TRANSTILLA - ASKVOLL

 

NEW: VERLEGEN LAND

'Verlegen Land' is the new Dutch collection of poems by Jan Kleefstra, its fifth for Uitgeverij Aspekt. It already got some rave reviews, like the Dutch site 'Poëzie-Leestafel', wondering why Jan Kleefstra has not won all the literary prizes in the Netherlands yet. Besides the poetry, the book also contains drawings by the Dutch painter Jan Snijder.

You can order 'Verlegen Land' at Uitgeverij Aspekt, but also on the Kleefstra Bros Bandcamp. ISBN: 9789463389273, paperback / softback, 72 pages.

FEAN - DEVENTER

FEAN started as a musical artist-in-residence project in a little church in the Frisian village Katlyk. The group consists of Piiptsjilling (Jan Kleefstra, Romke Kleefstra, Mariska Baars and Rutger Zuydervelt). For FEAN they are accompanied by Belgian guests Annelies Monseré, Sylvain Chauveau and Joachim Badenhorst.

The Piiptsjilling members are used to perform and record together, and adding the three Belgian guests (who didn’t play together before) added an extra dimension to the group’s dynamics, resulting in a concentrated yet playful series of improvisations, that were later mixed and edited to two FEAN albums.

The FEAN project gets its inspiration from the ecological decay of peatland in the Dutch province Friesland and in other parts of Europe. Agriculture and peat extraction are threatening the landscape severely and with long term consequences. This forms the underlying thought for the improvised performances.

On September 6 2019, the group (minus Sylvain Chauveau) played at the big Lebuinus Church in the city of Deventer (the Netherlands), organized by De Perifeer and Vondst. With its reverberant acoustics, this was a perfect space for a FEAN concert. The concert was recorded, slightly edited and published on the site of Alienocene. And although this 20+ minute recording doesn’t come close to the live experience, it might convey at least some of its magic… Check the live recording here .

In memoriam Paul Dokter (1961-2020)

The week started sad when a message of a friend woke me up last Monday, saying Paul Dokter had passed away. Dutch music lovers who read this know who I’m talking about, but those abroad may have no idea. He’s been quite important for the music I am making.

 

Paul Dokter, together with Theo de Jong, was the songwriter, singer and guitarist of The Serenes, a band from around here (province of Friesland, where I live) with which he made the beautiful, timeless album "Barefoot and Pregnant" in 1990. That record is on Spotify, it is on YouTube, listen to it, more than once!

I remember the first time I heard The Serenes. It was on regional radio, probably in 1990, where they played the song "Homeland" from their demo cassette. The song struck me, because in terms of sound and sphere it was close to songs I was writing myself at that time. A few months later "Barefoot and Pregnant" was published and I saw the group perform several times. All gigs quite impressive. I listen to the album every now and then, especially when the lyrics and music bring comfort when I need it, also recently. Especially songs like "Beneath The Canopy", "Abiding Place" and "The World Is A Woman's Breast" – all sung by Paul - motivated me to form a band for my own songs. When I was about to start that band with a befriended bassist, I heard that Paul had quit The Serenes and the band was looking for a guitarist and bassist. For a moment I and the bass player hesitated, but still we founded our own band. A missed opportunity?

In 1994 Paul came back temporarily with Sunstone Cruiser, who made a wonderful demo cassette, on which the influence of Spacemen 3 and Galaxie 500 was clear. Then it went silent. I met Paul a few times then. Really nice, modest, calm guy, same taste in music. In 2003 I heard  some new recordings of a renewed collaboration between Paul and Theo, a bit kinda Spititualized. That collaboration came to a standstill until a few years ago, when Paul and Theo put new music on Soundcloud under the name “Volvox Colony”. A little more experimental, and vaguely it reminded me of Tarwater. Volvox Colony disappeared from Soundcloud and a new song and clip appeared on YouTube in 2018 under the new name “The Family Acid”. A full album was to follow later that year. We will probably never hear that record... Last Friday, at the age of 59, Paul died completely unexpectedly of cardiac arrest. Have a safe strip, Paul. Sunstone cruising forever! (Romke Kleefstra)  

LOST TRACKS

We are sharing some 'lost tracks' on our Kleefstra Bros Bandcamp. Well, some that did not appear in ‘our online store’ so far. One is 'Land' by Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra, music for the short film 'Land' by Rei Hayama. Other tracks are Bernehân, Stienrinner, Snie en Rein by Piiptsjilling, and Marwylgen by LJERKE. You can listen/purchase the tracks on our Bandcamp page.

TRANSTILLA VIDEO 'ASSEMBLAGE 2008'

Transtilla recently released a new video for the track 'Assemblage 2008'. This video is a sequence from the film which Transtilla made for the GOLF Festival, last December in the Dutch city of Haarlem. 'Assemblage 2008' was taken from the album 'Transtilla II', released on Midira Records, also last December. Both Transtilla-albums are available through the band's webshop.

VELDWERK

'Veldwerk' is a book about the loss of biodiversity in the Frisian landscape, by Jan Kleefstra (text, essays) and Christiaan Kuitwaard (drawings).

