2020 / 2021

An end has come to this strange year 2020.
Like every year, I would like to look back at this year's musical activities.
Because of current situation, I have so many plans for next year, but because it's uncertain yet when old-fashioned concerts and festivals are going to be take place again, there are no concrete events planned. As always I am involved in a couple musical projects, and I hope to extend my Deserted Island Music label with more new and interesting releases. This year there have been four new albums on my small label (which are mentioned below), and hopefully our catalog will grow within next years.

But before the highlights, before I forget: I am wishing everyone a great, musical and prosperous 2021.
And that we are able to meet soon again in real life!

Deserted Island Music
Four new releases from different artists have been released on my Deserted Island Music label this year.

It might not sound that much, but until last year I mainly used to release music projects which were very close to myself only. Now, I have made a start to extend the catalog with other artist than REMY.
From the first release of this year, the cd's from now on come into gatefold digisleeves, instead of basic cardboard sleeves.

Now, I am aiming for a more consistent exposure of my label, so if you have any suggestions for great electronic music which definitely needs to be released, or if you think your own music fits within our catalog, don't hesitate to contact me!

For more details, see the links below or visit www.desertedislandmusic.nl.

Here's a short overview of this 2020's releases:

Mäläskä - First Day of Spring (DIM-009)
Born out of improvisations Petter Janse and I did in december 2019 in Jannum, Friesland.
The ambience and atmospheric laidback soundscapes are something completely different than our 2016 debut album "Uncle Jim's Cidney Factory".
Featuring Bas Broekhuis on percussion on one of the tracks.

Read more about the album on my blog:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4493991774210317112/1190478425073764303

REMY - The Other Side (DIM-010)
A conceptual album in the make for two years, and my first REMY album since 2016's "Fears".
Containing collaborations with Bas Broekhuis (drums), Judith Wessluis (vocals), Joost Verhagen (vocals) and Nausikaä de Blaauw (photography).

Read more:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4493991774210317112/3827413632895914746

Däcker - Pareidolia (DIM-011)
I produced an 2018 improvisation session by Peter Dekker. There are a lot of similarities in our musical styles and visions, so when I suggested to enhance Peter's 2-track recording, he immediately agreed. The result is "Pareidolia", which will appeal a lot of traditional electronic music lovers.

It seems that I haven't written a blog item about this album, but you can listen to album excerpts here:
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/syntheticman/dacker-pareidolia-excerpts-2020
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrF32GVJ2zE

On December 19th Peter and I did a live stream concert at BYSS. Below you can read about this.

Space Art - Entrevues (DIM-012)
In first instance my label did distribution and sales for the limited edition LP of Space Art's new album "Entrevues", which was released in March. However, earlier this month, the CD and digital download, have been released on Deserted Island Music. I am really proud to have this legendary band contracted!

On my blog I wrote about the limited edition LP release:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4493991774210317112/7265360976870964874

All versions contain slightly different tracklisting, and while the LP has been mastered by Patrick Pelamourgues, the CD and download have been mastered by Michel Geiss.

Schallwelle Preis

It's the time of the year again to vote for the Schallwelle Awards. Everyone can now vote for his or her favourite electronic music artists and albums of 2020.

All Deserted Island Music releases as well as individual artists can be found in the list:

 

Best Artist:

Däcker

Mälaskä

REMY

Space Art

 

Best Album:

Däcker - Pareidolia

Mäläskä - First Day of Spring

REMY - The Other Side

Space Art - Entrevues

 

Visit http://www.schallwen.de/swvoting/en/ for all details, the complete lists, and to vote.

 

REMY & Däcker live at BYSS
December 19th, Peter Dekker and I did a concert at the BYSS studio of Bas Broekhuis.

In first instance this concert was streamed live via Facebook. For all who missed it, the concert has been archived for watching on the same URL as the live stream:
https://www.facebook.com/events/222915992531041

Because not everyone has a Facebook account, the slightly enhanced version of the concert has been uploaded to YouTube: https://youtu.be/3bDa1O8ZOF8
Adjustments are described in the video credits.

