reviews / interviews
Listen to Truus discuss her past and present career with Charlie Crooijmans of Radio Wira Wiri
Blue Beast's "Stay Home" pandemic track made it onto some very prestigious playlists!
Ora escuitttaaa – May 28, 2020
Quarantine Singles - Blue Beast
(translated from Portuguese)
Brutal! This is a totally cinematrographic EP!
They are called Blue Beast and I spoke about them here recently, that is, in a publication dated May 14th, it referred to the album "Roaring" for a soundscape that brought it closer to the experimentalism of Kim Gordon or Laurie Anderson.
Today, I leave here the most recent work produced by Truus de Groot and Miguel Barella; which cinematographically speaking (and instinctively) made me travel to the world of 'enigmas created by David Lynch .... where spirits exist and (as if from a lullaby if any) they cohabit in the minds of all the inhabitants - just as it happened in the small and imaginary town of Twin Peaks! ;)
Ora escuitttaaa !!!
Score: 5 *****
The Quarantine Singles by Blue Beast
Quarantine Singles - Blue Beast
(translated from Portuguese)
Brutal! This is a totally cinematrographic EP!
They are called Blue Beast and I spoke about them here recently, that is, in a publication dated May 14th, it referred to the album "Roaring" for a soundscape that brought it closer to the experimentalism of Kim Gordon or Laurie Anderson.
Today, I leave here the most recent work produced by Truus de Groot and Miguel Barella; which cinematographically speaking (and instinctively) made me travel to the world of 'enigmas created by David Lynch .... where spirits exist and (as if from a lullaby if any) they cohabit in the minds of all the inhabitants - just as it happened in the small and imaginary town of Twin Peaks! ;)
Ora escuitttaaa !!!
Score: 5 *****
The Quarantine Singles by Blue Beast
Ora escuitttaaa – May 14, 2020
Roaring by Blue Beast...
(translated from Portuguese)
They are called Blue Beast and you can say that they follow sometimes a trend towards the 'electronic & noise' that brings them closer (and even exceeds in quality) to artists like Kim Gordon; and they are at the same level, in the experimentalism concerns names like Laurie Anderson! They are also belonging to a past generation that sent them to the post-punk chain and experimentalism practiced in the late 70 s and early 80's. In the present case, the mentors of the following extraordinary project are the Dutch Truus de Groot and Brazilian Miguel Barella.
Pray escuitttaaa!!!
Note: 5 *****
Roaring by Blue Beast...
(translated from Portuguese)
They are called Blue Beast and you can say that they follow sometimes a trend towards the 'electronic & noise' that brings them closer (and even exceeds in quality) to artists like Kim Gordon; and they are at the same level, in the experimentalism concerns names like Laurie Anderson! They are also belonging to a past generation that sent them to the post-punk chain and experimentalism practiced in the late 70 s and early 80's. In the present case, the mentors of the following extraordinary project are the Dutch Truus de Groot and Brazilian Miguel Barella.
Pray escuitttaaa!!!
