Raphael Vanoli at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ (photo by Maarten Jüngen

Tonight the trio Fennesz/Dafeldecker/Brandlmayr will make their debut performance at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam. The three usual suspects from the Viennese improv scene have collaborated before on a project with David Sylvian. Christian Fennesz has made name for himself, with solo albums that are exemplary for contemporary electronic music.

This incredible trio will be supported by experimental guitarist Raphael Vanoli of the internationally renowned experimental rock duo Knalpot. Here is a brief introduction to one of the most imaginative composers of his generation.

Juha van ‘t Zelfde Hi Raphael, how are you doing? Could you briefly introduce yourself to those readers who do not know you?

Raphael Vanoli To be honest, I’m not doing so well. Too busy and little time for myself and family, but I will spare you details. Music though feels great when you have the blues…

I’m a guitar player and electronic musician, since 11 years based in Amsterdam, where I studied jazz and classical guitar. I mostly focus on my duo KNALPOT, since about a year I work more and more on my solo settings.

Besides this I have been playing in countless bands and ensembles in the Netherlands and Europe since I moved here. This is mostly contemporary and modern jazz based, but there has also been a lot of modern classical repertoire, rock, experimental electronica, noise improvisation and some standard session work for money here and there. I also used to teach a lot but had to quit this since I had no time and could live from playing the music I love.

JZ How is Knalpot doing? How was your recent tour with Gerri (drummer) and Sandor (engineer)?

RV KNALPOT is doing very fine, never took a break since we started 4 years ago and I am happy to finally have a working band that gets more and more depth. Our Sauce release tour was one of the best we had. No off day and the concerts got better and better from day to day. We also had a tasty DJ who joined us on this trip: ‘Asthma Attack’ a.k.a. Mark Cremins. We were eating, breathing and dreaming great music 24 hours a day. Good times.

JZ What are your plans with Knalpot for 2012?

RV We will work on our first album in January and February. It is almost finished and we are happy how this is going. We are still looking for a label, but don’t really find the time to work on this… Plus we want to finally get our website online.

Of course we will play a lot next year (a couple of tours, and hopefully more concerts abroad, probably Turkey, maybe Canada and Japan in the fall, US…) It is still pretty open. We have to live from this band so we cannot allow ourselves not to perform. Knalpot will remain a full-time job and we still have many plans and ideas for the future.

JZ You have recently started playing solo sets, how is that going?

RV I’m enjoying playing solo more and more, it’s a good kick. There’s no interference with other sound sources but my own, so I can project everything in the room like I want it to sound. It’s demanding, the responsability for all of my actions gets even more clear. It gives me a lot of freedom, and it’s constantly confronting and a lot of fun.

Nowadays I mostly work with extreme volume and microscopic sounds you actually can’t hear properly with standard volume. I try to limit myself and for the future i plan to work to limit myself even more. One of my goals these days is to make ambient/electronic music only with one electric guitar, amp and extreme volume. There’s still a lot of practicing and research to be done in the little spare time that I have.

In the Bimhuis I’ll be premiering an amp-switcher and I have to drop a name here: I met a very good music instruments technician called Foppe Tallmann. He has built a switcher from scratch allowing me to switch between 6 amplifiers on the spot. It reacts quick and it’s silent, pretty amazing actually. I got this thing last sunday so it’s all fresh and exciting.

JZ You create a very electronic sound without using any computer. Why is that? Could you explain what kind of instruments you use, and what your musical ‘strategy’ is?

RV I have a deep passion for the guitar, all different kinds there are and there specific techniques and sounds. The basic sound source is always a guitar. The past few years (mostly in KNALPOT) I discovered many ways to create sounds I hear in electronic music by extending the guitar with analogue and digital pedals and while using some unorthodox prepared and extended guitar techniques, alongside all conventional techniques from classical and electric guitar.

Since I am an improviser and jazzmusician at heart, I like everything you hear to be created in the moment and therefore I keep looking for new ways to do things I hear. For me the guitar and all electronics are one instrument together, you can’t separate it, it is something new and it’s constantly changing.

It’s not that I’m against using computers or pre-recorded material, not at all. For now it’s simply that I have no time to check out any software what-so-ever. For now I keep playing with pedals and carry around heavy tube amps and flightcases with pedals and switchers. At this moment I like the sound quality of analogue things, but I’m not against digital or computer based esthetics, I guess i’ll dive into that one day…

JZ How is to play at the Bimhuis? And with the trio Fennesz/Dafeldecker/Brandlymayr?

