reviews

BEEQUEEN REVIEWS

This page features a long list of reviews over the last 20+ years taken from various sources. The reviews are in order of the date of release. If you have additions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Mappa mundi
Beequeen continues Frans de Waard's - the brain behind Korm Plastics - association with the Legendary Pink Dots. Probably the biggest Dots fan around (sorry Carl), Frans has been a faithful documentor of the Dots output. It comes as no surprise that the sleeve credits Phil and Ed Ka-Spel with collaboration on this release as well as use of their studio facilities. Anyway, enough of that. What of Beequeen? Mappa Mundi consists of singular throbbing pulses of improvised electronic dabbling, evolving slowly and almost imperceptivity, with deep subliminal undercurrents. This has the effect of a deprogramming exercise with no melody to distract you. This is not to say it is monotone. The evolution of each side draws you slowly into it, leading you into different areas with ease. It has a similar effect to holophonics (remember that?) with the sound seeming to come at you from within the mom rather than out of the, speakers. The uniformly impeccable sound quality makes this sound almost like a CD, crisp and perfect. An ideal example of its type, it adds up to a lot more than the sum of its parts. Korm Plastics consistently impresses with its high standards and distinctive style. Recommended.
Naked - from Re-Verb August 1991

Stetson
Mort Aux Vaches is a series of recordings specially commissioned for and first broadcast on Dutch radio. Most of the participants treat it as a one-off live' performance doing little to exploit radio's peculiar opportunities. and this disc is no exception. Beequeen have a very dry and experimental approach to sound manipulation, combining Ambient textures, found sound and the like in a very restrained fashion. There's a tentative, humble character to their music which lends the proceedings a curious grace that some post-Industrial contemporaries lack. Unfortunately, they spoil one track by adding tedious taped drivel from the late artist Joseph Beuys.
From Rumore 1997

Sugarbush
Both Beequeen members Frans do Waard and Freek Kinkelaar have been inspired by Joseph Beuys (1921 -1986) this time. This and the three words in the booklet: nature-matter-form indicate that the concept of their third CD is quite conceptual. They decided to cover the song titles of their most cherished songs (e.g. by Neil Diamond, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley), though the original versions can't be recognized in these beautiful organic ambient structures. Beequeen makes music as life seen through a microscope. At first sight nothing happens, but this Dutch duo make you see/hear things a thousand times -better. Mark Poysden (S.T.M.E.), who did the producing, helped them with this as well of course. The album crystallizes to a tapestry of moods, carrying Beequeen's handwriting of processed and degrated sound. Wonderful!
Unknown review

Sugarbush
The latest release of industrial veterans Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar is inspired by and dedicated to Joseph Beuys, the German visual artist whose unconventional and transitory works of art were an attempt to break through society's rationality. This third, Beequeen album is conceptually very much in line with Beuys' philosophy. Coveting the titles of some of their favourite Frank Sinatra, Nell Diamond and Presley songs they start from a commonly known theme, but the great thing about it is they allow a whole new world of musical forms and matters to flourish from it in a composition that radiates positive ambiences from beginning to end. 'Sugarbush' is one huge organic flow of constantly shifting moods, with music that ranges from softer ambiental textures with a quiet rhythmic undercurrent, over more extreme metallic noise acoustics and semi-melodic collages of recuperated and manipulated sounds. Beautiful soundscapes for your cold winter evenings, and - in my opinion - the best Beequeen album to date. An experience that is not to be missed...
GR - from Tanz Der Rozen No. 4

Sugarbush
The post-industrial Ambient zone inhabited by the Dutch duo Beequeen is normally so clouded with paranoia that their transparency arouses suspicion. They wear their hearts on a gorgeous honey-yellow sleeve emblazoned with Joseph Beuys dedication and a rack of familiar song titles, like Presley's 'Return To Sender' and Neil Diamond's 'A Beautiful Noise'. Are they being perverse or are they just drips? As it happens, the titles bear little relation to the slight, yet pleasurably muggy freefalls and cartwheels their music turns through. But the compositions are so lacking in ambition, the one question they arouse is how their makers found the wherewithal to release them.
From The Wire March 1996

Sugarbush
I've just been itching to hear Beequeen after many friends' recommendations. This is the newest release of this project by Frans De Waard of that great European label Staalplaat with Freek Kinkelaar. Beequeen Is much like sand, abrasive and yet elusive and soothing as It slips between your fingers. The sound is very well executed and flanges its way between scraping, cricket-like silence, murdernoise, and psychophoria. Challenging and haunting in parts, this changes pace like leaves turn colors, slow and unnoticeably then swells and crests like electrified waves in a dream storm while still maintaining its natural atmosphere. For some reason I imagine laying by the fireplace In the winter and feeding large insects and chemicals into the flames before falling fast asleep to dream lucid dreams.
Ares Solis - Eskatos #2

Sugarbush
Beequeen, a product of the Bremen-based Raum-312 label, employ an encompassing, contemporary and conventional approach; main protagonists Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar's track record in the industrial arena is evident in the odd analogue sweep and funereal organ sounds that periodically permeate Sugarbush. Nevertheless it is experimentalism that lies at the heart of this recording which claims to contain "covers of the song titles of their most cherished songs".. (??), the influence of more avant-garde principles evident in the screeching violin of 'Time Waits For No One', combining with more specific musique concrete elements, such as rain and footstep samples, in a mass that is also indebted to the 'isolationism' movement (and, according to messers de Waard and Kinkelaar, the German conceptual artist, Joseph Beuys), but which manages to remain distinct from all three traditions. As their name suggests, both industrious and distinguished.
DJ 4 Minutes 33 - from Magic Feet January 1996

Summer rain
This is no new stuff of Holland's best known experimental Ambiencies, but the second edition of a 7" that was originally released in 1993 "Summer Rain' Is rough and sensitive at the same time and contains three shorter tracks, of which 'Thunder Rain' is the more atmospheric one; a kind of droning mind-shifting glacier of darker sounds. 'Thunder Storm' and 'Singularity' are more rhythmical. The first one is based on short-looped mechanoid sounds, the latter being a minimalistic improvisational track using a single piece of metal cross-faded with a thick layer of white noise. 'Summer Rain' is definitely not as polished as Beequeen's current work, perhaps not as accessible either, but if you're into somewhat noisier and less tranquilizing atmospheres this will be to your liking.
QT - from Tanz Der Rozen No. 4

Time waits for no one
Taking their name from a work by Joseph Beuys, the Dutch duo Beequeen have taken it to heart to create a sonic experience that Is like a living organism, a melange of oozing textures, rhythmical structures, cyclical pumping surges of sound, arranged as if In an ambient visionary landscape, a painting for the ears. The experience naturally recalls earlier works by Zoviet France and The Haf ler Trio, with much use., of processed and degraded sounds. As strange and enigmatic as Its minimal four-fold diglpak cover.
Alan Freeman - from Audion Summer/Autumn 1994

Time waits for no one
Only seldom have I heard music that was so unobtrusive as this Beequeen-CD. The music remains calm, focusing on a mood, much more than musicality. It's not just ambient and quite different from the works of Brian Eno. The comparison that does come up is with Zoviet France, because of its repetitive character. The instrumentarium is for the most part electronic, occasionally added with (remote) voices, (remote) drums, or (remote) snares. At times there seems to be more aggression in the sound, e.g. when drums are used. But when this happens it sounds quite remote, like a distant thunder. I like the atmosphere, which remains relaxed without ever getting even close to 'new age'.
IS - from Vital #36

