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Orson Nietes: The songguide

For those who want to to know everything, nothing spicy, shocking or special Murdochish up here........but take a deeper look into my humble kitchen sink an take a trip into the deep. The process of creating something from nothing is only possible when I let myself go. Doing it immediately from the void! So much fun I had! And sorry soundengineers, I ain't one, the sound had to be a big blasting powerhouse. I guess you would do a more professional thing here. Thanks to all of you that have listened this last year, your feedback has made my self-confidence (Orson Nietes) grow a little bit more. Already teased the hungry listener with the first 11 tracks on bandcamp. And now finally,  I bring you these 24 stories, doing it like it's a full blown double vinyl album, my 15th album: (hey pssss...GRAB me....it´s over there, somewhere on the right...it's the "lite"version for now)                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                   
                                                        01.Back In The Race

Sort of  a comeback song isn't it? No, it isn't. Well, that pushy drive (banging out on the piano) got me to these competetive words. A little edgy (rock energy). I wanted a full, organic bandfeel. For me this had to be the opener.  


02.Bigger Things
Had a lot of ideas floating around, some didn't immediately fit. Two of them I melted into a bigger one. Just sing along and feel happy, think BIG.             

   

                                                                                                                             03.Alice Tea 

Goofy humor? A trippy LST or LSD song with a lot of Chaplin Slapstick to set that goofy mood.  Sugar your tea honey. Aktion- reaction effects from the soundlibrary and yours truly.    


04.Leak
 Yes, it's about leaking in general and it's about those wiki revelations, that won't go away. Gimme some truth. I'm especially fond of the combination of melody and chords,  so I kept it very direct and simple.                                          


             
                  
                                                          05.Suits In A Building

 Elevator blues! Stuck in slowfunk. It started with a piano pattern. I doubled      different bass parts to make it more pulsing funky. 


06.Showking

I'll show you! Rock'n troll pastiche. Quick, Short ditty on the piano. Had a lot a fun with myself, but only 1.19 minutes, ha.                                                             




 
07.Tweet                                               


I had to write this.....
poor birdy...retweet  







08.Pukeman     

I really got it going. Wrote all these crazy songs very quickly! (Alice Tea, Tweet, Showking). It's good to puke sometimes. Karmacleaning. Man, I had too much energy, I had to....                                                                           

                                                                                         
                                                                              09.Bill Withus





To keep things fresh, I often switch between guitar and  piano when I write. It started with this breaky melodic intro. All instinct, funky, groovy fingers hammering on the keys, basically around G7. "Hey Bill, are you with us?" The music busines vs Bill Withers. Very talented man, not taken seriously by these A&R guys. Well, watch the documentary... Hope you like it Bill (although he'll probably never hear it).  


10.Climb Another Hill
You can relax now. Variation in mood, tempo and theme right here. Basically a lovesong for the desperate ones, written and played on the piano, yours truly.       



                                                                                                                  
        11.My Sweet Spanish Drama 

I love spanish flicks and although I've never been there before, I feel something matadoresque bullying in my blood, si, si. I was in a flamenco mood.    


Don't Stop now! (In the old days my turntable would repeat itself, scratching the vinyl at the end, so I had to flip it over to the other side, try to do that with your device!)

                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                        12.Citizen Able



"Started at the top, worked my way down", he said. This song tries to do the opposite. With a smooth latin beat I worked myself up.                                                                                                                        


13.Mask
A sober approach, intimate atmosphere contrasts with the first half of the album. I always try to vary with tempo, style, just to keep myself on my toes. A personal favourite. So revealing.                     



          

                            
                                                                            14.Jazz Off

    

"I do not play jazz", Miles said, just to get those jazzpurists reaching for their guns.. It's all music in the end man, and we all hear it in our own way . I love it when musicians reach out, explore something they haven't done before. There is nothing new up here, but I'm always fascinated by hypnotic, repeated patterns or rhythms. I tried to sing unusual, different melodies on top of that (listen: Talking Heads- Remain In Light [1980].                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                             15.Miracle



JoosTVD does a poppy one. Well, everything I do has got to have some sort of a melody. This I did on piano, quickly writing itself.    





16.Sombrero
Siesta! My sweet spanish drama under Mexican hideaways.                                                                           
                                                           
                                                                           
                                                                           
                                                                                17.Sugar Tune





Something that's hard for me to do sometimes (sorry mom and the rest), so I write about it: a lighten up-live a little-song. Soft melodic one, written on the piano. Lost my teeth in there..                                                            


18.Mermaids In Bloom


The girl is growing up, finding her own feet.
You know who you are...                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  19.Entre Nous                                                                                                       
Instrumental, consisting of two seperate pieces I had other plans with orignally. Found them interesting enough to melt together. But keep it "between us".                                                                                                      




20.Has To Be
I'm a big fan of blue-eyed soul, (I think black music is rhythmically more subtle) but offcours I'm just a plain, stiff euro-celtic. It has to be this way....                                                                                                                                                                                               21.Overdrive        

At first I had this slow pianoballad version, but decided to change the tempo. The result: I combined those two. I love to play these chords on piano.                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                           22.Flag Of The World              

Think about that, mmm.......a dream......utopian music?                                                                                                                                           






                                                                   23.Machito                              

Mucho-Macho-Macheato. it was a combination of words, chords and the "Riders On The Storm" inspired Bass-pattern that made this fun to write.