Note: 5 *****
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VITAL WEEKLY
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Number 1233
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Week 20
BLUE BEAST - ROARING (CDR by Declaw Ditties)
Behind Blue Beast we find Plus Instruments' Truus de Groot and Miguel Barella; he plays the guitar and she plays keyboards and sings. 'Roaring' is their second release, the follow-up to 'Devil May Care' (see Vital Weekly 1067). Oddly enough there is also a song with that title on this new CDR. As I wrote before I quite enjoy the music of Plus Instruments, which I always call the female version of Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft. The minimalist, motorik beats are something that De Groot also brings to this table, but with the addition of the guitar and electronics of Barella, it also becomes something quite different. While the strong opening 'Fucking Telephone' is very much a Plus Instruments Plus
song, it is when the rhythm machines and sequencers are shut off, and Truus starts more narrating, the speed slowing down, it also becomes more like something of radio drama proportions. Not that something entirely alien to the world of De Groot; in Vital Weekly 814 I reviewed 'Salton Sea' by her and Bosko Hrnjak, which also was a more of a radio drama. Here the music gains dramatic impact and becomes another bloom in her catalogue. It's still all quite poppy, for the lack of a better word (nothing that will storm the charts), but this is all leftfield pop music. Strange sounds, familiar ones, a bit of improvisation, a bit of structure elsewhere, and a bit of history thrown in. I can easily see the Plus Instruments side of this music, but it's my lack of knowledge when it comes to the work of Barella; I am sure he brings quite something different to the table, which makes this another fascinating release of modern surreal and alternative pop music. (FdW)
VITAL WEEKLY
=============
Number 1233
=============
Week 20
BLUE BEAST - ROARING (CDR by Declaw Ditties)
Behind Blue Beast we find Plus Instruments' Truus de Groot and Miguel Barella; he plays the guitar and she plays keyboards and sings. 'Roaring' is their second release, the follow-up to 'Devil May Care' (see Vital Weekly 1067). Oddly enough there is also a song with that title on this new CDR. As I wrote before I quite enjoy the music of Plus Instruments, which I always call the female version of Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft. The minimalist, motorik beats are something that De Groot also brings to this table, but with the addition of the guitar and electronics of Barella, it also becomes something quite different. While the strong opening 'Fucking Telephone' is very much a Plus Instruments Plus
song, it is when the rhythm machines and sequencers are shut off, and Truus starts more narrating, the speed slowing down, it also becomes more like something of radio drama proportions. Not that something entirely alien to the world of De Groot; in Vital Weekly 814 I reviewed 'Salton Sea' by her and Bosko Hrnjak, which also was a more of a radio drama. Here the music gains dramatic impact and becomes another bloom in her catalogue. It's still all quite poppy, for the lack of a better word (nothing that will storm the charts), but this is all leftfield pop music. Strange sounds, familiar ones, a bit of improvisation, a bit of structure elsewhere, and a bit of history thrown in. I can easily see the Plus Instruments side of this music, but it's my lack of knowledge when it comes to the work of Barella; I am sure he brings quite something different to the table, which makes this another fascinating release of modern surreal and alternative pop music. (FdW)
Oor Magazine – March 2017
By Oscar Smit
Truus de Groot, one of the artists to start around the early 1980’s in the Dutch “Ultra” scene, has been very active in recent years. She now resides in the US but often visits the Netherlands to perform and usually comes with a brand new album in her luggage. On this new album she teams up with Brazilian experimental guitarist Miguel Barella. His raw, noisy guitar playing creates a wonderful contrast with the calm, melodic vocal of De Groot. She also adds to that with her own analog instruments tuned to experimental mode. In Comfort zone you can hardly differentiate who is producing what bubbling noise, same counts for Flying, here Truus sings and whispers a path creating a surrealistic experience. Impressive is "Forever Vega", their homage to Alan Vega who recently left us. With this collaboration Truus accomplishes an excellent and successful step towards new experimental ventures.
Gonzo Magazine – March 2017
By Rene van Peer
With her energy and imagination Truus de Groot could easily create music on her own, but she evidently enjoys working with what other people have to offer. The number of collaborations that she engaged in, has recently been extended with the album Devil May Care, which she and the Brazilian musician Miguel Barella recorded under the name of Blue Beast. The couple apparently tries to outdo one another in the use of electronics, turning the songs into bizarre tangles of surreal sounds. That is only part of what is going on, however. These convoluted and distorted sounds constitute a torrential stream that De Groot navigates with the seductive elegance of a Siren, luring sailors to their doom. Now and again Barella parries that with a guitar and digital rhythm patterns, which emerge from the electronic web, disappearing into it in the blink of an eye. This turbulence, through which your ears try to find their way, is balanced by the moderately paced ballad Heartbreakville. This song starts with a seemingly random plucking and strumming at guitar strings. De Groot has her voice stride ahead with poise, sustained by measured beats on virtual percussion, as a guitar in reverse repeatedly comes rolling on and a distant, softly swishing whistling draws an endless faint line through the music. Without any doubt Blue Beast operates in the area of rock, electro-pop, but the pair injects the genre with a surrealist streak that makes my head purr with bliss. This state can only be enhanced by Rik van Iersel’s gorgeous cover.
