Listen to the radio! The musical higlights of 2012

I haven't listened to radio for years. Well, as a young boy I used to have my own a radio-djshow, rattling out my top 40, as I chose my special faves I bought of a perticular year. I played the best tracks for myself and the rest of the household. I don't do that anymore, because there's not many to choose from. Guess I stick with old seventies stuff I grew up with. I didn't often search in the extreme sections/ styles though. I mean, I love all kinds of music and if an artist has those eclectic, colourful qualities, such as Todd Rundgren, David Byrne or Frank Zappa, I'll always go back and listen to those, problably till the day I die. I do love the rock element (as in Who, Kinks, Led Zeppelin), blues (Muddy Waters, J.L.Hooker) and any of the ethnic, traditional stuff, but not for a whole day. Black music (soul, R&B, funk, latin) did the trick for me and my poproots (10cc 1972-1975 period) got injected with that. Eclectic brew, cross-over, blue-eyed stuff, quirky avantgarde mix.
I still listen to the "new" stuff, as long as it takes itself not too serious. In  my opinion, the alternative music scene (journalists hyping) of today do that to the core. They don't even know that they are as mainstream as the AOR eighties nowadays. The real alternative doesn't really excist, because you can't stay in the lo-fi underground forever. It's all in the mind. So, free your mind and.....!

2012 was a very good eclectic year! For me, these three young artists have stood out this year:

Michael Kiwanuka- Home Again

Retro (20, 30, 40ies, etc... next to the bloody eighties stuff) is the word since Amy Winehouse spread her voice all across the ether. So these nostalgic feelings do miracles in these troubled times. That's what is done on this album in very subtle, sympathetic way (like Labi Siffre seventies), with a warm soulful voice that never abandons his african roots. It's comforting, intimate, though familiar stuff.

Esperanza Spalding- Radio Music Society

A lot of great young interesting (mostly) jazz musicans come up today and yes, here's such a serious hard working and ambitious young lady at work. Challenging stuff rhythmically with sweet seventies George Duke- Stevie Wonder influences. Tight played and interesting chord progressions with lovely, floating melodies on top. She doesn't take the easy route, so it's a brave effort.

Cody ChesnuTT- Landing On A Hundred

As a whole it's not as quirky as his crazy debut, but the way he treats the retro-machine is very appealing to me. Ok, Marvin shines through in the vocals, but it's damn fine done. Colourful, uplifting, tighter as his debut. 

Ok, now what about the older guys?
My absolute fave of the year is:

Loudon Wainwright- Older than My Old Man Now

Self-reflective as always, how to combine humor with  the "growing older" symptoms. His conversation about sex with Dame Edna in "I Remember Sex" for instance. How it used to be. Hilarious. Thoughtful is his duet with son Rufus in "The Days That We Die", very recognizable that tricky family stuff. No more "Festen" needed. A tear and a laugh is enough for me. Let me grow old then...

David Byrne/ St Vincent- Love This Giant

Not satisfying on the whole, but these two different generations challenge eachother and do the trick with the horns, sometimes they overdo it. It's biting quirky stuff, but it doesn't hurt too much that it's killing me.

Yes there's more, like Mike Keneally, Rufus Wainwright (almost AOR), Joan Armatrading (back to the good seventies stuff) and Donald Fagen (no surprises, slick), Scott Walker (waiting for Scott 5, still interesting though). Well there is always more!
Pretty mainstream (or is it alternative?!) I guess. Not obscure. Well, it's a bit of everything and for everyone. Check them out! 

By the way, my personal musical highlight (the bomb went off!), next to a release of a new album, was to be chosen as a fresh fave by Tom Robinson and to be played on his saturday evening show, next to the likes of Paul Simon, Marc Bolan and Pete Townshend. Thanks Tom, very grateful to be on BBC radio. Read: Tom Robinsonshow

Next to listening the new and old stuff, I'm addicted to biographies. Not especially the above artists, but everything, mostly working in the entertainment business. Here's a list of the books I've read past year:

Robert Sellers- Hellraisers (Peter O'toole, Oliver Reed, Richard Burton, Richard Harris)
John Densmore- Riders On the Storm (his personal experiences with Mojo Risin')
Jeff Kaliss- I want to take you higher (on Sly and the Family Stone)
Eric Burdon- Don't let me be misunderstood (his life in lows and highs)
Julian Palacios- Dark Globe (very detailed story on Syd Barrett)
Mark Wilkerson- The life of Pete Townshend
Dave Zimmer- Crosby, Stills & Nash 
Levon Helm with Stephen Davies- This wheel is on fire (hot stuff!)
Dory Previn- Midnight baby (totally unique!)
Harry shapiro- Jack Bruce Composing himself
Peter Carlin- Catch a wave (on Brian Wilson's dark journey)
Stewart Copeland- Strange things happen (on Sting, Sting, hobbies and the Police)
Martin Heylen- In mijn hoofd (about Raymond van het Groenewoud, brilliant Belgian singer-songwriter)
Simon Callow- Hello americans (his second book about Orson Welles)
Janis Ian- Society's child (brave singer-songwriter!)
Christopher Sandford- McCartney
Lee Underwood- Blue melody (his times with and without Tim Buckley)
Hans Lafaille- Showbizz blues (Cuby & the Blizzards drummer tells his often funny story)
Bertus Borgers- Weg van hier (Sweet d'Buster sax-player reflects on his youth)
Billy James- A dream goes on forever (first of two books on Todd Rundgren)

And a lot of stuff I still have to read, before I go blind...O, and I watch movies, and, and...
Well, guess now you know it. The "Where did I get my inspiration from?"
That was 2012 for me. Hope we'll have an eclectic and energetic 2013 then, cheers!

What happened in my microcosmos?

I usually have no problems falling asleep at night, but sometimes the loose ends of the day crawl into my head and keep me awake. Damn, last night I fellt so restless, after spending hours and hours working endlessly on different new songs during daytime. Not satisfied, because the day ends at 24 hours and I just wanna go on. Patience is a virtue I've got to give into. The restlessness is not by all means negative. I'm trying to get a grip on the flowing word and soundmachinery, that's in my subconcious mind. So during the time I couldn't sleep, all those clourful ideas came together. I couldn't wait to see the light of the day. There and then, after a nice 3-cup of coffee (!), I enthousiastically put my fingers on the keys or between the frets of my guitar, but, there was nothing really flowing here. "Don't push it", I heard a gentle voice saying in the hairs of my neck. Then suddenly my heart dropped a mile into the ground. I froze, as I watched my monitor: I couldn't get that damn mouse working. What I saw was a  miror image of the state I was in: total standstill. Just recorded a bunch of intense vocals and then it all froze before my very eyes. Ok, the world won't stop, so I gently pushed the reset knob on that big, senseless machine, but then I realised I forgot to save all the recorded parts ... Jeeezuss, I know it happened before, but it's just very fustrating. So I took a deep breath, pauze for a moment. Trying to keep up with the rest of the high spirits I've got and do it all over again, as it often worked before. Finally put something sensitive into the musicbox. Still got that nagging feeling of the lost and vanished melodies I sang the first time, so the day ended in a kind of anti-climatic way..., or not?

That narcistic, creative life is a big bubble, I know: it has to burst into little pieces to get a chance to make it whole again. All the little things matter. A nice comment on my daughter's new clothes or the joking around with my son. That's the drive that keeps my boat float for a while. And then there is the outer world. What do I care? Well if someone plays your song on the radio and if that someone is Tom Robinson (who wrote some very moving songs like "War Baby" that got me through during some rough times), than that little outside world moment means something to me. Just as I wanted to shut down the machinery I happened to notice that "Bomb Won't Go Off" was played again, now on Tom's saturday show, the Tom Robinson Show. Starts at 1.03 and at 1.11 he did try to narrate my bio in dutch (?!) after the song was over. Hilarious! When you ever need the outside world, that moment surely arrived in time. Generous man...
Check that playlist btw! Just after Paul Simon

Buttuh, nothing special, every person is a microcosmos....

INTRODUCING MIXTAPE DOWNLOAD 191112

22 minutes in....

Joost The Vanished Dutchman is, as you might have guessed, from The Netherlands. Inspired by the likes of Gino Vannelli, Todd Rundgren, Miles Davis, Boz Scaggs, John Martyn, Sting, Terry Callier, he started out as a drummer before turning his hand to writing. His latest album, Art Decoy The Bluebeard Boy, was released in September, and he describes himself as a "zelfbevlekkende, narcistische, selfkickende, obsessieve, uitknijpende liedjesmaker" which loosely translates (I think) as a "self-denigrating, narcissistic, self-flagellating squeezer-out of songs"...Tom Robinson in his announcement on BBC radio 6.

Occupied, but not at Wallstreet

One of the favorites of uncle Tom!

Listen at about 22.17
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/trintro

Read about it
Tom Robinson´s blog 19/11/2012 

Thanks Tom!

BBC?