Then, last 30 minutes of our concert was also broadcast live on Wim Dekker's radio show Haarlem Underground at Radio Haarlem 105:
https://www.mixcloud.com/wimdekker/haarlemunderground-19-12-20-21-2200

Last but not least, the entire concert is going to be broadcast on Jos Verboven's radio show Electronic Fusion on January 2nd.
The two hours REMY & Däcker special is going to be co-hosted by Peter and me.
Broadcasting schedule:

Saturday 02-01-2021 at 6 pm CET/CEST on Modul303 from Germany:
https://www.facebook.com/modul303com/
Sunday 03-01-2021 at 9 am PST/PDT on Krypton Radio from the USA:
https://www.facebook.com/KryptonRadio/
Sunday 03-01-2021 at 3 pm CET/CEST on Radio Dark Tunnel from Germany:
https://www.facebook.com/RadioDarkTunnel/
Monday 04-01-2021 at 1 pm VET on Electronic Music Radio from Chile & Venezuela:
https://www.facebook.com/ElectronicMusicFM1/

Afterwards, the show will be archived on Mixcloud:
https://www.mixcloud.com/brainvoyager/

My report of this adventure can be read on previous blog post:
https://exhibitionofdreams.blogspot.com/2020/12/remy-dacker-live-at-byss.html 

That's it for now!
I am very curious about what 2021 has to offer. For now, stay safe!

REMY & Däcker live at BYSS

All packed.

Last Saturday Peter Dekker (aka Däcker) and I did a concert live stream at the BYSS studio of Bas Broekhuis.
BYSS was recently established by Bas, who already did something similar almost two decades ago with his Virtuele Theater.
In the meanwhile techniques have improved, and current times demand online events more than ever before. Great iniative, and a pleasure to follow recent concerts by Ron Boots and Skoulaman (Hans van Kroonenburg) at this same location.

I was looking forward to it so much, because of a couple of reasons.
It was my first and only concert of this strange year 2020, and it definitely felt good to be back on stage.
On top of that, it actually was the first live concert stream I ever did. Ok, I did concerts with an audience which were also streamed, but this was different.
Then, it was a pleasure to do this concert together with my good friend Peter Dekker. Recently I produced his debut album "Pareidolia", which was released on my Deserted Island Music label, under his alter ego Däcker.

Initially I was quite sceptic about live streams. Especially when loads of artists decided to do free streaming concerts at the start of the pandemic, while they normally would have played for a paying audience, didn't feel right.

FoH view at BYSS.

When Bas Broekhuis contacted me two monts ago, it was the intention to let perform me or Mäläskä on his virtual stage. Although I have released my latest solo album "The Other Side" earlier this year, it didn't feel the right moment to perform this, because I was focussed on other more recent projects, including the one with Peter Dekker, and the new Space Art album. However, I am looking forward so much to bring "The Other Side" to the stage with another opportunity.
Then, Petter (with whom I do together Mäläskä) currently had other priorities, so it immediately came in mind to join forces with Däcker for this BYSS session.

You all have to know that "Pareidolia" by Däcker was born out of an improvisation session, recorded by Peter in August 2018. Peter had doubts he could fill 1,5 hours of live music himself, so we soon immediately agreed to do the performance together. Not focussing of any existing material, but let go all expectations, and just play. Blending both our influences and visions into a non-prepared improvisation session.
However, I did a lot of studio work with his 2018 recordings, and added my part to it, but it was only two weeks ago that we played together for the very first time. Although this might have been risky, it luckily worked out pretty fine! So the basis was set for this concert.

Setup at Peter's living room.

 

Last Friday I went to Peter's home to set up all gear we were about to use during the concert, and we took the afternoon and evening to technically prepare the gig, and do a rehearsal. Then we wrapped all equipment together, and headed to the most Northeastern part of the province of Groningen Saturday afternoon.

After Peter and I arrived at Bas' farmyard (the studio is built in a former pigsty) around 15:15, we set up all equipment, which went really smooth, and prepared for our live appearance really easy in the remaining hours.

Last couple of days I had already been busy preparing the visuals, but I also worked on something special for Peter. His musical heroes and inspirators Rob Papen, Steve Baltes, Michel Huygen, Eric van der Heijden and René Splinter recorded some very nice messages about their connection/friendship with Peter, "Pareidolia", and the upcoming concert. While featured as introduction of our performance, Peter only got to see this after the concert, and I was pleased to know it moved him.

Live!

