at the close of every day

the new night music
at the close of every day (atcoed), existing of minco eggersman (volkoren) and axel kabboord (this beautiful mess), made their debut with their album “zalig zijn de armen van geest” at the end of 2002 and their ep “if you spoke to me” later on in 2003, which were received well worldwide, containing sober, melancholic songs reminiscent of low, red house painters and smog.
“zalig” was licensed to labels in the benelux, the uk, the usa, switserland, austria, france, italy, germany, spain, portugal, argentina, chile, mexico and norway. their version of the church’s “under the milky way” was regularly played at the australian radio, their original “high school lovers usa”, released on the american deep elm label, was licensed to mtv for the real world, among others. at the close of 2003 they did a successful european tour supporting 16 horsepower which was the reason for releasing their live-cd/dvd “the sound of someone watching me” (registered live in brussels featuring david eugene edwards on guitar), while singer/drummer minco also found the time to release his acoustic solo debut “the wagon fair”. this all took place, shortly after the release of the bands' highly acclaimed the full-length “the silja symphony”.
“the silja symphony” was inspired by a documentary on the disaster with the ferry “estonia” in 1994, and is also available in a limited, calendar-shaped memorial edition. the songs, some of which written before “zalig”, deal with loss, hope, faith and the things that pass. all songs somehow form one compelling whole, from the instrumental opening “the departure” to the closing sailor song “all things end in waters”.
musically atcoed has grown beyond “zalig” and is more familiar to “if you spoke to me”. “the silja symphony” brings to mind the inventiveness and vulnerability of ida or low, i.e. in “new day revival” or the wonderful “higher, brighter”, it rocks like early pavement or pedro the lion (“september grass”) but above all, in its intimacy, combining a dark, hoarse voice with warm brass instruments, it has its own unique sound.
“the silja symphony” is the voyage of a small ship on a violent, cold sea, bringing comfort and hot chocolate to all drowning people who are taken aboard. the album has been released in the benelux (volkoren), japan (soul fighting music) and israël and greece (men of israël records) in january, and will be in spain, portugal, mexico, chile and argentina (astro discos) in october and in germany, switzerland, austria, france, italy (volkoren) and the usa (lo-fidelity) in november later on in 2004.
in the meantime “the silja symhony” has won vpro’s “album of the year award” and the dutch television (vpro’s ‘r.a.m.’) has broadcast a documentary about the band.
2005 saw the light of the bands' fully dutch-language choir book “de geluiden van weleer” (“the sounds of back when”), again receiving much recognition in the dutch speaking countries. the album is also host to a duet with kindred spirit spinvis and a cover song of a famous dutch band called "doe maar".
high time that “leaves you puzzled” be released, which was released in april, 2007. the educated listener will by now understand that atcoed has again avoided the most obvious next step. the twosome appeared to have found their niche on the verge between still pop noir and catchy melodic postrock, but the on the new album a sudden, smoky breeze of ambient and rusty electronica blows. independently from each other, both atcoed members proved to have been enchanted by the unconventional song structures and soundscapes from the electronic edge, so they asked a number of befriended artists to bring atcoed's repertoire onto their surgeon's tables. how they eventually fit the pieces back together, you will hear on “leaves you puzzled”. despite the different directions the album takes (from an ambient “zalig zijn de armen van geest” on behalf of kettel to a rudimentary, almost bigbeat-esque “the maria tales” by solex), the combination of intimacy and alienation which is so characteristic for atcoed has remained. sometimes the versions stay close to home (sylvain chauveau on “ik weet”), sometimes they wander off beyond recognition (styrofoam creates something almost danceable out of “rain or shine”) but when the dust settles and the pieces fall into place, it is still atcoed that leaves you puzzled.
leaves you puzzled has been released in the netherlands and belgium in a limited edition by volkoren. no calendar (the silja symphony), no choir book (de geluiden van weleer), this time around it's a real jigsaw puzzle. later on in 2007 artunion records released this album as a double cd with all the original versions on the japanese market.
leaves you puzzled contains remixes by spinvis, donato wharton, solex, hood, styrofoam, kettel, sylvain chauveau, hillmadelow, marshall watson, mormo, dialect, stafron hakon, wixel, 01:00 a.m. and diefenbach.
early 2008 the twosome return with fresh goods, presenting the thirteen-track, fully english-language album “troostprijs” (“consolation prize”). on troostprijs atcoed again goes to battle with its paradoxes. a winner new album with “consolation prize” as a misleading title? an english-language ship sailing under a dutch flag? a winter record in spring? liturgical artwork covering a raw, mundane record? and that’s just the outside.
the true paradoxes reside on the inside of minco eggersman’s universe, of which the listener again receives an uncomfortably intimate view. troostprijs is thematically characterized by meekness, lack of direction and succumbing frame works and certainties. still these themes are voiced with a cohesiveness not previously heard in atcoed’s work. the urgency of “zalig zijn de armen van geest” resurfaces. the copperwinds breathe agelessness as on “the silja symphony”. reminiscent of “de geluiden van weleer” are the feral, rudimentary pop songs on one hand (“it’s like fire”, “i need to break your heart”) and the roots influences on the other (the ghost of ‘wovenhand’ blows more distinctly than ever, in the acoustic fingerpicking on “birds of a feather” as well as in the aggravated delay on “you are alright to me”). troostprijs is passing hints at all atcoed’s earlier albums, but sounds like none of them after all. as yet undisclosed inspiration was found in the flutes and brass band sounds from minco’s childhood days, which he finally seems to have been reconciled with. does atcoed personify the rain soaked eight-year-old that daddy made to march with his little drum around the village? or does embracing the memory perhaps offer a better consolation prize than forgetting?
for the first few turns, troostprijs may sound almost rash and resigned, still it harbors concealed melodic riches greater than we’ve heard from atcoed so far. troostprijs is more humble and earthly than previous works (only “little do i know” has a glimpse of eternity read between the lines), still its serenity stirs up a silent euphoria, for example in the captivating “the great sum of all beauty”. troostprijs is a record about reaching the finish line, but “even if we win, we win with our heads down” (the title track).
troostprijs cannot be translated, but is universal as a language of reflection. troostprijs appropriately stops the counter at thirteen songs. if that’s no guarantee for luck, we don’t know what is...
discography:
2002 - “the pet series” (compilation) 2002 - “zalig zijn de armen van geest” (cd/lp) 2003 - “the emo diaries 9” (compilation) 2003 - “if you spoke to me” (ep/lp) 2004 - “the silja symphony” (cd/lp) 2004 - “the sound of someone watching me” (cd/dvd) 2005 - "de geluiden van weleer" (cd) 2007 - "leaves you puzzled" (cd) 2008 - "troostprijs" (cd)