Wander played their hearts out in Moscow in October 2011 at one of their very rare performances. Nice to see this concert available soon on the digital format. The image was taken from the wrapper of the Alyonka chocolate that was served with the tea on the train from Moscow to St Petersburg. We both loved the image. As much as we love the recording made that night. Copies will be available directly from this site soon. Keep your eyes as peeled as the Alyonka girl! 

I’d forgotten all about this review of The Beekeeper’s Dream, which was published in Record Collector magazine in September 2006. What a lovely surprise to see this back last night, whilst rummaging through some old copies of the magazine! Coincidentally, I still have a few copies of this album for sale. It’s sold out on vinyl and CD at the record company, so you might want to get your copy straight from the Sales Department of these pages. Incidentally, the picture is the original painting, which was used for the cover. I tried to buy this from the artist, Heather Gorham, but unfortunately it was already sold…

BRUNNEN – THE BEEKEEPER’S DREAM (LP + bonus LP picture disc, also CD) ****

RC correspondent and Beequeen member Freek Kinkelaar has finally gathered together the solo recordings he’s made under the Brunnen monnicker and, self-referencing element aside, The Beekeeper’s Dream is one of the most apt record titles ever. Effortlessly creating its own ambience and fitting most comfortably within “folktronica”, this is the sort of thing a Dutch Syd Barratt would have envisioned. Recorded between 1992 en 2005, most of the 13 tracks here have already seen an extremely limited release on little-known labels, and are long since lost to collectors of the obscure. This release, however, is only going to address the problem for a little while, as there are merely 1000 CD pressings and 400 LP’s – 200 of which come with a free picture disc LP, Tippoo’s Tiger parts one and two. Despite the time disparity in recording, The Beekeeper’s Dream is a perfect whole, Rupert Writes A Rainbow being a particular highlight, with its spooky sample of children’s voices. And with his own voice somewhere between Nick Drake and Nico on a slow samba-like version of The Jungle Book’s Trust In Me, Kinkelaar takes Kaa’s original, evil intentions, and makes them sound even more sinister. Happily wandering back to the collectors of the obscure, then. (Jason Draper).

Pretty wow eh?

Last week I felt a strong desire to listen to “McCartney”, the first LP Paul McCartney recorded after leaving the Beatles. It is truly a great album and far better than most critict would care/dare to admit. When I played it, I realized how dearly I loved this record. Then I thought, what other records do I love that much and decided to compile this list. Of course the list is, luckily, subject to change and depends on the mood I’m in, but basically I’ve compiled 35 albums – in alphabetical order – that are special to me for various reasons. There are loads others. As you can imagine, all of these are highly recommended and some fun can be had in checking out if there are records in the list you love as well. Wouldn’t that be great? And when you’re curious about the music, just point your browser to the internet where I’m sure they can be located for purchase or download. Of course, not ALL my favorite albums are in this list – it’s just a special selection made on a sunny day…

Alice Cooper – Special Forces (Warner 1981)

Ruriko Asaoka – Kokoro No Uramado (Teichiku 1970)

Beatles – Beatles (Apple 1968)

Brainticket – Celestial Ocean (RCA 1973)

Come – Come Present Rampton (Come Organization 1980)

Wayne County – Things Your Mother Never Told You (Safari 1979)

Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue (Columbia 1959)

Deep Freeze Mice – My Geraniums Are Bulletproof (Mole Enbalming 1979)

Dexys Midnight Runners – Don’t Stand Me Down (Creation 1985)

Electric Chairs – Electric Chairs (Safari 1978)

Electric Prunes – Mass In F Minor (Reprise 1967)

De Fabriek – Neveleiland (De Fabriek 1983)

Gerogerigegege – Senzuri Champion (Vis-A-Vis 1987)

Paul Giovanni And Magnet – The Wicker Man (Trunk 1998)

Randy Greif – Alice In Wonderland (Staalplaat 1993)

Hafler Trio – Hotondo Kiki Torenai (AQM 1985)

Hani Mio – Mio To 11 Piki No Neko (Warner 1972)

Toshi Ichiyanaga – Opera From The Works Of Tadanori Yokoo (The End 1969)

Edward Ka-Spel – Eyes! China Doll (Scarface 1983)

Itoh Kiyoko – Woman At 23 Hours – Love In (Sony 1969)

KLF – Chill Out (KLF Communications 1990)

