Chalky, Chalky, Chalky!

Never thought it would happen, so I totally missed the show last night. Never say never!
A 3-hour prime time show (between 9-12 hours pm) hosted by Tom Robinson. Next to the well-known artisrs/bands, he always plays a few gems from his BBC6 Mixtape too. Lucky me!

Chalky on Tom Robinson's Saturday Show

Chalky on BBC6 Mixtape

Handpicked by the one and only Tom Robinson (2-4-6-8 Motorway), one hour of fresh new songs on his mixtape. Airtime 12 june, 02.00 A.M. (english teatime).

The competition is very fierce each week, so choosing favourites out of 170 tracks must be earbleeding for a radio dj!
The more so a rare treat to be on BBC radio of course. And in the next few weeks, Chalky has a chance to be played again on Tom's Saturday Show. The third song in succession now, after "Bomb Won't Go Off" and "Stupid Song's". Thanks Tom!

Listen/ download Podcast HERE
You can find all the stories/ artists HERE

Always welcome: raving reviews

Yes, that's right. Fred Pach wrote this nice, dutch review of my latest songs on Muziekwereld. Glad he did. Let the summer begin!

English; "The album Open Up My Parachute of the Dutch multi-instrumentalist / singer-songwriter JoosTVD (aka Joost van Dinther, with musical nickname Joost The Vanished Dutchman)) is a notable release because on the one hand a very successful one-man project and by the varied musical character, a mix of r & B, funk, pop and Latin, often still covered with a jazzy twist.We can talk right here from a solo project, as Van Dinther is not only responsible for the lyrics and lyrics, recording, mixing and mastering, but also take all the vocals, guitar and bass, keyboards and percussion for his account in his own studio ! All this leads to a pleasant mix of twelve alternating frequently 'danceable' tracks. This jump for me personally the songs Dancing Dutchman, It's A Struggle Honey and Ha Veda Veda just slightly above the high average level of this album. Open Up My parachute was to my pleasant musical introduction to the work of Joost van Dinther and in my opinion is also a very successful musical project."

Dutch: "Het album Open Up My Parachute van de Nederlandse multi-instrumentalist/singer-songwriter JoosTVD (alias van Joost van Dinther, met als muzikale bijnaam Joost The Vanished Dutchman)) is een opvallende release vanwege enerzijds een zeer geslaagd eenmansproject en anderzijds door het afwisselend muzikale karakter, een mix van r&b, funk, pop en latin, veelal nog overgoten met een jazzy sausje. We kunnen hier met recht spreken van een soloproject, want Van Dinther is niet alleen verantwoordelijk voor de songteksten en lyrics, opnames, mixing en mastering, maar neemt tevens alle vocalen, gitaar- en baspartijen, keyboards en percussie voor zijn rekening in zijn eigen studio! Dit alles leidt tot een aangename mix van twaalf afwisselende veelal ‘dansbare’ tracks. Hierbij springen wat mij persoonlijk betreft de nummers Dancing Dutchman, It’s A Struggle Honey en Ha Veda Veda nog net iets meer uit boven het gemiddeld hoge niveau van dit album. Open Up My Parachute vormde voor mijn een aangename muzikale kennismaking met het werk van Joost van Dinther en wat mij betreft is dan ook sprake van een zeer geslaagd muzikaal project.."
On Musicmeter
 (original source: Muziekwereld)

Doing the dddutch ddddancing

For those who can remember those high platform soled shoes and wide open blouses (with those flowery chesthair growing out), cool fancy moves of John Travolta: just try to recall how you once moved to all of those infectious grooves. Chic? Ohio Players? Earth, Wind & Fire?
The next song also recalls a few favourite dancefloor fillers. Yes, you'll find out...but first dance.

How did I/ do you do that?

(lyrics/ music: JoosTVD)

Used to dig those disco parties
Freaking dancing on the floor
That backseat hanky panky
Sneaking out backdoors

Still get those chilling fevers
When I play back "Daddy Cool"
And all those desperate leavers
All lined up dancing fools

Now you're gonna show us why you love that dancing floor

You used to go down on it ("that's the way I liked it")
Kooling with the gang ("get down on it")
Well that's the way you liked it (aha aha)
Shake your booty now and then ("shake your body")

DD has been played on:
Croydon radio London  
Dancing Dutchman on Talentcast 

"Illegal" Parachutes, grab them!

Hai there, it's been a while. Just took a break from blogging. Didn't need too. Let the music work its way out...
I've been busy...gathering links of all of those websites that  posted my album without my knowledge.

too obvious when...

4 april it landed. 5 april I googled and there already was a webrip (example) to be found on numerous websites. The source said Googleplay. Others (like those russian forums) followed quick.

Am I angry about this?

