Pretty Ugly Stakattak, Plus Instruments, Dorpsstraat 3

Stakatak

Stakattak is the wild Belgian family trash pop trio and self-proclaimed predecessor of Raout Rock. They released three albums together - No Exit (2020), Decoy (2021), This Real (2023) - with multiple independent labels from Belgium, the Netherlands and France (Rockerill Records, Love Mazout, Stadskanker, Bagdaddy Records, Do It Youssef, Les Clampins d'Abord, Hyperjungle). Expect songs that have been reduced to the essentials and explosive live shows that are unleashed from a stripped-down set-up. With drums, vocals and guitar they twist reality into an infectious trip. W, Stakattak is the wild Belgian family trash pop trio and self-proclaimed predecessor of Raout Rock. They released three albums together - No Exit (2020), Decoy (2021), This Real (2023) - with multiple independent labels from Belgium, the Netherlands and France (Rockerill Records, Love Mazout, Stadskanker, Bagdaddy Records, Do It Youssef, Les Clampins d'Abord, Hyperjungle). Expect songs that have been reduced to the essentials and explosive live shows that are unleashed from a stripped-down set-up. With drums, vocals and guitar they twist reality into an infectious trip.

Plus instruments

Truus de Groot, born in Eindhoven but based in the United States, has been an unsung hero of experimental and underground music culture for decades. Since 1978, she has been involved in curating the Plus Instruments project: a project that, together with a range of collaborators, has inspired innovation throughout the world of electronic music. At the time, the sheer free will of a group like Plus Instruments was virtually unheard of: their performances were largely improvised and their sound captivating. Her profile is quiet and Plus Instruments is constantly changing. She explains the rotation and progressive nature of the group. "It always comes from my own initiative; I decide who I play with. I believe that gives it new life every time. I was always more into improvisation with a minimal approach, less structured, more groove." After a few successful years as a band member of cult classic Nasmak and as the reigning queen of the 'Ultra' movement, Truus left the Netherlands in 1981 at the age of 21. She traveled to New York and started delving into the nightlife. and clubs of the city that never sleeps. Within weeks, she put together a new Plus Instruments lineup with David Linton (Rhys Chatham) and Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), yielding the timeless Plus Instruments classic “February-April '81,” which has been played countless times over the years. has been reissued. Over the years, Plus Instruments has released a number of albums with a variety of collaborators from all over the world. Plus Instruments has been active on stage and in the studio for the past (almost) 5 decades, with no sign of stopping! In 2024, Truus will be joined by multi-instrumentalists Kathy Ziegler (US) and Peter Sijbenga from Dockumer Lokaeltsje (NL) for a promising set of old, new and unheard Plus Instruments!

Dorpstraat 3

On a quiet day, some friends walked past the vacant building at Dorpsstraat 3, where the old house of the village priest stood, where they had grown up. After wandering around the dusty house for a while, they ended up in the basement where, unlike the rest of the house, they didn't just find what they expected. The basement was filled with analog synthesizers, rhythm boxes and a large record collection. Among this record collection they found artists such as Grauzone, ZZ & de Maskers, Kraftwerk and Erkin Koray.

Inspired by the record collection and the amount of empty wine bottles in the cellar, they wrote a song about the priest in question and named themselves after the building where it all started, Dorpsstraat 3.

The music of Dorpsstraat 3 balances between post-punk and synthwave, drawing inspiration from different types of music that come from very different places geographically and temporally and mixing everything together. Sometimes it seems like these influences were always meant to be together, and sometimes it confuses you. This is how Dorpsstraat tells 3 stories that you have not heard before.