By Aad van Nieuwkerk for VPRO – Vrije geluiden – March 2017
“Remarkable new releases of 2017”
Devil may care (self release) - Blue Beast
Translated from Dutch
Glitches, clicks, crackle sounds, dark rhythms and menacing sounding vocals, derailing guitar licks, bizarre atmospherics, a CD that sounds like a haunted house. Like an oppressive nightmare, yet it sticks with you. Deliciously uncompromising and stubborn with an occasional wink to progressive art-pop from the 80s (Human League, Art Bears,that kind of stuff). Blue Beast is an unlikely duo: Brazilian guitarist Miguel Barella and the American singer and electronica specialist Truus de Groot. Truus began in 1980 with Nasmak Plus Instruments (that record I still have somewhere!). Miguel has been making records since 1982 as well. No strangers to the noise and experimental genre and that is why this record sounds simultaneously elaborate, subtle, yet stumbling completely against the grain through all its intensity. Bingo! AVN
Original Text in Dutch
Glitches, clicks, kraakgeluiden, sombere ritmes en dreigend klinkende vocalen, ontsporende gitaarlicks, bizarre atmospherics. Een CD die klinkt als een spookhuis, als een beklemmende nachtmerrie, en die je toch niet loslaat. Heerlijk compromisloos en eigenwijs, met af en toe een vette knipoog naar progressieve art-pop uit de jaren ‘80 (Human League, Art Bears, dat soort stuff). Blue Beast is een onwaarschijnlijk duo: de Braziliaanse gitarist Miguel Barella en de Amerikaanse vocaliste en elektronica-specialiste Truus de Groot. Truus begon in 1980 met Nasmak Plus Instruments (die plaat heb ik nog ergens!) en Miguel maakt ook al platen sinds 1982. Geen groentjes op noise en experimental gebied, en daarom klinkt dit plaatje ook zo tegelijk doorwrocht en lichtvoetig stuiterend dwars door alle heftigheid heen. Bingo! AvN
By Richard Foster for Louder than War
Feb-2017
Blue Beast – Devil May Care (2016 Dew Claw Ditties)
Recently out, Truus de Groot’s latest work is a collaboration with Brazilian post-punk veteran, Miguel Barella. Boasting tracks like the ghostly Don’t Scream, it’s a quieter-than-normal, but committed and very tough record. As ever, there are some inspiring tracks on Devil May Care, such as Love To Misery, or This Store Is Closed, two ridiculously simple, singalong pop melody dropped in a bucket of high quality, Fourth Drawer Down-approved angst. Barella throws suitable guitar noises into the mix, adding an appropriately rich, weighty counterpoints to the trademark electronic blurts and hisses. De Groot is still throwing around her clipped, simple lyrics too, often like confetti at a wedding. These statements drive the melody lines and stick in the head for ages; you can hear them on tracks like Comfort Zone and Flying. There’s an enjoyable and recognizable ode to the late, great Alan Vega too. All in all, another great non-pop pop record. How does de Groot keep knocking them out?
By Fernando Augusto for FLOGA-SE
Translated from Portuguese
Blue Beast – Devil May Care (2016 Dew Claw Ditties)
This is a work full of biographical references and interlinkages. BLUE BEAST, a duo formed by Truus De Groot and Miguel Barella, released on December 16, 2016 "Devil May Care", a work of high credentials that unfortunately was little heard and forgotten by "expert critics" when analyzing the best of year.
Miguel Barella has an extensive road behind him. In the 1980s, he co-founded groups such as Voluntarios Da Pátria (one of the favorites here in the house) and Agentss. He worked with Júlio Barroso, Akira S and had a duo with Thomas Rohrer. He also played live with Mai-Mai (Shanghai guitar improviser), Mauricio Takara, Rob Muzarek, Jim Sclavunos and a lot of "etc"...
Truus De Groot from Holland came from Plus Instruments, a major New York underground band in the same decade and has released a good album recently, Signal Through The Waves, from 2016 (listen here). "February - April '81", from 1981, has compositions by Lee Ranaldo, from Sonic Youth, to get an idea.
