Whoop! There it is. NEW 6.0. Get it here. Or here.

N.E.W. (Nieuwe Electronische Waar) is a platform for producers of electronic music from the East of The Netherlands. N.E.W. is a collaboration betweenproductiehuis ON, Burgerweeshuis and Doornroosje.

After a year of producing, uploading and voting, a professional jury (including me) selected 11 tracks to be featured on the  NEW 6.0 release. After being invited by the N.E.W. platform, esc.rec. stepped in as a free download distribution partner for this release in a support-your-local-scene kinda way.

The NEW 6.0 release won’t be part of the official esc.rec. catalogue, but is distributed by esc.rec. as a N.E.W. product. This is mainly because esc.rec. hasn’t got complete control over the content and aesthetics of a N.E.W. release, which just so happens to be the only benchmark for esc.rec. releases.

Now that I’ve tasted some of this N.E.W. collaboration, I can’t help but feeling somewhat discontent (weird isn’t it?). Not because of the tracks mind you! There are some real perls here. But I’m sure going to try to up my game a bit to see how esc.rec. can contribute more productively in shaping up for the upcoming NEW 7.0 release. My appetite for improvement has now been whet… be ready for it.

It was only 3 years back that I designed and produced the interior for KunstGoud, the goldsmith studio/jewelry shop of Jeannette Knigge in Deventer. Some time ago she suddenly got the opportunity to expand, thus tripling(!) the total amount of workspace. To achieve this, there were some walls that needed knocking down. Some extensive reconstruction was necessary too, because the extra space (located behind the original one) was in real bad shape.

A new interior design was also needed to make the newly created space function as a whole again. This time I worked together with interior architect Kasper Spormann on the design, a very pleasant collaboration!

In our new design we pursued an equal mix between the tightness of a jewelry shop, the roughness of a workshop and a pleasurable environment to design custom jewelry with clients and give courses to students. The majority of extra space created in this expansion is utilised for more workbenches. KunstGoud now has room for more students (a grand total of 10) to attend her thriving goldsmith courses and workshops.

Because the budget was tight, we salvaged and re-used anything we could from the original interior. Another challenging aspect was the long, long shape of the extended space. We needed an attention-grabber in the back to draw customers all the way in…

This is a view from the entrance. We constructed walls around the workbenches to avoid clutter and unify the interior. Makes it look tight. This first segment mainly functions as the shop/studio with displays, cash register and Jeannette’s own workbench (with spraypainted KunstGoud logo). This workbench (and Jeannette) is the first thing you see when you enter.

These are the display cabinets I had already designed and produced for the previous interior. They have proven to be considered a beautiful eyecatcher and a functional display, so there was no question we had to re-use them in the new design.

Walking into the second segment we now find an abundance of walled workbenches. All of which were custom made by Jeannette and me. The floor doesn’t look great, but there was no budget for a new floor and these tiles function quite well as a workfloor. The straight path between the workbenches directs the customer’s attention to the (day)light and colour accents in the back.

We decided on orange as the only signal colour in the KunstGoud interior (mainly based on the availablity of suitable second hand orange chairs). The orange patch (on the floor and toilet wall/door) defines the area and lures customers further inside.

Kasper Spormann designed this large round table and lamp. The tabletop is custom made by Dewever & Zwart. The lamp is custom made by Kasper and me. It is a good place to e.g. speak/design with clients or have lunch with workshop students. The patio/garden outside is going to be addressed later on, which is definitely worth it.

Looking back to the entrance and shop windows. And Jeannette of course…
Please visit KunstGoud and see for yourself. Here‘s the address.

In this cold December month two small independent labels from the East of The Netherlands flirt with eachother. The result is a free download compilation named Flakes, officially released today, December 18.

Please download from www.escrec.com and/or www.lomechanik.com.

Esc.rec. and Lomechanik have a considerable overlap in their musical preference and besides a couple of artists in their catalogue they also share a mutual interest and vision on current music industry. Their main concern is bringing adventurous music the attention it deserves. If anything, Flakes proves these labels to be open minded music connoisseurs with a joint interest in narrative music.

With many thanks to the artists who contributed to this release, Lomechanik and esc.rec. proudly present this Christmas present to everyone who wants to listen. Enjoy!

In this cold December month two small independent labels from the East of The Netherlands flirt with eachother. The result is a free download compilation named Flakes. It will be released on December 18. You can then download it from www.escrec.com and www.lomechanik.com. Oh, and I designed the artwork for this release, but more on that later.

Esc.rec. and Lomechanik have a considerable overlap in their musical preference and besides a couple of artists in their catalogue they also share a mutual interest and vision on current music industry. Their main concern is bringing adventurous music the attention it deserves.

If anything, Flakes proves these labels to be open minded music connoisseurs with a joint interest in narrative music. With many thanks to the artists who contributed to this release, Lomechanik and esc.rec. proudly present this Christmas present to everyone who wants to listen. The video above is here to wet your appetite… Check back later for the download and enjoy!

It’s that time of the year again. Everybody who’s into music is making and/or reading lists. I usually try to keep as far away of listmaking as possible (what’s the use), but for Studio Playlists by Ron van der Ende I gladly make an exception again. It’s getting to be a yearly tradition. Check out all this great music played by artists in their studio’s again this year! My little list is here (in random order).

Check back often, because many more playlists are likely to surface here in the coming weeks. Tracking back to previous years is also interesting.