Time waits for no one
After a first listening-trial I concluded that this wasn't exactly my cup of tea... Some weeks later, however, I had to change my opinion. I had given this CD another chance, and while I was doing something else, this CD was nicely rumbling in the background. By mistake I'd put my CD-player in "random-repeat" mode, and by the time I discovered my horrible act, the music had penetrated my mind several times already ... I found myself being carried away on noisy waves, now and then penetrated by beautiful analog bleebs, blobs and distorted frequencies... My heart was beating on the rhythm of short looped sounds and percussion, and at the end of my hallucination I entered the world of Thee Mighty Drone and His o Royal Ambientcy. When I regained back consciousness, Marylin Monroe was sitting next to me and asked me if I liked cream and sugar in my coffee... OK, cut the crap; this is a rather good buy! The gauzy image of Marilyn Monroe on the cover of this record is a bit ambiguous, unless it is reflective of the sometimes austere pace and feel conveyed by the electronics therein. Actually, Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar, with their banks of electronics and other unspecified instruments, convey many alternatively bleak, if imagistic, soundscapes, either through the wheezing of asthmatic machines, drones of catatonia immersed in cryogenic guitar feedback or the steamy smelt of arcane industry. Atonal occasionally, even unearthly, yet strangely accessible, these works are part of an aesthetic wherein the forging of an unfamiliar sound canvas becomes the springboard from which the listener can extract pictures, panoramas, shapes. Any other points of harmonic reference become irrelevant; so ultimately, as the music crystallizes, one is left with Its residual suggestions. Engrossing music that subtly leaves the impression to come back and experience it further.
Darren Bergstein - from The Wire March 1995

Long stones and circles
Yet more produce from Beequeen, a Dutch team comprising Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar. (And that's the last time I'm going to mention their names in a review.) ( Well, maybe.) Their work is mostly centred around the artistic ideas of Joseph Beuys, but this composition is based on some of the work by Richard Long. Richard, or Dick as his friends call him when they can find him amongst the shrubberies, got his fifteen minutes by thinking up the marvellous idea of 'Land Art', in which he shoves a bunch of comestibles into a knapsack and then trudges off into the wilderness on walkabout for a week or two. During this time, he might tentatively rearrange some sticks, a bit of bark and some pebbles, photograph it and/or write a 'pome' commemorating the event and then piss off home for a cup of Royco soup. This CD takes it's name from a piece (read,) written by Long (but not read by he) and adapted by Mr Kinkelaar, which appears on the back of the CD cover... it's a list of impressions of a walk, or several of them, by Dick, and the imagery is oft so strong that you can feel almost the air ruffle your hair. The music is a succesion of the Bee's queen drones mixed, slowly shaken then stirred in a cocktail with additional sound material by John Hudak, a Plan 9 From Outer Space-type vocal and two pieces of spoken word. The first is a recitation of the names of various Tors (geographical protruberance thingies) throughout England, which presented in this way sound like a cartographer's mantra. The next is the pome on the packageback. Shortly after this last recitation (?), there's this uncertain drone which slides in and oscillates above a patient creature slowly grinding it's way across the sand in your ear. Other sound sources include a metronome, radio stones and a snaredrum. I quite enjoyed this release although my enthusiasm was somewhat abated by the inclusion of the spoken voice, but it usually is, so that's my problem, okay ? (MP)
V2 archive

Time waits for no one
Wonderful positive yet dark ambience, if that's possible from former MFTEQ contributor Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar. Acoustic guitars and strings resonate as petit electronics pitter patter. Mysterious tones invoke splendid colours as subtle rhythms gradually move into the mix. Beequeen remind me of the mighty Deutsch Nepal. I can't get enough of this.
MFR - from Reverb March 1995

Vault
Most experimental music on 7-inch singles fails because the format is too limiting in length and sound quality. But this three-"song" document from the Netherlands' Beequeen is alluring with its pulsing dynamics and floating crescendos. And when you play it at a different speed, it's like getting a free record!
Jason Pettigrew - from Alternative Press August 1998

Treatise
Treatise is the latest album from the Dutch veterans Beequeen, this time released by the German magazine and label Auf Abwegen. It contains 6 tracks recorded live during two concerts in 1996 in Holland. Beequeen's music is very calm and relaxing. A mixture of soft drones, synthetic loops and accoustic percussions, of clicks, bleeps and shorts tunes, it evokes softness, fragility and emotion. Completely instrumental, "Treatise" combines very well drones made of very well crafted and edited noises, some clicks, as well as percussions that seemed to have been played live. This albums flows like a soundtrack, with its light and heavy moments. Requiring some active listening, this is also a very rich CD that, however calm it can seem, is very deep and contains a lot of subtilities. In that sense, it will please fans of soft drones and experimentations à la Utra Milkmaids. "Treatise" is a very pleasant album for people into complex but soft music. Sometimes noisy, sometimes more melodic, it's a well done CD that doesn't loose the listener, in contrary to lots of releases of this kind.
Nicolas, December 13, 2000, Recycle your ears, online review

Ownliness
Höchst unterhaltsame Platte mit vielen Geräuschen und viel Tragik, mit vielen Situationen und aus einfachen Dingen entwickelten dramatisch verträumten Gesten, ab und an daddelig hinzugeblödelten Gitarren und Schlittenfahrtbeats, die immer wieder in loopigen Stakkatos aufgefangen werden, so als wollten sie die Zeit anhalten und mal genauer unter die Lupe nehmen, dann trudeln sie in einen dezent smoothen Downtempotrack zu Wasserplätschern und schwer harmonischer Floatline, manchmal knistern sie einfach nur so an den
Effekt-DSPs. Oder sie lassen ihre Harmonika tief Luft holen und überholen wie von selbst Portishead in ihren besten Prärockzeiten, oder sie eiern sich eben so durch. Sehr vielseitig, vermutlich gradezu konzeptuell vielseitig, und ein wenig dunkel belgisch angehaucht wie manches zur Zeit, aber mit dem gewissen Powerbook
Charme eben doch und nie Retro.
bleed ***** from Debug magazine, 2002

Ownliness
In it's attractive cover, Ownliness offers trip-hop rhythms, guitar-ambient, beautiful roadmovie-music, strange samples and loops deliver with a twist only the Beequeens can master. From the opener 'Clockwise' to the long melancholic piece 'Beam Ends' (featuring a ticking clock, atmospherically guitarwork, environmental recordings and cellos) this new CD offers the most musical product Beequeen has released so far. It will certainly appeal to Beequeen fans old and new, offering an album full of beautiful tracks. Ownliness proves Beequeen more alive than ever, willing to take on new challenges in their music.
Forced exposure, catalogue online, 2002

Ownliness
For a short while, the future looked bleak for Beequeen fans. Was their single "Dovidzdane Vanja (The Death of Beequeen)" an omen for an imminent end of Beequeen? Not so it turned out. Beequeen was more eager than ever to develop a new future for the band. Their single "White Tusk" was merely a taste of things to come. More melodic, with a driven beat and soaring guitars, "White Tusk" proved that Beequeen could master more than the ambient drone. Their latest studio work "Ownliness", which was recorded in 2000, is now finally available on Infraction Records. In it's attractive cover, "Ownliness" offers trip-hop rhythms, guitar-ambient, beautiful roadmovie-music, strange samples and loops deliver with a twist only the Beequeens can master. From the opener "Clockwise" to the long melancholic piece "Beam Ends" (featuring a ticking clock, atmospherically guitarwork, environmental recordings and cellos) this new CD offers the most musical product Beequeen has released so far. It will cert ainly appeal to Beequeen fans old and new, offering an album full of beautiful tracks. "Ownliness" proves Beequeen more alive than ever, willing to take on new challenges in their music. Expect more from the ever-prolific duo in the near future.
Chaindlk magazine, online magazine, 2002

Ownliness
Beequeen is perhaps the longest running project by the ever prolific Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar. The two met out of their mutual adoration for the undersung cultgroup Legendary Pink Dots a little more than a decade ago, and residues of the Pink Dots' miasmic, Goth-influenced psychedelica have continually lingered amidst the Beequeen albums, even if the duo have never risked emulating Edward Ka-spel's lispy perculiarities. That said, Ownliness mutes those Pink Dots references into a magical ambience that undergirds spartan arrangements for hushed acoustic guitar chords and sustained organs. Beequeen's affiliation with post-industrial agendas are underplayed in favour of liberally borrowing moves from current bastions of indie rock: slide guitar motivs from Godspeed You Black Emperor!, tattered cello flourishes from Dirty Tree, the wintry earnestness of Low or Sonna, and maybe even the breathy instrumentals of Vincent Gallo. Quite pleasant.
Jim Haynes, Wire magazine, August 2002