Legendary Pink Dots – Premonition (Flowmotion 1983)

Legendary Pink Dots – Asylum (PIAS 1985)

Mari Sono – Mari Sono Sings Japanese Folk Songs (Polydor 1968)

Paul McCartney – McCartney (Apple 1970)

Mekanik Kommando – Shadow Of A Rose (Rosebud 1986)

Oval – 94Diskont (Mille Plateaux 1994)

Lou Reed – Berlin (RCA 1973)

Kevin Rowland – My Beauty (Creation 1992)

Oskar Schlemmer – Das Triadische Ballet (Beam Ends 2009)

Leonard Bernstein – West Side Story (CBS 1961)

Swans – Soundtracks For The Blind (Young God 1997)

Tenpole Tudor – Eddie, old Bob, Dick and Gary (Stiff 1981)

Derek Jarman – Blue (Mute 1994)

West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – Where’s my daddy? (Amos 1969)

Beequeen – Port Out Starboard Home ****

Sublime dream-pop

Beequeen have been releasing records for over 23 years, the duo of Frans de Waard and RC contributor Freek Kinkelaar amassing over 20 albums in that time. Musically, they’ve explored sonic textures covering everything from drones, ambient twirls and cover versions, to a fascination with dream-pop, which began in 2001 on the Ownliness LP. In recent years, Beequeen have drafted in Olga Wallis – first making an appearance on Sandancing, and here acting as a full blown band member. Her voice adds to a vibrant album: it’s wondrous how the dreamy vocal recordings such as The Centipede Song and Giant’s Hill are interspaced with experimental textures, which gives the album focus and a sense of journey. Saying that, it’s annoying that the jazzy instrumental A Gall Ill Sow, is only 1.08 long! Fans of Everything But The Girl, Swing Out Sister and, of course, Stereolab will love this. The whole ends with The Lord Is My Shepherd – not a cover version, but a wonderful piece of ambient sonics complete with sampled lambs. Ian Shirley

Wow! Not bad eh?

So Miranda and I went to see the Beatles. Courtesy of free tickets from Miranda’s boss (thanks Wim!). Not the Real Beatles mind, but the Cavern Beatles, who, like the Real Ones hail from Liverpool. It was a most surreal experience. Some of the Cavern lads actually looked the part (John – scaringly so, Ringo) whereas others didn’t (Paul – who looked a bit like Whitney Houston and George – who looked… strange). They are certainly professionals; the clothing, the mop tops, the equipment, the movements – it was all there. Their playing is great and proves what you can do with just 2 guitars, 1 bass, 1 set of drums and a couple of good tunes. Watching Ringo’s drumpatterns live was fascinating - he is a very underestimated drummer. What was most refreshing was the lack of any “show”. It was just the musicians, a backdrop of one colour and the music. First the early 60s stuff and then the late 60s stuff, carefully avoiding the Srg. Pepper stuff (which is fine by me as I’m not such a big fan of Pepper anyways – except of course for Penny Lane), changing clothes midway. The audience was spectacular too; not many under 65s. All grey haired or balded boppers. When the Cavern boys started singing I though I heard some weird reverb on their vocals until I realized (we were front row seated) it wasn’t reverb but the audience singing along! In all, a great evening – as said, quite surreal – but great fun. If you want to see the Cavern Capers in action, have a peek at their website at www.cavernbeatles.com. Coincidentally, Paul McCartney is playing Rotterdam in March this year. Tickets are close to 100 Euros. Slightly more expensive than the Cavern Laddies…

Musically 2011 was a very fine year. Even though Beequeen didn’t play live as much as I would have wanted, the Lux in Wonderland performance in May 2011 with Use of Ashes and Legendary Pink Dots, turned out to be a very special evening indeed. October saw the release of the Port Out Starboard Home CD by Beequeen, which I am well pleased with. October also saw a brief tour of Russia (taking in Moscow, St Petersburg and Yaroslavl), with shows by Beequeen and Wander, which to me was the musical highlight of the year for which I thank everyone involved!

