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CD review OOR Magazine, October 2011
Transnslation:
Truus plus instruments
(Dewclaw Ditties/Import)
Truus de Groot! Young readers will be scratching their heads. Those of us who need reading glasses are making a victory dance. Truus was the lead singer of groundbreaking new wave band Nasmak some 30 years ago. She went her own intercontinental way 30 years ago with her own project “Plus Instruments”. Using New York City as her base, with member of Sonic Youth nonetheless! She toyed around with Cow punk and exotica (to name a few), now she lives on a ranch in Southern California and is checking in with this inviting record. It is reverting to the electronica of back then and this in 2011, it feels almost primitive. But don’t get me wrong, it is quite charming. Towards the end of the record the exotica genre prevails and reminds me of a mono version of Stereolab. The title track “Dance with Me” conveys an odd mood yet it feels good and that is the charm of this record.
Jacob Haagsma |
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CD Review Fret Magazine (The Netherlands) 2010
translation
Truus, known as the front woman of the band Nasmak in the 80’s, was inspired by the lost paradise and natural wonder of Salton Sea. She create this CD filled with mysterious soundscapes. The compositions were created mostly by the sounds of unpredictable instruments, such as the Crackle Synthesizer. In addition to that she used various percussion instruments made from found objects at the Salton Sea by collaborator and artist Bosko Hrnjak. The most surprising element is her forceful vocals, exciting, vivacious and merciless. |
Interview with Truus in
Dutch Fret Magazine (in Dutch) 2009
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Review by Renate Sun-Louw
Fret Magazine 2009- The Netherlands
Truus - perhaps the most common Dutch name -
but Truus is anything but common. During the 70's
she was prolific in the punk, new/no wave and later
the Euro beat scene. Many still remember her
as the lead singer of Nasmak. In 1981 she left
for the US and nothing much has been heard from her
since. That is too bad because we could
someone with the indomitable spirit she has.
Lucky for all we now have Ritualis, original Exotica
that is sometimes dreamy, sensual, obscure and
haunting. Truus adds her own dimensions to
this genre. The subtitle: :Ancient Legends,
Strange Myths, Forbidden Desire sets the stage for
the ambience of this album. With the renewed
interest in Exotica in the Netherlands Ritualis
should appeal to more than a few music lovers. |
Review by Jeff Berry (aka Beachbum Berry) author
of the Groglog5.0
Ritualis out of 5 stars
Music To Mai Tai By, April 26, 2009
By Jeff Berry
Martin Denny,
Arthur Lyman, Les Baxter, Yma Sumac, Bas Sheva, Korla Pandit --
the gods and goddesses of midcentury exotica music have all gone
to their eternal reward, but not before leaving us with a
copious catalogue of Tiki tunage. With this genre, familiarity
breeds content: we could listen to Denny's "Afrodesia," to take
just one example, until the canoes come home.
A new generation of exotica musicians apparently feels the same
way; retro-minded stylists such as the conservatory trained
jazzbos Waitiki, the Esquivel-obsessed Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica,
and the hyperkinetic Tikiyaki Orchestra all create neo-exotica
music that not only celebrates the work of their idols, but
often tops it.
The current queen of Oceanic easy listening is a former punk
rocker from Holland named Truus. Her new CD, Ritualis, goes
beyond the mythopoetic rhythms of her previous releases,
Muzotica and Rancho Exotica. Way beyond. How to describe its
soothing yet unsettling sound? Its hypnoxotic, entropical air of
zombacious Melanesiancholy?
Ritualis is a dream of mysterious things that go bump in the
Jungian night, conjuring ancient tribal tones from our
collective unconscious and freighting them with lyrics full of
modern longing for primitive passion. In other words, it's
perfect music to Mai Tai by.
Review by Sven Kirsten - Author of The Book of
Tiki
Sophisticated and minimalist, whimsical and meditative, modern and
primitive, these are the exotic sounds of Truus de Groot. A world
apart, they create their own universe for the listener to explore,
a place as mysterious as it is playful. They will make you feel
like a European intellectual...or idiot savant, you choose
Review by Jeff Berry (aka Beachbum Berry) author
of the Groglog
What hath Dutch ex-punk rock diva Truus De Groot wrought? One
thing "Rancho Exotica" isn't is yet another postmodern
rerun of the usual Martin Denny lounge music. Leave that to the
retro remix crowd. Truus has what they don't -- an imagination. If
you're looking for something new and different to mix your Mai
tai's by, look no further. Truus has created a new kind of
exotica music, a sonic dreamscape at once primordial and
futuristic, ethereal and corporeal, amped up and mellowed
out. It's the soundtrack for the life you wish you were
leading: a life of moonlit nights on uncharted isles, of
exploring ruined cities in jungle overgrowth, of traveling through
space in interstellar overdrive. My favorite tracks --
"Visitors," "Ua Ahi," and "Mystery Isle" -- put me in a fugue
state I never want out of. And what an orchestra she summons from
the void: Kafiristani monks on horns, Inca shepherds on flute,
Meiji geishas on strings, Alpine maidens on vocals, and ancient
Marquesan warriors, Bantu chieftains, and prehistoric locusts on
percussion -- all mixed down by alien engineers from Alpha Ceti,
in a Chinese opium den recording studio. Check it out!
First there
was Martin Denny, then later there was Throbbing Gristle paying
homage to Martin Denny and hailing him as their prime inspiration.
At first the connection might have been tenuous and hard to
believe but Industrial tribal music owes a lot to Exotica.
What Truus has brought to the table is a new Exotica for the 21st
century applying electronic beats and tribal/industrial thinking
to the loungy/jazzy Exotica realm. The results are pleasant and
authentic establishing Truus as one of the very few modern
musicians worthy of owning the genre description of EXOTICA.
(along with Ken Sasaki, Don Tiki, Ape, Combustible Edison, and a
few others)
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