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!
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 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.
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!
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