24.Dad Waltz (The Song He Gave Me)
  
Basically me, touching strings. Heard it on his funural....

Q & A: JoosTVD vs Orson Nietes

There he is. The guy who has VANISHED, claims to be JoosTVD and IS problably dutch. So why doesn't he come closer? HE CAME BACK and he agreed on this conversation himself. Ok, relax. Be careful what I say now.
But what the...he's trying to vanish through that door....heey...
"heey......wait........HEEY José!"


Q: "Are you THE Vanished Dutchman?"
A: "Mmm, it depends on what to think of me: an artist or a musician? I prefer to be the prolific latter. My main thing is songwriting, trying to develop that with my own hands, heart, mind and soul. There are so many artists who prefer a quick career in the spotlight. So yes, I'd rather be the creative vanished one. Guess I'm a slow burner with a long, strong breath, mostly keeping myself anonymous happy. Too many have vanished from this flath earth already..."

Q: "Well, who is Orson Nietes then?"
A: "We all know Orson Welles, do we?  Nietes (pronounce as NIETUS, it's dutch slang for NOT) is the opposite of Welles (pronounce as WELLUS, it's dutch slang for YES or ABSOLUTELY).
Sometimes we all want the Orson brilliance: to be the talented genius, to have the fame and to find his road to Xanadu, Citizen Kane...What we don't want is the anti-climax that followed and swallowed up his career. The only way to top the top is just the road back down. Is it Welles? Or Nietes? Confusing eej? Talking about the self-obsessed ego, the narcissus in us all and the social media that makes us feel so bloody important. Tweeeeheeet me! I am...
Guess I was and still am fascinated by his lifestory (I like to read detailed biographies) and with a little bit of puzzling and joking I came up with this title ORSON NIETES, which symbolises the overall sense of the new songs. It just sounds funny: Orson Nietussss, Orson Wellussss!
Just to play with the combination of words, the double meanings they can evoke, 24/7, that's my verbal combat".

Q:"Why, o why are there so many songs on this album?"
A: "I just can't help myself. That's not what I had in mind at first. So why not? It's the comfort zone of my musical environment. In the seventies they would call this a double vinyl-they smell better than cdboxes- album. Too expensive, too much indulgement, too long to listen to. Sure, but that's up to the listener. Nowadays, we've got enough space on digi-galaxy, talking terrabytes. You can skip wathever bit/byte you like. I still believe in the whole concept of a finished album, just like a book.
A lot of these tunes took form whenever I was in a joyful, free mood. Sometimes I had so much confidence and bursts of positive energy and maybe paradoxially-especially after my father died (sept.2010)- I had to let it go, let it out! And I'm glad I did. Thanks to the strength of daddy, I guess.
So much inspiration I didn't expect occured, that it became an addiction you just wanted to dwell on to.
And sometimes I fell into a big black hole of human doubt. The crazy thing is, that these songs are mostly very UP. I mean, they- hopefully- will not depress you".

Q: "What do you do exactly on this album?"
A: "As I said before, I am not the greatest player around. The high standard of today playing provides for great organic sounding soundloops, samples and effects though. I used to play it all basically, tried MIDI, but what I CAN play is not the standard that I hear in my head. Especially the drums. Apart from orchestral stuff and woodwinds (although I have to adjust, fit them in the songs), I play the rest mostly myself, like keyboards (electric & acoustic piano), organ, guitars, bass & percussion. For the singing, well, I do the best I can, I am sort of a struggling belter, not even fit for all the styles I do, but slowly, slowly, I'm getting somewhere. Recording I do with an instinct feel. At the moment I'm in the middle of working out the last finesses".

Q: "So where are the songs, are they already vanished?"
A: "Ha ha, totally! No, shall I play them for ya to prove it?
Well, the first thing that I'll do is, I'm gonna use the digital platforms that can spread these songs all over www, so you can buy (ha ha, ahum, I'm not interested in the commercial side of it, just the distribution-spreading the word-side of it). I will also release it as a stream and download on this blog, soundcloud and.. for FREE. And when you play them for the first time, a songguide on this blog may take you through the looking glass to Alice's magical Wonderland!
Poeh, strong stuff......
A=Q: Now I have a question: are there any more questions?"

Q=A: "No, that's enough for now you chatterbox you, pffff, I gotta pee".
A: "Allrighty then mate, me too!

Artwork....guess the title

Front & Back

Insert

There you are, you. So where are the songs? Gimme songs, great extraordinary tunes, YOU!
'cxuse me, but look at the guy.... is he finished (pale) or whahat?
It's just these ears man, I've got to find the right earwax to mix then I will release them songs, ME!
If the world wants them (O yeeeeaaaah!!) .
So be patient with this patient and pay a friendly visit, please like me please.....

Orson Nietes vs Andrew G.

Confession: I have to admit I'm a bit of a Mr.Welles fan (still reading two very detailed volumes of his story by Simon Callow, I'm at the point that he's reaching for his xanadu, Citizen Kane). The moustache shows that even a goofball like me can have a Welles or a Nietes day. We all have dreams and goals.

Andrew Gold had a dream I guess. He was a master in playing many instruments and wrote very versatile, melodic songs. I've got a weakness for songwriters in general. He wrote so many beautiful songs that his memory will forever linger on, even though he's not here anymore....Lonely Boy, That's Why I Love You, Passing Thing, Never Let Her Slip Away, Thank You For Being A Friend, Genevieve, are on the jukebox. Californication complete...I'm in Xanadu now.