Palmbomen

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Nightdrivemiami

OK, I’m a little late on this one. Shame on me… Our homie Kai Hugo, aka Palmbomen dropped this album Night Flight Europa off NON Records late last month and I’m really in love with it… like, in a creepy way. The album includes his previously released single Black Safari along with ten other lo-fi analog synth pop gems. Hugo has developed an amazing and distinct style that sounds like a combination of Moroder and Wendy Carlos with contemporary pop sensibilities. … MORE

Amsterdam Dance Event

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Nightdrivemiami

Autumn is a time of transition as the sweltering heat of summer tappers off, giving way to cooler days, longer nights, and for those of us blessed to be close enough to the land, a period of natural bounty. Alas, this past month has been quite magnanimous for Nightdrive and her fans. While SBTRKT, Thieves Like Us, and our Mission to Mars went off without a hitch, we still have that rag-tag cohort of digital psychonauts known as Azari and III to look forward to in the coming weeks! … MORE

Marius

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Laura (of Miami)

The Non Records family seems to be growing and expanding by the day. Nightdrive has had a very nice friendship with these guys since our WMC show with Palmbomen at bar last year, so we’re always thrilled to hear about their new releases and latest projects. The label’s overall sound is extremely original, pleasant, smart, and somewhat nostalgic – all characteristics that will guarantee a post on our blog.

Today I’m particularly excited about Non because Marius is releasing a vinyl version of Things We Did E.P.!

If you’re reading from Amsterdam make sure to catch him live tonight at Paradiso with Com Truise. For those of you unfamiliar with Marius please check Non’s short description of him:

“The layered sound Marius produces is the result of a calculating approach to creation. His electro sound strives to embody a narrative quality, avoiding traditional pop structure for instead more linear results. His use of samples from instrumental tracks conjure scenes of cinematic proportions, wavering somewhere between 60s era James Bond and cult classics such as Kill Bill. The rippling sonic delight of NON’s wonder-boy avoids traditional categorization with powerful results.”

Anyway, if you like what you just read and have now become a Marius fan, we invite you to participate in our Things We Did E.P vinyl giveaway. Mind you it’s going to take a few weeks for the package to get here from across the pond (Amsterdam), but if you want an awesome Non Records release please follow the instructions below:

Vinyl giveaway:

1. Visit both Nightdrive’s facebook fan page and Marius’ page and like them both. You will need to do this to find the trivia answer and then to post the answer.

2. Answer this question:

Which artist charted “Marius – Staniel Cay” last week? (hint: answer is to be found on his facebook)

3. Go to the Nightdrive’s Facebook FAN page. We’ll have posted a “Marius vinyl giveaway today on :::NIGHTDRIVEMIAMI.COM:::” status update…. please post the answer as a comment under this update.

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4. We will be giving 2 copies away so spread the wurd – Winners will be chosen at random

CONGRATS TO CARLOS AND DENISE!

Download: (Nightdrive Exclusive!!)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[audio http://dl.dropbox.com/u/47451477/Yester.mp3]

Stream the EP:

Get psyched:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJwwRHZJ3QQ]

Previous Non Records related NDM posts:

Non records Compilation 1

Renkas

Palmbomen Interview

Palmbomen

Palmbomen Interviewed

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Nightdrivemiami

Photo by Nick Lapien

We’re all looking forward to tomorrow’s live performance by Amsterdam’s Palmbomen at Bar here in Miami. We’ve been in correspondence with the folks from NON Records for a while now and it’s definitely been a pleasure working with this young label. We featured Palmbomen months ago when we discovered him on the latest Kitsunè compilation. Now we’re getting a bit more personal with an exclusive interview with the man behind the palm tree, Kai Hugo.

ND: Tell us about yourself. How did you start producing music and what are your influences?

Hugo: Hey! Ok, so my name is Kai Hugo, producer and musician. Producing music came very naturally for me, I started out when I was very young when my mother bought me a small Casio keyboard, a few years later I found myself collecting all kinds of synths and gear. My main musical influences, at the moment, vary from 60′s pop and early eighties italo disco. Always have been actually, but in between I’ve made a lot of safaris through French house and all kinds of danceable music being out of the ordinary, something else that always has been very valuable to me and my friends at NON Records is Dutch electro, such as Legowelt, I-F and everything associated with The Hague’s Bunker Records.

