"PrimiTiveS"
is the debut-album by the established Dutch synthesists Remy (aka Remy
Stroomer) and Synth.nl (aka Michel van Osenbruggen). Although they are
both musically influenced by Jean Michael Jarre, classically-trained
Remy and autodidact Synth.nl both have developed their own style,
character and approach in their music. After they got to know
each other on E-Live 2007, the two guys started developing compositions
and ideas in their own studios respectively, sending them back and forth
in the last couple of years. In later stages, they actually joined
forces by coming out, play and finalize things together in the studio in
what has ended up as "PrimiTiveS". The
outcome of one and a half years of intensive (and of what I’ve heard
also exhausting) work has really paid off, and is topped by another
excellent mastering job by Wouter Bessels. The nine transparent and
spatial sounding compositions (although no straight-forward melodic
songs) form a sonic adventure, featuring some powerful lead voices, bass
lines and cracking drums. But there’s also room for tranquil interludes
such as the intimate "Liquid Spheres". There actually a lot going on in this free-style kind of e-music.
Strange musical combination that this one of Synth NL and Remy. Although both Dutch musicians share an interest for the music of Jean Michel Jarre, they are the exact opposite of their musical visions as much for the genre that of the writings. It's at the 2007 E-Live Festival that Remy Stroomer, who has a study of classic musician, and Michel van Osenbruggen, a self-taught who is inspired by Vangelis, have made acquaintance. In the course of the meetings and conversations during following festivals and events of EM, they developed a friendship as well as some interest in composing an album together. And so “PrimiTiveS” was shyly born. According to both authors, the conception was difficult. The distance between the genres and the difference at the level of the writing technique have outstripped at the same time and moved closer to two new accomplices who wrote the main lines of “PrimiTiveS” each of their sides. The result is a delicious mix of both styles which propel the EM fan in the spectral and theatrical atmospheres that Remy has concocted along Exhibition of Dreams and the heavy and curt rhythms that made the mark of Synth NL with OceanoGraphy.
Remy Stroomer en Michel van Osenbruggen (ofwel Remy en Synth.nl) zijn inmiddels gerespecteerde en gewaardeerde namen in de elektronische muziek. Ze hebben een gezamenlijke interesse in synthesizers en in de muziek van Jean Michel Jarre. Primitives is hun eerste project als duo. Ik was benieuwd hoe de wat meer experimentele stijl van Remy en de melodieuze aanpak van Van Osenbruggen met elkaar zou mixen. Wel, dat is goed gelukt.
La fusión de estilos musicales
similares, aunque no iguales, produce en ocasiones trabajos doblemente
interesantes. Los holandeses Remy Stroomer y Michel Van Osenbruggen
son parte representativa de la música electrónica que se hace
actualmente en Holanda. Aunque ambos músicos llevan ya varios años
publicando su propia música, lo cierto es que no fue hasta el año 2007
que se encontraron por primera vez. Aquello ocurrió en el E-Live Festival
que se organiza en los Países Bajos, que tradicionalmente se centra en
música electrónica y es un buen lugar de encuentro para muchos
compositores, promotores y personas interesadas en la música sintética.
Allí les quedó claro a ambos que sus raíces provenían de influencias
musicales comunes (muy específicamente Jean Michel Jarre,
además de otros reconocidos maestros en el uso de los sintetizadores).
Finalmente, y de forma natural, decidieron colaborar hasta dar forma a
un disco completo. El resultado de esa colaboración es PrimiTives, un disco recién publicado en 2013 en el sello holandés especializado en electrónica Groove Unlimited.