Again

Bossa nova spirit. Something I've grown up with, basically written on guitar. Melodicwise I like this a lot.

07.Midnight Cowgirl

Instrumental, started off on piano. Relaxing mood used as a contrast for the first energetic songs. Title? One of my favourite scores is "Midnight Cowboy".

08.Cold

Introspective acoustic song. Only guitar and voice, a few piano motives. The less instruments I use, the more difficult I seem to have with the vocal performance. The subtilities, details are getting noticed. A challenge for the next record?

09.Get Your Facts Straight

Jazzy, funky, sophisticated stuff always comes my way. I still listen a lot to the seventies groove I guess. Steely Dan, Ned Doheny comes to mind. Today a band like Young Gun Silver Fox seems to draw from the same inspiration, all retro blue-eyed soul, but very infectious.

10.U Save Lives

Slow shuffle, a bit darker than the rest. I had this melody creeping around the groove. I saved my life.

11.To An Inchworm

Instrumental, melodic tribute to Danny Kaye, dreamlike like the song "Inchworm" from his movie Hans Christian Andersen".

 12.Over My Very Dead Like

Ragtime, slapstick? Just an antidote to all the heavy stuffWell in a funny way, I've use that phrase a few times on ocasion. And Yes, I don't need or like Facebooks likes!


Does that ring a bell enough?

Music World

Fred Pach van Muziekwereld

I always send him new music, because he's very supportive for four albums now!

Review in Bluestown Music!

Well, this a pleasant surprise to my eyes. A  lovely review from Bluestown Music!

Joos TVD – Doesn’t Ring A Bell
Format: CD – Digital / Label: Eigen Beheer
Releasedatum: 2020
Tekst: Peter Marinus

English:
It is an annual ritual. Joos TVD delivers another album. This time for the sixteenth time! And still Joos TVD is not an established name in Dutch pop music. However, I keep insisting to bring it to your attention.

This concerns singer-songwriter Joost van Dinther, also known as the Vanished Dutchman.

At least he has a fan in the British artist Tom Robinson (known from 2-4-6-8 Motorway) because Robinson played a number of Joos song in his radio program on BBC6.

A characteristic of Joos's music is the adventure that resonates in his music in which all kinds of musical examples of Joos crop up.

On his new album Joos clearly has the summer in his head because in almost all songs there is a languid, sunny sound in which I often encountered the sound of Kevin Ayers.

Right in the opening track The Heavy Donut Discount Blues you are already in the Caribbean, rocking your hip with a cocktail in your hand, musing about a heavy donut. Joos sounds like our own Kid Creole here. The cocktail atmosphere lingers in Flower Power Festival, a sultry heaving song with a great Kevin Ayers content, which is not surprising since Ayers also liked a “Caribbean Moon”.
In When U Go Rong, Joos moves to an intimate Spanish village, where a la Kevin Ayers / J.J. Cale release a loom number on us. A song that is so good that it makes you spin. The warming Do It Without Love reminds us of the early work of Todd Rundgren and Fay Lovsky with frolicking keyboard work.
Smart then has a funky 80's wave sound a la Orange Juice with a wonderfully grooving funky bass and a suddenly emerging tear guitar.
Then Joos goes on a sultry cradle tour with the almost bossa nova-like And Again. With Midnight Cowgirl it's time for a grinder. An instrumental song that sounds like a lazy mix of nightclub jazz and “Don't Cry For Me Argentina”.
It remains romantic in the fragile romantic ballad Cold with a beautifully strumming acoustic guitar, which evokes a true After Eight atmosphere. And Joos keeps it cold.
The funkbas returns in Get Your Facts Straight. Funky as Heaven 17 or Talking Heads. U Save Lies also functions more in a sparkling angular way.
After the gracefully floating instrumental ballad To An Inchworm with his melancholy crying synthesizer, Joos closes the album with the absurd ragtime of Over My Very Dead Like. And I have the word on it, Joos. Over my dead body….

Joos TVD again manages to come up with an album that is full of all kinds of musical adventures.

Once again I call on everyone to give this album a try! 

 

The first round of Reviews of "Doesn't Ring A Bell"

The critics are never kind, they say. They have been to me through the years. Some critics know me better, so the bar is set high. Yes, I've been piling up songs man! I've got a lot of albums done.

To my surprise, this time the reviews are not all that favorable. Not that bad, but not that great either. That can be a good thing if they are constructive. It can help me further in the end, it can and will challenge me! So tickle me! Next time....
To my surprise, because to me this album is my best and the most accessible album I've made so far, but that's maybe the point: too predictable, too close to comfort for some who know me already.

The most important thing about staying creative, is to challenge yourself. I've worked very hard on all the aspects around creating these songs.
These songs came from the heart, I didn't force them.

Well,.... listen for yourself I'd say! Spotify release

Written In Music

Leon Pouwels (first time reviewer, says I'm a bit by the safe side)

Keys And Chords

Marino Serdons has written favourable about me before (2x), he has a point about the "no surprises".

Timpaanmuziek

They also wrote about me (2x) before and they think it doesn't add anything to what I've done before.

