Indiegaze duo April consists of Jorn Mathijssen en Julia Hendriks. From their soon-to-be-demolished home in Utrecht-Overvecht they storm the Olympus with a total concept of attitude, clothing, style and art. All these ingredients are put in their music, which shares characteristics with the modern sounds that many artists these days gather from the big and fascinating box of ‘80’s‘.

The members of April believe that there is more than enough mediocrity nowadays. With their nameless EP they prove that they can put their music where their mouth is: mighty indiepop with great vocals. Tall poppies that aren’t scared to be cut down by the omnipresent Taste Police. Audacity is a virtue. Soon they’ll be supporting The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, but remember you saw them first on Subroutine & Lepel Care.

Listen:
>> www.iwentapril.blogspot.com

Homemade Empire

After travelling to the edges of the continent in several of the bands he was part of, Bart de Kroon from Utrecht shared his solo project Homemade Empire with the world. The tiny, folky sketches accompanied by atmospheric soundscapes collected on his debut album A Brilliant Window Niche (2010) brought him some deserved recognition. “The compositions might accumulate to a fever dream, but never without the knowledge that there’s always a friend next to your bed who will take care of you, wipe your forehead and feed you soup.”, says his Facebook page.

Currently working on a follow-up album we are happy to welcome Bart to the legendary O’ceallaigh upstairs lounge, where we think his music suits best. The Homemade Empire strikes back.

Listen:
>> www.homemadeempire.com/

Last week we saw these four fine young men play their wholesome and danceable tunes in Amsterdam’s finest underground Bohemia, De Nieuwe Anita. While the crowd immediately started shaking their stuff - including a certain moustached photographer stamping on our feet in his attempt to form a circle-pit- luckily we could just get a glimpse of the on stage moves of the eye candy of the band: frontman and personal aerobics trainer (>> weblogs.vpro.nl/dorst/warmingup/) Gover Meit, whose on-stage dancing remind of an avant-garde mixture of Bez, Curtis, Cave, token scarecrow and a not-to-be-named British journalist. Whilst wearing trenchcoat, obviously.

>> woodenconstructions.com

Awkward i

Singer/songwriter awkward i has released his 2nd album ‘Everything on Wheels’ last year and is widely considered one of the most talented songwriters of the Netherlands. Djurre de Haan aka awkward i first made a name for himself in Groningen in 2005, releasing two EPs. In the classic Factory way the young label lost a few cents per sold release, because of the costs of printing, 3” CDs and plastic sleeves.

Since then awkward i has grown considerably, both on an artistic level as in terms of success. After getting rave reviews for his first full-length ‘I really should whisper’, his new album is another step forward. Subroutine and awkward i are old friends and are very proud to have him perform on Subroutine & Lepel Care.

Listen:
>> www.awkwardi.com

Four Amsterdam kids with funny names, good hair, DIY attitude and killer post-punk songs. What more does a band need? Well, it seems that Professor Utonium accidentally added an extra ingredient to the concoction.... chemical X, granting them with previously unheard of superpowers. For instance when they’re protecting their favourite squat in Amsterdam from eviction.

Last Spring they released their debut EP Slow Boy on Subroutine Cares. Five energetic tracks, dispensing wisdom in three-minute modernist post-punk bulletins on the post-adolescent condition. Throw you panties on stage and see what happens.

Listen:
>> www.myspace.com/newyx
>> New YX @ Subroutine Records

Shuriken

Intense live-performance, that was one of the first things we heard about Shuriken, after they played a gig at Lepel Concerts last year. Obviously we haven’t been paying attention too well, because these guys have been around for some years. Shuriken is a four-piece group from Utrecht and they play indie/noiserock influenced by Shellac and Jesus Lizard, among others.

In 2011 they released their debut Apologies for the Drones, full of passionate noisy rock and atypical song structures. Seems a great sound for Thursday night in Kult.

Listen:
>> shuriken.nl

WOLVON

The latest post-noise-dream-pop sensation came straight outta Groningen and brought you comfort in 2011. These three hairy young men have earned plenty of indie/DIY points in the last years by organizing their illustrious Lepel Concerts nights and playing in several bands.

Now they released their first EP on Subroutine and play after twelve in the illustrious Kult. After midnight in Kult the atmosphere is normally perfect, there is magic in the air and during the noisiest parts of the WOLVON show, we can all howl at the moon together, without waking up the neighbours.

