SHOP
Go to my BANDCAMP
Brand New release! 2023
Presenting the Film Soundtrack for Truus' short Film Gallivanting (2021).
Running time: 16:55
Presenting the Film Soundtrack for Truus' short Film Gallivanting (2021).
Running time: 16:55
Check out some releases on Bandcamp!
|
|
|
Blue beast is the brainchild of Truus de Groot (Plus Instruments) NL/US and Miguel Barella (Agentss, Voluntários da Pátria ) BR, both seasoned veterans of the experimental electronic / noise world.
|
Plus Instruments, Truus solo and much more! on Bandcamp
|
ROSCO CHAPEL is a collaboration between Truus and Roland Groenenboom, and Kathy Ziegler. A strange sort of Country, you have never heard before! Check out their BandCamp page!
Reviews
Newsletter Vital Weekly:Number 1198-Week 37
by; Frans de Waard
PLUS INSTRUMENTS - AIM FOR THE CENTER (CDR by Dewclaw Ditties)
Is that title, and the target cover, for real or is it a remark on the current state of the USA where unfortunately any idiot can own a gun and sadly enough also use them a bit too much? I metTruus de Groot, the woman behind Plus Instruments a couple of times, and didn't ask for herpolitical ideas (I rarely do that, actually), but I am sure it is her cynic comment on the country where she resides since many years and not a plea for more guns. Originally she was from The Netherlands, member of Nasmak and then forming Plus Instruments, along with Lee Renaldo(before his time in Sonic Youth) and David Linton, but since many years Plus Instruments is now her solo project. Sometimes she works as Truus de Groot and does a bit of other music, such as her 'surf' album, 'The Wave Widows' (see Vital Weekly 1162). I like that other work, but for me, Plus Instruments is where she delivers her strongest work. Over the years she gathered quite a bit of synthesizer, including a big crackle box of which only two copies exists and made by Steim in Amsterdam, where she recorded parts of this album. On previous occasions, I called Plus Instruments the feminine version of D.A.F. for the use of motorik beats and icy synths because of De Groot's soulful voice (well, not as in soul music, but you get my drift, I guess). Over recent years, that sound is less D.A.F. inspired, growing slowly into a more electronic project of all kinds. Plus Instruments can be poppy, noisy (the crackle box gets the headline in 'Love Comes In Waves'), techno-based or krautrock alike. De Groot's voice, whether or not treated with a Kaos-pad is sweet, angry, demanding and in a likewise ever-changing mood. The ten pieces last forty minutes and they are all great, without anyone especially leaping out; no straight forward hit single this time, but that doesn't matter. In many of the songs there is that fine rough-edged synth sound, bubbling and bursting away, in a very free role, underneath but various times also right on top of things. That gives the music a fine raw edge, one that works in fine contrast with the voice of De Groot and the strict tempos used. And damn, so I thought, with all the interest in electronic pop-related music, especially from those who have been around so long, and with all the love for vinyl, why is this not released on vinyl, but a CDR? I could see this reaching to all the people who happily shop at all the usual labels with re-issues. That is something that eludes me (unlessTruus de Groot has some hang-up on being independent and wants to have something cheap to mail!) as Plus Instruments is something that I could see reach a larger audience. She aims for the center, now the center has to respond! (FdW)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Wave Widows - Tuus de Groot Solo
VITAL WEEKLY= Number 1162 (Dec 2018 by Frans de Waard)
TRUUS DE GROOT - THE WAVE WIDOWS (CDR by Declaw Ditties)
Now here's someone who continues to surprise me, going new directions all the time. Which is not an odd thing, as Truus de Groot emerged from the late 70s post-punk no wave scene in The Netherlands, the scene we called Ultra, as a member of Nasmak and later on, for a lifetime now, as Plus Instruments, but also as Trigger & The Thrill Kings. Her best-known work is as Plus Instruments, fine motorik beats and sequencers, the female side of the macho DAF sound. Underher own flag she has more freedom to whatever she wants, be it radio play like sound scapes or the modular synth drones of 'Lineality' (Vital Weekly 1114). On this new release she heads out in yet another direction, her own private take on the surf genre. Not really the kind of music I'd say Iknow a lot about, but I surely have a notion. To this end De Groot has her usual Opus 3 Moog, but shut down all the other synths and picks up guitar, bass and drums and plays some heavy guitar tunes. The music is throughout highly atmospheric and drenched with some fine reverb to suggest more atmosphere and bigger spaces. The result isn't just some heavy music, a wall of sound but De Groot knows how to add little melodies on the guitar and synth, bending and shaping string sounds, like a good surf tune would be. There are nine pieces here, thirty six minutes and it's like not much you hard so far from her and yet it still very much fits the vastness of her musical interests. It's new, adventurous and completely fits the idea of doing what one thinks works best; and of course simply to try out something new. Maybe surf music, even when it comes in such a heavy dose as this, is something is not the sort of thing we would know much about, in the capable hands of De Groot she convinces us with this bold move. (FdW)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Linealty
for Louder than War by Ioan - 8.5/10
Louder than War’s Ioan Humphreys gets to listen to the new solo LP from experimental composer and NY No waver, Truus de Groot.