Then, at 20:00 the video intro started and 5 minutes later we kicked off our concert. The only thing we appointed was that Peter would set in the first note, and the part which concluded the performance. Outside of some pre-programming, nothing of the one and a half hour to come was discussed in advance. Which I like so much about improvisation.
Then, the first note was struck by Peter on his E-Pro Spirit, and the next 90 minutes we played passed by before we realized it, and left us with satisfaction. It was a real pleasure to watch and listen the entire concert myself the day after, and read all comments. Thanks a lot for everyone involved, and the positive vibes. I think I am also speaking for Peter that this really gave us a boost.

After the concert we had a little chill out, before packing all our gear together, and headed to the west again. For me it was almost a three hours drive, but still kicking from all adrenalin, and the good conversations together with Peter, made the time pass by without noticing.

It was a pleasure to do this concert together with Peter. Hopefully there is more to come in 2021!
Thanks to Bas Broekhuis for this great opportunity and the warm welcome, and I expect to come back to BYSS in the new year with Mäläskä and perhaps also REMY.

The entire concert stream, including the introduction can still be watched (and commented on) on Facebook. I will also put it on YouTube later this week.

The final 30 minutes of the concert were also broadcast live on radio Haarlem 105, hosted by Wim Dekker. The archived program can be listened to via this link.

And also write down January 2nd, 2021. The entire concert is going to be broadcast during Electronic Fusion #278. Normally hosted by Jos Verboven, but for this episode, Peter and I will take over the show. Supplemented with more of our recently released music.

Then last but not least, for all gear nerds, here is the list of used equipment:
Peter: ASM Hydrasynth, E-Pro Spirit, Moog The Rogue, Roland VP-330, Sequential Prophet 12.
Remy: Clavia Nord Rack 2, E-Pro Minisynth, Korg Kronos X, Novation Supernova 2.

Twilight Princess

It was May 2018 when the First 4 Figures company announced another resin figure of one of the main characters of one of my all time favourite games, "The Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess" (released for Nintendo's GameCube in 2006).

Wolf Link and Midna (game scene).

First 4 Figures produces limited, high quality and officially licensed resin and PVC figures related to computer games since 2003. 

A couple of years ago the company already produced a figure with Midna on Wolf Link (which I unfortunately don't have), but now it was time for the highly anticipated true form of this Midna. 

I have always been an admirer of the Zelda franchise, but various aspects from this dark "Twilight Princess" definitely made this one of my favourite games from the series.

If you have played this game, you might eventually be familiar with the game's final scene. It is the moment when cursed Midna returns to her true form as the Twilight Princess. This emotional moment is one which had quite an impact on me.

 

True form Midna (final game scene).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

True form Midna figure.

When I saw the announcement of this true form Midna figure, I 

didn't have to think twice to pre-order it. The amount of these company's figures is strictly limited (and individually numbered), based on the amount of pre-orders. So all their products become collector items as soon as the production has ended. Because figures are announced way before the definitive design and approval of licensing by the brand owner company (in this case Nintendo), and the fact all figures are hand crafted, it takes quite a while to have an entire production ready.

Last Monday, almost 2,5 years after I placed my order, the excitement was there! Midna finally arrived!

And the result is gorgeous. Love her in all aspects. The figure's nice size of 17 inch, amazing detailing and coloring, and the possibility to light her hair (option with the Exclusive edition, which I bought), really made her come to life. A truly amazing piece for any geek's game and merchandising collection.

Dutch Electronic Masters

I have contributed music for the sampler album "Dutch Electronic Masters".

My submission is one of the 20 tracks that are part of this download only (Bandcamp) compilation, to be released on Friday August 7th.

The proceeds from the download sales will go to the Underground-Äxpärten radio show for the financial support of their radio operations and other voluntary work.

My exclusive (and not yet released before) contribution - "View over the Dokkumer Ee" - is a recent 10 minute improvisation around a sequencer theme which I programmed for last year's Mäläskä sessions that lead to recently released "First Day of Spring".

Find below the release's press information (translated to English.

