Interview with Pieter Nooten, December 2006

If the name Pieter Nooten is familiar to you, you are aware that he has been away for quite some time. An on-and-off-again member of Xymox (of the classic early 4AD records roster), Nooten has always been an enigmatic figure working just outside of recognition – even within the underground scene of which he was a part.

The jewel of his past is the gorgeous, essential late-80s collaboration with infinite-guitarist Michael Brook, Sleeps With The Fishes, which continues to inspire up-and-coming musical experimentalists. Nooten’s compositions even found their way onto the records of the seminal 4AD ensemble, This Mortal Coil.

Now, years after his early-nineties departure from Xymox (he left well before the dodgy records), Nooten resurfaces with Ourspace, a record of subtlety and restraint containing the kind of music it takes years of experience and perspective to put together.

Pieter, it’s been far too long since you’ve put out a record. What has been going on with you during your time away?

I have been all over the place to be honest. but mainly I’ve been keeping a low profile and being tired of the whole music industry, working for media, theatre, and magazines.

Do you see the musical landscape in 2006 as having changed much from the last time you released music?

I have no idea. I do not listen to much music other than baroque. There is so much good music around and so little opportunity to get it released. MySpace is a real invention in that respect. Since I’ve signed in, I hear absolutely stunning material.

Describe the process you went through creating your brilliant new album, Ourspace.

Ourspace consists of material that has been lying around for some time, yet some tracks are more recent. Some I am happy with, some less so. I am currently writing new material and will be cooperating with other musicians, singers, and producers. Only a few of the tracks on Ourspace have been produced using high-end equipment, which bugs me, to be honest. Most tracks started out as bedroom recordings, using an out-of-date computer. Yet, working in absolute solitude, they have that intimate, quiet feel I AM happy with. I find most 'ambient' music a bit too detached, technically perfect, but self-aware, and to some extent, self-conceited. I have been trying to bring back a bit of a human feel to the genre, and not bothering too much with the sound as
belonging to a certain genre.

The bulk of the album is instrumental. Was this intentional, or did the material just lead you that way?

No, no, really. I am happy you ask. Actually, most of the tracks I wrote with vocals in mind. Mind you, it’s difficult to find vocalists who meet my demands, especially in Amsterdam and Holland. Next time things may be different as I am looking around for singers (also on MySpace!). I do not like my own voice that much. Anka (who co-produced my album) really encouraged me to sing, myself, and she is very bossy so I had no choice.

Geographically, where are you at these days? Are your surroundings playing a part in your work – either in a collaborative or creative sense?

Amsterdam is a lovely place to live in. It is small, has gorgeous architecture, but it is also rich, bourgeois, and a tiny bit small-minded in spite of everything we want tourists to believe! Yet the beauty of the place does indeed inspire me.

Ourspace is so multi-textural. Besides synthesizers, what other instruments do you play?

I am trying to stay away from using synth textures and electronic sounds as much as possible. It is a technical thing and I just don't think it is original. Presets are easy to use, especially in this kind of music. You stick a plugin into your audio software and press a key, hey presto: ambient!

Yet digital sounds are extremely tiring to your ears and mind. So I use and create multiple sampled sounds which I 'found' myself. I am not bothered with things sounding too clean-cut or having a pleasing quality to them; there has to be a rough edge to it all.

Tell us a little about I-Rain, the new label that has released your new album. Are there plans to release the album in the U.S.?

Absolutely! We have just started this whole project. Our main focus at this point is online but we are looking into licensing deals. Obviously this is going to take a lot longer than throwing our stuff online as we are able to do now and selling through iTunes and the I-Rain site. Allthough it’s interesting to us that so many people are ordering the real, physical CD as well from our site.

Among many of the new, younger generation of electronic musicians, your collaboration with guitarist Michael Brook, Sleeps With the Fishes is greatly admired and cited often as an influence. What are your thoughts on that album nearly twenty years later?

I am honoured. Working with Michael was inspiring. The combination of my melodies, harmonies, and his ability to experiment with music, his approach to turn it around, created a special, deep, and multi-layered sound. It worked from the moment we set foot in the studio! I would love to work with him again. His new album is fantastic.

Ourspace has become one of our favorite records of the year.
Please tell us you have plans to continue making and releasing music?