ND: Palmbomen means ‘Palm Trees’ in Dutch. We have plenty of those here in Miami. What inspired the name?

Hugo: Obviously, in Holland we don’t have any palmbomen, except inflatable ones in what we call ‘subtropical swimming paradise’ isolated swimming areas scattered throughout holland. So thinking of a palm tree in holland is always thinking of something better, or maybe something fictional. Hopelessly trying to recreate that by faking it. Maybe there a little of that in my music.

ND: We find that with one-person electronic acts, live shows can be challenging. How do you bring the energy of a 4 piece band?

Hugo: Good question! No really, that’s a very good question because that always has been my main goal and challenge. With NON Records we’ve always been bored with one-man laptop acts, especially because we love so much music, it’s always a bit dissappointing to see that they bring it live with nothing but an apple logo. You see now that everyone who agrees on that is trying to find new ways to create an interesting live act. What I do live is a blend of lively analog synths being played and tweaked live, and a heavily emphasizing light set, that reacts to what I do live. I’ve programmed my own software to communicate with a 16-piece LED bar set-up, and the results have been nice, even though I’d like to take it to the next level soon, I’ve been really enjoying it and I think it makes for a satisfying live experience. The synergy of a 4-piece band of course, is quite hard to replace, the drummer, sweaty and working hard to maintain the energy, a guitarist making signature moves and so on and so on. But this is electronic music (mostly) and there are acceptable boundaries.

ND: Is this your first visit to Miami?

Hugo: No I’ve been last year with my friend Bear, to promote the label, and meet some people, no gigs.

ND: Tell us about NON Records and your work with them.

Hugo: NON Records is a very young label founded and owned by a friend of mine, I’ve been there from the beginning. Interesting is that NON Records had a very easy visual signature, which I guess is very important these days. It made us recognizable and within weeks everyone in Holland knew we were there.

Almost from day one we’ve been throwing parties in Melkweg (great venue in Amsterdam) with some of our heroes like Alan Braxe, Bibio, Jimmy Edgar, Zombie Nation, Late Of The Pier, TWR72, Orgue Electronique etc. and put our own live acts against it.

ND: You were selected for the most recent Kitsunè compilation. That’s kind of a big deal. Have you received more interest in your music since it came out?

Hugo: Yes, there are a lot of cool things coming up, unfortunately I can’t tell the coolest things. I’ve been asked to do some remixes for some big names and to co-produce some records.

ND: What’s next for Palmbomen?

Hugo: My album, and I’m working on my next live set, also I am producing some records with Bear for NON Records, doing more remixes. We’re also working together to create interesting live experiences for NON Records, working with lights and even lasers soon… but always dictated by the quality of the music, which is the most important.

Also, my remix for The Aikiu is coming out next week. It’ll be released through Abracada (FR) on an EP with more remixes by Brodinski and The Magician.

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Downloads:

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[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/15988986]

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F64gRHnLjtI]

Posted by Patrick

Palmbomen

Posted on November 26, 2010 by Laura (of Miami)

Palmbomen: Palm tree in dutch. Also, a one man Drone Wave act from the Netherlands. “Amsterdam’s Kai Hugo makes tracks that reside somewhere between italo disco and 60’s pop. Hugo cuts a striking figure, performing surrounded by synthesizers and a lightshow, and his refracted vocals, desolated synths, and noises that sound straight out of the Amazon make for a danceable live act.”

Truth is I’ve got this guy on repeat on my ipod, car CD player, and in my head. His song “Moon Children” was recently released on Kitsune’s Maison 10 compilation although he’s signed to Non Records (home to Renkas, Bear, and Dallas). I highly recommend you guys check this guy out…. SOOO GOOD!

For you:

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Grab Palmbomen’s Vice Mixtape here

Posted by: Laura Sutnick (L of M)

Nightdrive Miami

Tag Archives: palmbomen

Palmbomen

Amsterdam Dance Event

Marius

Palmbomen Interviewed

Palmbomen