Yes, since the "Listening post batch 37", where my song has been chosen, it has a chance to be played somewhere in the U.K. The program located in Wales,  called BBC Hereford & Worcester 
got me hooked on my seat at 8.40 I heard a familiar sound...listen for youself
BBC Introducing playes the "Bomb" 

 

The Bomb.....

An older song of mine- The Bomb Won't Go Off [2009]-  has been chosen from 118 songs on Freshnet,  a chance to be played on BBC6 radio!

Freshnet hosted by Tom Robinson (who wrote a few famous songs btw)
http://freshonthenet.co.uk/faves37/

 "Joos ‘The Vanished Dutchman’ tells us that, as a one man band, he has composed over 1000 songs. This particular song is definitely ‘out there’ but also incredibly groovy. That combination makes me feel that the song would sit well in a Mighty Boosh episode (as a huge fan of the Boosh, I mean this in an entirely complementary manner). A breath of fresh air for your listening ears – why not give it a spin?!"

You can find and grab (!) the song on the "You Know Your Dad album, listen:
The Bomb Won't Go Off

Look, click, Grabbelton

It's full of surprises....(no not this picture, but...sorry it's gone!

Art Decoy The Bluebeard Boy: the songguide, the moodswings

Turn it on and read all about it: the tunes & the moodswings:

1.Drool All Over You

Grotesque rock´n roll fun with breaks in between. One of the first things that took off very fast. The "fool" section in the middle was a little idea that I already had. Just laughing and joking around.....droollll. Got me very involved. Soon  a special version on Youtube...

2.Bet That You Feel Better

I often listen to black music. Many crossover (blue-eyed soul) artists of the seventies injected their music with R&B and soul. Those who've managed that perfectly and still influence me to this day: Boz Scaggs, Todd Rundgren, David Bowie, Steely Dan and Robert Palmer, just to name a few. They have always put those sophisticated melodies on top of these irresistable grooves. So now and then I strum along a shuffle groove I stumbled on and this is the result. There's Sam my son on bass! Slap!
I feel better now.

3.Don't Want 2

Energetic powerpop. I've read a biography on Pete Townshend who I admire for his energetic guitarplaying and songwriting. It reflected on my songs, but not in a "Who" way, no.
I sing simple, cliché lines along this pianopattern. Sometimes you have to stick with what you´ve got. I wanted 2....

4.Motorbike

I totally improvisized the lyrics. Just wanted the spontanity and the expression of my voice on this latin, funky groove. Intensity in overdrive.

5.When The Gutter Looks Up

I play a lot of piano these days. A lot of songs come out of there, because I'm still discovering "new" combinations of jazzy chords. The title stuck by me a long time (something I've read) and it happened to fit in with the electric pianomotive. I'm really proud of these jazzy, Steely Danesque twists I've came up with. The smell of the downtown blues....

6.Occupé

Sometimes you've got a simple motive and it builds from there. But big ideas on piano, I kept voice to a minimum. A big sound developped, but that was intended. It took a while to figure out all the details arranging drums and melodies. Yes I was occupied...

7.Facebookland

Everyone's face is on the web. Now how to close the book.... This is an old-fashioned Tin Pan Alley farmersong. Just a guitar and some analog hammer & saw effects to stick to the basics. Impress me or I wil impress you...

8.Occupied 100 Percent

We're all occupied with something ($) or with ourselves. No, I am not....!?
Wrote this joyous ditty on a cheap guitar. Put some fitting stimulating effects, like carbreaks and money shaking to accentuate greed. Fellt 99% ironic...

9.Drug That Frog

Funky, groovy, just goofing off with breaks (intro) and frogs. Kiss me...

10.Trigger In My Heart

I come from the pop tradition (10cc-like), although I'm more of a ragged bluessinger. Therefore, melody is an important part of my plan to vary in styles as "broad" as possible. I was in love with my piano.

11.An End To Ballads

An after midnight tune. I doubled electric and acoustic piano's, both did it in one or two takes. Not perfect, but I always like to keep the intensity. It's about dark dilemma's; give it up or carry on...

12.Hello neighbours

I live in a Funky neighbourhood. I found a groove and these horns to work with. And I wanted a hypnotic Steve Miller's "Fly like an Eagle" inspired song. Paranoia? Schizoid? Isolated? Moodswing?

13.Beat Yourself To Death

I used irony and latin beats intertwined on this one. Irony crept in again...beat myself.

14.Freaking Again

I had great fun writing this simple ditty, it came very quickly. When I feel up, this kind of song bubbles up.

15.Partner

Boz Scaggs "Lowdown" is one of my most favourite songs rhythmically. There's an almost dark (street) tension in there. It has influenced my style of writing a song with some kind of interesting beat and melody. My voice is not that sophisticated though. I tried the Rupert Holmes mode...

