Early last year, “Hordijk, Vol. 1” was officially released by Flag Day Recordings on February 11th. On September 6th 2022, Rob Hordijk sadly passed away. I think I’ve written about him in earlier related reviews, but I can say that Rob was not only one of the nicest people I knew but also a really inspiring and kindred spirit. He had so many ideas and an open mind … So everybody owning machines he developed or designed will at some point have met him and probably think the same. This CD proves this fact—thirteen tracks by artists working with different kinds of equipment. Of course, the Hordijk synthesizer is featured with its beautiful sound, the Blippoo with its freakiness, and the Benjolin with its almost uncontrollable behaviour. But most of all, thirteen artists that miss him and created a piece with him in mind, for him or even with him. And this love and respect is audible all through the CD.
“Hordijk Vol. 2” is a must-have for everybody intrigued by sound synthesis. It’s fantastic to hear how one system can go this many ways. Experimental minimal drones and clicks by Robert Coburn are a huge contradiction compared to the ambience of Bruno Liberda who should be considered noise at moments. Richard Scott’s “Stardust For RH” with its beautiful basses or maybe “Probability No. 3” by Davor Gadze, where the aleatoric use of Hordijk machines is explored. The whole CD – as well as Vol. 1, might I say – is about the beauty of the purity of sounds. You will not hear a Hordijk synth over compressed, making bass lines in a techno track. One simply doesn’t do that. It’s about the love for sound.
One track I would like to put in the spotlight before pressing play again is “Put The Red Plug” by Felix Kubin. If you bought a Hordijk Synth from Rob, you were invited for a weekend in his studio, and he would teach you about the machine. Because ‘if it takes 20 years to learn how to play the violin, why would it take less time to learn how to play a synth’. Felix recorded those sessions and used samples in his track. Hearing Rob’s voice again made me smile. Typical Rob.
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