The compact but characterful new Hverheij record 'Against the Grain' is packed with sounds you've never dreamed existed. Nine gloriously experimental nuggets that'll pull the rug out from under you just as soon as you think you know where he's taking you next, and you'll notice you've been tapping your feet the whole time.

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INTERVIEW
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George Ernst - Triplicate Records: Against the Grain is a perfect title for a Hverheij record, but don't you strive to go against the grain always?

Harry Verheijen aka Hverheij: Yup, I seem to naturally go that way. Maybe not in all of my music, but often in the electronic spheres. It must be a subconscious response to external elements. I’m not sure. What I can tell you is that some of the projects take a kind of contrarian direction all of their own. Even my own preconceptions are compromised and open to quick variations of tonal shades. This one plays to contrasts – organic vs digital, intuitive vs programmed – and alternate choices of direction and acceptance. So the music here is deliberate.

GE: How's the weather been? No really, I'm not just making conversation I'm genuinely curious. It's rained all summer here.

HV: We’re seeing a scorched Earth from this side. Due to the serious drought in BC this summer, which is also gripping most of western Canada and the US, we have already exceeded the previous 10-year record of most hectares burned annually in the province. With firefighters battling 391 wildfires as of mid-July, more than 13,900 square kilometres of land has burned already, with more likely to come. To put that into perspective, this would be like one-third of the Netherlands, or one-tenth of England, already being lost to wildfires. Good thing here is that threats have mostly been in remote areas away from main populated areas. Hopefully it stays that way until rain returns.

GE: I'm fascinated by how many different beats you seamlessly cram into your tunes. They always coalesce really nicely. Do you spend a disproportionate amount of time on your drums?

HV: Often, as in a number of the tracks on this album, I use a form of double-strike method on the percussion. This is a mix between analog and digital. This is also a contrast of methods – play/record vs sequenced. If I’ve done it right (in my own mind), it means that beats are integrated in sound and variation, where the contrasts still flow together simultaneously. The effect is that you hear multiple shifts squeezed together as one. Choosing the kits and styles that I think work best together does take more time than usual to plan it out and practice before recording. I do any of the analog first, followed by the digital. Mostly, I try to complete that part of the recording in one day to maintain continuity. Then all the instrument parts are recorded afterwards to complete the track. Thank God for modern technology that allows the process to work.

Tracks 1, 3 and 7 are examples of adding percussion after everything else has already been conceived, which is a very against-the-grain way of doing things. What that allowed, though, was for me to react more spontaneously in smaller sections to variations of sound within the track. Hence the different beats still maintain a flow of sorts, but the shifts are more quirky. So on those – yes, it takes even extra time to sort it all out. I get there, eventually.

GE: What would you put in a four-tiered sandwich? Yes I know that's too big but like... if you HAD to?

HV: Go ahead, twist my arm! Definitely three layers of meat. We’re talking multiple slices, not too thin – capicola (for a bit of extra spice), black forest ham, some prosciutto and pepperoni. Multiple slices of gouda cheese to fill in the gaps. Can’t have any of those, after all. Lettuce, tomatoes, a bit of mayo and an extra slice of cheese on the top 4th layer. Maybe a dash of salt & pepper to round it all off. I’d put all that inside of a thick sourdough bread roll to best handle the load. A vice grip to compress all of the goodness might also be needed. That’s if I really, really HAD to.

Okay. Thanks, George! Now I’m hungry....so much for controlling my diet.

GE: What's The Barloga Institute of Fine Decay? That's one of your spookiest tracks ever.

HV: It’s an institute which teaches the appreciation of natural decay as a fine art form. It’s an open-minded facility with abstract regulations, policies and an uncertain, if not irrational, curriculum. The Barloga Institute embraces the madness, but doesn’t encourage it. Perfect for this project.

GE: Was that a vacuum-cleaner on there or are you just really good at synthesizing sound effects?

HV: Lol! It’s supposed to be a compuserve main-frame computer. But a vacuum-cleaner would probably make more sense. Somebody’s got to clean up the mess. Somebody who isn’t me, of course.

Well, time to run, George. There’s a big deli sandwich with my name on it and it’s calling out for it to be made. Cheers!

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REVIEW
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Hverheij is here, and the music is super weird. In a good way, not in a 'the bassist's boyfriend is going to recite some poetry that also turns out to be a palindrome but not really' sort of way. You're always smart to expect things to get a nutty with these records, and 'Against the Grain' is no exception. And against the grain does he ever go.

The quality of every project this man attaches his name to speaks for itself. I mean not literally; I'd be out of a job if that were the case. Nevertheless, Hverheij is about as prolific as it gets without getting into Robert Pollard territory, and yet to an extent, you can hear him reinventing himself with every release. Oh sure the work ethic and frantic experimentation is a constant, but you're never quite sure where exactly you're getting whisked off to.

Whether it's the David Lynch meets Venetian Snares vacuum-cleaner nightmare 'The Barloga Institute of Fine Decay', or the high-octane wavy Sega Genesis-esque shimmers of 'iTSY bITSY', you're getting sounds you've never dreamed of, and your brain is better off for it!

He's not playing unfair though, the opener forthrightly communicates to you that you're in for a trip. Spooky whooshes in the night and spidery percussion, bathed in lamplight. It's extremely hard to create beats like this that come so close to being scattered, but stick together perfectly to form patterns of Aphexian earcandy.

We're barely out the gate and Hverheij is setting important precedents of what's to come, which are immediately followed up on the samba-tinged 'Ingrained' and the aforementioned iTSY bITSY. Normalcy is overrated anyway. What's the point in working in a medium that lets you dive into the musical abyss if you're content to skirt around the edge and play it safe?

Elsewhere 'Strange Fusion' charts a course through new age territory, though of course in typical Hverheij there's a Felix Kubin-esque darkness threatening to swallow the pretty chiming and funk-laden beats. The relative straightforwardness of 'Pardon My Geek' on the other hand reins the prog-electronica in a little and shoots for simpler hooks and a focused drive to dance make you dance. This is the part of the record where you're obligated to nod your head. You'll be doing so either way, especially when the hip-hop-soaked drums of 'One-Little, Two-Little' funk up the place.

Winding down, the record presents us with the closing duo 'Reasons Are' & 'Long Time Coming'. The former is an excursion through a cavernous glass space cathedral. Ambient grandiose mood music fed through an abandoned Walkman, bleaching on the rocks below a cliff. The latter is a truly lovely, if brief celebration of Hverheij's best qualities as a producer. Fusing bossa nova with insect electronics and brush-train beats and still make it rock. You didn't think to do that. You never would. I never would. No one would except Hverheij. The man's idiosyncratic approach to songcraft is as fascinating as it is rewarding to listen to, even over shorter bursts like 'Against the Grain'. Long may he rain weird masterpieces down upon our impressionable selves.