In 2014, she was invited to play at Virada Cultural in the city of São Paulo, with Paulo Beto (from AnvilFX - De Groot participates in the band's most recent album, "Prova De Biologia", 2015 - listen here). Jim Sclavunos (from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds) joined on drums, and Miguel Barella on guitar.
The interchange between De Groot and Barella opened the door for a further collaboration, that happened in 2016, when they exchanged ideas, music, files that gave birth to Blue Beast, which has the musical DNA of Plus Instruments, but with the precious addition of Barella's restless guitar.
The resultare twelve songs where the guitar gives the base and "surprises" to the keyboards and the mysterious vocals of De Groot - "Comfort Zone" is a good example. The music evolves as if the listener enters a narrow, claustrophobic labyrinth and is haunted by the hallucinating Jack Nicholson in "The Shining."
De Groot's voice carries an amazing drama. Sometimes mysterious (listen to the distressing "Do not Scream" - "you do not have to shout to sing a song, do not shout, do not shout", a pinch in the current pop "divas"), now aggressive, sometimes abrasive, it reaches the listener in many ways. But maybe she just gets the impact she got here - after all in Plus Instruments she's got about that intensity - because Barella's guitar plays with the improbable on the background without a standard melody without making it easy. It is calculated improvisation: as the voice mirrors in its dramatic liturgy, the instrument makes the mood and offers the path of understanding to the listener. The album was arranged and mixed by the duo, recorded in São Paulo and California. Mastered by Patrick Derivaz (that worked with John Cale, Phillp Glass, Will.I.Am, Jeff Buckley and Tom Verlaine).
Original Text in Portuguese:
Eis um trabalho cheio de referências e interligações biográficas. O BLUE BEAST, duo formado por Truus De Groot e Miguel Barella, lançou em 16 de dezembro de 2016 “Devil May Care”, um trabalho de altas credenciais que infelizmente foi pouco ouvido e esquecido pela “crítica especializada” quando da análise dos melhores do ano. Miguel Barella tem estrada atrás de si. Muita. Nos anos oitenta, foi co-fundador de grupos como Voluntários Da Pátria (um dos preferidos aqui da casa) e Agentss. Trabalhou com Júlio Barroso, Akira S e fez dupla com Thomas Rohrer. Já tocou ao vivo com Mai-Mai, Mauricio Takara, Rob Muzarek, Jim Sclavunos e coloca etecetera aí. Já a holandesa Truss De Groot é do Plus Instruments, importante banda do subterrâneo nova-iorquino na mesma década e que lançou um bom disco recentemente, “Signal Through The Waves”, de 2016 (ouça aqui). “Februari – April ’81”, de 1981, tem composições de Lee Ranaldo, do Sonic Youth, pra se ter ideia.Em 2014, ela foi convidada pra tocar na Virada Cultural da cidade de São Paulo, com Paulo Beto (da anvilFX – De Groot participa do divertido disco mais recente da dupla, “Prova De Biologia”, de 2015 – ouça aqui). Jim Sclavunos (do Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds) se juntou na bateria, e Miguel Barella empunhou a guitarra. A conjuminância no palco entre De Groot e Barella rendeu a intenção de colaborarem juntos musicalmente, o que acabou acontecendo em 2016, quando trocaram ideias, músicas, arquivos e assim nasceu o Blue Beast, que tem o DNA musical do Plus Instruments, mas com a preciosa adição da guitarra irrequieta de Barella. O resultado são doze canções onde as teclas e o vocal misterioso de De Groot são embasados por uma guitarra sempre na linha de frente da surpresa – “Confort Zone” é um bom exemplo. A música envolve como se o ouvinte entrasse num estreito e claustrofóbico labirinto e fosse perseguido pelo alucinado Jack Nicholson de “O Iluminado”. Ouça “Confort Zone”:A voz de De Groot carrega uma dramaticidade alucinante. Ora misteriosa (ouça a angustiante “Don’t Scream” – “você não precisa gritar pra cantar uma canção, não grite, não grite”, uma espetada nas “divas” pop atuais), ora agressiva, ora abrasiva, ela consegue atingir o ouvinte de