Ownliness
'Ownliness' sounds like an experiment of sorts. Most all of the tracks are built upon looping rhythms and repeating phrases of simple melody. The album begins with a sampled loop that could be ethnic percussion as easily as it could be the sound of someone scraping a stick down a flight of stairs. More rhythms and a melody slip into the mix and then disappear into the looped field recording ambience of "With Anna You Get Eggroll," which later becomes a kind of psuedo-trip hop number. Sometimes the repetition manifests itself as full-on beats and songs, and other times, it simply serves as a cadence that roots the wandering tones and abstract noises like a ballast. In its more obscure moments, 'Ownliness' finds a balance between wandering and reflecting that allows the simple repetition and the experimental pallete to elevate the compositions into something complex enough to warrant repeated listens. In its more direct moments, the album sounds a bit like experimental guitarists trying to adopt a style or groove to their own way of working, and it is in these moments that the album doesn't always measure up. There's nothing embarassing about the songs that are more obviously structured, but they play into a stereotype of slow, manipulated drum loops and painfully simple melodies that never allow the repetition to transcend into something more. The layered melodies are sometimes bogged down by a breakbeat that seems out of place in a sea of otherwise strange and unidentifiable sounds. Still, it's highly listenable and would probably make a great primer for someone who is interested in experimental instrumental music but is afraid to stray too far from the beat-oriented songs with which they are more comfortable. By the time the soft guitar and harmonics of the last two tracks are over, I'm waiting for another track, which is always the sign of a record worth keeping.
Matthew Jeanes, Brainwashed online reviews, November 2002

A touch of brimstone
Beequeen (Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkleer) have released A Touch of Brimstone, the newest stealth recording from a powerfully growing discography. Comprised of ten tracks this collection includes never before released recordings from their vaults dated from 1989 through 1996. The din is enterprising, the pacing is primordial. The immediate impact of the overall work is stunningly thought-provoking. The tracks slow the body while listening, paving a sense of raw comatose. The voice on Rainhas des Abelhas , one of their very first constructed pieces for 4-track, is Dennis Cooper, sounding like a lecturer from a 1940s instructional radio broadcast. Several of the Meta Phase tracks here were noise experiments created for a photo installation piece by Erik van Wesserloo back in 1991. Look for Beequeen's inclusion on the Tribryd Installation Soundtracks due in the Spring on Beta-lactam Ring Records. The title track is somewhat of a cross between sine waves and feedback, with a plotting background and seething high-pitched center. On Suite 31-28 the sounds are based on concepts of warmth and temperature. Its defiance of literalness makes it a more watchful listen. The experiment is in our mind, the perfectly blended sonic weave of protection is a figment of our imagination. A Touch of Brimstone presents a language all its own, on par with SOS or artificial intelligence. The art of noise is clear.
Instrumental weekly

A touch of brimstone
With its ten tracks of rarities and exclusive material, listening to A Touch of Brimstone is a lot like travelling through time, only non-linear, scattered, a time defined by sound, and not necessarily moving forwards (ok, so maybe it's not like travelling through time at all, but alas, the comparison has already been made, so we'll just have to keep quiet and see where it goes), especially for those who, like me, have been listening to Beequeen through the years, ever attentive, fascinated, impressed. And now we have this new CD, compiled for the curious, to fill in the holes of lost time, to confirm to us the creativities and innovations that have marked the inspiring history of this partnership, packaged with pictures from the past, from the present, and words, words of elucidation, observations, impressions, readings of their work. And these ten tracks take me through drones, austere spaces, frequencies high and low, a brief narration, echoes and lost sounds funnelling through the woodwork and into my imagination. Beequeen's music has always been driven by the desire to find new techniques and structures, to keep the fire of inspiration alive and changing, adapting, overturning stones and uncovering new ones... Beequeen is Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar. For those unfamiliar with their work, this disc is a perfect place to start.
Richard di Santo, Incursion online review
Beequeen - A Touch of Brimstone (CD by Korm Plastics)
Beequeen's tenth anniversary CD release (one of the two planned ones) comes with a 3 year delay because of the stinky situation of the underground record label industry (if you are a musician you know the story: not enough labels, not enough money, not enough interest or whatever the reason is...). But fortunately for all the fans of this band Staalplaat (and precisely their sub-label Korm Plastics) has pitched in to succeed where others have failed, and that's how Bequeen's "A Touch of Brimstone" sees the light... A collection of both previously unreleased and released (but in some cases now unavailable or out of print or hard to find) songs spanning in time from 1989 to 1995 that represents a good summary of their activity for those who want to get into the band or for those who have followed them for years, like their longest dedicated fan Elenka Freikkar, whose writings even got selected to be part of the thick booklet, along with those of their site's webmaster (who is also the webmaster of the Muslimgauze website and of other band's websites adhering to the Pretentious.network), journalists and other friends and personalities... The booklet also contains lots of pictures and an updated discography (23 releases and counting! ...not including compilation appearances), so like I said before, a must for both supporters and those new to the Beequeen sound. For those who don't now Beequeen at all yet, think of it as experimental drone music. Beequeen is Freek Kinkelaar and Frans De Waard, who is also one of the founders of Staalplaat (and if now you are wondering why Staalplaat didn't releases their birthday disc in time, you are not the only left wondering!!). At the top of this review I had mentioned that there is another 10th anniversary CD, and that one came out in time in 1999) and is called "Do Be Do; A Live Anthology" (still available from their own label Plinkity Plonk records).
Marc Urselli-Schärer from chaindlk.com

A touch of brimstone
Beequeen aka Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar needs no more introduction in the experimental area! Beequeen is a phenonemon that started more than 10 years ago, releasing an impressive number of tapes, singles, vinyls and albums. This album was originally intended to be released 3 years ago, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this project. Due to circumstances, it didn't happen in time, but only at the end of 2002! This is a collection of recordings that have been hard to get and previously unreleased material! Food for the fans! The universe of Beequeen is a strange and mysterious place, where only a few people will feel confortable. The wealth of sound sources and the multiple manipulated sonic experiments are simply astonishing. It leads the listener in an unreal world where sounds and noises are dominating. You really have to be into this kind of stuff while it's pretty hard to endure for others! Definitely experimental!
DP, Side line 42

A touch of brimstone
Nicht jedermanns Sache diese Retrospektive von Tracks, die zwischen 89 und 95 enstanden sind, denn mittlerweile klingt das doch alles ein wenig nostalgisch in seiner dezent akademisierten Art Ambient zu verbreiten. Eher unter den industriellen Platten einzusortieren und auch dort nicht herausdragend. Nach den ganz guten letzten Releases von ihnen eigenlich Schade.
Bleed, De:Bug 67

A touch of brimstone
Beequeen baeckem das Feld des organischen Drones schon lang. Das hört man auch, denn die Hypnotische Kraft ihrer Stuecke lässt die Erfahrung und handwerkliches Geschick kräftig durchschimmern. Changierte Klänge werden aus den exotischten Instrumenten, verfremdete Samples und elektronischem Gerät herausgekitzelt, bis die Lautsprecher sanftmütig im dröhnenden Omm der dynamischen Klangwellen schwingen. Dieses Album versammelt nun als kleine Retrospektive von mittlerweile 13 Jahren Bandgeschichte Rares und Unveröffentlichtes aus allen Phasen vond der ersten nur einseitig abspielbare Platte bis zu verschütteten Perlen aus dem DAT Archiv. Industrial Ambient Experimente, Spoken Word, leichter TripHop Rhythmus und immer wieder das Beruhigende des Drones und minmaler Dynamiken. Im Booklet durften sich Friende der Band zu iher Eindrücken äussern und einer trifft Beequeen's Musik genau auf der Punkt: "Sie besitzt solche Präzenz und Tiefe, dass ich mich in ihr verliere. Sie kann im Hintergrund laufen und plötzlich bemerkst du, wie sich dich tiefer und tiefer in ihren Besitz genommen hat'. Die brummende Stille, die dich nie ganz los lässt und selbst in dieser eigentlich nicht thematisch fokussierten Zusammenstellung eine beeindruckende Eiheitlichkeit der Vision bezeugt. Die Hypnotik tiefer akustischer Schwingungen und zarter, übersehener Klänge wird Beequeen wohl nie loslassen. Zum Glück.
Black, 30