RV What can I say? The Bimhuis is my favourite venue in the entire world! The most helpful and professional staff, the sound is very good, it has great vibe and the audience is mostly allert, silent and therefore pushing you to your limits. The fact that the kitchen there is very good also helps you to play better. It’s a great place to go enjoy a concert, it also feels a bit like a family for me, since I used to work there as a driver years ago, picking up all these great jazz musicians at the airport.

And talking about Fennesz/Dafeldecker/Brandlymayr, they are my heroes when talking about taste and aesthetics and I think their music is rich in many ways. I feel honoured and am a bit nervous to open for them, since I have so much respect for their work. When you are a teenager, you always have these guitar idols. Fennesz is my last big guitar hero since many years, devouring his music has opened my eyes and without him I wouldn’t be where I am now. I almost quit listening to his music since I felt I was being influenced by it too much. Fennesz’ work keeps coming back in my playlists a lot.

JZ Gerri is going to dj after the shows. Do you know what we can expect from him?

RV To be honest, I don’t know what his plan is. It’s for sure that Gerri has great musical taste and likes to confront people with new things. In the tour van we’re always playing music non-stop and Gerri has a great collection on his iPod, he’s constantly looking for interesting new music. I’m curious to hear him.

JZ Any suggestions on what to listen during Christmas? Maybe your five favourite releases of last year?

RV That’s a tough question. Recently I listened a lot to:

‘At night’ by Theo Bleckman and Ben Monder
‘Seria I & II’ by Skúli Sverrisson
‘Trees are allways right’ by Jozef Dumoulin & Lidlboj
‘Jewellery’ Micachu & the Shapes
‘Halfway to a threeway EP’ Jim O’Rourke

JZ Thank you Raphael, I cannot wait to hear you tonight.

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Fennesz/Dafeldecker/Brandlmayr, Raphael Vanoli and Gerri Jäger will play at the Bimhuis on Wednesday 21 December. The night starts at 21:00. It is the first collaboration between Viral Radio, STEIM and the Bimhuis. Join the event on Facebook.

A lovely composed review of Colin Stetson’s performance at the Bimhuis of last Thursday in national newspaper Trouw.

Last night saxophone powerhouse Colin Stetson made his Bimhuis debut, sharing the bill with the monumental Alexander Von Schlippenbach Trio. With more people in the audience than seats in the room, this special improvised music edition of Viral Radio was not just a success for the forwardist music aficionado, but also for the venue’s treasurer.

Here’s a small impression of Colin Stetson’s performance. The next edition of Viral Radio at the Bimhuis is on 21 December. We will end the year with another favourite trio: Fennesz/Dafeldecker/Brandlmayr. They will be supported by local guitar prodigy Raphael Vanoli of Knalpot fame, and a DJ cameo by his partner Gerri Jäger.

We are delighted to present internationally acclaimed saxophonist Colin Stetson for the first time at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam tonight. He will join one of the most amazing avantgarde bands of the past 40 years, the Alexander Von Schlippenbach Trio, with Evan Parker (saxophone), Paul Lovens (drums) and Alexander Von Schlippenbach (piano). This is a synthesis of breathtaking music of past and future.

We would like to invite you to join us at this monumental concert in our favourite jazz club this side of Sirius. If you send us an e-mail you will only pay 14 euros instead of 20. We look forward to seeing you tonight.

Update:

Here is an old post I wrote on witnessing Evan Parker playing with Squarepusher in 2007 that might help you in your decision to travel to see tonight’s show.

The ubiquitous use of mobile devices to document and distribute our daily activities in a never-ending stream of updates, checkins, tweets and retweets is generating an ever-expanding biosphere of social information.

This advancing ecosystem is growing into an adaptive system of informational weather. Technologist Ben Hammersley calls it ‘social weather’: “I want to feel my friends like I feel the weather.”

The social weather is here, and more people want to know the forecast: should I book a room at the Lloyd? Facebook: ‘yes, but be aware of the crazy-bath room.’ Is the Bimhuis happening? Foursquare: ‘now trending in Amsterdam’. And how was the ‘Talk To Me’ opening at MoMA last night? ‘Awesome’, according to Instagram.

So where do we go now? Sonar says someone I follow on Twitter, who likes Alog on Facebook, is checked into the Stedelijk on Foursquare.

Today is a good day.

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This article has been published in the Trend Book of the tenth Dutch Design Week Eindhoven.

“Hecker accomplishes something special. He makes music for which you switch of one sense to make space for another.” De Volkskrant

On Sunday 1 May Canadian artist-academic Tim Hecker and Iceland based composer Australian Ben Frost performed for the first time at Viral Radio at the Bimhuis, Amsterdam’s renowned venue for jazz, improvised and experimental music. On one of the most difficult days on the Dutch calendar – 1 May is one day after national holiday Queen’s Day – and with a full terrace on the water outside in the sun, close to 300 people visited one of our most anticipated events this year.

