Aart Zwaans // Sémi Hora 7"

This is a reissue record released by Dutch outsider synth player Aart Zwaans on the Dutch experimental label Dead Mind in January 2024. (Original cassette release in 1)

This is the only sound source he left behind. Postcard and DL code included.

Below is an explanation by the label.

"In the early '80s, Hessel Veldman, owner of the EXART label, would regularly travel to Rotterdam to visit the creative minds of local act Rotterdans. Their base was used to record improvised music sessions. It was a house that was both a home studio and a place for marijuana transactions.During a late-night session, one of the Rotterdans members talked about a colleague in his mid-twenties who was a ship welder working at the port. I spoke to Veldman, who lived with his parents in a typical worker's house and was obsessed with analog synthesizers. He collected all sorts of things and played them every night.

A meeting was set up and Veldman met Aart Zwaans for the first time. They went upstairs to his room, where he immersed himself in experimenting and composing night after night, working with synthesizer wizards like Enno Verthuis and the early electronic music vein of Klaus Schulze and the Berlin School. I created a song that is a mix of melancholic ambient songs that draw on the theme of ``. Aart Zwaans was a true outsider, uninterested in the underground tape trading scene and preferring to be left alone. However, he promised Veldman that he would record some tracks and draw the cover for EXART's cassette tape, which was released in 2. Although there were plans to release more of his music, Sémi Hóra's cassette tapes became the only evidence of his mysterious existence.

Sémi Hóra remained an obscure must-have for underground music collectors until some of their songs were uploaded to the Internet. A number of hidden gems from the golden age of home taping, overlooked by various reissue labels, have finally been released on record for the first time. With the help of Veldman and archivist Bence Meyer, we selected four songs from the original tapes and remastered them. Hopefully, this unique and talented musician will not fade into complete oblivion. "

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7" vinyl. Includes a postcard and DL code.

tracklist:      

1. Untitled 03:46
2. Untitled 02:10
3. Untitled 04:31
4. Untitled 02:13

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Dead Mind Records:

" In the early eighties EXART label owner Hessel Veldman regularly went to the city of Rotterdam to visit the creative minds behind local act Rotterdans. Their base was a house that both served as a home studio to record sessions of improvised music and a dealing spot for marihuana , which means customers were ringing the doorbell all day and all night long. During a late-night session one of the Rotterdans members told Veldman about a certain coworker, a ship welder working in the harbor, who was in his mid-twenties, lived with his parents in a typical workers' home and was totally obsessed by analog synthesizers. Collecting all the different types and playing them every night.

A meeting was arranged and Veldman met Aart Zwaans for the first time. They went to his room upstairs where he spent his evenings experimenting and writing his own tracks, that turned out to be a mixture of melancholic ambient pieces in the vein of synth wizards like Enno Velthuys and the early electronic music of Klaus Schulze and the Berlin School. Zwaans was a real outsider, not interested in the underground tape trading scene and preferred to be left alone. He did however promise Veldman to record some tracks and draw a cover for a cassette on EXART which was released in 1982Although plans were made to release more of his music, the Sémi Hóra cassette turned out to be the only remaining proof of his mysterious existence.

Sémi Hóra stayed an obscure must-have for collectors of underground music only, until some of the tracks were uploaded to the internet, where it reached a modest new audience. Overlooked by the various reissue labels, some of these hidden gems from the golden age of home taping are now finally presented on vinyl for the first time. In association with Veldman and archivist Bence Meijer, we selected 4 tracks from the original tape to be remastered for a convincing sample of one man's imperturbable vision. Hopefully it prevents this idiosyncratic and talented musicians from fading into total oblivion. "

Artist: Aart Zwaans

Label: Dead Mind Records