TRESPASSERS W / THE CONSPIRACY
SPLIT (7″EP)
TRESPASSERS W
Laan van Merdervoort
Sonia Szewcjyk’s Ballet School
Line-up:
Cor Gout: vocals
Lukas Simonis: guitar
Dolf: bass
Cor H.: drums
Peter Haex: trombone, euphorium
Frans Friederich: trumpet, fluegel horn
Henk Bakker: bass clarinet
Recorded and produced by Dolf, Koeinverdhuur, Purmerend
THE CONSPIRACY
Citadel of Dreams
Not in This House
Front cover photo: Ada Fesevur.
Artwork: Art Never Sleeps.
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Reviews in English: 2___________________________________________________________________________
NEWSLETTER, 1994:
THE TRESPASSERS W SIDE
LAAN VAN MEERDERVOORT and SONIA SZWCJYK’S BALLET SCHOOL are new songs which be used for an opera about The Hague, to performed in The Hague in September 1998. In this context the songs will be in Dutch, but for the single the Trespassers W chose the English versions (it’s an international project, that’s why).
The ‘Laan van Merdervoort’ is the longest street in Europe, it cuts The Hague in two halves, from north to south, creating not only a geographic, but also a sociographic division, because ‘down’ this line people tend to be ‘upper class’ or at least well to do, whereas ‘above’ the line (eastward) people tend to be middle class or labour class/unemployed. Of course, this is black & white, but next to the truth it is certainly!
SONIA SZEWCJYK was a flamboyant red haired ballet teacher. Cor Gout’s sister went to her ballet school and told him about her, ‘vision’ on arts, which he didn’t quite understand at the time (he was very small then), but which he always remembered, because they had the same picturesque and visual contents as for instance Alice in Wonderland and Le Petit Prince (books which Cor loved, but never understood until he was much older than when he first read them).
The music of ‘Laan’ was composed by Dolf Planteijt, who recently made a brilliant musical score for ‘Chesea Girl’, a music-theatre-piece on NICO (of Velvet Underground). [Dolf is also a famous sound engineer for the Dutch band The Ex]. ‘Sonia’ was mainly composed by Lukas Simonis who was involved in ‘Chelsea Girl’ as a guitarist and performer. Cor Gout had his share in the vocal melodies and he wrote the lyrics (as usual).
THE CONSPIRACY SIDE
« NEVER LOSE THE MAGIC,
THE MYSTERY.
NEVER LOSE THE WAY TO THE CITADEL,
CITADEL OF DREAMS… »
« Great Music & Vocals » (Marc E. Smith / The Fall)
« There is simply no one else like them… Each song is completely distinctive… Intelligent lyrics and powerful music… The best band I have heard all year. » (Shove Zine, UK)
« Oh, England, let this band be a new start. » (Lord Litter, Germany)
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SHOVE issue 6, zine, UK:
Metal, Grunge, Punk, Rock, Indie, Alternative, all things cool and politically aware!
The Conspiracy and Trespassers W – Split EP (Vinyl) Pink Lemon Records
Yeah, I’m reviewing everything in pairs today! This arrived the day after Steve’s EP which pissed my postman off endlessly, because for two days in a row he couldn’t fit the mail through the letterbox. This release definitely gets a thumbs up ‘cos The Conspiracy are fabulous and Trespassers W are rather cool too. There are two top songs by both bands. The Conspiracy contribution is « Citadel of Dreams’ and ‘Not In This House.’ This was actually the first time I’d heard ‘Citadel…’ but it was most definitely woth the wait. It has a really psychedelic, poppy sound and an excellent example of why everyone should own a Conspiracy album. ‘Not In This House’ is also featured on the album ‘Poison Crawl’ which you should all buy! This was also the first time I’d heard Trespassers W ever, I think they’re from Holland but I’m not sure… They’ve got and excellent and very distinctive sound. The first track is ‘Laan van Merdervoort’ which reminds ma 50’s/60’s French film soundtrack! The second sond is ‘Sonia Szewjyk’s Ballet School’ which is in a similar vein… but much darker. I’m really not sure how to describe their sound… it sort of hovers somewhere between an experimental Bis without the electro-pop bits and slow reggae or punk! Both tracks are really good and it’s worth cheking them simply because they sound unique!
For more information on this release, write to:
Pink Lemon Records, Gommernsche Strass 7, 39245 Pretzien, Germany.
Or directly to the bands:
The Conspiracy, Duncan Pope, 8 Bellows Park, Brixton, England
Trespassers W, Mondain Den Haag, Javastraat 27a, 2585 AC Den Haag, The Netherlands (I think… ‘cos it doesn’t say which country on the sleeve and geography never was my strong point).