The original German version can be read on www.hippiesland.de/release_dutch_electronic_masters):

Dutch Electronic Masters

Download-Sampler
Release 07.08.2020

An idea was born.
The electronic musicians Harald Gramberg and Gerrit Johannes Vos (Adeptus Mechanicus), well-known through internet radio broadcasts, founded their joint band camp site The Cosmic Musical Connection in December 2018, not only to publish their collaborative works, but also to provide a platform for other electronic musicians To offer publication of joint productions

So the idea was not far off to try a sampler album, on which a number of artists are represented, who all have one thing in common. The foundation stone for the compilation "Dutch Electronic Masters", a journey across the Dutch electronic music scene, was laid.

Now it was necessary to find enough musicians who would like to take part in this project. The proceeds from the download sale should go to the underground specialists for the financial support of their radio operations and their other voluntary work. And lo and behold, 20 top-class electronics artists from the Netherlands agreed to participate in this mammoth project with one of their works. Some of them even composed a piece specially designed for this purpose. The result is a digital sampler album with a total playing time of 2 hours and 45 minutes. It will be available for download from August 7th on the above-mentioned band camp site, and from this date it will also be available in full or in part from internet radio stations.

From the overall impression, without going into the individual titles in detail, I would like to assert that a very successful compilation is presented, which reflects the wide range of electronic music across the board. From Berlin School to Ambient, Dark Ambient, New Age, Cinematic, Instustrial (I could continue the list any way I want) almost everything is represented, whereby Harald has taken great pains not to simply string the individual soundtracks together, but into a meaningful one Bring order in order to achieve a smooth transition between the individual titles. I recommend you to just do what I did: take your time, maybe with good friends in a convivial atmosphere, and listen to this multifaceted album. It won't get boring in these two and three-quarters of an hour, because there is always something new to discover, not only for enthusiastic electronic music lovers, but also for one or the other active musician, just to be inspired.

Here are the individual artists in the order in which they are represented on the sampler:
Meesha, Gert Blokzijl, Arjen Schat, Adeptus Mechanicus, Eagle / Parallaxe, Harald Gramberg, Gert Emmens, Albert Steenbergen, Manorlogic, Johan ten Pas, René van der Wouden, Son of Ohm, Skoulaman, Northern Sound Productions, SPACEMANIAC, REMY, Romerium , SONICrider, Waveman, Phrozenlight.

Cover design: Gerrit Johannes Vos. Determining the order and upload: Harald Gramberg.
Bernd Jasper, 05.08.2020

Available on August 7th, 2020 from: https://thecosmicmusicalconnection.bandcamp.com

REMY - The Other Side [new album release]

For April 11th there are scheduled three new album releases on my Deserted Island Music label:

- Mäläskä - First Day of Spring
- REMY - The Other Side
- Space Art - Entrevues

I have already spotlighted two of these albums on this blog the last couple of days.
And now concluding with my own new release: "The Other Side".

Pre-order your copy from www.desertedislandmusic.nl




REMY - The Other Side
Deserted Island Music | DIM-010 | CD and digital download | Release date: April 11th, 2020

“The Other Side” is about the other side of each story, everything we don’t know, and all those things we will never be able to imagine or understand.

TRACKLIST
1. A Different View
2. Everything is Distraction
3. The Perfect Dream
4. Lost in Reality  

THE ALBUM
 This most conceptual project to date by renowned Dutch musician of electronic music REMY (Remy Stroomer, 1979) reflects the composer's curiosity about our existence, presence and perception here on this place and at this time, and everything attached to it.

The Other Side consists of four extensive music pieces.
For the musical direction, Remy slightly refers to the kind of music from the beginning of his career, more than 20 years ago. Partially winking to the Berlin School of electronic music, but also including plenty of elements that make REMY’s unique musical style recognisable: stretched out, repetitive and story-telling pieces, evolving sequencer-patterns, and subtle details and layering.

The overture, A Different View, is about thinking different and opposite from the mainstream. Approaching things from another point of view leads to new or different insights.
The second track imagines a point of view which human being is never capable to imagine. We are constantly focussing on the things we know from experience, and all things we have been told and educated. What if Everything is Distraction from the real essence? If there is any.
The Perfect Dream questions how dreams and reality are connected to eachother. A dream so perfect that it could be reality. Or is it reality? With musical and conceptual winks to Klaus Schulze's 1986 album Dreams, which has always been one of the main inspirations for REMY’s music.
The concluding epos Lost in Reality is trying to find a way through a world of dreams and reality. Quietly putting things into perspective, while trying not to lose it from insanity.