For 90% I am not. I am very flattered that someone took the time and effort to upload my songs and to share them, with the purpose to find new listeners. Great flashy designed websites to look at too.
With so much music coming out everyday, if someone spreads that unknown JoosTVD around, the more people I can reach. And every new year brings an increase of links my and your way.
Sure I do a little promotion myself with Soundcloud, Youtube and Reddit. Sharing is caring they say.

The other 10% means ther's still a need to upload someone's work (something I've worked very hard for), while we all have easy access to streaming services, like Spotify (more than 1 billion streams a week). It's still needed to grab it illegally.

This means the old music industry still fails. Who gains the most of payed albums anyway?
What do you think?

Here is all you've been waiting for. Ah, sometimes you need a login. Need a password?
Choose "easy"

A few grabs for the curious:
Link 1 
Link 2 

and so on...Google is your friend. Complaining? Nah, just saying...

That thing about "Open Up My Parachute"

The process of songwriting/ recording/ mixing/ mastering

May 2014 I began writing and  recording the new stuff. Already had a flow of ideas in the bag, so no worries in that department. I've been spending a lot of time mixing and mastering the songs though.  Youtube and other friendly sound engineers helped me out with the technical know how much more further. Yes, I try to learn about every aspect of the process. Next time I hope to do things much more efficient in the recording process.

Inspiration for the title

Every year I try to come up with another appropiate title that epitomise what these songs stand for.
Guess Zappa's quotes brought me the one that connects those 12 songs. 

    

And...I already had a few songs with a "parachute" reference. Your mind only works if one opens it. With songwriting, that seems not that difficult for me. Just jump fearlessly into the free air...just dare.
That introvert face on the frontcover stands for my introvert side and my wife's selfie reflex has captured that right on the spot.

I sort of invite you all to open up my parachute and you'll see/hear...... the songs will jump out of my head.


(next: released a parachute and where did it land?)

                                                                                                                                                          
You've listened already? Here's some information about the 12 parachutes. I think this is my most accessible and dancable record so far, so let's follow our restless feet, while reading. Hope you like.

It's all in the mind

01.Chalky
A burst of  restless energy I tried to put down in a tight fit arranged funk. Started as one of the first new songs for this album, inspired by the dense grooves of 1980's Remain In Light era Talking Heads, but heading (totally?) elsewhere eventually. The working out of the tightness in accents and the finishing of various arrangements took me almost a year, before I was really satisfied. I am now.

02.Dancing Dutchman
A little nostalgic  throwback to my numerous dance moves I left on the dancefloor hearing those seventies soul (Chic, Kool & The Gang, Rose Royce, KC & The Sunshine Band) in those after midnight discotheques. Proud of the melodic chorus and the groove, which convinced me to put on my dancing shoes again.

03.Everything Is A-Okay
Is it okay? Most of the time. With this song I think I've reached a very accessible side of the melodic and the rhythm of exotic coolness with a few instrumental adventures in the middle too.

04.Jump For Your Life
Searching for that parachute that brings joy and playfulness. Just jump and watch what happens. Old fashionated pop and bluesy funk.

05.The Riddle Room
One song idea from the last album sessions that needed more time to develop. Just a funny motive on piano started another riddle in my room.

06.It's A Struggle Honey
Two ideas (one melodic, another rhythm) put together in dreamlike fashion. An old trick: use that mod & pitchwheel on the keyboard. I freaked a lot throughout the album.

07.Hipster Mind
Hipster was the word of 2015 (but it's so old), but the hipness is gone. A piano & guitar motive accent on a pulsing  groove pushed this into a song. Starts off like an voice-over intro to a hip chatty radioshow, but that slow, threatening groove gets in the way.

08.Issues?
The question mark says it all. I connected this funky bassline with a accenting guitarpattern and voila. Just dance the seventies (Gap band, Ohio Players,...) to it.

09.Parachute
A song for superman! Slapstick enters. Silent movies. Finally flying! Goofing off.

10.Cosmopolitan Circus
Instrumental stuff to rest my voice. I liked working on this a lot. It's different. A bit Kurt Weilish. European vaudeville? I recorded piano parts in a few takes. I put a few "hymnlike voicing" plugins on the melodies for the angelic atmosphere. Proud of this.

11.The Slippery Slope
Inspired by the 1965 movie "Mirage" featuring Gregory Peck. I like mystery, so a song developed from there. It begins and it ends more or less the same.

12.Ha Veda Va
Latinesque. That chant doesn't mean a thing, just a few fitting spanish words put together for us to sing: Ha= it has. Veda= farewell. Va= will. Cryptic? Yes maybe, but what does "trolololololo" mean? Hope I don't offend anyone.
Solo on keyboard at the last part, that's me pitching the sound, combining horns, organ and guitar.

That's it folks, my story. Maybe you listen to these songs with other ears now.