Thanks again, I am honoured, and yes: I am back and brimming with ideas and inspiration. The next album will be absolutely stunning. I cannot wait to get it out there.

In the spirit of the Ixmae concept, can you provide for us your seven current favorite CDs?

I am afraid I can't. I really do not listen to much 'popular music'. People who know me realize that it's my strength in keeping the material authentic and personal (with that touch of naivety); I have no 'ambient' influences. Mind you, I have been hearing some great stuff on MySpace. If you insist, I'll admit that I do mostly listen to baroque music. I always have. I still consider Bach's 'St. Matthew's Passion' to be an all-time masterpiece of unbelievable depth!

4AD

Myspace

January 07 Reviews

R/R Coseboom | Dynamophone 2006
BetweenTrembling Lanterns | listen
I meant to tell you about this gem earlier this year: it's got to be one of the top five albums of 2006. Seriously, even if I were objective! Two-thirds of the talented and evocative Halou, Ryan and Rebecca have woven such a nice collection of intimate and tragic stories, with topics ranging from rape and fetal loss to kinship with moths and hummingbirds. It is hard to not get shivers every now and then. It's pretty, it's brittle, it's warm, it's dangerous, it's nurturing. What more could you want? Merkur3

The Necks | ReR Megacorp, 2004
The Boys | listen
Dark and haunting jazz-drone soundtrack work from this Australian improvisational trio. The Necks construct somnolent percussive patterns below circuits of quietly evolving piano phrases, droning organs, narcotic bass, and tenebrous electronic atmospherics. The music has a kindred tonal palate to In a Silent Way-era Miles Davis but also draws upon the unrelenting pulse and more processed sounds of Krautrock bands such as Can or Harmonia. If you haven't heard The Necks, this album may be the easiest way to approach them. The songs on The Boys clock in between five and ten minutes each, which may seem rather abbreviated by The Necks standards. Other albums often contain only one song that slowly mutates over the course of an hour. The simplicity and open space of these arrangements let you focus on the subtleties of the performance and become absorbed by the slowly shifting patterns, creeping melodies, and burbling textures. Resurfacing themes and a zen-like restraint help the album feel like one continuous journey. This is introspective late night music, music for fireside drinks, reading poetry, or simply listening. Marmlezod

Nine Horses | Samahdisound, 2007
Money For All | listen |
I'm one of those unrepentant David Sylvian fans. So it goes without saying that I'm so biased toward whatever he works on that I am blind. That said, the three new tracks and the three reworked tracks on Money For All are just stunning. Midas touch. Nice to hear Stina (Nordenstam) again on 'Birds Sing For Their Lives', and to hear more of David's continued political frustration on 'Money For All' and emberic anger on 'Get the Hell Out'. This EP is great example of great craftsmanship and tenure at songwriting and music making. If you know Nine Horses and David Sylvian, you won't be disappointed; it's a gorgeous addition to your collection. Merkur3

Antena | Numero ,2005
Camino Del Sol | listen
Antena have been likened to Kraftwerk backing Brazilian chanteuse Astrud Gilberto. Warm analog synths wash across simple Latin-flavored drum-machine syncopations while understated female vocals float in and out of harpsichord filigrees. Noir-ish production values add a Martin Hannet-type feel to the recordings. Beautiful moments like the title track evoke warm, fuzzy memories of perfect vacations, beaches, and sunsets. This French trio was formed in 1981 and disbanded in 1983. The collection contains the re-mastered version of their self-produced LP, an EP, and a few odd singles. Quiet yet groundbreaking, the work was originally released on the Belgian label Les Disques Du Crepuscule which later joined with Factory Records to form the Factory Benelux imprint. During their brief existence, the band never attracted their due attention and before this 2005 release, they seemed destined to remain a musical footnote. Recorded over twenty years ago, the album still sounds current, vital, and hip. You can hear echoes of Antena's influence in the work of Stereolab, Bebel Gilberto, and Beck. If you enjoy this, also check out Isabelle Antenna's beautiful solo works.. Marmlezod

Marsen Jules | City Centre Offices 2006
Les Fleurs | listen
Cinematic, definitely, but for carefully shot reels. The kind of stills that reveal fine detail you might have missed upon first glance: a person in the reflection of another person's glasses. Each piece seems like a carefully set scene. At first you don't see anything but a wash of color and out-of-focus glimpses, but more and more becomes revealed when you are not looking. Lush, dark, and cold ambient settings that are far from trite, rushed, sloppy, or cerebral. Don't listen to it while driving, you'll forget the road. It's that good. Merkur3