A touch of brimstone
Die eigentlich bereits zum 10. Beequeen-Geburtstag 1999 geplante Kompilation A Touch of Brimstone (KP 3011) speichert Bienenhonig der Jahre 1989 bis 1995; den ersten Track vom Debutalbum Scala Destillans der Beuysfans, den Soundtrack zur Fotoinstallation Metamorphazen, Material aus dem Umfeld der The Surrough Gate und der Music for the Head Ballet-Sessions, weihnachtliche Uberbleibsel der Mappa Mundi-Phase (In Die Dagen) und das Titelstück, für das Frans de Waard und Freek Kinkelaar bisher noch keinen rechten Platz gefunden hatten. Ein 32p-Booklet versammelt dazu harte Fakten in Gestalt einer vollständigen Diskographie und weiche Beequeen-impressionen von u.a. Baraka(H) und Till Kniola sowie die wahre Beequeen-Story according to Elenka Freikkar. Keine beschreibung versäumt es, den auffälligen Dualismus des Beequeen-Sounds zu betonen: -Ambient or nice atmospheric on one hand, but acting in an experimental and more concrete way on the other hand...concious and unconcious parts...emotion and ratio- (Baraka (H)), 'the concept of the drone- einerseits und andererseits -a stronger mark of interaction and manipulation- (Kniola). Es ist die spezielle Synthese der Freek- und Frans-seite, die erst den Raum schafft für -imaginary time travel, for wanderings of the mind, for pure relaxation-.
Bad Alchemy, 41

Gund
The Dutch duo Beequeen has been digging into their archives lately, discouraging the collector-scum by making their rare releases and concert recordings available to the public in greater quanity. I've been a fan of both members' work for many years. Freek Kinkelaar's Legendary Pink Dots-ish solo recordings as Brunnen yeilded three fine albums in the 1990s, and Frans de Waard's many recordings as Kapotte Muziek, Quest, Shifts, and Captain Black are things I have been enthusiastically seeking out since I was in high school (a long time ago, folks). The Beequeen sound is generally a lush, subtly melodic drone with subdued electronic crackle, a nice inbetween point between de Waard's abstractions and Kinkelaar's low-key pop sense. This latest disc compiles music intended for release in 1998, four tracks that were to be released as an LP and two that were to be an unlikely collaborative 10" with Japanese noise "band" MSBR. The first four tracks are delicate, with a gentle nudge toward dub that never overwhelms the static drift. The sound dives almost to silence, but percolates upwards with a bassline here or a slight rise there, all tasteful, understated, and appealing. It reminds me of Eno's ambient music, which colors the tone of a room but does not assert itself so much. The collaborative tracks with MSBR, in which the artists worked by reshaping each other's sonic material, are not as ephemeral as the tracks that come before them, but are complementary nonetheless. Beequeen's reworking of MSBR's noise begins with some teeth-grinding tension, which is quickly forced down to a low, barely perceptible rumble. MSBR's mix of Beequeen sounds like a digital cut-up that twists with a distinct feeling as if it is about to explode out of control, yet never does.
Howard Steltzer, Brainwashed online reviews, March 2003

Gund
Beequeen is the kind of project that inspires a passion for lists, together with an anxious sense of being forever incomplete. Brought together over a decade ago through a shared fascination for The Legendary Pink Dots, Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar have been steadily generating an impressive back catalogue of their own while creating works of sustained conceptual subtlety and deep sonic layering. A companion piece to their Do Be Do live anthology, A Touch Of Brimstone compiles previously unreleased studio pieces, starting with an impressive four track recording from 1989, with a spoken word contribution from Dennis Cooper and including "In Die Dagen", a 1994 track originally thought to be lost but remastered here direct from the original demo tape
Ken Hollings, The Wire, February 2003

Gund
The eleventh release on Beequeen's own Plinkity Plonk label represents another dig into their archive of unreleased material (see the recent release of Brimstone for another look into the vaults). In the case of Gund, all of these pieces were recorded in 1998 for specific vinyl releases that, for one reason or another, never materialized. So "now the waiting is finally over", they announce, even if you never knew you were waiting for these pieces in particular, if you never knew they existed. But rest assured, it's a fine day that sees the arrival of this CD in your home hi-fi. This is Beequeen's "old style" in its finest form-"old style" of course referring to their emphasis on drones and lower frequency resonance, abandoned in their recent shift in direction heard in their latest material. The first four tracks are quiet and calm, occasionally intense and foreboding, with fine concentrations of vibrations and droning ambience, a melodic phrase, a faint crackle, a cold wave and a warm wash of sound, and moving at a slow, steady pace. The fifth track takes on a distinct character, more intense, threatening and dark, using sound material supplied by MSBR, the ongoing project of noise artist Koji Tano. The sixth and final piece is the inversion of this scenario; a new mix by MSBR using sound material supplied by Beequeen. Recorded in 2001, this piece is one of rising potential-the potential for implosion or explosion, the potential for a release that never happens-instead remaining an exploration and amplification of tension in sound. For some years now-and perhaps I was a little late in my introduction to Beequeen, beginning with their 1994 release of Time Waits for No One, and from there travelling both forwards and backwards in their chronology, as they themselves seem to enjoy doing with their archival releases-I have marvelled at their ability to create such delicate sounds, as if treading on thin wires, being able to reveal the slightest vibrations, the most subtle of silences, and arrange them in these compelling ways. And in recent weeks, as I have been listening to this new release and returning yet again to their other records, it seems to me that these pieces on Gund are some of their finest, most accomplished works.
Richard di Santo, Incursion online magazine, April 2003

Gund
This CD contains some rather old tracks, dating back to 1998, but apparently they weren't released in due time, so Beequeen have taken matters into their own hands. As one would expect from Beequeen (at least in that period), all of the music is drone based. Tapestries of sound slowly evolve and unravel their inner beauty. And there is certainly beauty in these tracks: atmosphericly speaking, things seem to be a bit on the down side, but that only adds to the peacefulness that this record radiates. Without getting dull, this music makes one wander off mentally, only to come to when it stops. And that is a truely captivating experience. Special mention should be made of the last two tracks: the first is a Beequeen edit of material by MSBR, the last one vice versa. Oddly enough, no noise, but very slowly stretched sounds with a bite. Also MSBR keeps things pretty quiet, which makes an excellent ending to this very good record.
MR, Vital online magazine, April 2003

Gund
On March 1st one of the most important and influent staff members of Staalplaat and publisher of Vital Weekly, Frans De Waard, left Staalplaat to focus on other things. He told us that he will continue to make music but on an entirely different basis, and apparently he inaugurated this new chapter of his life cycle with the release of some older (1998) Beequeen recordings. This is one in two releases (the other one being "Aughton", to be released later this year by Beta Lactam Ring Records as a vinyl) that dig in the vaults of previously unreleased studio recordings and rare material. Frans and his pal Freek Kinkelaar get down to business with droning ambient music, shill sonic artifacts, prolonged atmospheres made of deep rumbling noises and mid to higher waveforms. The CD has been released on the band's private outlet Plinkity Plonk (it's the 11th Plink and there will be many more to come, they tell us, both by Beequeen and by other bands close to the De Waard/Kinkelaar duo). For those who have been following Beequeen for a while, you should know this is "old style" material, before the band re-defined their musical direction. But even if you prefer the newer stuff by the band, you might be interested to add this to your collection, considering that it contains material that was initially intended for vinyl releases that never saw the light. The first four tracks should have been on a 12" that was supposed to play at different speeds (16, 33, 45 and 78 rpm) but allegedly it was too complicated to press such a vinyl. The sixth and closing track is the outcome of a collaborative experiment between Beequeen and Japanese noise artist MSBR. The label that was supposed to release the 10" album documenting this exchange of sounds stopped their activities while the two bands were independently working on different pieces so now you have the occasion to hear what MSBR did with Beequeen-supplied sources in 2001. As you may expect if you are familiar with MSBR's legacy, this track is much noisier than Beequeen's slow evolutions of droning ambient, but it is way less harsh than what MSBR might do on his own releases. It's somewhere in between, much like experimental glitch electronics, with lots of noises and underlaying layers of tense sound waves. "Gund" is available in 500 copies with a hand-printed sleeve designed by Meeuw.
Marc Urselli-Schärer from chaindlk.com, April 2003