COLLABORATIONS
The Other Side includes a number of interesting collaborations, which resulted into this dynamic project.

Bas Broekhuis (photo 1), Joost Verhagen and Judith Wesselius (photo 2), Nausikaä de Blaauw (photo 3).

The album's second track, Everything is Distraction, features drums and percussion by Bas Broekhuis (Broekhuis, Keller & Schönwälder).

For the project's finale, Joost Verhagen converted the project’s subject into text, and Judith Wesselius created the vocal structure. Both Grey Lotus vocalists make the second part of the 23 minute final epos Lost in Reality complete, trying to find a connection between dream and reality.
While Judith relativates tranquillizing, the narrating Joost becomes insane near the end.

Photographer Nausikaä de Blaauw did various photo sessions using a mirror to visualize The Other Side. Each of the selected photos is linked to one of the album’s titles.

THE COMPOSER
Remy Stroomer is born on October 9th, 1979 in Haarlem, The Netherlands. Although Remy tries to let hear his own things and following his own intuition on his musical journey, Klaus Schulze is often mentioned in comparison to Remy's musical style.

At the end of 1999, Remy's debuts with the self-released Exhibition of Dreams. The Art of Imagination is released nearly a year later. With this album Remy wins a Schwingungen award. In the years after Remy releases various albums and performs in the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.
2011's i-Dentity marks a new era, with the establishment of Remy's Deserted Island Music label, on which his latest albums are being released.

Remy collaborated with a large number of established musicians, including Ron Boots, Eric van der Heijden, Harold van der Heijden, Bill Fox, Gert Emmens, Eric Wøllo, Francis Rimbert, Synth.nl, Thomas Betzler, Moonbooter, My Breath My Music, Wolfram Spyra, Mario Schönwälder,
Bas Broekhuis, David Wright and Space Art.

Space Art - Entrevues [new album release]

For April 11th there are scheduled three new album releases on my Deserted Island Music label:

- Mäläskä - First Day of Spring
- REMY - The Other Side
- Space Art - Entrevues

I will spotlight each of these albums on this blog within next couple of days.
Now it's time for the new album by the legendary Space Art.

Pre-order your copy from www.desertedislandmusic.nl




Space Art - Entrevues
Deserted Island Music | Limited edition LP | Release date: April 11th, 2020

TRACKLIST
1. Lunes
2. Psychadeliose
3. Retrouvailles
4. Meteo
5. Inox
6. Atmosphere
7. Space News
8. 2 B
9. Nous Savons Tout (remixed by Diakar)

THE ALBUM
Entrevues is Space Art’s first studio album since Dominique Perrier's Space Art Tribute (2012).
This new album is initially available as limited edition LP, and consists of two parts.
The first six tracks sound like they were written during the band’s early stages, back in the 70s. Brand new and fresh sounding electronic music compositions, partially co-produced by Tommy Rizzitelli. One of these typical Space Art tracks (Inox) features drums by Tommy’s father Roger - half of the band's original line-up - who passed away in 2010. For the other five of these music pieces, Tommy took place behind his drum kit, and perfectly succeeded to maintain his father's legacy.
To conclude the album, the classical sound makes place for three energetic modern style pieces. Including collaborations with Michel Valy, Marc Hazon and Lilli Lacombe. Familiar faces for anyone who attended any concerts Dominique and his friends in the last decade. Music that has only been performed live so far (Space News), an instrumental of a single track (2B) and a remix of one of the band’s classic themes (Nous Savons Tout), make this album a dynamic and varied journey though time and memories.

SPACE ART
Space Art was founded by Dominique Perrier and Roger Rizzitelli.
They are considered pioneers of the French electronic music genre.
The three albums that were released between 1977 and 1981 sold more than 3 million albums worldwide. During this period, Space Art had various chart hits, including Onyx and Speedway.
The band opened and joined Jean Michel Jarre's tour in 1981, being the first Western musicians in the the early post-Mao China.
After having been part of Jarre's concert and studio team for almost three decades, Dominique Perrier quit Jarre's band in 2010. With Space Art Tribute (2012) Dominique gathered musicians for the second phase of Space Art, and pays homage to Roger Rizzitelli and Jannette Woollacott. From that point Space Art did a number of international concerts, had festival appearances, and new music and re-issues of the classic albums were released.

