Hope you´re all well on your way enjoying the summer. Sometimes It´s so clammy and wet up here in dutchland, it almost makes me wanna start running naked in the street....
The new album is already there to stream full and freely on Spotify & Deezer. You can even download it for free at Noisetrade, Bandcamp and Jamendo and up here (grabbelton). It doesn´t matter anymore I guess, to have your music on iTunes, but it´all about spreading isn´t it? And it will, very soon. It´s already buyable at eMusic and I just found it at Amazon
Keep spreading!
Well, I had a lot of ear pleasing fun yesterday evening. It was melting hot, but that didn't bother me at all. I was sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for that airplay Nathan had promised me.
Nathan Norgel (Bluespfaffe) is a german journalist who in 2010 discovered JoosTVD on Jamendo and gave such a rave review of my album "The Vanished Dutchman", that I had to read it over and over again to believe it was for real. Ok, my german knowledge is not as high-standard to understand it all, but that was because his use of words were not standard. Here's a journalist at work and I guess he must know his trade and that pleased me even more. Since then, he has reviewed every single album I've thrown on www for his cultural internet magazine Wasser-Prada. His favourite music genre is- I guess Blues- but with a lot of different styles (soul, funk, rock, R&B) dipping in the mix.
The last few weeks, I was eagerly waiting for his approval of my latest effort (Brouhaha), till.....yesterday that snowbal of verbal pleasure caught my hungry eyes. Facebook has the advantage of keeping you updated with the news and to chat while reading. So I got a message from Germany. Next to his writing, on tuesday evening Nathan shows his love for the blues on the radio called 98Eins and next to some famous souls, supports a few unknown talents too. Old fashioned radio on the web. Yeah, the intimate, rootsy sound fitted well with the clammyevening. Some sweaty, dirty delta blues stuff cracking through my speakers. Well and Nathan can talk! Toldmuch about themusic in between the songs. He even took the time to chat with me all the way through the program. And then my moment came, introduction. Two, the more rootsy songs, were chosen: first "Big Bad Boy" and at the end of the show, just after Beth Hart & Bonamassa(!), who did an inspired version of Strange Fruit, my version of the blues "Don't Mind The Blues". Such a tough act to follow, but I didn't mind the blues! Took it as a compliment. And with a few friends and family gathered together (chatting), well what more does a dutchman needs? Ok, ok, settle down, life goes on. I've got a few more songs in the can. Maybe I'll try to do a german version of JoosTVD: der Verschwundenen Dutchman. Freunde, bis zum nächsten mal! Maaaannn, it's hot today...relax
„Don‘t mind the blues“ meint Joos The Vanished Dutchman in einem
Titel seines neuen Albums. Hardcore-Bluesfans sollten das als ernste
Warnung auffassen und mit Lesen der Rezension und dem Anhören der
Scheibe äußerste Vorsicht walten lassen. Ansonsten gilt: Mit „The
Ballooning Brouhaha“ hat die niederländische One-Man-Band Musik so
richtig passend zum beginnenden Sommer mit Jazz, Funkgrooves, Rock und
einer gehörigen Dosis Humor.
Ein Aufruht beim Ballonfahren? Aufrührerische Ballons? Oder die Empörung
über die Ballonsportler? Mit dem Albumtitel kommer ich schnell an die
Grenzen meiner Englischkenntnisse. Aber der Titelsong und Opener des
aktuellen Albums von Joost Van Dinther erzählt rein musikalisch (wenn
man von den paar „Haha“-Rufen absieht) eine Geschichte, die all das sein
könnte - oder was ganz anderes. Und schon sind wir bei dem Problem, was
man unwillkürlich hat, wenn man sich Songs dieses Niederländers anhört:
Man muss ich das Lachen verkneifen. Und man erwischt sich immer wieder
dabei, das Wort „zappaesk“ verwenden zu wollen.
Dabei könnte man ebenso auch
Verwandschaft zur Musik etwa von Steely Dan, der mittleren
Schaffensperiode von Stevie Wonder und anderen finden. Nur eben waren
die niemals so voller Humor, Sarkasmus - und Selbstironie. Wer nennt
einen Titel schon freiwillig „Stupid song(s)“, der dann auch völlig
albern daherkommt wie für die Welttournee von Ralf Sögel direkt am Casio
geschrieben und dann noch mit Bläsern aufgemotzt? Das ist einfach
zappaesk. Und natürlich großartig.