muitas maneiras. Mas talvez ela só consiga o impacto que conseguiu aqui – afinal no Plus Instruments ela tem intensidade aproximada a essa – porque a guitarra de Barella joga com o improvável lá atrás, sem uma melodia padrão, sem facilitar. É um improviso-calculado: enquanto a voz espelha em sua liturgia dramática, o instrumento faz o clima, oferece o caminho da compreensão ao ouvinte. “Devil May Care” é um disco com cara dos anos oitenta, sem ser revisionista. Não foi feito ao sucesso, ao popular, e por isso não precisa se curvar a nenhum tipo de ligação histórica ou atual, embora seja, no seu princípio, um disco cheio de ligações históricas, seja na bio dos autores, seja na sonoridade. É um trabalho precioso que ficou escondido nos subterrâneos da música nacional em 2016. Não só o diabo: você também deveria se importar e ouvir. “This Store Is Closed”: O disco foi arranjado e mixado pela dupla, gravado em São Paulo e na Califórnia. A masterização é de Patrick Derivaz (de trabalhos com John Cale, Phillp Glass, Will.I.Am, Jeff Buckley e Tom Verlaine).
By Rui Eduardo Paes for Jazz PT
Blue Beast: “Devil May Care” (Dewclaw Ditties)
Another unlikely meeting with a great result. On one side is the guitarist and electronicist Miguel Barella, an occasional partner of Rob Mazurek, top figure of the free improvisation music scene of S. Paulo and also a veteran of Brazilian alternative rock and experimentalism. On the other side, from The Netherlands but living in America, the vocalist and electronic instruments manipulator Truus De Groot, the founder of Plus Instruments - a group that made a fuss in the New York underground of the 1980. Musicians like Thurston Moore <actually Lee Ranaldo> (Sonic Youth), and Jim Sclavunos (Cramps, Nick Cave in the Bad Seeds, Grinderman among others) played in Plus Instruments
The songs were composed, sung, played and recorded between S. Paulo, Brazil and Escondido, California. It was mastered in NYC by French bassist Patrick Derivaz a long time collaborator of the guitar legend, Tom Verlaine.
You may ask: what does this have to do with jazz? There is a lot, not only because Barella has been one the most exploratory and creative musicians of the experimental circuit, but because De Groot's voice has more blues, more soul and more jazz in it than most of the jazz singers out there, despite the obvious references to Lene Lovich and Siouxsie Sioux. The album "Devil May Care" is a constant surprise and every next theme convinces us that we have something precious going on no matter which name you give to it.
Original Text in Portuguese:
Mais um encontro improvável que resulta em grande. De um lado está o guitarrista e electronicista Miguel Barella, ocasional parceiro de Rob Mazurek, figura de topo da música livremente improvisada que se pratica em S. Paulo e também um histórico do rock alternativo e do experimentalismo brasileiros. Do outro encontramos a vocalista (e também manipuladora de dispositivos electrónicos) americana, ainda que de origem holandesa, Truus De Groot, fundadora de um grupo que fez furor no “underground” nova-iorquino da década de 1980, Plus Instruments, pelo qual passaram músicos como Thurston Moore, dos Sonic Youth, e Jim Sclavunos, que esteve nos Cramps e hoje encontramos ao lado de Nick Cave nos Bad Seeds e nos Grinderman.
A música foi composta, cantada, tocada e gravada entre S. Paulo e Escondido, na Califórnia, e a masterização realizou-a o braço direito de uma personalidade do punk francês, Tom Verlaine, designadamente o baixista Patrick Derivaz. O que tem isto a ver com jazz?, podem vocês perguntar. Tem muito, não só porque Barella tem andado pelas margens mais exploratórias e criativas desse circuito como pelo facto de a voz de De Groot ter mais blues, mais soul e mais jazz nela do que a maior parte das cantoras de jazz que por aí andam, e isso apesar das óbvias referências numa Lene Lovich ou numa Siouxsie Sioux. O álbum “Devil May Care” é uma constante surpresa e cada tema que avança convence-nos mais de que está aqui uma preciosidade, dêem-lhe o rótulo que lhe derem.