The body shop
Was the black-eyed dog in Nick Drake's song black-eyed as in evil or black-eyed as in swollen and bruised? Is it just a vague incarnation of the Grim Reaper? Or is it something less obvious? One thing's for sure - it's a striking image. This sparse, chilling tune was fittingly covered by gloom-and-doom champions, The Swans, on their World of Skin album. Now it's been done (with even sparser instrumentation) on experimental duo Beequeen's latest release. And the song is still as starkly perturbing as it was when I first heard the original. Sure one could suggest the dog is simply death, the eternal rest from aging and weariness that Drake is longing for. But the dog called for more, and it's hard to say exactly what it wants more of. As a lover of ambiguity, this puzzlement is not frustrating to me. And it's far from being the most unusual song the sad folkie penned (if anyone had any idea as to what "Harvest Breed" is about, I'd be curious to know). Here and now it has provided a highlight for Beequeen's spooky, seemingly shapeless pick-your-miniature-void excursion. Despite sporting an erotic, red-tinted photo on the cover and bearing a song titled "Admiration of the Rod," this album is as naggingly blank as it is sensual. I can't say it's a great love-making soundtrack, unless your sex is very slow and morose.
It needs to be said that most of the tunes on this record are simply flat and uninspiringly derivative. The opener sounds like an instrumental outtake of Pavement's "Spit on a Stranger." It's so basic and pointless, it makes me feel like the main menu of my Slow Century DVD has been left cycling. On the Road to Everywhere sounds like a Do Make Say Think song that never gets to build into anything substantial. Then there's Buzzbag Drive, a poorly drummed Lynch snippet in the realm of Lost Highway or Mulholland Dr. Perhaps the song's supposed to be a shambolic tribute, as the title could possibly imply, but that doesn't change the fact that it feels tossed off and bland. The atmosphere of the album is very assured, yet there is little to anchor the listener, to keep them coming back beyond a preliminary run-through. It works somewhat like the frustratingly drab songs of Set Fire to the Flames - only more accessible. There are melodies, just not very consequential ones. They pass without notice. The Bodyshop - along with a good deal of Beequeen's past material - feels really tossed off. If that's not the case, then the group lacks imaginative prowess and is content to revel in the vapid pretentiousness of their sound. For now experimental music lovers can pass on these guys. But if you're looking to create your own kick-ass Nick Drake covers comp, their stoic cover of "Black Eyed Dog" is a must.
Tiny mix tapes online review

The Bodyshop
Lofty acoustic strum, some dreamy slide guitar. Sad folk songs cycle fate, memories, and old slide shows. Gauzy reminiscences; the way the light changes in a room from morning till evening, streets that play back a thousand whispering invisible movies. Rain spatters as traffic murmurs in the background, soon we are lost in a dream, microscopic details glimmer. A translucent rendition of Nick Drake's Black Eyed Dog. Whispers, electronic shivers and tin foil textures mixing with cello, subtle guitar and icicle drone. A bit of time and space that feels like Pink Floyd at the low boil just before Eugene wealds his axe. Some nocturnal David Lynch noir shadows. Frans de Waard, and Freek Kinkelaar utilize sounds, electronics, and even some instruments to make Beequeen's sound. There are a few guests present as well; when the female vocalists sing, the effect is a bit like Piano Magic. Overtly pop by Beequeen standards; and utterly beguiling and strange by any others.
Dreamgeo online review

The bodyshop
I would never have expected a group like Beequeen to record an album like The Bodyshop. The duo of Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar first became associates because of their mutual love for The Legendary Pink Dots, and since 1990 they've been recording and releasing (quite prolifically) as Beequeen. Important
All of their work up to this album has been strictly instrumental: amorphous compositions, largely ambient, combining electronic textures and drone with murky samples, buried melodies and other unidentifiable audio goop. The Bodyshop is a departure point for the group; not only is melody front and center on almost all of the tracks, several actually feature vocals. Just to place this album is stark relief to previous efforts, Beequeen also include a cover of Nick Drake's "Black Eyed Dog," with lovely vocals by Marie-Louise Munck of Danish band Armstrong. This is still identifiable as the work of Beequeen, but it feels like a quantum leap for the band in terms of structure, composition and production. There are still plenty of pretty moments of quiet psychedelic nebulousness, but there are also upbeat numbers like "On the Road to Everywhere," which sets a lively post-jazz melody against layers of encroaching drone and chirping arpeggiators. It achieves a beautiful complexity, with certain elements standing out in bold relief and others blurry and shapeless, just beyond the realm of cohesion, like thick globs of color on a particularly formless work of impressionist art. On the whole, the album feels very sedate and beatific, but there are tense undercurrents of radiant darkness that permeate tracks like "Blackburn" and "Buzzbag Drive." The latter is a standout track, a dark Lynchian western featuring noisy swathes of electric guitar from guest Erik Drost, member of Girlfriends and newly of the Pink Dots. At 37 minutes, the album feels a bit truncated, but not a moment is wasted. It's unclear whether this is indicative of Beequeen's future artistic direction, or whether this was a one-off tangent into partial coherence. Either way, it's a very welcome departure for the group, and speaks to their ongoing evolution and unwillingness to submit to the forces of creative inertia.
Brainwashed online review

Seltenturm
Trip peacefully along with this 130-minute collection from the cult duo Beequeen - Freek Kinkelaar (also playing solo under the name Brunnen) and Frans DeWaard (Goem, Kapotte Muziek, Shifts, Quest, Freiband ...). Seltenturn is a double cd collection of remastered oldies unavailable for a long a time : Mappa Mundi (cassette, with bonus tracks), Fond (one sided LP), Split (split LP), The Surrough Gate (10"), Vault (7"), White Tusk (7") and Dovidzdane Vanja (7"). The Surrough Gate was released on Ant-Zen (!!!) in 1997 and shows them dealing both with concrete sounds and then in a terrific ambient tracks with conversation pieces on the background. The Mappa Mundi cassette was recorded on 1989 and has the lovely psychotic calmness of Cranioclast's first works, alternating typical droney compositions to more abstract ones - Land above us is possibily the best track here, slowly exposing the core of the drone with throbbing analogue bubbles. Dovidzdane Vanja, which means The Death Of Beequeen, was a 7" out in 2000 that is the farewell to their melanchonic soundscapes. (The duo recorded many other droneworks under the name Wander - http://www.beequeen.nl/wander.htm ). This awesome collection is both the best starting point for the new listeners that want to know about the more experimental side of Beequeen and absolutely necessary for completists. Ltd Edition of 300.
Review by Andrea Vercesi for Chain DLK

Seltenturm
Nijmegen's duo Beequeen (Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar) release a compilation of 23 various works recorded since 1989. Certainly one of the more notable experimental outfits of the last two decades, this collection numbingly sets a certain tone (or atones) both to the past and future. There's a delicate balance of low chords breaking into dark ambient space (Does He Do As If He Is) from their 1994 recording Split. You're in the dark, someone is casting a vague echo while slowly bowing a cello, you see a faint light. There is this sense of passing figures, black on black shadowy movements hinted at in your peripheral view. At points queasy, others like your spinning in a Spanish villa for just a dazzling moment (Fond II). They firmly use the guise of industrialisms to build the droning layers of works like Land Above Us which has both a sense of open continuum and repeat cycle that can, for many, become unnerving. Though, they do so with a certain grace that kind of rounds the corners of chaos. The final stage of production, so to speak. And the point is clear, these two men have built a passionate body of work that is at once striking for its qualities emulating the codec of film, secondly they have used that motif to concoct music which is out of the personal body, told from the vantage point of the other. And third, it takes you some place you may have not dared, distinctively told with a fusion of pace, timing, fore/background. Then there are these themes of meditation, observation, then realization. When you sample tracks like Brasillian Fond (1989), you are just barely eavesdropping by way of the slight incorporated field recordings. Part mysterious travelogue, part staging for how you might compose music to send to navigate the hole in the ozone and then into the deep universe to cultivate answers to its questions. The work of Beequeen simply trips the mind.
TJ Norris, Vital weekly 593

