Pulses & Places with Andrea Belfi

Nowadays I regularly put albums on Bandcamp as a free (if you wish*) download. Obviously I’ve released so much music that my discography might feel quite impenetrable, and I’m hoping to create an easier entry this way.

* it’s actually ‘name-your-price’ - this way it stays in peoples Bandcamp collections etc... but paying zero cash is 100% okay!

This time: Pulses & Places, my 2009 album with Andrea Belfi

To be honest, I’m not exactly sure how it happened: if I proposed to work with Andrea, or if Frans de Waard came up with the idea. Whatever the case, when I was asked to do a BromBron recording residency at Geluidwerkplaats Extrapool (Nijmegen, NL) in March 2009, I gladly accepted. Not only because the BromBron series is legendary, but I was (and still am) obsessed with Andrea’s album Knots, from a year earlier: minimalistic, groovy, and lots of negative space. The music I wanted to make if I was a drummer, I suppose.

Andrea had his drum kit and electronics, and I had my electric guitar and effects. Then there we some instruments from the studio we used as well, like an organ, synths, acoustic guitar, and what-not.

My experience with recording instruments was/is really limited, as was working in a DAW environment at the time – I was still working with the most basic sound editing program at home. Andrea on the other hand was really good with ProTools, so he did the editing and mixing of our recorded improvisations, partly together in Nijmegen, but finishing it at his home in Italy, before the great Rashad Becker mastered it.

Despite it being improvised, I don’t think it necessarily sounds like that. And maybe we discussed things beforehand more than I can remember. But listening to it now, it very much sounds like me adapting to Andrea’s sound. Not in a way that effaces my contribution, but to add an extra layer of liveliness to it, to enhance it. I’m still quite fond of the result. Its a gentle record that flows nicely. It doesn’t scream for attention, but rewards closer listening.

The beautiful design for Pulses & Places was done by Gerco Hiddink, with whom I also did the Bridges project.

Once the CD was released by Staalplaat, I quickly found out that two tracks were accidentally switched on the disc pressing, fucking up the continuous flow of the album. On Bandcamp though, the track order is as intended.

Enjoy!