The State-X New Forms festival for experimental music, based in The Hague, introduced its very own band and artist contest in 2009: X-Vektor. Two aspiring Dutch artists were the winners of the contest, and the reward was not only a performance on the festival itself, last December, but [...]]]>

Machinist & Mendel Kaelen side label

The State-X New Forms festival for experimental music, based in The Hague, introduced its very own band and artist contest in 2009: X-Vektor. Two aspiring Dutch artists were the winners of the contest, and the reward was not only a performance on the festival itself, last December, but also a side on a 10″ split that was released on the first day of the festival.

The winners were the drone/ambient duo of Machinist & Mendel Kaelen, and quirky rhythmic electro project Boom Boom du Terre. The result shows that it is indeed quite worthwhile to hold band battles like this, for it allows promising new acts to reach a wider audience.

Boom Boom du Terre side label

The A side holds the first collaborative studio recording by drone artist Machinist and Mendel Kaelen, resulting in a varied and highly sophisticated mix of field recordings, deep drones and pulses, and guitar wails that almost sound like brass instruments. Certainly the most advanced recording by Machinist yet.

Boom Boom du Terre delivers two shorter tracks of electro with a strong rhythmic emphasis, mixing straightforward beats, chiptune-like synth sounds, and sampling.

Vinyl lovers that are interested in hearing something new from the Dutch experimental music scene are recommended to give this 10″, limited to 500 copies, a chance. The Machinist website is the place to go if you’d like to buy a copy.