Either as a solo performer, or under the Plus Instruments moniker, Truus de Groot has been at the forefront of experimental music-making for the last three decades. Established in 1978 in the Netherlands, amidst the explosion of punk rock and new wave, de Groot became active in the resulting detritus of the scenes. However, the more experimental aspects of tinkering with toy instruments, mangled improvised sounds, and in particular, analog synthesizers gradually took over and moved de Groot’s sound beyond post-punk, and thus Plus Instruments was born.
Releasing their first EP single in 1979, most of Plus Instruments’ live performances were improvised, and after hundreds of performances all through Europe, Truus struck up a friendship with Rhys Chatham’s drummer, David Linton after seeing them play live in her hometown of Eindhoven. This friendship with Linton involved an invitation for a NYC visit in 1981, where de Groot was suddenly thrown into the burgeoning and incredibly fertile No wave scene. There, Plus Instruments would soon include Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) on guitar and David Linton on drums, while Truus played bass and sang lead vocals. They quickly recorded and released an album, February – April 1981, on the Dutch Kremlin label. With this line-up, they hit the New York club scene, and went on to a European Tour. Over the coming years, Plus Instruments would include musicians such as Jonathan Schneider, Craig Kafton, Annene Kay, Marula Verbeek and James Sclavanos (Sonic Youth, Bad Seeds), yet de Groot remained the constant in this fluid, experimental outfit.
December 2017 saw the latest release from de Groot, in the form of the six-track LP, Lineality. Each of the six tracks runs to exactly eleven minutes and it is described by de Groot herself as, “my most experimental album to date”. The full-length album was created solely using her own analog synthesizers, co-designed by Bosko Hrnjak and built by Dr. Moonstien. Immediately from Lineality 1 (Primam Aciem), the widescreen scope of the sounds that de Groot is able to makes is unnervingly evident – wonky analog synth drone, with audial cosmic arrays and modulator bends. Halfway through the track, a throbbing synth beat emerges, only to be beaten down by the experimental warped sounds.
Lineality 2 (II Recta) starts off with a more organic feel. At times it sounds like field recordings and not the results of any electrical involvement. As the track progresses, the spacial architecture De Groot is able to make with her sounds becomes especially evident, as you could imagine these are the last sounds a dying spacecraft would make as it plummets into a planet. Lineality 3 (Tertiam) has the spastic modular bends, ramped up as the other-worldly sounds she is able to produce become more and more outrageous and astonishing. A heavy, unnerving march underlies the track and you could well imagine it playing out to the march of a Triffid, or worse. The second half of the track is taken up with a more noisy experimental feel, albeit accompanied with what sounds like a deranged oboe. Nice.
Lineality 4 (Quarta Acie) has quite a harsh, high-pitched noise start and is closely followed by another drone-heavy slog through the gorgeously-twisted frequencies, sinister heavy throbs, spectral ripples and celestial rip tides. Ironically, it is out of this unearthly electronica swamp that comes the first thing that remotely resembles a ‘tune’ in the most conventional terms. Follow-up, Lineality 5 (Linea Quinque), is another track that trudges through a sonic scrap land soundtracking decrepit and outsourced robots, sending out final distress signals as they head to the crusher. It’s pure modular synth hedonism and de Groot sounds like she is having the time of her life making these tracks.
Final track, Lineality 6 (Tandem Lineam) starts off a more gentle affair than the previous tracks and sees de Groot veering into Max Richter-esque territory. That is until the equilibrium is once again upset and the sonic ground you were walking on changes like an Escher painting. Again, the sounds created are unsettling, jarring and disconcerting. But they make perfect sense.
Equal parts musique concrete and The Quatermass Experiment, Lineality is unnerving and creates disquiet, but never discomfort. This sort of territory is left to the ‘harsh noise’ makers. Instead, what de Groot does so perfectly is mine the depths of sonic possibilities with a masterful knowledge of modular synth to create vast amounts of space and time in which to paint her sounds. Experimental and abstract, yet beautifully distracting (and even comforting) in this increasingly weird and hostile world. Gorgeous stuff.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Devil May Care
Rui Eduardo Paes for Jazz PT
5 stars
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frans de Waard for Vital Weekly
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 years part 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, haunte('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's portfolio.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTIGE TALUURE & PLUS INSTRUMENTS - NEWTONS FLAT FIDELITY VOL. 2
Rene van Peer - Gonzo Magazine
INTIGUE TALUURE & PLUS INSTRUMENTS - NEWTONS FLAT FIDELITY VOL. 2 (cassette by Bananafishing Records)
Belgian Duo Intige Taluure cites influences as varied as they come. In their heart and soul The Shangri-Las rub shoulders with The Residents and This Heat. On Newton’s Flat Fidelity Vol 2 they combined their talents with Truusde Groot, who takes unexpected twist and turns in her dance tunes. She steps to the left where you would expect her to move to the right. All this with angelic
elegance and a wink so fat you could cook a soup from it. In this bizarre collaborative conspiracy they create a mix of Pacific hula-hoop music with the perverted alienation of the above mentioned Residents. Their chosen themes are hardy stuff indeed; dandruff, chandeliers of meat and the liberation of concrete; even Ali Baba, as we remember him from a Dutch childhood song in
which he investigates certain parts of his physical being into some depth. All this cosmic madness does drive songs that are quite danceable. Be invited to cut the rug but don’t forget to go left when your brain commands you to turn right. You are allowed to listen sitting down, by the way. The only thing you’ll have to fear is your brains to be wrung and twisted..