Seltenturm
Wenn wir uns in dieser Ecke schon einmal umschauen, dann können wir ja mal einen kleinen Abstecher zu BEEQUEEN machen, die ja auch schon seit '89 unterwegs und dabei überaus produktiv sind. Da die meisten Veröffentlichungen nur auf Kleinstlabel und in limitierten Stückzahlen erschienen, haben sich die Niederländer nun dazu entschlossen diese Stücke zu re-mastern und als Doppel-CD wiederzuveröffentlichen. Seltenturm-The Beesides 1989-2000 (Plinkity Plonk Rec./A-Musik) ist wie eine verstaubte Bibiliothek, einige Bücher gefallen einen, andere interessieren einen überhaupt nicht und manchmal entdeckt man beim stöbern eine längst vergessene Perle. Irgendwo zwischen Musique Concrète, ambienten Experimenten und Fieldrecordings dürfte aber für jeden etwas dabei sein. Außerdem ist es eine gute Möglichkeit einen ersten Einblick in die Klanglandschaften von Frans de Waard und Freek Kinkelaar zu bekommen, die ja auch noch in diversen anderen Projekten weltweit involviert sind. Basiswissen.
Carsten Vollmer in Paragraph 39

Time waits for no one
The duo of Frans De Waard and Freek Kinkelaar, Beequeen belong to the bulky file of musical entities that I've been familiar with for many, many years - but only nominally. Believe it or not, your over-enthusiastic reviewer had never listened to their records before, although meeting the name on every mail order list of the last decade and a half. This reissue of a 1994 Staalplaat release fits perfectly in the ice-breaking experience, as inaugurating my acquaintance with the project by listening to an earlier-period outing is perhaps a good thing. Credited with "instruments, electronics, treatments, voices", De Waard and Kinkelaar seem to know what they're doing since the very beginning. What they actually do is eliciting outlandish kinds of resonance, generally from the vibration of one or more strings or single notes (i.e. the opening of Six notes on blank tape), while adding lots of oscillating high frequencies (Rupert writes a rainbow fuses the best of two worlds in that sense) and trance/ritual waste materials. You might often be tempted to call this record drone-based, yet it's not exclusively that: the vu-meters indicating the level of abstractness point to the red area quite frequently, and there's nothing that can be acceptably defined as monothematic or minimal, unless we want to consider enthralling looped segments as such (The shore of leaves being dazzling stuff indeed, somehow reminding yours truly of Zoviet France; the same goes for the percussive V-time). In essence, this album still sounds modern enough for us not to neglect it, leaving the door of the room of past experience ajar to get a glance at our memories. Even those about previously unheard music.
Massimo Ricci, Touching extreme

Time waits for no one
Time waits for no one. How true that is; took me quite some of it, to get to actual writing on this latest offering from Beuys aficionados Beequeen. This re-release of the 1995 album, has been spinning in my player for quite some months now, and I try to make myself believe that 2 or 3 months more, do not affect the discourse. After all, this album has been out there for quite a bit already and as opposed to the title, this album doesn't sound outdated at all. Unfortunately I cannot do the test of comparing it with the original, but I have to say that the re-mastering (care of Jos Smolders) is crystal clear and carries a warm vibe. Okay, so the overall feel brings back thoughts of droney tribalism a la Zoviet France and/or soundscape experimentation a la Hafler Trio, but still today Stockhausen and Henry sound fresh to me. Modern day droneys like Uton or Datashock do not acknowledge their roots either. Time Waits for no one is a great album that spreads about a certain calmness and that grows on you after repeated listens. Sometimes the edges get a bit sharper but the overall atmosphere is moody, dark and eerie. Not depressive though, more the contemplative kind or the ideal setback to repent one's sins. Apart from that is it also interesting for the new listeners that got more acquainted with recent albums like Sandancing or The Body Shop. Essential listening so to speak; a piece of history brought back to life by the gentle folks at Herbal International.
Vital weekly, 643, Steffan de Turck

Time waits for no one
Time Waits For No One's material isn't new, having been recorded in Nijmegen in 1992-93 and originally released in 1994 on Staalplaat, but the genre of experimental drone-based exploration is one of those most capable of transcending time. Beequeen members Freek Kinkelaar (Brunnen) and Frans de Waard (Kapotte Muziek, Goem) use electronics, voices, and unidentified instruments to scatter two long tracks (ten and twenty minutes) amongst seven more modest settings. Whether long or short, the pieces are largely hazy meditations whose industrial churn is speckled with string plucks, percussive patterns, and electronic effects. Not surprisingly, the long tracks make the strongest impression: in the episodic Six Notes on Blank Tape, bowed scrapes of string instruments groan over a throbbing bass drone and the simulated roar of a train clatters along its tracks, and in the album's most fully-realized piece, the a doomscape Rupert Writes a Rainbow, a '50s sci-fi synthesizer floats atop a droning unfurl of whooshes and gaseous emissions. The album's material unfurls organically in subtle strokes, sometimes so quietly it verges on microsound, and the generally relaxed feel suggests the collaborators had ample studio time with which to pursue their playful explorations.
Textura org online review

Time waits for no one
First released in 1994, reissued by Herbal International in 2008. I hadn't heard this upon its release, but now I know why someone felt it had to be reissued. To start with, it's an excellent Beequeen album, but more important, this record was surprisingly ahead of its time back in 1992-1993 (when it was composed). Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar brewed up an experimental electronica album before the term was coined, and you can still hear the Industrial lineage of this music. Time Waits for No One deserves a "classic" status, just as the first few Pan Sonic albums or Fennesz's Endless Summer.
Online review

Sandancing
Beequeen have a bit in common with The Legendary Pink Dots, beyond just living in the Netherlands. Both play with the nether-space between goth, psychedelia, and experimental music. But even more so, both bands exude aloof aestheticism here are musicians who are so deep into strange and particular visions that when the world is allowed inside, it is always on the artists' terms. Sandancing is described as being more "song-based" than Beequeen's past releases, and sure enough, there are songs here (several of them, anyway), and even the dark musical spaces that color the rest of the record are trimmed to fit. To the band's credit, putting something as blithely poppy as "The Honeythief" next to a deranged chop-and-assemble number like "The Edie Three Step" creates an instant and pleasing tension. Much of Sandancing carries that thread of contrast, but the conflicts are subdued: the spooky ones fade into the dark well before their dreamy counterparts come into view.
Spooky, tense, and withdrawn describe about the furthest extent of Sandancing's dark recess. Despite the presence of Barry Gray, former Legendary Pink Dots guitarist, there are none of the full-on nightmare episodes of the kind that pepper the Dots' records. In pace and overall mood, Sandancing is much closer to the work Julee Cruise did with Angelo Badalamenti in the late '80s. Some might find the second half, which is dominated by instrumentals, a bit slight by comparison to the first. On the whole, however, it's an enjoyable album that ought to please fans of the Pink Dots' later, more accessible work and of dream-pop in general.
Tiny mix tapes

Sandancing
With us the same week as his Freiband alter ego's collaboration with Machinefabriek, Oahu, Frans De Waard's Beequeen project, a collaboration with Freek Kinkelaar and vocalist Olga Wallis. The Beequeen sound combines microsonic details and wonderfully out-of-place acousmatic sounds, mingling with finely crafted electronic pop music. this could almost be a Lali Puna record at times, but somehow these pieces are a lot more like regular songs, and yet the electronics are a good deal more experimental than that would suggest. Away from the conventions of the album's recurring, untreated drum machine backdrops the presence of artificial instrumentation and processed recordings tend to lift these quirky compositions into an altogether more experimental arena, as on the aggressive, bleating oscillator modulations of Tomorrow or the field recordings on Breathe and The Maypole Song. The peculiar folk-influenced songwriting might seem at odds with the band's ferociously avant-garde pedigree but as tends to be the case with Beequeen albums, that's only ever a problem on paper rather than in practice.
Boomkat

