The 17th release on the Kringloop Kassette label from Nijmegen is for a musician from the same town. In 46 minutes, Bertin van Vliet gives you a good feeling with happy minimal instrumental pop songs, 10 in total. Pop songs, you say? Yes, and I am not afraid to review these positively. Because Bertin does precisely what the music industry refuses to do: He does something people don’t expect, and he does not follow the herd. Experimentation, making statements and thinking outside the box is what people in higher places don’t want you to do. And as soon as you do it, you will be shunned.
Bertin can do everything all at once, and those dynamics reflect in his music. As mentioned, these 10 tracks, all simply numbered, incorporate basic elements of pop songs and are characterised by their minimalistic and experimental nature. Bertin’s personal Bandcamp (worth scrolling through as a Visitor) tells us about the background. ‘Outsider electronics […] made with Casio keyboards, analogue synthesisers and random electronics. Song-based pop music and instrumental miniatures. Sample-based electronics.’ So don’t expect highly overproduced works, but lo-fi pearls. The stuff that doesn’t get played on the radio, but should.
The amount of Casio is there, but I think I also heard guitar and maybe even banjo, glockenspiel, a recorder, and field recordings from the kitchen. This release encompasses a wide range of time measures and emotional layers, from happy to sad songs to even dancey thingys, making it everywhere. And Bertin knows precisely what he’s doing, THAT is what you can hear. There is one track with ‘vocals’ (“#9”), but I’m unsure if they should be classified as vocals; it’s more accurately described as samples forming another layer in the track. It is the most experimental (read: unstructured or chaotic) track on here, and it’s easy to be a personal favorite that way. But that’s composition-wise.
In 45 minutes, 10 tracks and no vocal parts, Bertin knows how to deliver a powerful message. Carpe fucking diem. Be who you are, do what you do and don’t restrict yourself. Because in the end, you’ll end up on the B-side while you know you deserve to be on the A-list.
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