Dann folgt noch ein „Disco Scream From The Sinking Loveboat“, eine
Tour mit dem „Sunday Train“ oder ein Trip durch einen schweigenden
Dschungel. Meist humorvoll, oft auch plötzlich von einer Melancholie
eingetrübt, dass man gleich nochmal aufmerksamer hinhört, um
festzustellen: Joost ist ein verdammt guter Songschreiber und keine
wandelnde Comedy-Attraktion. Und auch das hat er mit dem verstorbenen
Gitarren- und Kompositionsmeister mit dem berühmten Klofoto gemein. Wer
mir das nicht glaubt, sollte auf diversen Online-Plattformen wie Jamendo
nach dem kostenlosen Download von „The Ballooning Brouhaha“ suchen und
mir erst danach widersprechen.
In English (google-translator):
"Do not mind theblues,"saidJoosThe VanishedDutchmanin a titleof his new album.Hardcoreblues fansshouldtake that as aserious warningandexercisewithreading thereview andlistening to thediscextreme caution.Otherwise:With "TheBallooningBrouhaha"the Dutchone-manbandmusicreallymatch thebeginning of thesummerwith jazz,funk grooves, rockand a gooddose of humor. Onerestsin ballooning?Riotousballoons?Or theoutrage over theballoonathlete?With the albumtitle, Icommerto the limits ofmyknowledge of English.Butthe title trackandopener of thenew albumby JoostVanDinthertoldmusically(apartfromthefew"haha"-Call) is astory that couldbeall that -orsomething completely different.And already wearein the problem, whichhe automaticallywhenyou listen tothissongDutchman:Man Ineedhelp laughing.Andyou get caughtagain and againgoing towant to usethe word "zappaesk". Itcouldalsofindsomeaffinity to themusicofSteelyDan,themiddle periodof StevieWonder andothers.Only justwereneversofull of humor,sarcasm-and self-irony.Who callsa titlealreadyvoluntarily "Stupidsong (s)", whichthencomesasquitesillyfor theworld tourby RalfSoegelwrittendirectly on theCasioand thenbeefed upevenwith horns?This is simplyzappaesk.And of course,great.. Thenfollowsa"discoScreamFrom TheSinkingLoveboat",a tour with the"SundayTrain"oratrip througha silentjungle.Mosthumorous,oftensuddenlycloudedby amelancholythatisthe same againattentivelylistensto determine:Joostis a damngood songwriterandnotchangingcomedyattraction.Andalsothat hehas in commonwith the lateguitarmasterand compositionwith the famousKlofoto (Zappa).If youdo not believeme,shouldlook atvarious onlineplatforms such asJamendoforthe free downloadof "TheBallooningBrouhaha"anddisagree with meafterwards.
For our german friends: Einen musikalischen
Roadtripp unternehmen wir am 18. Juni in der nächsten Ausgabe des
Crossroad Cafe: Americana und Bluesrock aus Paris oder Kansas, Soul aus
Großbritannien und Chicago, britischen Akustikblues und zappaeske Klänge
aus den Niederlanden ergeben eine knallbunte Mixtur, die hoffentlich
zum Sommerabend passt.
Ok here's the english version: A musicalRoadTrippwe take18June in thenext edition of theCrossroadsCafeAmericanaandblues-rockfrom ParisorKansas, Soul from the UK andChicago,Britishacousticblues andzappaeskesoundsfrom the Netherlandsgive agaudymix whichhopefullyfitsthe summerevening.
Playlist:
The Communal Well The Road Moreland & Arbuckle Road Blind Moreland & Arbuckle Quivira Gwyn Ashton Take You Home Tonight James Boraski & Momentary Evolution Who (Told Ya) James Boraski & Momentary Evolution Sensitive Kind Anthony Gomes Old Ten Wheeler Anthony Gomes Let's Fall In Love Poplar Jake Sweet Marianne Poplar Jake Whipping Boy Big Frank Mirra Ferryboat Blues Homemade Jamz Blues Band Nothing Stays The Same Homemade Jamz Blues Band Ain't No Sunshine Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa Miss Lady Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa See Saw James Hunter Six The Gipsy James Hunter Six Heartbreak Lonnie Lester So This Is Love Lonnie Lester Ain't That A Shame JoosTVD Big Bad Boy The Communal Well Scratch My Back The Communal Well Mexico Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa Strange Fruit JoosTVD Don't Mind The Blues
Yes, first on BBC6 radio with Tom Robinson and here I'll go again (with some blues gigants) on the other side of the Netherlands. Thanks to that german journalist Nathan Nörgel who already reviewed a few of my albums. I hope he'll do my latest too..