Sandancing
Beequeen is the collaboration of Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar. Originally focusing on ambient dronescapes, recent albums have shifted to a more traditional song based style. This outing features vocals by Olga Wallis and is produced by the Legendary Pink Dots Erik Drost, as well as original Pink Dots guitarist Barry Gray making an appearance on the melancholy Melt. Sandancing is a warm and dreamlike pop album with warbling tape loops, pulsing drum machines, and more than enough electronics and experimentalism to remind you of Beequeens ambient roots. Album opener A While Away is the perfect introduction before easing into Wallis voice on Melt. Further in, is the sound collage, The Edie Three Step followed by the rhythm machine propelled The Honeythief. Closing is the darker and orchestral The Illogical Song. Over the years Beequeen has released an impressive amount of recordings. Thanks to this album I'll definitely be hunting some down for my collection at home. 8/10 Michael Flora 11 March, 2008 Foxy digitalis

Sandancing
Beequeen is a Dutch music project that's been active since the late 80's/early 90's. The main people behind this project are Freek Kinkelaar and Frans De Waard. Both men have a long and extensive history in music, which I will only adress shortly here. Frans De Waard's main and best known achievements are the musique-concrete Kapotte Muziek ("Broken Music") group, and the Dutch experimental label Korm Plastics, which had a decade of close relationship with another Dutch label; Staalplaat. Freek Kinkelaar has produced music under many different names, Brunnen and Wander being the most productive, after Beequeen. Besides these two men, Beequeen is on this album aided by Olga Wallis on vocals, and contributions from Barry Gray (ex-The Legendary Pink Dots) on the track Melt and Kees Rietveld on the track Breathe. Sandancing is a 35 minute album consisting of ten tracks that have a varied range of sounds. The initial track is a typical intro track, and is just some weird yet rhythmic electronic sounds being played for 40 seconds. After that comes the track Breathe. This track is a lush and laidback song with soothing female vocals and gentle guitarplay by contributor Kees Rietveld. It's a very soothing track, that makes one long for more. Luckily, more is coming up. The track Melt again features the wonderful and enchanting vocals by Olga Wallis, but this track has the lead guitar (Barry Gray) more on the foreground at times, which results in nice variety. Tracks three and four are my favorite ones on this album. The Edie Three Step is a truly messed up track. The vocals are not continous, but sound more like random inserted words or comination of words. The opening says it's supposed to be about love, but after listening to the lyrics (which are actually not quite random), the coherence between the track and the content of the track is apparent. The protagonist seems to have had a seriously broken heart, has gone into therapy and doing drugs (that 'didn't work out in the long run'). The lyrics seem to come from tapes from the therapy sessions. Wonderful collage and coherence! After that, my absolute favorite on this album; The Honeythief. It's actually a pretty straighforward song with a high pop-feeling, but it sounds just so incredibly cute due to the vocals and happy due to clapping, I can't help but absolutely loving this track.
Following up is the track Tomorrow, which is the first instrumental track since the intro. While there's nothing especially wrong with it, and it sounds pretty good actually, it's a bit repetitive, and not that interesting compared to the previous tracks with vocals. Luckily The Maypole Song starts immediately again with vocals, this time not only Olga's, but Freek Kinkelaar also adds his vocal contributions here. This track features a lot of background sounds of children playing, making it feel like you're in a park listening to Olga and Freek singing and making music. It's another very soothing track. Then comes the song from which the albumname is borrowed, Sandancing. It's around 70-80 seconds of weirdness. The music sounds quite experimental, and the vocals are just repeating "aaaah, aaah". It's... strange, but it also somehow fits with the rest of the album, in a weird way. There, It Has Been Said is continues the atmosphere of the album with yet another laidback track with soothing female vocals. To close down this album is The Illogical Song, which is again instrumental, but this time far more interesting because it's less repetitive thanks to various instruments and soundeffects coming and going throughout the track. Sandancing is a wonderful album, but sadly lasting only 35 minutes. The music is a bit hard to categorize, somewhere between darkfolk/indiefolk/pop/experimental/electronica. It's a blend between well used electronic sounds and the more traditional instruments. Add to that the enchanting vocals of Olga, and you have some wonderful music. There's some experimentation going on on this album, not too much to scare away casual music listeners, but enough to make this album a special one, and very interesting to listen to. Very much recommended.
Heathen harvest online review

Sandancing
Beequeen have always seemed to inhabit a perverse fairytale-like place where menace forever threatens to engulf a stuttering ambient calm. While the Dutch pairing of Frans De Waard and Freek Kinkelaar have never been afraid to shine a little light into their tension-fuelled soundscapes, with the introduction of vocalist Olga Wallis into their universe the group have found an earthly representative worthy of conveying their visions. She is at her finest on Beequeen's most elegiac tracks, which proudly display their finely-crafted pop mien. While the Stereolab-esque The Honeythief is a delicate miniature marvel that coasts along on the crest of a continental wave, the real showstopper is the malevolent lullaby of The Maypole Song, where Wallis' voice combines with Kinkelaar's for an otherworldly pagan nursery rhyme that brings a smile to the face and sends shivers down the spine. While it may hold true that the remainder of Sandancing fails to be as captivatingly joyous, simply ebbing away as if all the magic dust had previously been used up, there is still plenty here to convince of Beequeen's uniquely subtle alchemy.
Record collector magazine

Sandancing
A new Beequeen! Though I have to admit, from the beginning, that I'm not that well at home in the Beequeen discography. I remember compilation appearances from the early to mid nineties (the days of microwave) that were wandering around into minimal techno territories, but my first real introduction to Beequeen was purchasing the The Bodyshop album, dating from 2004. At that time, vocals and Frans de Waard, were a combination I didn't expect, but tasted quite nice nonetheless. Now, four years later, another Beequeen album falls at my doorstep and proves to be a welcome follow-up to The Bodyshop. Beequeen is not only Frans de Waard ofcourse, since the late eighties it has been a project with De Waard and Freek Kinkelaar as its core members. Displaying their appreciation for Joseph Beuys throughout the years and thus breaking with rationality; covering songtitles from appreciated artists' songs/albums and treating our ears with organic ambient structures. Guest artists appeared here and there on various releases and it seems the first compositions with the incorporation of voice started around the mid to late nineties, when the two presented a work featuring recitals of texts by Richard Long ("Long Stones and Circles" from 1997). Sandancing is presented in a cardboard gatefold sleeve that Important Records is known for and, at the same time, always brings back warm memories to (and acquaintance with) vinyl releases. As a sidenote I can mention you that Sandancing has a sort of a co-release entitled Sandancing Demos pressed on 10" vinyl, containing the original ideas that birthed Sandancing (original versions, rough mixes & home-demos plus an unreleased track), also released via Important Records. What about the music? The album starts off with a short and sweet little melody that reminds me of a lullaby and in a way stands as the test-tone for the album. From here on the soothing can begin. The second track Breathe introduces some crackling and the first appearance of Olga Wallis' voice (she's the main vocalist on this album, a change from Marie-Louise Munck and Malou Houtman, who appeared on The Bodyshop). Yo La Tengo comes to mind when hearing the third track Melt, probably due to the presence of that nice guitar. Nice flowing song and already my first favorite on the album. The Edie Three Steps comes across as the first "intermezzo"; slow and funky or is that triphop? It features spoken word recordings from one Edie Sedgwick and reminded me of DC Talk's "Jesus Freak" album (yeah, that's Christian rock the only album in it's sort that I have, but I love it), which is infused with intermezzos like this one. Mind you, it might not be meant as an intermezzo. I'm starting to fall in love with Olga's voice when we come to the song The Honeythief. Short (maybe too short?) and leaving me wanting for more. Tomorrow is another instrumental, a recurring melody sprinkled with bells. Olga returns in The Maypole Song and Freek joins her with the singing. Sounds like a kiddie song, a feeling that is strengthened by the implementation of fieldrecordings made at a schoolyard during playtime. The saxophone, at the end, is odd but nice. The title track brings another intermezzo, followed up by There, it has been said in which Freek is "trying to make a point". Last song is The Illogical Song and features a tasty and bouncy piano track. It's actually not a song, so it seems that Beuys is still present. Beequeen made another fine experimental folky album. They themselves appear to consider it as the best thing they ever made, and although you shouldn't rely on this kind of personal judgments, they're actually not that far off.
Earlab online review