By Frans de Waard for VITAL WEEKLY - Number 1067 - Week 4
Blue Beast: “Devil May Care” (Dewclaw Ditties)
You may go 'Blue Beast'? Now, what's that? It's a duo of one Miguel Barella, from Brazil, of whom I didn't hear before, teaming up with Truus de Groot, who I know very well. She was for a few yearspart of Nasmak and is for lifetime already Plus Instruments, initially with Lee Ranaldo and David
Linton, in 1981, but these days mainly just solo, singing and playing her home brew synthesizers. She, along with some regular Plus contributor James Sclavunos on drums and Paulo Beto she played a concert in Brazil and bumped into guitar player Barella, who already performed with such
luminaries as Damo Suzuki, Coffin Joe, Kaffe Matthews, Patricia Ossess, Rob Mazurek, Josh Abrahams, Phil Minton, Hans Koch, Mauricio Takara, Audrey Chen, João Parahyba, Pekka Lehti, Mai-Mai and Arebato. He was a guest player for the evening but apparently from both sides this was enjoyed very much so that De Groot and Barella decided to work together, using the Internet as a go between. The results are the twelve songs on 'Devil May Care', and it will also be available on vinyl soon. Now, I am very well versed in the music of Plus Instruments (Vital Weekly 1034, 894 and 814 and I enjoyed those three releases immensely. Truus takes the motorik, sequencer Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft sound of thirty years and brings out a more feminine side of that, away from the macho marching tunes. In her other work, non Plus Instruments, De Groot works with more radiophonic drama qualities, which is something that she also brings to the table with Blue Beast. Throughout the music here is electronic based, but also seems to draw inspirations from improvised guitar sound and on the spot treatments of whatever voice, guitar and synthesizers are doing. For one it is not easy to see this as a work that made over great distance by two people not in the same room together. It simply sounds like they are in the same room, recording and interacting. Very little remains of the Plus Instruments rhythms and sequences, but it's not entirely gone either. 'Vega Forever' is such a piece, with an organ lifted straight out of Suicide songbook, and opener 'Comfort Zone' is another, but with Barella already bending a few notes in there; 'Love To Misery' has a lot of rhythm, but of a different kind than with her other work. In many of the other pieces it deals with putting forward a mood, an atmosphere, haunted ('Heartbreakville', almost like a Nick Cave song, with it's slow pounding rhythm, but with a different use of voice), nocturnal, spacey and even a straight forward rock song with 'Searching', along with a few slides on the strings, which makes a nice counterpoint with some of the more abstract, 'out there' material. All of this makes that this is a highly varied disc and an excellent addition to Truus de Groot's own music, as Plus Instruments and otherwise. (FdW)
Quotes
The album "Devil May Care" is a constant surprise and every next theme convinces us that we have something precious going on no matter which name you give to it. (Rui Eduardo Paes for Jazz. PT)
"For one it is not easy to see this as a work that made over great distance by two people not in the same room together. It simply sounds like they are in the same room". (Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly)
"Barella throws suitable guitar noises into the mix, adding an appropriately rich, weighty counterpoints to the trademark electronic blurts and hisses" Richard Foster (Louder than War)
“It even gave me, this is a compliment – a true Vega feel” - (Rik van Iersel )
“hip vocals rising out of thick as gravy grooves—2kool for school!’" - (Johnny Dowd)
"For one it is not easy to see this as a work that made over great distance by two people not in the same room together. It simply sounds like they are in the same room". (Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly)
"Barella throws suitable guitar noises into the mix, adding an appropriately rich, weighty counterpoints to the trademark electronic blurts and hisses" Richard Foster (Louder than War)
“It even gave me, this is a compliment – a true Vega feel” - (Rik van Iersel )
“hip vocals rising out of thick as gravy grooves—2kool for school!’" - (Johnny Dowd)