16.Good T. Narcissus

I've used this bit of Bossa Nova kind of guitar chordstructure before, but as years go by, I think I'm more aware of what I can do with it. So instead of that special nova drumpattern, I've chosen a slow funky beat. Look in the mirror boy....now smash it!

17.Cheese Dream #7

With that new Pro Tools system came a lot of interesting plug-ins. Apart from the organic drums I've played everything on the piano. Enhanced some of the melodic stuff like the sologuitar. It's an ode to al the great fusion of the seventies (Mahavishnu, Jeff Beck). But it's not a virtuoso thing here that I wanted to express, but the instrumental melodic side of that instrumental spectrum. The 7th dream.

18.Impossible

Just like "Partner" I figured out this chord progression on guitar with a melody on top. I combined that with a funky groove and bassslapping at the bottom. (Lyrically) I'm not in love, no no...

19.Finger Ballet On WB Strings

WB (Wijnand Brant) plays some acoustic sologuitar in a very expressive way. I had this piano- based song for a while. We just jammed and improvised like the old days and I sort of edited it. And with some feedback from WB, I finally got the "right touch". Just did it for old sakes with an old mate.

20.Toy Tornado

Another instrumental, one of the first songs that jumped out of my skull for this album. It's the same story as "Cheese Dream #7". Freaked out a lot in my toystore.

Do I have to say more?

Review in German Wasser Prawda Magazine

 Wasser Prawda

By Nathan Norgel, Bluespfaffe
Joos TVD aus den Niederlanden ist für die „Wasser-Prawda“ ein würdiger Nachfolger des Musikgenies Frank Zappa. Auch auf seinem aktuellen Album „Art Decoy The Bluebeard Boy“ liefert die Ein-Mann-Band wieder eine Mixtur aus Jazz-Funk, Pop-Rock und Humor.

Irgendwo gab es mal in einer Kolumne die nicht ganz unernst gemeinte Bemerkung, dass das Leben ohne ein neues Buch von Robert Gernhard wesentlich schwerer zu ertragen ist. Ähnliches könnte man auch über wirklich humorvolle und gleichzeitig intelligente Pop- und Rockmusik schreiben. Und seit Frank Zappa nicht mehr zur Verfügung steht für musikalisch anspruchsvolle und gleichzeitig humorvolle Alben, muss man hier immer aufmerksam Ausschau halten. Joos The Vanished Dutchman hat mich in den letzten Jahren immer wieder überzeugen können. Und wenn „Art Decoy The Bluebeard Boy“ mit „Drool All Over You“ loslegt, dann ist klar: Hier ist wieder ein perfektes Party-Album entstanden im heimischen Studio: Funk-Jazz-Grooves, ab und zu ein paar prägnante Gitarrenlinien und Songs, die nicht nur davon singen, Frösche unter Drogen zu setzen sondern auch die ganze Hysterie um Facebook und Konsorten auf die Schippe nehmen oder Balladen um sämtliche Liebesschnulzen zu toppen. Auch die „Occupy“-Bewegung, nervige Freundinnen und andere Themen werden durch den Funk-Mixer gedreht und auf die Tanzfläche geworfen, wo sie sich prächtig machen. Fazit: Unbedingt runterladen und die nächste Tanzparty damit aufmischen! Auch als kostenfreihes Weihnachtsgeschenk ist das Album eine Empfehlung wert.

English

Joos TVD from the Netherlands is the "water-Pravda" a worthy successor to the musical genius Frank Zappa. On his latest album, "The Art Decoy Blue Beard Boy" the one-man band delivers again a mixture of jazz-funk, pop-rock and humor.
Somewhere there was once, in a column that is not entirely flippant remark meant that life without a new book by Robert Gernhard is much harder to bear. The same could also write about really humorous and at the same time intelligent pop and rock music. And since Frank Zappa no longer available for musically satisfying and humorous at the same albums, one must always keep attention on the lookout here. Joos The Vanished Dutchman has in recent years to convince me again and again. And if "type Decoy The Blue Beard Boy" with "Drool All Over You" gets going, it's clear: Here again a perfect party album was created in the home studio: funk-jazz grooves, and occasionally a few incisive guitar lines and songs who sing not only on frogs to drug taking but also all the hysteria, Facebook and the likes to make fun or love ballads to beat at all schmaltzy. The "Occupy" movement, annoying friends and other topics will be rotated by the radio mixer and thrown onto the floor, where they do splendidly. Conclusion: Be sure to download and shake up the next dance party with it! Even as kostenfreihes Christmas album is worth a recommendation.