Piiptsjilling – Wurdskrieme

On the debut release in 2008, Piiptsjilling was the name of the album performed by Machinefabriek & Jan Kleefstra, together with Romke Kleefstra and Mariska Baars.
Following this remarkable debut, the original contributors have kept working together and performing in as well as outside Holland – to growing critical acclaim.

Now, Piiptsjilling is used as the name of the band.

One might think this kind of spoken word music, spoken in the Frisian language (Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands) would be of local interest only.
Luckily, the opposite prove to be true: the message of their music came across widely outside Friesland too.

The new Piiptsjilling album, called “Wurdskrieme” (Cry of Words) is now released on Experimedia.net.
Compared to the original Piiptsjilling album, it’s a quite different view of the same concept.

Wurdskrieme was recorded in improvisational sessions in March 6/7, 2010. (Other recordings from the same session will soon be released as Molkedrippen on the Spekk label).

The improvised sessions were post-processed by Rutger ‘Machinefabriek’ Zuydervelt (and masterfully mastered by Taylor Deupree), maintaining the live feel but adding a different sonic dimension. It is this fact that results in an extraordinary, unusual feeling of timelessness.

Like the earlier releases (Yes: plural, since Wink should also be considered a Piiptsjilling release, although it was recorded as Kleefstra-Bakker-Kleefstra), these tracks have a dreamlike, unhurried feel.

This is clear from the beginning of  Unkrûd (Ill Weeds), which starts out like an Indian raga with Mariska’s vocals over a slow guitar drone.
But the ‘nocturnal atmospheres’ change into quite dark (in Sangerjende Wyn (Lilting Wind)) – and into a downright uneasy, seemingly undirected, improv guitar instrumental (Utsakke Bui). From there, it’s back again into dreamy realms.

Though they are using elements already existing elsewhere, they manage to create music in a completely new and unique context.

While Piiptsjilling stays close to what they started, this “experimental supergroup” clearly is unafraid to stretch borders and to explore new directions.
Which they shóuld of course, otherwise they would not be ‘experimental’…

– (Also on Spotify)