2011 brought me a few records I’d been after for ages: a copy of Psychopathia Sexualis by Whitehouse, an original tape copy of Chemical Playschool volume 1 by the Legendary Pink Dots (hand made in an edition of 25 copies in 1981), an original tape copy of the Led Zeppelin tape by the Deep Freeze Mice, an original pressing of Nurse With Wound’s first album Chance Meeting, a copy of All That I Am by Kit Ream from the 70s and a few others. There were also amazing and rare Japanese records by the likes of Mari Sono, Itoh Kiyoko, Mari Atsumi, Tachida Uchida and two utterly beautiful 10 inch albums by Matsuo Kazuko, which brought me lots of audio joy. Not to mention some other rare Japanese pressings I got in 2011; the first album by Paul McCartney on gorgeous red vinyl, the first album by Lou Reed, a Japanese promo copy of his Metal Machine Music 2LP and, on the verge of the new year, an original 1968 red vinyl Japanese press of the Beatles’ White Album and an original 1966 red vinyl Japanese press of Revolver.

Musical discovery of the year to me was the album God Help The Girl. Released in 2009, it had eluded me until some months ago when I bought a copy cheap because I liked the cover. The album is basically the work of Belle and Sebastian’s vocalist/guitarist Stuart Murdoch. Working here with guest musicians and vocalists like Celia Garcia,  Brittany Stallings and especially Catherine Ireton (whose voice knocked me backwards), Murdoch created a wonderfully intimate, funny, intelligent and gorgeous album. God Help The Girl: remember the name, buy the album!

I was able to buy a few personal items (sunglasses and two bracelets) from the legacy of Rozz Williams, who has always fascinated me as a person as well as a musician.

Beam ends records and tapes released Back To Life The Deep Freeze Mice; a single by Bat Cigarette and At Home At Last; a tape by Freiband. Wander released a tour 3 inch CDR on Moll and Zo Volhardend De Dagen, a track under my own name for the Achteradem project by Frank Anthony van Alphen, was finally released on CDR. Both a Beequeen and a very nice Wander track were released on the compilation cassette “The Many Names of Frans de Waard” by, you guessed it, Frans de Waard.

In 2011 I finally met Alan Jenkins of the Deep Freeze Mice in person. I have known Alan for a long time, but we were finally able to shake hands at the VRIL performance in Nijmegen. Coincidentally, our meeting was close to the publication date of the feature I wrote on the Mice for Record Collector magazine. Speaking of reading: this year I read quite a few books. Most impressive were Tennessee Williams’ Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Colin MacInnes’ Absolute Beginners and After Dark and 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. The last two books were very intense but beautiful reading; I finished 1Q84 on the last day of the year. I’m sure there must be some significance in that…

When it comes to movies I quite enjoyed Get Low, The Artist, Black Swan, Midnight In Paris and, first and foremost, The King’s Speech. I readily admit I enjoyed the final part of Harry Potter and Pirates Of The Caribbean as well.

For some reason I did not visit a lot of live performances in 2011, though I very much enjoyed seeing the B Movie Orchestra play live in September.

Personally speaking 2011 has been a fine year as well. Miranda and I are keeping very well, enjoying life, dancing Argentinean tango and each other. Only the Mayans know what the New Year will bring us, but allow me to wish you all – for as long as it lasts – a very happy one!

This website had nearly 3000 unique visitors in 2011… wow – thanks!

So it’s been a bit of a wait, but Beam Ends is extremely proud to present AT HOME AT LAST by FREIBAND. This cassette-only release features 6 songs from the archives of Frans de Waard’s project Freiband, which were carefully selected by the Beam Ends Review Team.

The first side features 4 songs: Kapotte Muziek by ? [1] (2008), Well (2001), BCN (2003) and Unter den Linden (2001?), whereas the second side features two songs Tilos (2001-2002) and An invited guest (2004). All songs are previously unreleased.

The cassette comes in a glorious color cover and is limited to 30 copies only. So get your copy while stock lasts!

One copy will cost you 4 Euros (excluding postage), wholesale (more than one copy) will set you back a very reasonable 3 Euros (excluding postage).

To order your copy (or copies) please send an e-mail to info@beequeen.nl

Dutch national radio VPRO have listed Port Out Starboard Home on their “luisterpaal”. To vote for the album or to have a listen before you (obviously) purchase the CD at (even more obviously) this site, please visit http://3voor12.vpro.nl/luisterpaal/

Here’s an all-too-brief review of our Russian adventures!