PLINKITY PLONK REVIEWS

Flora (Girlfriend) / Wild gees fly with the moon on their wings (Brunnen) / See play (Freiband)
Three new summer releases by Beequeen's Plinkity Plonk label and they're all seven inches. Girlfriends is a band from Nijmegen playing two guitars, a bass and drums. Sounds like rock and in a sense it is. Side A is a cut up of several recordings, but defenitely sounds like one track. Sparse sounds from all intruments, the suggestion of melodies, of rhythms and quite a lot of silences. Not your everyday rock, more like an extension of the format into unknown realms. Open and suggestive and therefore much more interesting than everyday rock. Side B is a track-at-once and does sound a little more like a standard rock song (without vocals, that is), but escapes from that defenition because of the changes in tempo, mood and space. For all post rock fans!
The Beautiful Glassbottom Boat is Freek Kinkelaar's new moniker after Brunnen. The essence is pretty much the same though: slow melodic tracks on organ, one accompanied by bells and the other by field recordings and a ringing sound. Atmospheric and warm, something to dream away on. Again suggestive and even contemplative, this is a good method of escaping everyday hassles.
Freiband's latest is remix stuff of course, the only guessing is to what the original material might have been. The blurb states that the A side is a remix of a well known dinosaur rock group, but actually sounds like Tangerine Dream has made it to this day and age. with a dark melodic sequence and FX on top of that, togeher with some rhythmic loops, this could well be the dawning of a new electronic kraut rock age. Well done! Side B is a remix of Beequeen/Girlfriends rehearsal recordings, but everyone could have fooled me. There is no evidence whatsoever of any guitar or drum sounds. What is more: this should have been released on Chain Reaction! Slow drony rhythmic pulses with several FX seem to be on the wrong label here. I wonder if Freiband will ever make it to the dance floor? I wouldn't be surprised...
Vital Online Magazine, August 2002

Wild geese fly with the moon on their wings (Brunnen)
Freek Kinkelaar (ein Teil von Beequeen selber, und Labelmanager wohl auch von Plonk) macht für sich hier 2 sehr schöne ruhige Tracks mit Akkordeon, klingelndem Glasglockensound und leichtem Backgroundbrummen, die jedem Freund von atmend direkter leicht naturalistischer Musik das Herz höher schlagen lassen. Ab damit auf den batteriebetriebenen Plattenspieler und morgens um 5 am Pier hören, noch bevor die Sonne ganz aufgegangen ist, und schon ist man der Freund der heimischen Flora und Fauna. Putzig.
Bleed ****-***** Debug magazine, 2002

Flora (Girlfriend) / Wild gees fly with the moon on their wings (Brunnen) / See play (Freiband)
Released earlier this summer, here are three new 7 inch releases from the Plinkity Plonk label, founded by Beequeen members Freek Kinkelaar and Frans de Waard.
The Beautiful Glassbottom Boat is the new solo project by Freek Kinkelaar. The two pieces here are shimmering with light, pretty pieces for organ, chiming bells and environmental sounds. Not much more to say here, but it should be stated that these are two excellent tracks of well constructed, charming, intriguing and polite ambient music for friendly gatherings or solitary escapism. Freiband is the latest name used by Frans de Waard, and this is the second release under this banner, after the excellent Microbes CD released on Ritornell last year. The project is centred on the act of "digitally scratching with sound" in the same manner as Asmus Tietchens had scratched with sound using reel to reel tapes on Daseinsverfehlung. Here we have two remix tracks, the first gives the Freiband treatment to the music of "some dinosaur rock group" (which remains unnamed, of course!). Of course, there are no elements of rock to be found in the pieces, but there is something of the "dinosaur" that remains. The track carries an old-school ambient feel to it (am I hearing an analogue synth here? couldn't be!), peppered with Freiband's characteristic crackling electronics. The second track is a mix of a Beequeen/Girfriends rehearsal concert, but essentially sounds unlike either band, presenting a rhythmic, minimal, and digitally pristine music that carries a rich, wonderful balance of high and low tones, of rhythm and ambience. Girlfriends, a group coined (accurately or not) as 'post rock' from Nijmegen, has been going through some personnel changes of late, but at the time these two tracks were recorded it was a four piece band of 2 guitars, a bass and drums. The a-side features a cut up of elements from different recordings, creating an abstract yet consistent piece of dissonant elements and evocative chords. The b-side is a continuous recording, but for all its consistency it is still comprised of opposing yet compelling elements, becoming more intense and immediate throughout this seemingly open arrangement. Nicely done, essential post rock in its more experimental form.
Incursion online magazine, September 2002, Richard di Santo

WANDER REVIEWS

Wander (En/of album)
Wander in combination with Carsten Höller, who has a picture cut in two and a CDR of exactely the same music as on the LP - twice the same thing, or maybe not. Wander are Freek Kinkelaar and Frans de Waard, both also known as Beequeen. Wander is their side project of drones. Their music was recorded at their debut concert where they played music to Derek Jarman's 'In The Shadow Of The Sun'. While by no means new, having probably been with us since we discovered the art (and meditative or trance-inducing effects) of the continuous twang, there can be no limit to the variety of ways they can sound. Continuous drone pieces, composed in the now, might be considered sound photographs, for each is unique. In the case of this recording, four hands did the work and produced a thick swathe of highly harmonicked, (possibly) organ grind. I liked the anomalous burps and grunts at the edge of the field. Strange moments on an otherwise comforting (and, by virtue of its very nature as a drone piece) familiar surface. And I liked the low feedback bass at the end even more - it's always a good sign when full cups of tea are vibrated off the speakers.
Vital online magazine, October 2002

Wander (Divine Frequency CD)
When Beequeen decided to stop making drones, Wander was born_ and since the year 2000, this duo of Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar has been producing output on an annual basis. Originally with the intent to release their music on every format only once, but apparently the choice in formats is limited with regard to their vast growing range of works (as this is a second time on CD, after 2005's release on Small Voices). But alas, words are just a temporary explanation of reality and we are not picky! As ever the release itself is simply titled Wander and organ drones lay again at the foundation of this album. The CD is divided into two tracks and that does not live up to what it might suggest. It starts off with airy hiss and rumble, while a steady organ drone slowly rises up along the way; getting stronger in force and eventually slowly fading away into a more silent passage. After that a new movement in the piece shows it face: a fieldrecording of crickets guided by low end pulses that secretly take us into that second track and it's not before a louder organ sequence starts to play when you actually realize that you've reached yet another movement. And that will happen again... and again. So it's more like one long track instead of the earlier supposed two. With lots of dynamics to keep it exciting and a very pleasant listen at the same time. Oh yes, yet another fine example in that ever growing line of Wander releases.
SDT, Vital online magazine, August 2009

Wander (R.O.N.F. 3 inch CDR)
Wander is the drone project of Beequeen (and you all know who that is!) and this single piece of nineteen minutes resulted from an accident involving itunes, as was the accompanying image of a semi naked girl sliced with digital drop outs a result of an accident in downloading. More ambient than drone with whiteish noises the piece resembles electronic abstract field recordings, in two sections- the first slowly rhythmical mixes of noise and oscillations reminiscent of old FM synthesis the second section builds in intensity of white noise. How much the product of accident and deliberate alteration is difficult to detect, the whole thing however resembles the found objects along the tide mark, surreal, strange and at times somehow poignant, such finds brought home and kept on a shelf or in a draw as tokens of something now gone, lost.
Jliat, Vital online magazine, August 2009

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