Both artists performed powerful sets of evocative music from their recent albums Ravedeath, 1972 and By The Throat. National newspaper De Volkskrant published a raving review by Gijsbert Kamer, who rated the performances a 4/5. “

“Foreboding, abstract pieces in which static and sub-bass rumbles open up around slow moving notes and chords, like fissures in the earth waiting to swallow them whole.” The New York Times.

We are delighted to announce that Canadian-based musician and sound artist Tim Hecker will join Ben Frost for a live performance at Viral Radio at Bimhuis, on Sunday 1 May. Since 1996, Tim Hecker has produced a range of audio works for Kranky, Alien8, Mille Plateaux, Room40, Force Inc, Staalplaat, and Fat Cat. His works have been described as “structured ambient”, “tectonic color plates” and “cathedral electronic music”. More to the point, he has focused on exploring the intersection of noise, dissonance and melody, fostering an approach to songcraft which is both physical and emotive. His Harmony in Ultraviolet received critical acclaim, including being recognized by Pitchfork as a top recording of 2006. Radio Amor was also recognized as a key recording of 2003 by Wire magazine. His work has also included commissions for contemporary dance, sound-art installations, minimal techo works under the name ‘Jetone’, as well as various writings. Tim has presented his work in a live setting around the world, including performances at Sonar (Barcelona), Mutek (Montreal), Primavera Sound (Barcelona), Victoriaville (Quebec), Vancouver New Music Festival (Vancouver), and Transmediale (Berlin). He currently resides in Montreal.

Join the community on Facebook.

We are pleased to announce that one of the outstanding electronic music composers of his generation Ben Frost will come to Amsterdam for a live performance at the Bimhuis during Viral Radio. As our good friend Scott McMillan puts it, his music “is horrible. Horrible in its lesser-used sense in which it means ‘utterly brilliant’.” And utterly brilliant he is also according to Wire Magazine, who described his recent album By The Throat as “(d)efiantly new, and distinctively dramatic… a feeling of proximity to overwhelming power… all-encompassing and eerily real. (BY THE THROAT) is a sharp-edged Hi-Def encounter with the dangerously sublime.”

We are immensely excited about the prospect of hearing one of our favourite musicians playing at one our favourite music venues in the world. Tickets will be available via Bimhuis, Rush Hour and Concerto soon, as well as online. Please join the event on Facebook, or visit the Bimhuis website for more information.

On Saturday 19 March Viral Radio celebrates its 4 year anniversary at Amsterdam’s legendary underground music venue OT301. On the line up a special selection of first time performers Om Unit and Illum Sphere, who will make their debut in the Netherlands, and all time favourite artists Raphael Vanoli (Knalpot), Datcho (Viral Radio), Cinnaman (Viral Radio) and Non-fiction’s Juha.

In the 4 years since Viral Radio began, it has grown into one of the Netherlands’ most recognized vehicles for innovative electronic music. It has presented a generation of experimental bass and rhythm music at festivals as North Sea Jazz, Exit Festival and Appelsap, and it has connected musicians and audiences of different generations at renowned institutions as Bimhuis, Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ and the TrouwAmsterdam.

This event starts at 9 pm with champagne, cake, and a world premiere: a solo performance of electroacoustic improviser Raphael Vanoli of Knalpot. Tickets are 5 euros before 10, and 7.50 afterwards. Join us on Facebook and Last.fm, but more importantly, at OT301 on 19 March. We look forward to celebrating with you.

After the recent success of the sold out Viral Radio Festival 2010, Bimhuis and Viral Radio present Hyperrhythm, a programme with more innovative electronic music. The first edition of Hyperrhythm took place at this year’s North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam. Then, Dimlite, Dorian Concept, Hudson Mohawke and Mike Slott played impeccable sets.

This Thursday, Oval (Thrilljockey, Berlin), Phonophani (Rune Grammofon, Tromsø) and Mike Slott (LuckyMe, New York) will play new work. Markus ‘Oval’ Popp is one of the main artists of the glitch movement, in which technical hitches and glitches are used as musical building blocks. Sound artist Espen Sommer Eide makes his solo debut in the Netherlands as Phonophani. Previously he has performed with Alog and he has collaborated with Biosphere and Pierre Bastien. Read an interview with him by Juha. Mike Slott made his debut at the Bimhuis alongside Dimlite and Take during Beat Dimensions at the Amsterdam Dance Event in 2008. He is the musical sibling of Hudson Mohawke, Rustie and American Men. Non-fiction’s Juha will set the perimeters with rhythmic abstractions.

The programme starts at 9 pm sharp, and tickets are still available at the door. We look forward to seeing you here tonight.

Oval – Ah! from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.