Dominique Perrier and Roger Rizzitelli in 1977 (photo 1), Dominique Perrier (photo 2), Tommy Rizzitelli (photo 3).

Dominique Perrier (1950) might be called a legendary collaborator from Jean-Michel Jarre. Recognized as a keyboard virtuoso, he collaborated on all Jarre's albums from “Rendez-Vous” (1986) to “Oxygène 7-13” (1997), and toured with him until 2010. Dominique was also involved into productions of Christophe, Gipsy Kings, Didier Marouani & Space, Stone Age, and composed a number of movie soundtracks.

Roger “bunny” Rizzitelli (1951-2010) also worked with many artists, including Christophe, Claude Francois, Didier Marouani & Space, Thierry Matioszek, Nicoletta, and Dick Rivers.

Roger's son, Tommy Rizzitelli (1987), partially co-produced Entrevues.
Besides having collaborated with Low Parade, Faze, Goyokin, Bleu Tonerre, Simon Widdowson, and many other artist as a studio musician, he is also educator at Jazz Action Valence.

Mäläskä - First Day of Spring [new album release]

For April 11th there are scheduled three new album releases on my Deserted Island Music label:

- Mäläskä - First Day of Spring
- REMY - The Other Side
- Space Art - Entrevues

I will spotlight each of these albums on this blog within next couple of days.
Starting with the new release of Mäläskä: the improviational project of Petter Janse and me.

Pre-order your copy from www.desertedislandmusic.nl

First 50 physical orders include a free poster!



Mäläskä - First Day of Spring

Deserted Island Music | DIM-009 | CD and digital download | Release date: April 11th, 2020

Then we felt the wind.
And we knew that this was an omen of things to come.
We’d let go of our luggage and personal belongings.
Then we threw away the map and the book of rules that kept us on well-known roads.
We’d forget all rhythms and melodies that attached us to the old world.
For the first time we felt freedom.
This energy inspired us.
It was the first day of spring.
From ‘The secret teachings of Gerhard Schultz’

TRACKLIST
1. First Day of Spring
2. Dialogue Between Birches and Oaks
3. Song for the World
4. Die Morgenlandfahrt
5. Green Glasses Don’t Make the World Green
6. Crisis? What Crisis?
7. Dawn for the Pollution Eating Elves
8. In Loving Memory

THE ALBUM
From November 29th to December 2nd, 2019, Petter Janse (guitar, electronics and stuff) and Remy Stroomer (synthesizers, sequencing and stuff) locked themselves into a house in the small village Jannum, in the Dutch province of Friesland. They brought a large amount of equipment which was put in the right place in the living room, all cables were connected, and from the moment there was any sound, the recorder was turned on. Within the next days, Petter and Remy recorded 11 hours of unprepared improvisations. Joined by Bas Broekhuis (drums and percussion) on the final day.

Although the musical output was quite varied, the over-all loom state of mind during these days resulted into the ambient mood of the tracks selected for First Day of Spring.

Anyone should listen to the music to know what it sounds like, however, the musical content has already been described as ‘classical electronic music of the future’ by one of the very early listeners. This soundtrack sets the mood for this year’s first day of spring.



THE STORY SO FAR
Petter Janse (Rotterdam, 1963) and Remy Stroomer (Haarlem, 1979) are the core of the improvisational act Mäläskä since 2016.
Their first creative studio sessions instantly resulted into the well-received debut album Uncle Jim’s Cidney Factory. A soundtrack about party animals and dropouts at an American college.
After their first offense, Petter and Remy invited various artists to join their studio and live sessions, resulting into fruitful collaborations with Thomas Betzler (drums and percussion), Tristan ‘Lama Waaien’ (bass), Joost Verhagen (vocals) and Bas Broekhuis (drums and percussion).

Since Mäläskä’s establishment, the formation performed several times in the Netherlands, Germany and U.K. Own evenings, festivals, as well as support shows for Acid Mothers Temple and Monomyth.
From the very start, the promise of Mäläskä has been affirmed through international reviews and airplay.
With this second album release and some upcoming shows, Mäläskä threw away the map and the book of rules that kept them on well-known roads.

Bas Broekhuis, Petter Janse, and a lot of equipment in the living room.

