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Review by Andreas Ervik for Norwegian music magazine !Hissig

Last year I stumbled across the music of Dutch jazz artist Bram Stadhouders. He has been a star guitarist since his early childhood. Before he had turned ten he had won prizes in classical guitar and jazz. When he was eleven he toured with his own rock band, and the next year with a jazz band.

Young rock talents have an unfortunate tendency to start experimenting with drugs, as much as with musical structures. Young jazz wonders, on the other hand, discover free-improvisation, and therefore have no need to resort to chemical substances to reach ecstasy. From Stadhouders was 17 years old he started improvising, and experimenting with electronics.

The artist is now 20 years old, and here is his first CD with the Tonelist Trio, which also consists of Onno Govart on drums and Jasper Lekkerk on keyboards. Stadhouders plays guitar and guitarsynthesizer connected to a computer. The trio plays music with complex structures, which on initial listening sounds impenetrable. But, the suggestive sound is easy to disappear in, so the music floats past with as effortless ease as the clouds pictured on the album cover. Stadhouders warm, electronic guitarsound is in the centre, completed by carefully rattling cymbals, soft drumming and colouring keyboard effects.

Of course the musicians sometimes fumble, and there are moments when the music seems to lack direction. Nevertheless, they interact excellently with each other, which is rather admirable when you take into account how young they are, and the short time they have been playing together. Just listen to how the track “Groonemin” after about three minutes explode into feedback, which after a while is followed by something I would characterize as harmonic noise. It sounds quite like a climax from a song by Sigur Ros, with guitar played with a violin bow.

Another natural reference point to this young trio is Supersilent, but then a friendlier version of the Norwegian electroimprov-quartet. Stadhouders’ music could perhaps be compared to Supersilent’s releases 5 and 6, and it has the same ether, over-worldly quality.

If you do not understand the music, then listen to it again. And again. After a while the improvised pieces will open up, like the flowers on the back of the album cover. Because, this is music that demands a lot of the listener. If one does not focus it will become a undifferentiated mass, just as a clouded sky might seem, when you just let it float over your head without looking at it. But it is possible to discover fantastic formations and incredible colours in the music, just like you can in clouds, by paying attention and being observant.

The structures and timbres that Bram Stadhouders’ trio use have few cultural associations attached to them, which means that it is easy for the listener to create his or her own pictures. This trio is going to reach far; _Tonelist_ is merely the beginning, but they have already created an album of indescribable beauty, which calms the listener by moving him or her. Bram Stadhouders is going to continue developing as an artist, and I for one am going to follow him.