Rock'n Rollest of them all

There, next from me on the left there's a picture of a wild, wide eyed screaming guy, the Rock'n rollest of them all (with Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis):  
                             
                                                               Little Richard.

I owe him a lot! Even as kid I was aware of those primal, energetic movements that stirred the earth since the mid fifties. I wasn't even born! But I had roll models. My parents (my mother mostly) always had a smile on their faces when stories about the start of rock'n roll came up. They always had had to turn up the music, loud! To feel it. To express their frustrations, anger but mostly joy!

                                                                 Tutti Frutti!

Sometimes in a low moment on some of my teenage parties, in my self appointed DJ days I could always put on some Little Richard and everyone would go beserk in da house!
I guess growing up hearing Beatles, Stones, the Kinks, the Who indirectly showed me back into history, to the path of this powerhouse that will echo for ages. Look at Prince on stage and I see the same urge and power. Maybe that's why there was an urging, lingering gut feeling inside my belly that had to and would let my hands and feet learn to play the drums someday. To vibe. To get people on the floor. Even now, I always try to get that primal ball of energy back to get in the mood to funk. Thanks Man, I've had a blast!

Next to me

Bluestown Music

Similar

Two faves of mine: Boz Scaggs and The Tubes!

"Ring My Bell" Released, but where?

2 may 2020, streamtime! (links will be updated)



Spotify

Deezer


Tidal
iTunes
7Digital
KKBox

Juno

Amazon
Recochoku.jp
Google Play
Napster
Qobuz
TuneIn
eMusic
Music Yandex.ru 

Bandcamp

OMG!

O my, It's spreading around the world!

Smart (watch 2)

While waiting on that new release, why not watch at another DIY video with lyrics included?

Smart, a song about cocky behavior that's a big part of the political world and social media in our society, takes you on an infectious, groovy, funky trip and ends on the top of that neverlasting, melting iceberg. 
Picture of me throwing stones: Yola

Are you smart? (you can sing the words too)

 From the new JoosTVD album: Doesn't Ring A Bell, release 2-5-2020. 

Music/lyrics: JoosTVD

One week from now, you can hear the rest.
In the meantime, check smart Spotify

Announcement!

Here a shout-out of my friends from Bluestown Music:

Doesn't Ring A Bell

A review will follow.....I hope!
Can't wait? You have to! Wait, check Spotify

Over My Dead Like

 

Like it or not

Hey shut-ins, let's shout...! Don't stand so close to me.
To keep your "distance", well that's not easy for anyone, who likes to socialize.
In my twenties, I was like that more or less. Having too much fun, chasing women, making music with the guys. 24/7. No distance needed then. Especially on stage, hiding behind a microphone was no option, I had to interact with the crowd. Shouting out, chanting, daring them to join in. Going too far? Nope, that was never the plan. Just to get high on energy was enough.
Strange as it seems, in these unpredictable times we live in with a new virus, I'm not having a single problem with "distance". Sure, we all know the protocol, so if you want to end up like a walking dead, go ahead. Over my dead like. I'm not anyone's friend anyway.
Since I have children of my own, I've kept the social world further and further away from me. Safe in a shell?
I have been focusing myself on my creativity for a long time now, always too preoccupied on writing songs, my family and work, it has become a habit, a selfdiscipline, a regime that has kept me going and consequentely distancing myself.

Suddenly you're old....

I'm not complaining. Just wondering what will happen between us.

The Heavy Donut Discount Blues (watch 1)

"The Heavy Donut Discount Blues" is the first song that starts off the new album "Doesn't Ring A Bell" release 02-05-2020.

Spoiler alert!
This is a distraction video. To seduct you. Something to make you feel good. To have fun with. Candy. Yes, a donut is cheap, but dangerous! Admittedly a discount is included, but with a very, very HEAVY bluesy aftertaste....with a Faustian price to pay!

Spotify check

Now think nice... twice...three times....ready? Sing along now with this lyric video:

Show Us The New Stuff!

Ok I've done the songs and new music need new covers. And a title. What did I come up with?

Inspiration

At first I had this trendy phrase: "Over My Dead Like", which I often say these days among friends and family ("Like" as in facebook likes of course), if they go too far. A picture from a holiday in Sicily, Italy fitted right in, with a rebel guy (like me) throwing stones into the sea:

Throwing stones, dare me!

Just to keep an open mind, I tried a different approach. I took some items outside in my backgarden
floorboard, like a mirror, a classical Perez guitar (my latest), and a vinyl album with a picture of
...me.                

I photographed away. All very brownish, autumn, rootsy, so I took that further, when I put a few of   these into some online photo editors and let my creativity have its way:                                              
                                                                                                                                                                       

Mirror effect 2 

Mirror effect 1

Mirror effect 3

Floorboard backgarden

Frontcover: the first brownish ones

Front and back cover examples

 About the title:

                            "Doesn't Ring A Bell"

There's a lot I want to be, but not "famous" in the "media personality" way. A status. 
I'm a musician, not an artist, I always say. 
So JoosTVD doesn't ring a bell and if he does, you won't hear it.....coming!