Every year I've got a brand new batch of songs that reflect my state of affairs, my moodswings, frustrations, tribulations and the lot of everyday life. Here's the story, the inspiration behind them.
I don't want to explain what the lyrics are about though, I'll leave that open for interpretation.
"Is there a important message, theme in there then?" I hear you ask.
Maybe. Look at the cover, you can say that the balloon with the printed world stands for the bloated, forced way people treat the earth and eachother (I'm no exeption). Blowing it up. Well, what´s the brouhaha of it all?
And you see me just letting it go. Letting the world pass me by or trying to catch it with irony in 13 songs.
Well, here we go!
1.Brouhaha!
I didn't intend to leave it as an instrumental, as I found this funky chord progression easy to work with vocalwise. I just found some melodies on the keyboard. "Brouhaha", a word you hear me shout, I used to hear it in my youth, whenever someone in my neighbourhood did his hoopla (dutch=heisa) trick: "well, what´s the hoopla/ brouhaha all about boy?"
2.Stupid Song(s)
The irony. The (s) gives the songs a double meaning. I always like to play the joker. I work at night, where they always turn up the wrong station on the radio. With stupid songs creeping into my ears. Couldn´t resist to write something...stupid.
This is one of the 2 songs Wijnand Brant got his sologuitar on. At the end you hear him duel with himself. Fire!
3.A Trip Together
Wrote this one very quick on guitar, sang the melody spontanuously on top of it. One of those that wrote itself. I think it works well, because there´s a intensity and balance between the groove and the melody, a tension I often go for. You can dance to it too.
4.Talkwalk (Looking For The Boz)
Boz, we all know of Scaggs, don´t we? Wel he´s an old hero of mine. Sophisticated, cool shades. This is a musical wink, tribute to his work of the seventies. Notable is the obvious similarity in arrangement feel between his "Lowdown" and this song, but I did it all in the name of inspiration. Yeah, really.
5.Here She Goes Again (Yo Mama)
The old rock´n roll feel in this song has to do with my mother. She used to drive us kids nuts with that volume knob, when she turned up a new album she´d just bought. Loud! I mean loud. She angrily turned it off when she found out that the song she was after (but didn´t know the title of),wasn´t on it. A very intense woman with a deep rooted bluesattitude, that´s why....
Meanwhile, I played drums in the loft and my older brother played his Hendrix licks for hours in his room underneath. I mean loud!
6.Sunday train
Wrote this on piano and although I'm not classically trained, I've got just enough fingers to handle a few keys to come up with a few tunes. Couldn't do it in one take, so I rehearsed the hell out of it. Challenging stuff for me to sing it with the right power and dynamics.
7.The Route Through The Quiet Jungle
Melody, breaks combined with a steady groove and city noises, that's it.
8.Don´t Mind The Blues
Guess I don't mind that much, but blues singing especially comes from my gut. It's always a challenge to find a fresh topline to keep that blues alive. This song brought that to me.
9.Big Bad Boy
Variation in style. Never dipped in this one, but a little country keeps me upbeat. Yie-haa!
10.familiar Lines
Yes, the thin line between love and hate. I hear The Metropole Orchestra (if they ever hear this...call me) behind this, just like they did with Todd Rundgren. I play most of the orchestral stuff, except for a few sampled violins that suited and complemented the basic arrangements. Majestic.
11.Disco Scream From The Sinking Loveboat
Instrumental disco. Whatever happened to the (seventies TV) loveboat.....? As a variation of the excisting instrumental melody Wijnand Brant goes in overdrive with his guitarsolo. I had to edit and alter his stuff in order tomakeita totally. To round it off I put a titanic and desperate scream for dramatic effect.
Nope, it's not the wife..
12.Social Spy
The obsession for social media transmitted to an intense funky groove.
13.I Am Older Now
Ballad of the old kid. Sounds a bit desperate, but it expresses my lack of self confidence that sometimes bothers me. Guess it happens to most of us.