We were set for a day-night doubleheader this October day. Eef Barzelay – the charming troubadour and Clem Snide front man – had been here early, needing to get to Madison for a show that night. We recorded him in our “professional,” character-building hallway manner and soon you’ll hear what happened. Tidying up to go to our respective occupations for the afternoon, and up the stairs come Rutger Hoedemaekers and Marg van Eenbergen, the two principles of the Amsterdam, The Netherlands laptop group About — easily four hours before they were expected. They’d flown into Chicago from their home the day before and they still wore a cloaking of that jetlag on their faces and in their methodical, dragging mannerisms. They were unassuming and shy and appeared to still need three full days of rest to be proper again. They dropped their things – instruments and bags – onto the studio floor and couch. We gave them a key to get back in, should they unsuccessfully find amusements in their explorations of the Quad-Cities. We agreed to reconvene in a few hours to record the session and in the meantime, the pair strolled about on this fall afternoon, finding a book shop, a couple coffeehouses and not finding a suitable bakery to meet their needs. We apologized for not having the breads they desired and for having coffee that we think is great, but doesn’t match the palette of a European. Once the microphones were in place and they started making their dancey-electro-rock the socks off music, the two peppered each other with flashes of Dutch when in disagreement about a sound or proceeding and they maintained a calm exterior up until we were rolling and then Hoedemaekers mans the battle stations. He’s arena rock without the arena, just yet. If someone like Girl Talk can be one of the headliners at a monster American festival like Bonnaroo, About cannot be that far behind. Of everyone out there toiling over their laptops and creating music, Hoedemaekers makes some that stands out like a peacock would in a cluster of quail. When the session was finished, we cleaned up and – by that time – everyone in the studio was famished so we visited a local German pub, unfortunately at the exact time that the grill was closing down. We were able to procure a basket of chicken fingers, a salad and a heaping heap of vegetables that meant the harvest of at least four full-sized gardens and drank a couple big beers. All except for Hoedemaekers, who worried that should he be pulled over by the police while driving the half-mile to my home to sleep on the floor that night, that he would find himself in more trouble than he wanted and the use of the rental car would be in jeopardy. He stuck to non-alcoholic brew and we headed home. When they couldn’t figure out how to turn a light off at bedtime, we all briefly saw each other in our underwears. – Sean Moeller

First song
No Gato (About) [2.64MB] [1457 downloads]


– original version appears on Bongo
“Nogato” started out as a remix for Mochipet, but became such an elaborate piece of work down the road that I decided to include it on my album. It has the shortest lyrics of the whole record, but like most of the musical parts, the words fell into place automatically. I used real piano, saxophone and sousaphone — which scraped off bits of the ceiling in the lovely house I recorded it at because it was so big — which I later cut up into samples.

Second song
Strike You As The Enemy (About) [2.42MB] [1317 downloads]


– original version appears on Bongo
The song was constructed around an 80’s bassline that I wrote with some random samples. The guitar samples used are sort of a tribute to the guitarists from Deerhoof and The Ex, with their spastic playing and their addictively basic melodies. The lyrics aren’t much of a mystery I suppose… I’m just an angry boy with a weak lung.

Third song
Stack Of Marshalls (About) [2.93MB] [1319 downloads]


– original version appears on Bongo
The title itself was the main reason for writing the song, and I still love it. This song has 60’s guitars and drums in one corner, and — what we Dutch try not to pride ourselves with so much — killer Gabber beats in the other. You’ll have to forgive me for climbing onto my high horse again, but the album is obviously about the cohesion of styles rather than their separate existence, and “Stack Of Marshalls” is my best example to explain that idea. The ambulance sounds were recorded from my apartment window, and it’s happened quite a bit that when people call me they think I’m playing my own record all the time!

Fourth song
Give It A Rest (About) [2.34MB] [1327 downloads]


– original version appears on Bongo
The album’s ballad, in an extended version: Now twice as long! A sad song about friendship, and the only salute to indietronica I will ever give. Marg’s interpretation of an Ennio Morricone guitar has been a fantastic added value to the live version — as recorded here.