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Jenny Lane
A white girl from Purmerend, Noord-Holland,
who gets the legendary black Apollo Theater
in New York on its knees, it should not get any
crazier. Yet that’s what happened to Jenny
Lane in 2007, when she participated in the
Apollo’s weekly amateur night and sent all her
competitors homeward. A tentative climax
in the career of the singer, who by the way
already lives in Amsterdam for a long time
and has permanently traded her days as a
background vocalist for a.o. Postman ánd
Anouk for life as a soloist. Rightly so, as shown
by her unique amalgam of pop and soul that
has already yielded a spectacular debut
album and hits like ‘Say Say Say’ and ‘You
Start A Fire’. Now see her live and imagine
you’re at the Apollo.
Christiaan Hof
Christiaan Hof - not a name that makes you
sit up. Until his songs do, and they do. Dutchlanguage
songs in the tradition of Bløf and
Marco Borsato, songs that hit you right in
the heart, with a phrase that stays with you.
“Security is a thing that is not so sure” for
example, from ‘Alleen Is Maar Alleen’ (Alone Is
Just Alone), his first single. His first own single,
to be exact. Because Christiaan is not new in
the business. He composed for Kinderen Voor
Kinderen, sang in the band of Alain Clark and
produced albums by Boris and Jim. But the
desire to own a place in the spotlight himself
was uncontrollable. And see: Christiaan Hof is
now himself a star in the making. Maybe it’s
time to start remembering that name.
Dennis
Not everything is what it seems. The fans
of Dennis know that. That Dennis is no real
Dennis for example, but a Denise, daughter of
famous Dutch producer Rob van Donselaar.
Those who didn’t know Dennis yet, now
know as well, which comes in handy. A good
opportunity to also tell them that Dennis
debuted three years ago with an album full
of dance, rock, soul and pop, but that on
the follow-up, set for a January release, the
singer will sound a lot more mature and the
Flux
emphasis will be clearly on soul, with the
help of a.o. Kraak & Smaak and soul producer
Commissioner Gordon (Lauryn Hill, Aretha
Franklin). That’s gonna be a fantastic gig in
Groningen, with or without guests.
Di-rect
Who is Di-rect? A rhetorical question, for last
autumn that was the title of the successful
television program in which the rock band
from The Hague went searching for a new
singer before the eyes of the nation. They
found him: Marcel Veenendaal, with whom Direct
after ten years, five albums, thirteen hits,
each and every stage in the Netherlands and a
mantelpiece full of prizes will step on the gas
once again for a new series of successes, but
now in a higher gear. Therefore co-composer
and keyboardist Vince van Reeken was also
offered a permanent contract and with their
new single ‘Times Are Changing’ the band directly
slammed into the national charts. New
targets: to conquer Europe ánd the alternative
music snob, starting in Groningen.
All Missing Pieces
In the fall of 2007 they surprised the whole
of the Netherlands as a rough version of the
Hanson brothers from the nineties. With an
average age of 12 years, The Hague-based All
Missing Pieces were really just too sweet to be
able to assess their music on their own merits,
however great that music was. Real, raw
garage rock with which they totally burned
down many a festival (only in the holidays),
including Noorderslag 2008. Two years later
they are back with new songs and a richer
sound, thanks to the purchase of an authentic
Philicorda-organ. Forget those old songs, the
new ones are better. All Missing Pieces are at
it again!
Stereo
For a band with two guitarists (of course,
stereo), Stereo sometimes sound a bit cautious.
At least on their debut album ‘Monogamy’,
released last summer. Live the house just
comes down with this sextet, which late in
2008 arose from the television programme
Rock Nation, a kind of Pop Idol for rockers.
This reads like a motley crew, but Stereo
sounds remarkably solid, something the Rock
Nation-required living together undoubtedly
helped with. Just as the past of the band
members, in rock, hardcore and hip hop
groups, and in studios, on rock academies
and music schools. With the slightly husky
power singer Astrid Kunst as figurehead,
these twenty-somethings just go for gold!
Flux
Is pop music art? Listen to Flux and you
suppose it is. Nothing elitist, mind you, but
yet something more than just a collection of
songs. Flux, the alter ego of the Groningen
singer/keyboardist Irene Wiersma, crafts
miraculous Dutch-language pop music with
surreal lyrics. Songs like dreams, of light
disrupting signature, that lead you to an
often grim, mostly personal world full of
controversy.
We Swim You Up
The Black Atlantic
The acoustic chamber pop of this quartet
from Groningen is often justly compared
to acts like Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes and Sigur
Rós. The calm beauty of their soft waving
chants, rustic piano playing and soft-focus
guitars and percussion is mesmerizing and
seduced already 50,000 fans to download
their critically acclaimed debut album before
it was even in the shops. After American and
European tours The Black Atlantic is now
back where it started three years ago: at
EuroSonic.
We Swim You Jump
There’s a lot to hear in the indie pop of the
Groningen quintet based around singer/
guitarist Richard Oosterbaan and singer/
keyboardist Niek Verwey. Influences of the late
singer/songwriter Elliott Smith for example,
and of catchy (power) pop bands like The
Posies and Nada Surf. But also intriguing
arrangements, which lift the band above
sheer epigonism.
The Black Atlantic