12 October 2011
WANDER at Sigmund Freud Dream Museum

The first concert of our short tour started in St Petersburg. After a long journey, we arrived at the Sigmund Freud Dream Museum, which is a great place – though not literally; in fact it’s extremely small size-wise. The first evening Frans and I played as Wander, as Olga had not arrived yet in Russia. Our set consisted of one 40+ minute track, which we had rehearsed at home. Around 20 very attentative people came to see the concert, which gave the Dream Museum a quite crowded feel. Unfortunately, there was no time for a proper sound check prior to the concert, so there was precious little time to get acquainted with my borrowed guitar, which, to add insult to injury, lacked a string. For me the concert was hard work, but it musically it turned out to be a very nice performance.

13 October 2011
BEEQUEEN at GES

The second concert of the tour in St Petersburg and the first one as Beequeen with Olga on vocals. GES is a gorgeous club, hidden from its street entrance. You have to cross a few squares, walk up a few steps and then; lo and behold: there is a bar, a Beatle museum and some very friendly people. The supporting act Badoseneticcube featured a girl with a lovely voice singing traditional Russian songs stretched out into long soundscapes. The club had a grand piano on stage, which we used to great, if not exactly loud effect, on The Lord Is My Shepherd. Olga turned a few heads in her golden lamé dress. The concert went really well, probably the best one as the Beequeen threesome so far. All those rehearsals did paid off. The response from the audience was great; we sold CD’s and even had to sign a few of them. A really lovely evening!

14 October 2011
WANDER and BEEQUEEN at Artist Residence

We left St Petersburg in high spirits and relocated to Yaroslavl, some 300+ kilometers up north from Moscow. Originally scheduled to play at Dom Muz, we were diverted to what I can only describe as Artist Residence as it had no official name. The rescheduling was necessary because there was no electricity at Dom Muz. Beequeen unplugged – a nice thought! With Olga staying a day longer in St Petersburg, the show in Yaroslavl featured me on vocals. As a nice addition, and since we were the only band playing, we decided to do our own support act: as Wander we played a condensed version of our set (20 minutes), a short break and then we magically re-emerged as Beequeen for the second half of the show. Since I had to sing all the songs as well as play guitar (this time a six stringed one) and remember all the breaks in the songs, this was an evening I anticipated with some nerves, but it all worked wonderfully; both the Wander as the Beequeen set went really well. The concert was filmed with professional cameras. As a result, the full Wander show and the “after party” can both be found on YouTube. The after party in fact consisted of delicious home-made food and alcohol. With one in each hand we enjoyed the gorgeous night view of Yaroslavl from the 14th floor where the venue was based.

15 October 2011
WANDER at Ex Libris

Another evening, another guitar. For this show Alexei was kind enough to lend me his Viper guitar. We returned earlier that day in Moscow from Yaroslavl. The Ex Libris is a library annex bar, and quite professional it is too. As with most bars in Russia, smoking seemed mandatory. The performance was planned in the downstairs room, which featured a sophisticated sound installation. With only 8 paying people turning up, it was quite funny that the table in front of the small stage had a “reservation” sign on it. Those present saw a great Wander concert with good sound to match, probably the best show Wander played so far. Concentration and enjoyment – a very fine combination.

16 October 2011
BEEQUEEN at Dom

And then we came to the final concert of our short tour. How time flies! The second show in Moscow (as Beequeen with Olga singing) was quite an experience: neither the audience nor we were quite sure what to expect. We played third on a bill with 3 other bands, none of which sounded anything like Beequeen. But like magic, the audience became more and more enthusiastic with each song – as did we. The playing was smooth and good, the singing went great. A couple started dancing in the aisle. People clapped along and laughed at our tiny jokes. The show ended before we all wanted it to end. To me the Dom concert was probably the most fun one to do. We made friends for life that evening and sold quite a few CD’s.After the show, we went out to celebrate with cocktails and were almost refused entrance at a posh cocktail bar. If the bouncer had known we were Beequeen, he would have offered us Mick Jagger’s seat. The Dom performance was a great closing of a great tour.

The Beequeen live concerts are available for free download at our archive pages.

We met many lovely people, all willing to help us out, listen to our songs and provide us room to stay. Thanks to all of you, Russia was a dream-come-true!

While we were packing our toothbrushes and clean underwear for our Russian adventure, the postman delivered (in the nick of time) a large box with the new Beequeen CD! Hello hurray! We’ll be selling copies at our Russian shows as well as via mailorder. You can send your orders to info@beequeen.nl. We are selling these at a very reasonable price; cheaper than the U2 reissue boxsets and by far better.