the most beautiful girl in the world, my family, my friends, my cats, Jack Kerouac, Arthur Lee & Love, Townes van Zandt, Muddy Waters, catch-22, Aretha Franklin, Hank Williams, Kafka, Big Star, the sun, Neil Young, Wilde, The Kinks, The Stooges, Little Walter, Black Flag, Berlin, 12 monkeys, the Stooges, Stax, Sun, Memphis, Barcelona, Coltrane, The Replacements, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Peter Pan, the plains, Alice in Wonderland, Charles Mingus, Lebanon, Paul Auster, Nicole Kidman, Husker Du, Aretha Franklin, Jules Verne, Guided By Voices, Booker T & the MGs, Sly, wipers, Mozart, Beatles, The Who, New Orleans, Stanley Kubrick's 2001 space odyssey and clockwork orange, The west coast pop art experimental band, San Francisco, Groundhog Day, Beethoven, Indonesian food, Belgian beers, ramones, swimming, Apocalypse Now & heart of Darkness, the bible, Dali, fear, Elvis, malibu-icetea, New York, Sylvia Plath, summer, Bach, autumn, Klimt, sex, Howlin' wolf, Curacao, Simon and Garfunkel, Iron Maiden, roller coasters, traveling....
Neye Benziyor?
Big Star, Jackson C.Frank, Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Townes van Zandt, Cat Stevens, Nick Drake, The Light Brigade
“He knows how to write hits” (FRET Magazine)
“Touching and stunningly beautiful songs” (PLATO magazine)
THE LIGHT BRIGADE
Loosen The Knot (Reel Records 2008, release date: 5 October) is The Light Brigade’s second full length after the 2004 debut album The Light Album, which received a warm welcome from the Dutch music media, praising its sincere, sensitive and well-crafted pop songs. Nothing has changed in that respect. Loosen The Knot is once again an album that harbours many gems, which at times evoke memories of the sixties, particularly the West Coast sound, but manage to steer clear from nostalgia nonetheless. And again, these emotionally charged gems are delivered with an intensity that comes naturally to songwriter Gerton Govers, something that sets The Light Brigade apart from many other acts in the genre.
However, not everything has remained the same. In the past, The Light Brigade presented themselves as a band, a collective. It has always been Gerton Govers (vocals, guitar) who wrote the songs and now he is the sole member of The Light Brigade. Loosen The Knot therefore, is the work of one man and as a result it sounds sparse, naked and transparent in comparison to The Light album, which was much more a band effort. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty going on in the songs. But this time around, the arrangements are much more refined and subtle because, frankly, these songs don’t need much. All they need is for someone to hear them.
Gerton Govers (1972) has been active as a musician since the early nineties. He had been in several bands when he joined forces with three other songwriters in Mitch (1998 – 2002), a band that gained much critical acclaim during its existence. Mitch released two albums, of which Razzle Dazzle (MFSW 2000) is their most accomplished. After leaving Mitch in early 2002, Gerton formed The Light Brigade as an outlet for his own songs. Since then, he has performed internationally and played several festivals like ZXZW and No Sleep Til’ Burg.
"In a myspace world of singer songwriters who take themselves far too
seriously, it's rare to find someone who not only diplays genuine
emotion and intensity whilst playing live, but who also brings a
warmth and a natural easy going charm that wins over any crowd and
draws you in to his melodic, heartfelt tunes." (Andy Tucker - The Dead Beat Club)
OOR magazine: The man with the golden vocal-chords.
FRET magazine: He knows how to write hits!
PLATOMANIA: Songs like Its something else & Take Care are touching and stunningly beautiful.
KEURINGSDIENST VAN WAREN: Pop with a capital P
Discography:
Demo 2003,
DEMOntage 11 (2004) (Compilation CD, dutch magazine FRET),
The Light Album (2004) (REEL LIFE, distr. by Clear Spot),
Loosen the Knot (2008)
Facts: Live- sessions KINK FM & Omroep Brabant- played on radio 6 (folk it!) - Demo of the Month (FRET)- Regional final GPVN- Album: The Light Album- gigs in Scotland, USA, dutch venues like: W2, 013, Tavenu, EKKO, MEZZ, ZXZW, NO Sleep Til'burg. Shows with The Dead Beat Club, Kaki King, Sylvester Anfang, Bird by Snow, Walker Diver, Vincent Koreman, Leaf, Adam Klein, Hoochie Fig, Zomotta, Tom Wolkers and many others.
Inmiddels zijn 225 boeken verkocht en de pers is positief over Muziekreis door het Berlijn van toen en nu - van jazzhel tot technohemel.
Duits.de: ‘Ik vind dat Jonker … die klus heel goed geklaard heeft.’ ‘Het boek is over de gehele linie - algemene geschiedenis en muziekgeschiedenis - toegankelijk geschreven en bevat talrijke anekdotes.’ ‘Alles wat langs moet komen komt dan ook langs: de jazzgekte van de jaren '20, de Schlagers van de jaren '30 en '40, Rock'n Roll, Punk, Techno - alles.’
Festivalinfo.nl: '... geeft het boek een zeer goed en uitgebreid beeld van de muziekcultuur in Berlijn.'
FONK: 'Al met al is het werkje een leuke alternatieve reisgids voor wie binnenkort naar de Duitse hoofdstad gaat. Kort, krachtig en vlot opgepend.'
Trajectum: '... is vooral voor Berlijn- én muziekfans een must voor in de trein richting Berlin Hauptbahnhof (waar je na het lezen van de eerste pagina's meteen op wilt stappen).'
Het boek is t/m 31 juli met korting online te bestellen voor EUR 14,-. Daarna geldt de normale winkelprijs van EUR 15,95. En ook in de winkels gaat het hard. Velvet Music moest al bij bestellen, nadat ze uitverkocht waren. Bestel jouw exemplaar nu!
hey Gerton, sorry voor de late reactie! mijn computer en ik zijn allebei erg traag!... en bovendien was ik vorige week even naar Ljubljana gelift :-) ik luister nu naar je cd graag een keertje samen spelen! x 23
was mooi, gisteren in Camelot ! Wel wat rumoerig, zonde... maar leuk om je met een bassist mee te zien spelen ! Liedjes krijgen er meer 'body' door, met name in zo'n lawaaierige omgeving.
Ha Gerton, ik las die waanzinnige recensie op de site van OOR. Zwaar verdiend, want het is echt een fijne plaat. Gefeliciteerd en laat alle andere fijne reacties nu ook maar komen! Groetjes van Marten.
It was really good to meet you last Thursday and to hear your set. Really diggin' your CD. I've been playing it in the car. Love your string arrangements and harmonies, echoes of Rubber Soul. Great stuff. I hope your journey home was less stressful, especially post-Tucker! I also hope we might share a stage in the near future.
Online!