Design with effect

Best effect in my opinion.

Just happened to hit upon the title while writing a lyric. Maybe I read it somewhere or heard someone's remarks. I always love the double sided meaning of these sentences, in this case "JoosTVD doesn't ring a bell" .....really? Sometimes I knock. Who is this guy? Is he someone famous?    

The end results:
                                  

Front cover with nickname

Front cover for online distribution

Back cover

Inside cover

Next: let me hear a new song, wait... you say you've got a video?

Sent Away, the digital way: Q&A

So here we are, in the middle of a worldwide crisis. And I am too spreading a new virus.... but I am glad to hear that:

Q: That does ring some bell, doesn't it, JoosTVD doesn't ring a bell?

A: I may have done the same thing every year, yes. But I not often ring a bell though.

Q: Is this virus contagious?

A: I've been under the weather by making making music a whole year, so yes I know. I guess you'll find out. In about 4 weeks Spotify will ring a bell. As will the other online services of course.

Q: Can we have a preview now, soon?

A: Yep! That video you mean? First I'll show you the artwork. 

Q: Yep!?

Next: The Artwork

Those Little Urgent Things

The Toy Garden

Hai there folks, hope you're all healthy and keeping your safe distances! It's all relative of course, the flat world, the world wide network called the internet gives and takes. I guess, as we all have to adjust to this new behaviour, we all get to our senses together, maybe for once! All of a sudden the health of common people is at stake. How fragile we are. Maybe in my own humble way I've done that since I started writing, playing, recording like a hermit on that desert island. Totally the opposite from my (nightly) work environment though! It's in my toy garden, this kitchensink of sounds, I've been concentrating on the last finishing touches of a brand new baby album. Yes, it's finished I say! So what now? Is it important to let you all know? Yes and no.... it's the music that mostly survives through all the sickness, bad feelings, wrong doings, like a constant healer in the background, just to keep the much needed hopes up. To comfort us. The little things, like that old fat sun on your face. Songs for the shut-ins.

So I will do as "little" promotion as I can: I will let the music speak for itself. I will let you know when of course (spoiler alert! Unashamed promo: somewhere in May 2020), along with a nifty, comfortable video. I'm happy to share these songs, as I did my best.

CU and keep well!

The little things that give comfort...

Next: will this album be accepted and released?

Keep In Touch!

Right....but the distance is needed I guess. Just when I'm about to throw my new music around the globe, this virus stops me in my tracks. It's not the time, not that important as the fear to get corona is surely more important. A lockdown in the Netherlands is not on the charts yet, but a decision to do so is not far away.
Finally we can really appreciate all of those people working the health sector, priority nr.1!

So I've decided to wait a while, even though I know that music can be a healing factor. There are a few musicians who play live from their homes to distract people from their fears, so that's one way... It's just that I think now, it's not the right moment to promote a "new product". Or is there? Tell me.
Keep healthy everyone!

U want Spotify playlists!?

Promotion. Fame. Money. Not my thing. Just want to create. I have this urge that's developed into a steady workflow. I'm a lucky guy! I've got the most advanced tools to bring a song alive, working eight days a week in my studio, happy to bring the vibe. My toy garden.

But if you want someone to hear your precious songs, it's unavoidable. The music market is saturated with the daily trends and bored listeners, so it's not easy to get discovered.
How to spread these all over the place these days....? I don't do concerts. I like the intensity of playing together. It has been fun for a while, but I don't miss the stage, no. Well if you do and you do it with conviction, people would love to buy a signed cd afterwards (! )
I guess everyone streams these days. It's the most comfortable and fastest way to experience  a new vibe. Mostly I get in touch with curators of playlists. Let them hear some tunes. On twitter. Of course twitzkrieg is around the corner. I spread those links on facebook groups too. A lot of fakers (promoters) over there though..... You can get a lot of listeners and followers if you want...to pay for it. All I offer them are a few cents.
I think it's all about reaching your own audience and I sort of got the hang of it. I'm patient.
Quality over quantity.

Here are a few playlists with JoosTVD on it, mostly smooth vibes, some uptempo, upbeat, never dissonant. Yeah, easy on the ears, but hitting deep into the gut. So let's find out and share them!

Songs I usely offer are:
Fly Talk, Don't Do It Again, Not Now, Chameleon Girlfriend, Crest Of A Wave, Cosmopolitan Circus.

The Way Things Are

No, this not the new album cover! Just a quote I use very much these days... (update : almost finished with mixing, I really can't wait to let you in on a listening sesion, but I have to, over my dead like, ha ha!

Me Against....

2020

Selfreflected Dutchman

Hai Folks, have yourself a happy 2020! Time surely flies.
A little update about the music, I've got:
12 songs, one song needs some lyrics and then I'll mix them until I'm satisfied. I'm really surprised by the quality of the songs and arrangements, can't wait to let you inside my.....!
At the same time I've been busy choosing the right pictures for the covers. All designed and ready! I guess I couldn't help myself, but there are 3 videos in the can. All lyric based videos with a lot of colourful effects to stir the juices.
So, hum, I'm excited.

Mirror, mirror