The Julie Mittens
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With an endearing name like the Julie Mittens, one would expect this Dutch trio to be one of those impossibly cute twee pop bands who play 90-second pop-punk tunes about lollipops and kittens. There are probably forms of music that have less in common with that style than The Julie Mittens, but it’s hard to imagine what they are. Primarily inspired by the free improvisation scene of the ’60s (the members name John Coltrane’s legendary The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording as their direct inspiration), the Julie Mittens are fundamentally a rock power trio with little to no interest in playing rock music.
The four tracks are live-in-the-studio improvisations named after the date they were recorded (tracks one and three are both called “December 12, 2006”) and ranging in length from nine-and-a-half to just over 22 minutes. Guitarist Aart-Jan Schakenbos favors extended drones, often exploring all the harmonic possibilities of a single note for several minutes at a time. Bassist Michael Van Dam and drummer Leo Fabriek disdain the traditional rhythm section role; even on the almost rockist “April 3, 2007,” the shortest and most traditionally structured track here, Fabriek favors machine-gun drum rolls and pealing cymbal crashes over a standard groove, although Van Dam’s hypnotic repeated bass pattern does provide a solid foundation for Fabriek and Schakenbos to wig out over. Crucially, however, that track is about as close as The Julie Mittens ever gets to the pure unstructured noise that many assume free improvisationm by definition, must be. The other three pieces are exercises in tension and release, with all three players exhibiting admirable control and collective skill.
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The Julie Mittens
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zwerfafval wrote:
damn shame they split up. one of the best live bands in holland for the last 5-6 years.
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xdreamx19 wrote:
for similar music check my group http://www.last.fm/group/Trippy+Jam
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Smirnon wrote:
so these chaps only record their live performances or do they actually also record something in a studio?
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coltraneisgod wrote:
intoxicating sound.
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Recent Activity
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INEFFABLE_ALIAS added The Julie Mittens to INEFFABLE_ALIAS’s library. Sunday afternoon
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washer__ uploaded TJM to The Julie Mittens’s images. last month
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zwerfafval added The Julie Mittens to the lineup of Sightings at Occii. September 2011
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FlipmetdeHoed tagged The Julie Mittens with ‘netherlands’. August 2011
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FlipmetdeHoed added The Julie Mittens to FlipmetdeHoed’s library. August 2011
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thepuddleparade added The Julie Mittens to the lineup of ATE THIS FESTIVAL at Vechtclub. July 2011
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norecess added The Julie Mittens to the lineup of The Ex + The Julie Mittens at LVC. June 2011
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BackwardVoyager added The Julie Mittens to BackwardVoyager’s library. June 2011
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perfectmindfuck tagged The Julie Mittens with psychedelic rock and noise rock. May 2011
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xdreamx19 connected The Julie Mittens to the group Trippy Jam. March 2011
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