Broadcast | Warp, 2006
The Future Crayon | listen
This is a collection of B-sides and rarities from a band sometimes unfairly looked upon as Stereolab's little sister. Unlike Stereolab's more recent music, which can at times feel over-thought and devoid of emotion, Broadcast maintain a naivety and quiet humility which help the listener traverse its noisier experiments. When in pop mode, Broadcast melt bittersweet pop melodies (a la Claudine Longet or Nancy Sinatra) across pulsing Kraut/Jazz rhythms, strange electronics, and growling hypno organs. At times, Broadcast seem to draw from 70s experimental space pop groups like United States of America, as well as the darker electro oscillations of Canada's Silver Apples, but throughout this collection, Broadcast manage to channel the future as much as the past. Later in the album, jazz/noise improvisations confront and challenge the timid, but the band's sense of charm and restraint keep it all from becoming too retro or self-indulgent. A few rare moments come off as sketches, experiments, or unfinished business, but the melancholic beauty of tracks like 'Locusts', 'Unchanging Window', and 'Poem of Dead Song' draws me back again and again. Tender imperfections and clever production keeps you engaged and discovering new things with each listen. This is the sound of Karen Carpenter dancing with Sun Ra off the shoulder of Orion, and is one of my favorite releases of 2006. Marmelzod

John Foxx/Harold Budd | Edsel Records 2003
Translucence + Drift Music | listen
I was apprehensive when I first heard about this on Echoes, but now I see that it's one of those few albums that stands out from a person's catalog, completely and in all ways magnificent. Granted, there have been a few of John Foxx's albums over the past fifteen years that I just can't listen to (sorry, John!), but I just can't get enough of this one. Aptly named, these are two CDs of perfect, mysterious, velvety ambient music. Translucence is mostly composed of Harold Budd's exquisite piano timing that (thankfully) manages to never get Windham Hill-ish, which is more of what I always love. Drift Music is exactly that: great Rothko-like sweeps of sound; shimmering, amoebic loveliness. Might be life-altering with opium. Merkur3

Romulo Froes | Tratore/Bizarre Music, 2004
Calado | listen |
This is a beautiful album of raw sambas and dusty bossas perfectly suited for lazy mornings and quiet nights of quiet stars. Romulo's weary voice floats over stripped down sambas that remind me of the band Low as much as the bossa guitar of Joao Gilberto. Soft psychadelic touches nod towards the Tropicalist movement (think early Caetano Velosa or Gal Costa), yet never disrupt the the warmth and intimacy of the album. Tracks like 'Suite' with its squeaky, out-of-tune violins and heroin-nod bossa rhythms should be enjoyed by those with an affinity for lo-fi folksters like Smog and Devendra Banhart as well as those attracted to the intimate sambas of early Jorge Ben. Throughout the album, Froes manages to sound familiar but never too derivative. The quiet melancholy and honesty of the whole affair make this release feel like a rediscovered classic. Marmelzod

Chris Herbert | Kranky 2006
Mezzotint | listen
I was in Smallfish buying a few Type releases when Mike Oliver suggested that I might like this. Turned out to be an understatement. Such a biotic combination of familiar sounds. Sleepy but intent, gorgeous and scientific, this ambient/experimental metroscape of an album is constantly revealing new angles and shows a great adult understanding - with glitchy film-track moments and pondering mystery. This album brings out the need to be particular and thoughtful. Goes good with a 12-year DoubleWood Balvenie and a dear friend. Merkur3

Tim Hecker | Kranky 2006
Harmony in Ultraviolet | listen
Tim Hecker's sixth proper album sounds like a distress call from robots drowning in rivers of lava. Genres and isms fail to describe the terrible beauty in this music.This is not ambient music, as it demands the listener's complete surrender to it's churning fields of static, interstellar transmissions and turbulent decay. Plaintive granular melodies coalesce and slowly dissolve into rivulets of white and pink noise, boiling fissures through an otherwise frozen landscape.Comparisons will be made to the distorted manipulations of Christian Fennesz or Kevin Shields but Hecker's pathos is at times more akin to classical works such as Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings or the sacred minimalism of Arvo Paart. Marmelzod