Raskolnikov is a
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
-based band, consisting of four well-known musicians in the Dutch music world. They were brought together by singer, guitarist and songwriter
Mark Ritsema
Mark Ritsema (born 8 March 1962 in Amsterdam) is a singer, guitarist, songwriter, journalist and writer from the Netherlands. During the eighties and nineties he fronted cult bands Spasmodique and Cobraz and currently he plays with Raskolnikov (b ...
(
Nightporter
"Nightporter" is a song by English new wave band Japan. The song originally featured on the band's fourth album ''Gentlemen Take Polaroids'' in 1980. However, it was then remixed by Steve Nye and released as a single in November 1982. The singl ...
, former
Spasmodique
Spasmodique was an underground rock band from Rotterdam, The Netherlands from 1981 to 2005.
Sound
Spasmodique formed at the height of new wave's popularity and existed somewhere near that genre's post-punk fringes. They sang almost exclusively in ...
) in the late nineties to be the house band of a local radio show called Studio Gloria. A sort of best of these sessions was released in September '99 as their highly acclaimed debut album Studio Gloria. During the last decade, the group released two more albums, played throughout Holland, wrote and performed music for a dance performance and a theatre show, did support shows for
Jools Holland
Julian Miles Holland, (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Jayne County, Sting, Eric C ...
and
16 Horsepower
16 Horsepower was an American band based in Denver, Colorado, United States. Their music often invoked religious imagery dealing with conflict, redemption, punishment, and guilt through David Eugene Edwards's lyrics and the heavy use of traditio ...
and became regular musical guests at
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 soc ...
radio.
The promotional website for Dutch artists dutchsound.nl wrote about their second album The Jezebel Shanty:
“Subdued jazz, melancholy soul, soul-searching shanties, and baroque themes. Inner city blues, imaginary nighttime travels through town full of down-on-their-luck characters, dives, unrequited love and the inevitable morning hangover. (...) The make-up of piano, contrabass, and percussion lends a loose, almost jazzy feel to the proceedings. Think atmosphere and depth instead of tightness and rock 'n' roll machismo. The Jezebel Shanty is a remarkable reflection of a band's unique look on life.”
After a short break (but still meeting each other in several other bands and projects) the fab four reunited as Raskolnikov in the winter of 2009.
Discography
References
1
Mark Ritsema & Trio Raskolnikovat
3VOOR12 (in Dutch)
2
Raskolnikovat musicfrom.nl (in Dutch)
3
at UNSOUND (in Dutch)
4
RED SUN RECORDS online MUSIC store
5
at
Noorderslag
Eurosonic Noorderslag is an annual four-day music showcase festival and conference held in January in Groningen, Netherlands. The first three days of the festival (Eurosonic) feature artists from all over Europe, the last day of the festival (No ...
(in Dutch)
External links
Raskolnikovofficial website
Raskolnikov{dead link, date=April 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes at
Nationaal Pop Instituut (in Dutch)
Unsound(in Dutch)
Dutch musical groups