GieSound.nl

12 July 2005

Coldplay & more!


Coldplay did a secret gig in Amsterdam and we've got to record it!!! Wow, this was big; the new album is not comming out till June, and the band is getting ready for a big stadium-tour. But first they are doing some promo, and someone got the briljant idea to do a special secret concert in the Milkyway in Amsterdam. I am just out of the studio
where I spent some time on mixing the gig. I mixed some live-tracks
for Coldplay before (check my discography) and I was proud to be asked again. They played a lot of new material but, since it's not released yet, the live-recordings have to stay on the shelf for some time... (BNN is gonna broadcast 9 songs of the show on the 3rd of June on Dutch TV). I just have to tell you it's gonna be a great album (well worth the waiting), and I am sure it's gonne be huge cause they have managed to write some magnificent songs once again.




London Calling festival is a two-day festival in Paradiso Amsterdam featuring British bands (or bands that are English-sounding). It gives a nice impression of where the British stand nowadays. We recorded a lot of bands, so I am just gonne mention some highlights: Kaiser Chiefs, Thirteen Senses, EasterLane, New Rhodes, Nine Black Alps. (CLICK HERE for the online magazine 3voor12 about London Calling)



Rufus Wainwright (yes, he's the son of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle). He's not your everyday singer-songwriter; or as Rolling Stone magazine wrote: Filled with operatic vocals, symphonic 
arrangements, iconoclastic religiosity and Latin (the dead language, not Ricky Martin's bloodline), Want Two is unlikely to steal away any Jessica Simpson fans. Instead, Wainwright's fanciful songs about love
 and faith place him in the rarefied company of Bjork and Brian Wilson, whose audacious Med?lla and SMiLE his album most resembles.
Well I could not have said it any better way myself ;-) We have recorded a live-gig he did with his band at Paradiso, Amsterdam. Rufus stunned the place with a show that extended over two hours!


Roadburn festival is a stonerrock event with bands from all over the world. We had to "do" the Space-rock-stage. My personal highlight was Brant Bjork & the Bros. ; talkin'about groove! With a warm and fat (almost HendriX-like) Fender-guitar-tone!


Is it HipHop, is it Urban??? Who cares?! Roots Manuva is not a rapper with a backing track, but a great frontman with an excellent band. They were in Paradiso to prove it, and luckily we were alowed to put this show on tape. Thumbs up!



The Arcade Fire did a show in Amsterdam and we've recorded them for the VPRO. This is not your everyday rockband but a special band with a very unique sound. David Byrne and David Bowie are big fans, so that should give you a clue!


Saybia was back in Holland, and it was probably the best concert we've recorded of them so far. The audience at Pinkpop (2 years ago?!) was way bigger and more enthousiastic, but the band played much better this time. So a great concert with some beautiful highlights and they even played three new (and unreleased) songs.


Man, I've got to tell you about an album-mix I did. I am talking about the Dutch "power-punk-pop" band NOU EN... (When I translate that in English you will get something like "So What".) The lyrics are in Dutch, so you won't see this release anywhere else in the world, but their music is pretty international: think Blink 182 meets Jimmy Eat World meets Weezer. So loud rockin' guitars and catchy popmelodies.
I had a lot of fun mixing the album, since the band really knows how to put together a good song, and they are also a nice bunch of guys to hang out with (and that's an understatement). I think the mixes
turned out real fine, and I have to admit that I'm really proud of them.


The album (title: Parel voor de Zwijnen / "Pearl for the pigs"
;-) lol) is just released. Right now the band (together with their
label IQ Music) is working on a videoclip for the first single: Gothic Meisje (Gothic Girl). The song is already a cult-hit; let's see how it's gonne perform in the charts once it's released.


CLICK HERE to check out some of their songs.