Actually it is simple. The Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. It is also very small, and yet the Netherlands is the second largest agricultural exporter in the world! Imagine that, bigger than Germany, France, the UK or whatever country, apart from the USA. But the Frisians, their landscape and nature pay the price. Of all countries in Europe, the biodiversity is the lowest in the Netherlands.

Something has to happen. We cannot and do not want to live in an environment where there is no place for other earthlings next to ourselves and our farm animals. In 'Veldwerk' you can read stories of committed people who view this problem from their own expertise. From representatives of the dairy industry and the Dutch organisation for agriculture LTO to scientists and a bio-dynamic organic farmer. In addition the book contains the works of poet Jan Kleefstra and artist Christiaan Kuitwaard, which were made on the spot in the open air at various locations in Fryslân for a year. Hopefully this book will contribute to a broad social discussion about the future of the province of Friesland.

'Veldwerk' is available from April 23 in Dutch bookstores and via the webshop of publisher Wijdemeer. Book specifications; 88 pages, hardcover, full color, 29 x 21.5 cm. Price: € 14.99

GODWITS

Godwits is a Portuguese-Frisian collection of poems by Raquel Lima, Nuno Piteira, Elmar Kuiper and Jan Kleefstra. The first seed for this special collection was sown during Jan Kleefstra's first visit to Lisbon with the 'King of the Meadows project'. The initial idea of that project was to travel down European locations, where black-tailed godwits from the Netherlands stage during migration to Africa, with musicians, poets, film artists, you name it. All under the guise of Leeuwarden as Cultural Capital in 2018, but it never happened.

Still, Jan managed to get this international co-operation of poets going. The Portuguese poets came to the Netherlands and did some gigs with Tsjinlûd, featuring Joana Guerra on cello, that became a permanent member of The Alvaret Ensemble after that. Meanwhile Jan Kleefstra and Elmar Kuiper performed at the Potuguese Poetry Slam. Now Godwits is published, designed by Rutger Zuydervelt (Machinefabriek, Piiptsjilling), edited by Teake Oppewal. Godwits is available through all four poets involved and on out Kleefstra Bros Bandcamp page.

FEAN II IS OUT!

The second album by FEAN is out! FEAN II is the following of the first opus released on Moving Furniture Records in 2018, from some materials of the improvisatory collective FEAN based around Jan Kleefstra (voice, poems), Romke Kleefstra (guitar, bass and effects), Mariska Baars (vocals) and Rutger Zuydervelt (electronics) from Netherlands, joined by the Belgian musicians Annelies Monseré (church organ, keyboard), Sylvain Chauveau (tuned percussion, radio) and Joachim Badenhorst (acoustic and amplified clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone).

The FEAN project gets its inspiration from the ecological decay of peatland in the Dutch province Friesland and in other parts of Europe. Agriculture and peat extraction are threatening the landscape severely and with long term consequences. This forms the underlying thought for the improvised recording sessions, which were overseen by Jan Switters. Although the Piiptsjilling members are obviously used to perform and record together, adding the three Belgian guests (who didn’t play together before) added an extra dimension to the group’s dynamics, resulting in a concentrated yet playful series of improvisations, that were later mixed and edited for the project.

FEAN II is available on LP (white vinyl), CD and digital through Laaps. It is also available as download on the Kleefstra Bros Bandcamp.

FEAN II UP FOR PRE-ORDER

The second and final FEAN album is up for pre-order at Laaps records, that previously also released the third Alvaret Ensemble album 'Ea'. FEAN was meant to be a one off project, consisting out of an album (on Moving Furniture Records), a documentary on Dutch tv and a few gigs. But because of the success of the album, which was sold out pretty quickly, we were asked to compile another album and so we did. Same lin-up as on the first, feat. Piiptsjilling.
FEAN II is released on lp (white vinyl) and cd. Official release is set for March 13^th.

NEW ALBUM ALVARET ENSEMBLE: EA

The Alvaret Ensemble is back with the long awaited third album 'Ea'. 'Ea' was recorded over three nights in a small church in the Netherlands. As usual the group invited other musicians to join, as they did on the first two albums and also during their live concerts. On 'Ea' the group is expanded with the Polish violist Olga Wojciechowska and Portuguese cellist Joana Guerra, which became permanent members since the recordings.

Just like on previous recordings The Alvaret Ensemble began to play without scores or discussion. The setting in the church, recording at night and the prominent role for the string section results in an album that comes closer the "Alvaret’s" first album than to "Skeylja". Again there were hours of recordings, which took the group months again to compile and mix the album. Release dates were even postponed, as some first editions of the album were eventually rejected by the band itself, to start the whole process over again. At long last the group came to the double album 'Ea' and gave it a new home on the new record label 'Laaps'. In reviews the "Alvaret’s" debut was stated to be tender, quiet and restrained; an introspective album, which stark beauty was perfect for winter, when color has been leeched from the landscape and all has been laid bare. "Ea" might fit that description perfectly. Even better, maybe

'Ea' is available as double lp and single cd at Laaps Records.