With much water gone under the bridge, Esther Sprikkelman and Harry Otten
have known each other since childhood - Esther was a pubsescent punk,
screaming slogans against queen and country whilst Harry was the slightly
older guru-with-guitar figure. Time was these people could be relied on to
have everything turned up full and damn the neighbours. These days the
neighbours are untroubled: the noises now made by Esther & Harry are an
altogether quieter thing. Yes, Safe Home is most definitely quiet, yet
listening to the music made by Safe Home is most definitely a disquieting
experience…
In 2001 Safe Home released a series of five 7" singles on their own Angels
In Space micro-label, and, when these records (now sought-after and
increasingly hard to find) were sold out, issued the tracks, together with
new recordings, as the album "You Can't Undo What's Already Undid", released
by Sunday Records of Illinois early in 2002. Described at the time as
"'Paradise Lost' as performed by Alice", the album was "a quiet little
melancholia for electro-burble, cyclical guitars, harmonium and the distant
intimacy of a faraway-so-close voice": this was not summertime music.
Avoided by even the non-establishment music establishment at home in
Holland, "You Can't Undo What's Already Undid" was well-received elsewhere,
and work began on a second full-length set, eventually completed as "The
Wide Wide World And All We Know". Once again, and this time perhaps even
more so, the sound of Safe Home is an uncomfortable mixture of melancholy
and longing: Harry Otten's glacial arrangements of understated guitars weave
and loop as Esther Sprikkelman's always impressionistic lyrics leave plenty
of room for the listener to conjure up his or her own personal claustrophobia.
The water passing under the Safe Home bridge seems to be oddly treacherous -
not violent and heaving, but with an insidious undercurrent hidden in the
blackness; crossing it offers a dry passage only to those who dare not look
down.
Inmiddels zijn 200 boeken verkocht en de pers is positief over Muziekreis door het Berlijn van toen en nu - van jazzhel tot technohemel.
Duits.de: ‘Ik vind dat Jonker … die klus heel goed geklaard heeft.’ ‘Het boek is over de gehele linie - algemene geschiedenis en muziekgeschiedenis - toegankelijk geschreven en bevat talrijke anekdotes.’ ‘Alles wat langs moet komen komt dan ook langs: de jazzgekte van de jaren '20, de Schlagers van de jaren '30 en '40, Rock'n Roll, Punk, Techno - alles.’
Festivalinfo.nl: '... geeft het boek een zeer goed en uitgebreid beeld van de muziekcultuur in Berlijn.'
FONK: 'Al met al is het werkje een leuke alternatieve reisgids voor wie binnenkort naar de Duitse hoofdstad gaat. Kort, krachtig en vlot opgepend.'
Trajectum: '... is vooral voor Berlijn- én muziekfans een must voor in de trein richting Berlin Hauptbahnhof (waar je na het lezen van de eerste pagina's meteen op wilt stappen).'
Het boek is t/m 31 juli met korting online te bestellen voor EUR 14,-. Daarna geldt de normale winkelprijs van EUR 15,95. En ook in de winkels gaat het hard. Velvet Music moest al bij bestellen, nadat ze uitverkocht waren. Bestel jouw exemplaar nu!
Hey, wassup? Just dropping by to say hey and spread the love bro.
Just so you know though, if you want extra networking opportunities, exposure, fans who can subscribe to your tracks, the chance to run remix contests for free promotion, get tons of feedback on your music you should sign up for a free profile @ our website http://groundzeroprojects. ning. com
A Happy New Year to you from GZP, mate. I hope this year takes your career exactly, where you want it to go.
Just so you know though, if you want extra networking opportunities, exposure, to get fans of your music who can subscribe to your track uploads, the chance to take part in contests to get spotted and signed in the industry and above all else tons of feedback on your music you should sign up for a free profile @ our website http://www. groundzeroprojects. com.
Hi guys,love your songs, were you guys anything to do with the nightblooms?cos we love them too! I'm gonna dig out my copy of album and check it out(god,how nerdy does that sound) Let us know if you ever come to Scotland to play Love Glider
Hi & thanks for your support! "The Wide Wide World And All We Know" is such a beautiful work, Post Fairport... Post Drake... Post Pastel... Post it! I must confess that I really like the bits when the Home becomes Unsafe with hidden sounds, tiny noises & glitches. Do you really own a mellotron? Fantastic. Say hello to Steve, the vinyl guru.
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