Opening my studio for the public is always a good excuse to tidy up I guess… Other artists opening their studio in Havenkwartier this year: Aukje Grouwstra (Baufrau), Femke Teussink, Elise van de Linden, Margot Olde Loohuis and Babet Olde Weghuis. Well worth it!

Open: Saturday June 19 – Sunday June 20, 12:00 – 17:00 hrs. All participating artists are mentioned in a free magazine, including their studio adresses and a map (see pictures below).

Bigger version. For reading. In Dutch. Why artists want to live and work in Deventer.

In addition to my work for the Herfsttonen festival in Okkenbroek (November 2009), I now released a Herfsttonen album through my record label. It features studio recordings of the compositions made by Paul de Jong (The Books), Bram van den Oever (Gluid) and MiaMia. Order Herfsttonen overhere!

I did the design and the photography for the handmade digipak and booklet.

If you want to read, you better check the bigger version.

It has become some sort of tradition. Every year Ron van der Ende collects Studio Playlists from his friends and puts them on his blog. What music did we all listen to in the studio this year and what were the favorites? The best playlists on the web! Not all playlists are published yet (usually there’s much more to come!), so check back regularly for more interesting music tips. Or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Check my 2009 list overhere. And here are my 2008 and 2007 lists if you’re interested.

I meant to release this on December 5 to make this a nice Saint Nicholas present (get it?), but then I realized I wouldn’t have time to release it on that date. I have kids too you know… gotta be realistic about these things.

So here it is! The 26th esc.rec. release and a special gift to you: The 21st Century – Painting With The Saints. Go get it now (or wait for December 5). Hope you enjoy it!

In the past few months esc.rec. an productiehuis ON have been steadily working on the release of ON’s Poke 20 project. Poke 20 is the sequel of the C64 Orchestra project in which a classical orchestra played newly arranged C64 game music, such as International Karate, Monty On The Run and Myth. In Poke 20 we re-returned the C64 Orchestra version of the Monty On The Run track to contemporary electronic composers and musicians to create their own remix version.

And now it’s finally here! Poke 20 actually became quite the novelty in on-line music distribution; a free download album combined with a physical art project. Ontwerpatelier designed a Poke 20 poster. This poster serves as packaging for a blank CD-r. Poster and blank CD-r are both silk-screened and together they make a nice piece of art in a limited (and numbered) edition of 200 copies. You can order your limited edition poster and blank cd here (for only 10 euro ex. shipping) and burn your Poke 20 downloaded tracks on it to complete your own personal piece of art. Click here for the making of and here for more pictures of the finished product.

The collaboration with productiehuis ON went very smooth and pleasant so far (thanks Bas, Rob and Mano!). Although we did run into some obstacles along the way, temporarily slowing us down, collabs like this seriously improve my possibilities as a small independant label owner.

Some time ago, Restore I was part of the Platform 21=Repairing project in Amsterdam. I was pleasantly surprised when a good photo of my chair somehow became a popular illustration for this project and started popping up everywhere in magazines, newspapers and on the internet. In addition it was widely used to promote the Premsela design forum about repairing in Milan. The kind people of Platform 21 just sent me their extensive clippings. Here are some of them…

My Rockin’ Chair got published in this beautiful book, with a truly excellent selection of contemporary furniture design. I’m quite honored to be in there!

“Once Upon a Chair is an international up-to-the minute survey of contemporary furniture design. The book captures the zeitgeist of this rigorous industry by examining current trends and presenting pioneering examples by the world’s most influential designers and emerging talents. The collected works indicate a recognisable shift towards progressive responsible designs that make a social impact and the revival of artisanal craft. It further explores how designers are focusing more on process-driven and storytelling concepts as well as the continuing flirtation with material and technological experimentation.”

You can order it overhere, or at your favourite bookstore (ISBN: 978-3-89955-256-0).