BLUE MOUSTACHE REVIEWS

It is not only the versatility of this group's members that make Coolhaven so interesting, and it is also more than their individual musical visions casually taking in aspects of the bizarre and ridiculous as well as the normal and mundane. What makes the Blue Mustache release so striking is the sympathy between the players, the way they think as if three great minds had merged into one. Not only do they have alot of things at their fingertips, they are able to combine them into group musical statements, winding up with compositions that are rich in detail. Change and contrast are ongoing elements and they begin to relish something particularly weird on a track such as "Slow Song," and it is sure to morph into something else while breath is still being drawn. But this is not the nervous, attention-getting quick-change shuffle of a hyper-rehearsed New York downtown band. Coolhaven's music never sounds contrived or like it has been hammered into some kind of strange shape by sweaty paws in a workshop. Rather, it seems like a more natural, relaxed, and friendly process is at work, even if the results may sound like a flock of alien birds gobbling a truckdriver and his truck whilst the radio is stuck on scan. The liner notes by Jan Hiddink point out that this Dutch unit formed sometime in the late '90s seemingly as a laptop trio, but with a great difference. The members all played other instruments, including the hotshot guitar of Lukas Simonis. He and associates Peter Frengler and Hajo Van Doorn had also been involved in many musical projects over the years preceding the introduction of laptops as musical instruments. This was hardly the kind of laptop group in which neophytes stand on-stage slowly attempting to figure out their software, occasionally dropping out of the musical proceedings to answer e-mails. Digital sampling abilities, combined with authentic instruments, the universe of sound bites, and so on and so forth, all add up to a range of sounds that seems to lead everywhere. A typical track might include ancient ethnic rhythms, animal sounds, a satire of '80s pop, and snatches of classical music, the latter aspect delivered with the concern of someone whose parents did take them to the symphony. These kinds of combinations are of course familiar to listeners who have been delving into the avant-garde in its many forms. When Hiddink writes that "nothing is being rediscovered; it is rather dished up again but with a different arrangement," he is perfectly right. Coolhaven proves that innovation is not the only important aspect of good music. Perhaps only following the leads of other great artists, these musicians have put together pieces that work extremely well. This CD, about 45 minutes in length, is both inspiring and a great deal of fun. Fans of avant-garde music and eccentric European rock should be all over it.

Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide

Coolhaven fórum
Hozzáadás a kedvenceimhez
Hozzáadás a koncertjeimhez
Mikor/hol lesz koncertjük

Erotopraktiker tánc-szimfónia. A hollandiai ôsi vikingek között csak egyetlen egy olyan volt, aki fázott. Vagy csak ô vallotta be ezt. S el is bújt a futött sufnik egyikébe, s hangszereket készített, tákolt, barkácsolt egész nap. A legjobb hangszer, melyet készített, egy kétszarvú éneklô-berregô harci sisak lett. A falu lakóinak megtetszett e hangszer, s azóta mindenki a furcsa zene hallatán felüvölti a nagy feltaláló nevét: Coolhaven!

? from Hungary

experimental punk link cabarat featuring influences from radical experiments held at avant rock's outer edges. choral arrangements along with cacophonic ruidist vocals, samples, instumental fragments of contemporary inspration, tribute songs to their musical influences over field recording backgrounds, electronic processing of sheer noise

modisti.com

COOLHAVEN | BLUE MOUSTACHE
Digitale chaos met een menselijk gezicht.

Het Rotterdamse Coolhaven bestaat primair uit drie laptopmuzikanten, die zo nu en dan gitaarspel en zang (geschreeuw en het uitstoten van klanken) combineren met elektronische muziek. Op Blue Moustache, het debuutalbum van Peter Frengler, Lukas Simons en Hajo van Doorn, leidt dit tot levendige collages, glitch en soms uitermate verrassende songstructuren.
Het album bevat een stortvloed aan geluiden, stuurse ritmiek en dissonante melodielijnen. De nummers verschieten steeds van kleur en gaan van lawaaierig en bruisend (opener ‘Standing on the Wipwap’) via miniatuurglitch naar spannende minimale stukken. Er zit ook veel humor in de muziek van Coolhaven. ‘I.Hellucy’ en vooral ‘Massachusetts Love’ zijn moderne elektronische chansons met een knipoog, begeleidt door een croonende zang. ‘Negroes and Asiatics as Sexsymbols’ is een klein monotoon pareltje van herhaalde machinale klanken geplaatst in een strak ritme.
De constructies van het trio doen helemaal niet denken aan laptopmuziek zoals we het kennen van bijvoorbeeld een willekeurige Mego-act. De vrij vloeiende muziek roept eerder associaties op met de meesterlijke chaos van Captain Beefheart. De kracht van dit album is dat met name de wat hardere stukken zo spontaan en menselijk klinken. Alsof een grote groep muzikanten van verschillende snit een avondlange improvisatie op band heeft vastgelegd.
Een enkele keer vervreemdt Coolhaven zich van de luisteraar, maar over het algemeen is het een vindingrijke plaat geworden vol digitale trucage, collages en heerlijke chaos. Blue Moustache smaakt naar meer en belooft wat voor de toekomst.

tekst: Gerard de Jong

COOLHAVEN - BLUE MOUSTACHE (CD by Z6)
Coolhaven is band from Rotterdam with members who are extremely active in the Dutch music scene. Aside from their musical activities  they are also concerned with running WORM and performance art.
Coolhaven is a laptop trio, but not in the ordinary sense of the  word: no 'clicks 'n cuts', but 'cracks 'n guts'. Their eleven tracks  are actually like songs, with intro's, themes and outtro's. Using all possible ingredients, they range from pop to punk to contemporary composed to free improv. And mind you: all on laptop and mostly all of it together in one track. These guys have no apparent inhibitions and certainly no awe for any of the styles they are using. They will use anything that falls into their hands with utter freedom and seem to be having a lot of fun with it as well. And the good thing is that this fun comes across while listening. Unwillingly one starts wondering if one has heard certain samples before or if Coolhaven might have created them themselves. Another good thing is the short duration of the tracks: it might get on ones nerves otherwise (I mean: a song that sounds like Supertramp is a lot to take!).

vital weekly (MR)