Flat earth radio

Sunday afternoon, sun on my head, feet on the floor. Relaxing, enjoying the springtime, slowly creeping in the sky.
I've been collecting all of those (JoosTVD) radioplays again. I was just wondering how to find those radiostations.
I'm grateful for them, because it has widened my audience of listeners all over the planet. The list keeps on growing, so with a list I try to make sense of it all. There are such highpoints if a broadcaster has chosen my songs for his/ her shows, like when Tom Robinson played "Bomb Won't Go off" on his prime time, saturday evening BBC6 radio show. A recognition from a musical hero of mine is like "winning" an oscar.
Some DJ-less radiostions have a playlist that have regularly featured the same songs, so the list is long.
Twitter gives you a pretty good idea which songs (old and new) have been played so far. Search for Joos TVD and voila:
                                         Twitter search for Joos TVD radiowaves

Tom Robinson's playlist 2012 BBC6

Frequent plays:
-Route 66 radio US  Song: I Want It back [2005]
-R Sud International radio  Songs: Violent Boy [2008], You Know You're Dead [2009]
-Radio Breeze Jazz radio  Song: Follow You Like A Camera [2008] 
-Barbwires.com rock radio  Song: I Want It Back [2005]
-Radio Monte Carlo Jazz lounge  Song: Jack And The Scandal Shop [2009]
-Libre FM Spain  Song: Paranoiac With A Gun [2015]
-Radio RMJC french  Song:  Follow You Like A Camera [2008]
-Croydon Radio London  Many songs (too many to mention, stuff from 2012 on)
-Rocker's Dive radio  Song: Stupid Song(s) [2013] Unscrew Yourself [2015] 
-Bairesrock FM Argentina  Song: Buy Me A Bible Of Beatles [2005]
-Neujahrkonzert classical (!) radio Spain  Song: Wonder [2008]
-AVA Live radio Miami  Song: Unscrew Yourself [2015]
-Tournesol radio Spain  Song: I Want It Back [2005]
-Radio Ballaro Italy  Song: You Know You're Dead [2009]  
-Radio Madein US  Song: Velvet Shoes [2014]
-Talentcast Groningen, Netherlands  Many songs: Guru In A Lovetown, Limo [2015], Chalky, Dancing Dutchman, Everything Is A-Okay [2016], It's A Struggle Honey [2016]

 Once:
-Shockpop radio  Song: Stupid Song(s) [2013]
-BBC6 Mixtape Tom Robinson London  Songs: Bomb Won't Go Off [2009], Stupid Song(s) [2013]
-BBC6 Tom Robinson Show London  Songs: Bomb Won't Go Off [2009]. Chalky [2016]
-BBC Introducing Hereford & Worcester Wales: Bomb Won't Go Off [2009] 
-Radio Eins Germany  Songs: Don't Mind The Blues, Big Bad Boy [2013], Unscrew Yourself [2015]
-Amazingradio UK  Song: Lost Toy [2010]
-Mijke's Middag radio 6 Netherlands  Song: You Know You're Dead

No, I probably will not begin to sing in the shower...

Grateful for this!

Joos TVD - Open Up My Parachute (Nathan Nörgel source: Wasser Prawda)

Nathan Norgel's translation of a german review for
Joos TVD - Open Up My Parachute

You should sing his new songs in the shower says Joos TVD. And it's not necessary to have a parachute with you there. What does that mean? Joos TVD did an album full of humor with "Open Up My Parachute". And he does a coursing across every musical style you may think of in his songs.

What does it need to get great pop songs? Of course you need melodies, that go straight to your head and a groove to make you dance on the spot. And every great pop song needs lyrics to make you laugh or cry. Yes, you can say: "Open Up My Parachute" very close to be a perfect pop album!

Joos TVD has once again put together rhythms and melodies in his studio, that make you think of Frank Zappy (without the guitar, but with his sense of humor). Sometimes you may also think of the jazzy pop by Steely Dan or even of songs by The Talking Heads (when it gets funky). With songs like "Hipster Mind" the Dutchman starts to rap even. The song about the parachute, which does not want to open, reminds me of movie songs of the 1930s. There are really no limits for Joos TVD. And that's a good thing - because it is never boring to listen to his new and old songs .

No, I probably will not begin to sing in the shower. And I really don't have a parachute with me. But I most certanly wil listen to "Open Up My Parachute" a lot in the next weeks. This pop music is very addictive!

Platforms like....

      Bandcamp!

Released a parachute and where did it land?

A lot of places (click):
Juno
Spotify
Deezer
iTunes
Qobuz 
Technics
Google Play
iHeartRadio
Amazon
7Digital
KKBox
Rhapsody/Napster 
Emusic
Xbox Music/ Microsoft
Aspiro/TIDAL
I-Classical(!)
Onkyomusic 
Openlive
Youngonesrecords 
Sainsbury Entertainment

Bandcamp
Jamendo
The Bluesgambler

Dead links? Will be updated frequently.