Reviews

About

Bongo

Digg this review.
Add to del.ico.us.

Review Date: 2006-10-10

Rutger Hoedemaekers sure likes his noise. And the many sound effects on his computer and keyboard. That I know for sure. That he’s made some of the most random, unique and ultimately interesting music I’ve heard recently, is something I know beyond a doubt.

On his North American debut album, “Bongo,” Hoedemaekers -- also known as “About,” brings a great deal of electronic pop panache to the forefront. Expect to hear pre-recorded guitars, electronic drums, weird, random and seemingly atonal instrument arrangements. And random starts-and-stops that sound like the CD has a huge scratch on it – that’s intentional, of course.

As weird as “Bongo,” is, Hoedemaekers pulls it all together somehow and, through musical fusion, creates an album that is intriguing and something that deserves replay.

After listening to “Bongo,” a few times, I swore About was a regular indie pop/rock outfit. Imagine my shock when I learned that, yes, it’s just him. Well, there’s some excellent vocal work by a woman named Marg Van Eenbergen.

A little background research also showed that it took three YEARS to put this CD together – and that Hoedemaekers had four collapsed lungs in that time.

With that in mind, it’s impossible not to recognize About for the amount of work that went into this record.

Hearing a solid drum beat and accompanying guitar riff is one thing. Finding out that the vocals, drums and guitar are all composed and mixed by the same man is something else.

Anyone who takes the plunge into “Bongo” will be struck hard by “Think Niles Drink,” the album’s first track. Not only does the ultra-heavy guitar riff catch you offguard, it had me wondering whether this was going to be a Nine Inch Nail’s inspired album – and I mean that as a compliment.

But, even as the guitar wails away, there are periodic starts and stops that, after checking the CD for scratches confirmed these were not real guitars. Neither were the drums real.

Even Hoedemaekers voice is highly digitized as he intones: “Rock star, boyfriend, rock star boyfriend, we rock the microphone.”

But just because something is done on a laptop doesn’t mean it can’t sound great. And “Think Niles Drink,” is indeed just that. There’s plenty of weird and disorienting sounds, but it’s all pulled together for a cogent, satisfying tune.

Just when you might think the entire album is going to be an industrial-metal offering, Hoedemaekers shifts gears with “Strike You As the Enemy,” a poppy tune complete with electronically engineered yelling and hand claps. There’s even more of the characteristic CD-skipping noises that ad a certain unpolished appearance to all of this.

For much of the album, it’s just Hoedemaekers doing all the work. But on “Band Dynamics,” and “She Knows Everything About Everyone Who Ever Drank Coffee With Her,” he’s joined by Van Eenbergen. I don’t know if he intentionally saved his best, poppiest tunes to sing with her, but these are two dynamite tracks, particuarly “She Knows…”

It’s probably my preference for Van Eenbergen’s voice too. Most of Hoedemaekers’ singing is masked digitally, but whenever he brings out his real pipes, I cringed. His voice is rather plain and unexciting – I didn’t particularly care for him as a singer. So if he wants to accompany Van Eenbergen, I’m more than happy to listen. Just don’t bother when she’s not around.

Hoedemaekers’ eclectic musical noise works for the most part, but he pushes the endurance of his audience with tracks like “Furry Dice.” With weird eclectic sounds, rapidly plucked guitars and then a bombardment-like machine gun noise that soon degenerates into a hard beat bop, it’s certainly a cool track. The problem is that it’s not listener-friendly. Take some time to absorb tracks like this.

And then, of course, there are musical tracks where it just doesn’t work. Like “Friends Applaud, The Comedy is Over.” The accordions are nice, as is the piano, but the track as a whole doesn’t work. “Boo Hoo,” suffers from the same failing – it’s too random and fails to come together in the end.

Repetition is a problem here as well – but then again, when you sing, play, record and mix everything yourself, some leeway should be given in this department.

But this isn’t for everyone. Some of the tracks are too eclectic and weird – that might drive people away. Plus, don’t expect indie rock here. This is pop music to the

core. Overall, “Bongo,” is a fine album if you’re into electronic music – or even if you’re fascinated with how someone could craft an entire CD from a smattering of various musical instruments. And still have it come out sounding good. That takes skill and for that, Mr. Hoedemaekers, I await your future work.

Tracks to Check Out: “She Knows Everything About Everyone Who Ever Drank Coffee With Her,” and “Think Niles Drink,” are two of the best. Runner up goes to “Band Dynamics.”

Tracks to Avoid: “Boo Hoo,” and “Friends Applaud The Comedy is Over,” just didn’t do it for me.

Score: 8

- Kyle Rea