Environmental view from the house in Jannum.

New REMY, Mäläskä and Space Art albums

I am delighted to announce three brand new releases! These new titles will be available on April 11th.

To start with, a new REMY 'solo' album, "The Other Side", was in first instance scheduled for the end of last year. But due to the "Exhibition of Dreams" 20th anniversary celebration, this release was postponed until April 11th.
The four extensive album tracks contain some elements from the traditional electronic music, but also touch the borders of my musical interests.

With artistic collaborations by Bas Broekhuis, Judith Wesslius, Joost Verhagen, and Nausikaä de Blaauw.

For what I had in mind, this would have been the only release for early 2020. But then, during the end of 2019, plans slightly changed.

The last weekend of last year's November, Petter and I - accompanied with lots of equipment - locked ourselves into a house on the other side of the country, to create and record new Mäläskä stuff. The final day, Bas Broekhuis joined us during sessions. Read about it here.
The weeks that followed, we made a selection from the 11 hours of music that was recorded.
"First Day of Spring", is described as 'classical electronic music of the future' by one of the very early listeners.

And then, also late 2019, I was contacted by Dominique Perrier related to a brand new Space Art album. Inititally to be released as limited edition LP.
The result is new music, which is for the largest part in line with the band's early music from the 70s.
"Entrevues" is a valuable collaboration with Tommy Rizzitelli on drums, who perfectly succeeded in maintaining his father's legacy.
While the first part of the album consists of typical old-school Space Art style, some never before released tracks have also been added to the album's tracklist.


Coming days I will dedicate blog items to these individual albums.

For now, you can pre-order the new REMY, Mäläskä and Space Art albums from www.desertedislandmusic.nl.

2019 / 2020

Happy new year to all of you!

I would like to take some time to shortly resume my past musical year and look forward to some exciting things to come for 2020. Follow the links for more details.

Planet of the Arps (and Schallwelle Awards pre-nominitions)
In April my ambient side-project "Planet of the Arps" was released.
The well-received collaboration with Wolfram Spyra and Roksana Vikaluk is also in the pre-nomination list of the annual Schallwelle Awards. You can vote for the album or me as artist: www.schallwen.de/swvoting/en

Ars Phantasia
At the same time the piano album "La Papillone" by Ars Phantasia was added to the Deserted Island Music shop. Although not directly in line with the electronic music my label deals with, it has a lot of connections with the traditional electronic music scene. Including artistic collaborations by Francis Rimbert and Michel Geiss, who are also known for their work with Jean Michel Jarre.

Exhibition of Dreams
On December 22nd, two decades passed by since my debut album "Exhibition of Dreams". For the occassion of this 20th anniversary celebration there have been released limimted edition boxsets. Read more about it on my blog.







New solo and Mäläskä albums
In my first blog of 2019 I announced a new studio album, as well as the second Mäläskä release. Both didn't happen before the end of the year.
First, the new album has been postponed, because of the 20th anniversary releases of my debut album "Exhibition of Dreams". The upcoming "The Other Side" is now scheduled to be released on April 11th. Coming weeks, until the release of the new music, I will post more about this on this blog, social media and www.desertedislandmusic.nl.

Then, the follow-up of Mäläskä's "Uncle Jim's Cidney Factory" (2016) is finally being worked on.
One month ago, Petter and I did a lot of sessions during a weekend in Friesland. From the 11 hours we recorded, a selection has been made. Which will be the upcoming album release. As we are currently in the mixing process, I can't say much about it yet, with the exception that it will be one long trip, and actually not at all in line with our debut album or recent concerts.

Space Art
After more than two years of 'silence' Space Art is back with brand new music! Dominique Perrier asked me to have an exclusive Dutch vinyl release of the new Space Art album "Entrevues". Further details and plans will be announced later, but the new music is going to be available from Deserted Island Music, also somewhere in the first quarter of 2020.
I have already heard the music, and if you love the early Space Art sound and compositions, you will adore this one. With participation of Tommy Rizzitelli. His way of drumming definitely reminds of his father's style. A real treat.

And more...
And, for what is currently scheduled, there should also be released another (Berlin School-like) project I am currently producing. So, concerning new music and releases, a lot is coming up.

Then, on personal level, I am aiming to get involved into music more than ever before. Let's see what 2020 has to offer!