3voor12/Amsterdam interviewed Lars Meijer, the man behind Hunter Complex, about his debut album. He talks about the release party in Smart Project Space (check out the video and the pics from that evening), his influences, the eighties and his plans for the future. Read the interview here (it’s in Dutch).
The international music magazine 365Mag rates the debut album by Hunter Complex 8,5 out of 10: ‘Each song features a magnificent and well balanced structure that finds it origin somewhere in the area between dance and pop, with the vocals adding a certain pop element to the overall in a Kraftwerk kind of way. Recommended!’ The Hunter Complex album also got some very positive reviews from Vital Weekly (‘it’s great’) and Subjectivisten / Caleidoscoop (‘highly recommended!’). Musicfrom.nl is less enthusiastic about the latest Narrominded releases. They think the idea behind The Almighty Internet by Spoelstra doesn’t make a good album and compare Hunter Complex to The Edge. The online radio program Beautiful Extremes played tracks from both albums, so you can judge for yourself. Listen to the fragments from Beautiful Extremes in the players below.
Beautiful Extremes, February 16 2010, with Moonset by Hunter Complex and Day of the System by Spoelstra:
Beautiful Extremes, February 23 2010, with Dance by Hunter Complex and The Classic Handbuzzer by Spoelstra:
We are proud to announce that three of our latest releases are now available through iTunes. Spoelstra’s The Almighty Internet, Split LP#4 with Garçon Taupe and Legowelt and the brand new Hunter Complex album are available from every iTunes store on the planet for people who like their music in zeroes and ones. For all you lovers of physical product, please go to our webshop to buy our vinyl and cd’s.
Hunter Complex is the moniker of Lars Meijer. On his self titled debut album he moves from synthpop to electro and from italo to new wave. Just like the European electronic acts The Tough Alliance, Neon Neon, JJ, M83 and Delorean, there’s an imperative reference to the eighties in the music of Hunter Complex. Not only in the sound, but especially because of that intangible feeling. Meijer: ‘It’s a feeling that switches between whimsicality and melancholy. You can see that for example in Miami Vice – true television of the eighties: subtropical beaches, flamingos, but also nocturnal streets full of muggy evil.’ More info on Hunter Complex here. The album is available on cd in our shop (10 EUR including shipping in Europe, 12 EUR including shipping outside Europe) and digitally via iTunes and emusic. Preview the track Wait in the player below.
This Friday, February 5 2010, we’ll throw a party in one of Amsterdam’s coolest venues, Smart Project Space. It’s gonna get ugly with Boutros Bubba, Fine China Superbone and Katadreuffe. But there will also be some lushus spacing out situations going on with Hydrus and Puin + Hoop live sets. And to top that off, Hunter Complex will present his debut album Hunter Complex this night! An evening not to be missed, we would say! Be welcome from 20:30.
The Dutch magazine Fret reviews three Narrominded releases in their January/February issue. On Retro Retry 2: Another Another Green World: ‘This other other green world doesn’t make you happy; hopefully this gloomy undertone isn’t a prediction for the near future. But besides that, this compilation is cool, relaxed, deep and groovy.’ [read more] They were a little less enthousiastic about Slow Country for Old Men by Psychon: ‘A carefully composed diary that never actually gets exciting, but nonetheless is nice to listen to.’ [read more] However, they recommend Korrels by Living Ornaments: ‘A firm and powerful piece of work.’ [read more] Belgian e-zine Kwadratuur is also very excited about Korrels: ‘The two sound doctors behind this project are very talented.’ And last but not least, the radio program Beautiful Extremes again played some Narrominded tracks: Here Is the Night (Another Version by Spoelstra) by Hunter Complex from the Here Is the Night EP and Huppy Capsule by Garçon Taupe from Split LP #4. Listen to the fragment from the broadcast on January 19 in the player below.
The gallery Delicatessen in Amsterdam released a book with a compilation with tracks by Narrominded artists Coen Oscar Polack and Hunter Complex. For four weeks in a row different music photographers showed their photos at Delicatessen. Each week different musicians and writers where invited to give their response to one or more of the photos shown in the gallery. A week after each opening they read and played their response in the gallery. A very nice book with lots of photos and cool words including a cd-r with 12 tracks is the result of these four weeks. You can buy this book + cd-r in our shop for only 10 euro, but you can also download the whole compilation for free on the Delicatessen website.
Igloo Magazine wrote a very nice profile on Narrominded: ‘Narrominded’s catalogue is diverse; it tests the waters of electronics with some very interesting results. For anyone wanting to discover something new, go no further than this imprint as you are guaranteed to find something that will undoubtedly itch that scratch.’ Also some kind words from Bertels who wrote a review on Last.fm of Spoelstra’s The Almighty Internet release party in SUB071 in Leiden. ‘Yet another great evening at The Black Tower!’ And Beautiful Extremes, the great online radio show hosted by Oscar Smit, played the tracks Huppy Capsule by Garçon Taupe from Split LP #4 and Here Is the Night (Cosmic Manifestation Mix by Garçon Taupe) by Hunter Complex from the Here Is the Night EP. Listen to the fragment from the broadcast on January 12 in the player below.
Some Narrominded related press in the first week of 2010! Newspaper Haarlems Dagblad published a small article about Garçon Taupe’s election for best dance track of 2009 and his contributions to Poke 20 and Retro Retry 2. Read the article here. Belgian website Kwadratuur reviews Retro Retry 2: ‘This pleasant listen brings you contemporary and slightly futuristic electronics. This album makes a very nice blueprint for the latest generation of laptop artists in the Netherlands.’ USA based webzine PopMatters has some doubts about the album: ‘Too much context gets sacrificed for too little connection’. And finally, the Dutch website Festivalinfo writes: ‘Narrominded again presents a delicious collection of underground tracks on their fourth Split LP. Maybe the disadvantage of the Split LP format is that the styles don’t match completely, but the electro fan will find two great EP’s here anyway.’ There are also some charts going on: Split LP #4 holds a #2 position on OOR’s Underground Top 5, and Garçon Taupe’s Lobo holds a #8 in Remute’s RA DJ Charts. Also, the radio program Beautiful Extremes, hosted by Oscar Smit, played the tracks Lobo by Garçon Taupe and Here Is the Night (Coen Oscar Polack’s Morning Version) by Hunter Complex from the Here Is the Night EP. Listen to the fragment from the broadcast on January 5 in the player below.
The Vital Weekly, the oldest online source for music reviews, reviewed the Here Is the Night EP by Hunter Complex: ‘Altogether it made me very anxious to hear his album.’ Read the whole review here. Here Is the Night EP is available on cd and as a free mp3 download (direct link to zip file with mp3’s and artwork).
