Night Moves by Hverheij

Hverheij is an artist that one can never tire of. Not only is his name a guarantee of quality for anyone browsing a list of records to download, but as he reinvents himself on almost every release there's never a danger of stagnancy. everything this artist puts out is a certified banger, and his fourth Triplicate release 'Night Moves' is no exception. Ten staggeringly well-put together pieces full of mystique, great care, and the ability to make you dance. Have at it.

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INTERVIEW
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George Ernst (Triplicate Records): What's your favourite tune on the record? Mine's 'Three to Get Ready'. I like that it comes out of nowhere and smacks you in the face with those blistering dance beats.

Harry Verheijen aka Hverheij: ‘Three to Get Ready’ does kind of do that, doesn’t it? The energy of it is a definite contrast. But my favorite is the one that follows. ‘Darkness’ picks up the mood in a more subtle way and lays out a vision that expands the night canopy. There’s a beautiful blending in the elements to that made special by this being only the 2nd collaboration with Belial. Yet the connection of the vision of this track is such that most listeners would be very hard pressed to hear which individual elements were introduced by each of us. I like how ominous parts thread their way through the first section, morph into nocturnal movements, and then segue into quiet strokes right to the last note – a wonderful representation of shades, movements, and sparks visible among the stars when viewing in solitude away from city lights. He could have been standing beside me working on it – that’s how close the music mixes, I think. To me, that’s the best of what symmetry can bring, so I’m very partial to that track with Belial.

GE: What's your least favourite food on the planet? The kind of food someone could hand you a gold bar to eat and you'd have to think about it?

HV: Headcheese! And especially the type that’s soaked with vinegar. Can’t go near it. Not even wearing a full hazmat suit behind a 10-foot barricade. The thought of eating it is revolting! (I meant, of course, the headcheese – not the hazmat suit. The suit would probably go down better.) And no amount of gold bars would coerce me to change my mind.
For some reason, your question reminds me of Carl Scutz and his brother Fred on SCTV, who claim to be butchers and film editors (in their words, there's really not much difference), and who explain everything about headcheese in a spoof ad campaign. “Stock up on film with headcheese and remember, free delivery,” they claim as they go out for door-to-door service to the unwary. Hilarious stuff. Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas had my sentiments about that “food” exactly right.


GE: Where did the night-time focus originate from? I usually sleep through it so I'm no expert.

HV: I usually do, too. But during the heat of the summer, standing outside away from glaring lights, I was amazed at how much I could actually see of the night sky and the various movements of objects that were visible. So I got the idea to actually stay up to watch the transformations from dusk to dawn – that maybe I could capture that musically through some of the more prominent phases. I did this over several days during a week where there was little in the way of clouds and when the weather was still reasonably warm overnight.
On one such night, my neighbor came home from his night-shift and saw me peering upwards. He asked me what I was doing? When I told him I was studying the stars and patterns for inspiration, he just shook his head and went inside. Probably thought I was waiting for the mother ship.

GE: Would you rather have twenty cats or live below a bowling alley?

HV: Does it have to be 20? Sounds a bit chaotic. But I definitely couldn’t do the noise above my head all day. I would try my hand with 20 kittens. When they’re older, I’d get them trained to go over to the bowling alley, somewhere where they could play with gutter balls. They would be alley cats by then. Who knows? Maybe the bowling alley would even feed the cats once in a while. In any event, cats are better company than bowling balls. Just saying.

GE: What was it like working with Belial?

HV: When I approached Belial with the concept for this album, I knew that there was only a remote chance that he would have time available on short notice. Not only is he continuing his masterful ‘Taffeta’ project every week on top of the many other tracks he produces, but he must be the most prolific artist going in terms of collaborations. To put it into perspective, at that time of my contacting him, Belial was not only finishing his own album, ‘Tantric Tantrum’, but he was also completing an album with Callisto’s Ghost entitled ‘Lethe EP’ – both fine works as recent releases, if you haven’t heard them yet. Regardless of all that, Belial was receptive to the idea of giving some contribution and was very giving with his time in previewing the drafts I had already started. That produced, I think, some landmark music with him, for which I am both thankful and very honored to have had the privilege in working with him. Cheers, Belial!

GE: If time were no object, how many records would you put out a year?

