Beequeen is an
experimental rock
Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...
group formed in 1988 in
Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Initially a duo of Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar (both on vocals, keyboards and electronics), they were joined in 2007 by Olga Wallis, also on vocals and keyboards. They have released over 20 albums on different labels around the world.
Formation
In the summer of 1988, de Waard and Kinkelaar recorded and released their first album as Beequeen, a cassette entitled ''Mappa Mundi'' released on De Waard’s Korm Plastics label. A review at ''Chain D.L.K.'' stated this album had a "...lovely psychotic calmness." The name Beequeen originated from an admiration of the works of German conceptual artist
Joseph Beuys
Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( , ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism, sociology, and anthroposophy. He was a founder of a provocative art mov ...
. The name is an adaptation of Beuys’ 1956 work Bienenkönigin (German for
queen bee
A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female ( gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are developed ...
).
Career
Between 1988 and 2002, Beequeen’s musical style may be described as experimental ambient-drone music. A collection of their songs spanning several years can be found on their album ''A Touch of Brimstone'' that included writings from fans and etheir webmaster, who at the time ran the Pretentious.network.
In 2002, their musical pallet widened when Beequeen began to incorporate songs into their music, mixing experiment with dreampop music on their album ''Ownliness''.
Beequeen's drone side continued in expression. In 2003, ''Gund'' had "Tapestries of sound slowly evolve and unravel their inner beauty" according to a review in Vital Weekly.
Pitchfork Magazine found that ''The Bodyshop'', an album released two years later "...is Beequeen's most musically expansive work yet" with subtle trip-hop beats replacing drones on previous albums. This album was recorded by the guitarist from
The Legendary Pink Dots
The Legendary Pink Dots (LPD) are an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. In 1984, the band moved to Amsterdam, playing with rotating musicians and having, as core members, singer/songwriter/keyboardist Edward Ka- ...
, Erik Drost.
Plinkity Plonk Records
In 1999, Beequeen released a double LP box set featuring live performances as the first release on their private label Plinkity Plonk records. Over the years, the label would release music by, amongst others
De Fabriek Mirror,
Edward Ka-spel
Edward Sharp, better known by his stage name Edward Ka-Spel, is an English singer-songwriter and musician, born in London on 23 January 1954, to a family with East Anglia connections. He is best known for his work with the band The Legendary Pi ...
,
Legendary Pink Dots,
Paul Panhuysen and
The Hafler Trio.
International tours
Beequeen has played live in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Poland. In 2003, Beequeen toured the American east coast with
Andrew Liles. The tour was organized by their record label
Important records. Beequeen performed several shows in Russia in 2011, and also appeared on Dutch national radio and regional television,
VPRO
The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for , ) is a Dutch public broadcaster, which forms a part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. Founded in 1926 as a liberal Protestant broadcasting organization, it gradually became more ...
.
Olga Wallis joins
In 2007, vocalist Olga Wallis joined Beequeen on the album ''Sandancing''. Another appearance of an alumnus from the Legendary Pink Dots, Barry Gray, lends guitar to this album. A Tiny Mix Tapes review found aspects of this album "much closer to the work
Julee Cruise
Julee Ann Cruise (December 1, 1956 – June 9, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and actress, known for her collaborations with composer Angelo Badalamenti and film director David Lynch in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She released fo ...
did with
Angelo Badalamenti in the late ’80s."
Of the 2011 album, ''Port Out Starboard Home,'' Record Collector said "it’s wondrous how the dreamy vocal recordings...are interspaced with experimental ambient textures." The final track on this album even used the sound of lambs bleating.
2014’s album ''Around Midnight'' was produced by Mekanik Kommando and Use of Ashes-member Peter van Vliet. The album was followed by the single ''Sturmwind/Gilbert'' o
Tonefloat records
Hiatus and ''Winter''
From 2015 to 2020, Beequeen was inactive. In 2020, De Waard and Kinkelaar released a new Beequeen album entitled ''Winter''. The album was created from previous unreleased archive recordings and new recordings made in winter 2020. A review at Spectrum Culture found this album "...highly enjoyable uneasy listening."
Other Bands and Publishing
De Waard and Kinkelaar continued to record instrumental ambient-drone music under the name Wander. As Wander they recorded several albums and singles, each one entitled ''Wander''.
Freek Kinkelaar has also been active with various solo projects including Brunnen, whic
Inverted Audioreviewed ''The Garden of Perpetual Dreams'' as "One minute you're wandering through dark, psychedelic gloom, the next stumbling across an infinitely serene, sun-dappled glade..." and another Brunnen album as "...“bedroom pop” if it was more poppish — quiet songs sparsely implemented, with breathy vocals and occasional noisy (but not loud) touches," in a review a
He currently plays in The Blue Mask, and Frans de Waard has been active under various guises such as
Kapotte Muziek Kapotte Muziek is the musical improvisation project of Frans de Waard, Peter Duimelinks and Roel Meelkop. Active since 1984, it is one of the most internationally visible improvisation and experimental projects hailing from the Netherlands. The gr ...
,
Goem, Shifts and Quest. He also publishe
Vital Weekly an online newsletter featuring reviews on experimental music. He also ran another, longer running record label
Korm Plastics that released an extensive number of bands like
Merzbow
is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by , best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists.
The name Merzbow comes from the German dada ...
, Arcane Device,
Asmus Tietchens
Asmus Tietchens (born 3 February 1947, in Hamburg), who also records under the monikers Hematic Sunsets and Club of Rome, is a German composer of avant-garde music.
Tietchens became interested in experimental music and musique concrète as a chi ...
, and
Zev, plus self-released recordings. In 2015 Korm Plastics stopped releasing music. As of 2020, Korm Plastics began publishing books.
Album discography
* ''Mappa Mundi'' (1989)
* ''Scala Destillans'' (split album with Technological Aquiver) (1990)
* ''Fond'' (1991)
* ''Der Holzweg'' (1993)
* ''Time Waits for No One'' (1994)
* ''Sugarbush'' (1995)
* ''Music for the Head Ballet'' (1996)
* ''Split'' (split album with
Kapotte Muziek Kapotte Muziek is the musical improvisation project of Frans de Waard, Peter Duimelinks and Roel Meelkop. Active since 1984, it is one of the most internationally visible improvisation and experimental projects hailing from the Netherlands. The gr ...
) (1997)
* ''Stetson'' (1997)
* ''The Surrough Gate'' (1997)
* ''Do Be Do'' (1999)
* ''Treatise'' (2000)
* ''Natursymfonie'' (2002)
* ''Ownliness'' (2002)
* ''A Touch of Brimstone'' (2002)
* ''Gund'' (2003)
* ''Aughton – The Patient Books'' (2004)
* ''The Body Shop'' (2005)
* ''Seltenturn – B Sides'' (2007)
* ''Sandancing'' (2008)
* ''Sandancing Demos'' (2008)
* ''Port Out Starboard Home'' (2011)
* ''Around Midnight'' (2014)
* ''Winter'' (2020)
References
External links
*
Dutch rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1988
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