>> WOLVON.bandcamp.com
>> WOLVON @ Subroutine Records

Neon Rainbows

Two of the members of Neon Rainbows were already kicking ass and chewing bubblegum in once semi-important punk rock outfit Feverdream, before the word hipster was invented. After this band fell apart, they joined forces with two equally experienced guys to form Neon Rainbows. This resulted in the great debut album An Idea For A Plan that came out last year. This also resulted in a biography that holds more band names than Pitchfork. Anyway, after the release the members have been cooperating with Yuri Landman and lo-fi hero Jad Fair. The new year will see a lot more of Neon Rainbows, for instance an Italian tour in January.

There they will work on a split with their friends of Three In One Gentlemen Suit. Neon Rainbows is raw and direct, especially on stage. They play uncompromising, spirited noiserock, straight from the heart. After they return from Italy a Dutch tour with Organisms is in the works. But first in Kult, next Friday.

>> neonrainbows.hotglue.me
>> Neon Rainbows @ Subroutine

Spilt Milk

Steadily growing into the country’s first and foremost freakfolk/droneboogie outfit to play Weddings and Funerals, they’ve recently been asked to do a weekly performance at the new reality TV show Dead Dictators Society, but due to domestic obligations, including recording an album of Elly & Rikkert covers and Bieruur, they’ve been forced to reschedule these appearances.

They are still available for children’s parties by the way. On this most auspicious of nights, chanteuse & bona fide Force of Nature Brenda and guitarist & design Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rolla Marc will guide us through the elusive wonderland of Wallace Stevens’ poetry.

Listen:
>> thespiltmilkandbrenda.bandcamp.com/
>> Spilt Milk @ Subroutine Records

Spoelstra

Although some people (Incendiary Magazine) have been spreading the gospel about Spoelstra already for some time, we haven’t had the pleasure of inviting him over to our yearly family weekend in O’ceallaigh in January. Spoelstra is a versatile and subversive musician.

His 2010 concept album The Almighty Internet is full of –on first hearing- heavily annoying lo-fi electro, bleeps, rhythms and melodies, but after some time listening a maze of patterns and structures emerge, showing among others kraut influences. Spoelstra’s music is released on Narrowminded, like Katadreuffe (who played Kult last year) and Boutros Bubba, in which Spoelstra is guitar player and singer.

Listen:
>> www.narrominded.com/spoelstra

LUIK

During the long weekend ahead you will see this band name on many posters. LUIK is from that other early-modern industrial hub of the Low Countries: Rotterdam. They’ve just released their debut album ‘Owls’, which is currently bringing them into the spotlights. We feel that they deserve this attention, because their songs are brilliant.

But beware! There’s not too much room for joy and happiness with this band. These are gloomy boys, with the same sad look on their faces as their international slowcore predecessors The For Carnation, Lullabye for the Working Class or Windsor for the Derby. But as it seems nowadays the heydays of slowcore are back, signified also by the return of bands like Idaho, Low and Codeine. From that perspective we can say that LUIK has found a perfect momentum for their music.

Listen:
>> snowstar.bandcamp.com/album/luik-owls
>> www.luikmusic.com

The Secret Love Parade

We’ve heard about some recently discovered Amazon tribes that, much unlike ourselves, were temporarily able to resist the music of The Secret Love Parade. Because it’s quite difficult to not fall in love with the unpretentious, small and dreamy singer/songwriter pop songs that Janna and Aino write and perform.

Having done plenty of touring in the last years, they’ve reached even the snow-capped mountains of Groningen several times. We remember that time just before Christmas that they managed to direct their reindeer sleigh deep into the unreachable heart of Winter Wonderland. Going to the final frontier and beyond, exploring strange new worlds, new life and new civilisations. They’ve just finished their 2nd album Mary Looking Ready, full of beautiful and versatile songs. Now coming back to O’ceallaigh.

>> www.thesecretloveparade.com/

Space Siren

Technically we shouldn’t be writing this article, because those who were present, last year in Kult, probably remember what Space Siren can do. If you weren’t there, you should’ve heard about it. If you haven’t, you are not listening to the right music and/or the right people. Space Siren last year blew the roof of the Kult of with their exhilarating, layered noiserock. After a mind-blowing version of ‘Verschwende deine Jugend’ the band quit and walked off, leaving the people screaming for more.

This year the band has plenty of new material up their sleeve and a new record in the works. After a great split 7” with The Sugarettes in 2011, this year the band will release their debut full-length: Mr. Wagner, Please Give Us A Call’, recorded in their own Next to Jaap-studio and a instant classic if you ask us. Space Siren is back in Kult. So are you, we presume.

Listen:
>> myspace.com/spacesiren
>> Space Siren @ Subroutine Records