HV: I don’t think I could put a number to it. Last year I think I put out 5 electronic albums in addition to ‘Afterlight’. I also put out a few more in differing musical styles. But its really hit and miss.
I work in ebbs and flows, so I never know when I’ll come up with new ideas or if I’ll hit a dry spell. Mostly, if ideas are vague, I’ll play around with sounds or percussion riffs and build around that in some way. And its an emotional response to something that seems to get the actual music going. So if I think the music is of good enough quality that someone might be interested in hearing it, and there is enough of it that unifies together, then the idea of an album germinates. Ultimately, though, its quality of sound in music that drives what I’m hoping to achieve. Can’t really put a number to that.

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REVIEW
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Prolificacy can be a blessing and a curse for some. You can release upwards of ten records a year of course, and your most ardent fans will rejoice, but should you? If your name is Hverheij, the answer is yes, you should, because everything you put out is a certified banger, and his fourth Triplicate release 'Night Moves' is no exception.

'Night Sky' is meditative and mesmerising, drumless eeriness wrapped in a veil of intrigue. The experimental factor seems to step up with every Hverheij project, and this is a decidedly bold start to proceedings. That's not to say it's challenging music, quite the opposite. It's rather lovely, as is the following AHH-laden 'Catcher of Stars', wherein Angelo Badalamenti-esque shuffle drums anchor a drifting string juggernaut over a sea of disembodied female vocals. Occasionally things get mysterious, though the tune flips back and forth in mood on a dime for a while before truly finding it's footing in the gloriously confident stride of the trippy second half,

'Twilight' on the other hand offers a more subdued mood. Building a crunchy groove isn't the aim here, it's palette-cleansing, and believe it or not, it's done extremely well. Like desert winds, complete with spooky chants and the whirl of the wind over blistering dunes. 'Night Vision' is that same scorching Arabian setting after the fall of night's curtain. The chill hits the air, but things come alive to roam, to hunt. Syncopated stabs of string midis and wispy melodic growls bubbling away in the dark form a stunningly beautiful and sonically varied aural miasma.

'Three to Get Ready' immediately changes things up. This is now a dance record. You didn't dress for the occasion? Hverheij isn't interested in your excuses. Move those feet, citizen. All jokes aside, this is a damn fine beat that definitely falls into the 'I can't keep still and listen to this' category'. This has the potential to become one of his most beloved compositions with its straight-forward no-nonsense techno sensibilities, and is a fine way to close the first half.

Kicking off side two is the whispering whoosh of 'Darkness', a maze of fog-horn murk and whistling ambience. As the title suggests, a sense of impending danger looms in the weird black void, only to be pierced by the blinding juxtaposition of 'Starburst', which finds Hverheij tripping on beams of travelling luminescence, not to mention wonderfully programmed arpeggios and a pretty cool drum shuffle once it finds it's groove. It's a spectacular duo of light and dark.

'Night Vision 2' on the other hand is pure Hverheijian pop goodness. The strings from its nominative predecessor return, but this time, rather than conveying desert ominousness it's a truly lovely riff that'll have you reaching for the replay button as soon as it's over. Less immediate in it's earwormyness, yet equally appealing is the transitory penultimate banger 'Amberlight', which features wonderful treated reverb-heavy drums, appropriately sparse, and appropriately reserved in all the right places. Short but sweet, and an extremely welcome addition this late on the LP.

Finally bringing things to a close is a fascinating collaboration with the legendary Belial Pelegrim, 'Stream at the Gates of Dawn'. Have you ever played a track featuring that man and not felt the internal hype start to well-up within your music hole? As it turns out, getting two of the most prolific and proficient electronica producers together was an excellent idea. You have the Hverheij insect electionics, the trademark Belial birdsong, and of course either could be attributed to the other, it's unimportant. What matters is these two titans bring out the best in each other's music styles and unite to create a fantastic closer worthy of a fantastic fourth outing on this label.

Hverheij is an artist that one can never tire of. Not only is his name a guarantee of quality for anyone browsing a list of records to download, but as he reinvents himself on almost every release there's never a danger of stagnancy. His editing-game has gone through the roof as of late, and this is then, the latest in a hopefully infinite line of tightly constructed aural masterpieces, may he never relent in his noble musical pursuits!

George Ernst
Triplicate Records

Viewing the world through music is like transposing consciousness into sound and rearranging experiences into stories that can be listened to and heard.

Hverheij is a composer and a recording artist producing a diversity of new music.

More albums by this artist are available on Bandcamp via Triplicate Records.

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