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frans de Waard - Vital Weekly
with Rudy Trouve and now with Geertruda de Groot, best known as Plus Instruments (see also Vital Weekly 1034, 894 and 814). This is my first introduction with Intige Taluure, a duo of Phlitman and Kang, from Belgium. Their cassettes are about working with other people. So in this case we have songs that are started by Plus Instruments and finished by Intige Taluure and vice versa. With eleven pieces the balance is in favour of Intige Taluure when it comes to starting them. As I haven’t heard of them before, I cannot judge easily who’s doing what. Surely the voice of De Groot is a clear presence in most of these pieces. Throughout I think the sound owes quite a bit to De Groot’s work as Plus Instruments (but also her work outside that context), especially her singing. The music is all-electronic and the one thing that Plus Instruments didn’t bring to the table, it seems, is the sequencer, motorik beats that she is also known for. The mood is more atmospheric here, more poetic, and songs as poetry, such as in ‘Curtain Call’ or even the funnier ’Sjeik El Pfff’. It is perhaps also a bit more surrealistic, nightclub atmospheric, intimate than wholly extravert. A nice game can be played by closing your eyes and think which one was started and which was finished by either one (in my case, knowing De Groot’s music better, of course I was thinking of her contribution), but in reality (and honesty) I should say
that this is almost an impossible job. These eleven pieces sound very coherent as they are, and it’s not that one influence prevails over the other, but in reality they all sound as the result of three people in a room writing these songs together. I heard lesser music from people that actually were together when recording, so all the greater the achievement here. (FdW)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Surrealist Ball
Vital Weekly - Frans de Waard
"Is that by Mark Ryden", a friend of mine asked. "No, it's Truus, you know Truus de Groot, also known as Plus Instruments". He didn't know, but he was referring to the cover image, which is indeed by Ryden, which he knew and I didn't. It's looks a bit like a surreal image, but in all fairness I am not really taken by the whole surrealist thing. It all seems to be a bit of well-walked cliché, image wise but also music wise. It always seems to refer back to places and times which were hardly the times of the creator: say, for instance, the ball room dances of twenties in a far away American city, or the talking dolls in an empty house, covered with fog and oho… suspense. Take an old 78 rpm record, make few loops out of it, add some reverb, some children voices whispering 'I'm so alone; big tree don't hurt me' (add more reverb) and you're half way a surrealist record. It made me all the more curious what Truus would do on her disc. I really enjoy her recent Plus Instruments releases (see for instance Vital Weekly 894), which are synth and sequencer heavy along with Truus' voice. On this release, as Truus, the rhythms are derived from a farfisa organ and she sings, but also adds weird, other sounds. She still plays songs however and doesn't depict the haunted house scenario. A lyric about 'Monster' ('you are a monster') is a bit tacky of course and some of it harks back to that ballroom atmosphere, such as 'Bird In A Gilded Cage', but I like the way she processed her voice on this piece. That sounds very much Truus like, so that was good. For each of these songs the dance is mentioned on which the rhythm is based, waltz, salsa, tango, pasodoble, latin etc. 'So Much' is disco and is the most Plus Instruments like piece, with it's minimalist beats and stomp rhythm. While Truus doesn't avoid cliché’s that I seem to detect in the world of current surrealists, I enjoyed this release quite a bit. It had all the trademarks of a great Truus de Groot release, funny, dance like, poppy and a bit odd from time to time. With or without any surrealism. (FdW)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Signal Through the Waves - Plus Instruments
Chain D.L.K. website by Steve Mecca on 2016-07-03
5 stars
My last encounter with Plus Instruments was the 'Trancesonics' album from 2013, and since then, Truus de Groot has been kinda busy, sneaking by a limited vinyl release ('Exile in Paradise') that I wasn't even aware of prior to this one. Whereas on 'Trancesonics' Truus had only a little help from a single musician (Jimmy Virani on theremin and moog), here she employs additional musicians Paulo Bento (synths, bass, guitar) from Anvil FX and James Sclavunos (drums) from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Grinderman. The result is something a lot less raw and a lot more controllled than 'Trancesonics,' yet still with that kind of "synth electronics as synth electronics" (as opposed to synths trying to emulate real instruments) ethic that seems integral to de Groot's music. Here Plus Instruments sounds a lot more like a real band than a solo artist with a lot of synths as on 'Trancesonics'.
Truus's vocal stylings have changed too; less experimental, less New Waveish, a lot more melodic, and somewhat jazzy and slightly soulful. Imagine Anette Peacock meets Amy Winehouse with someone else I've heard but can't remember her name. Plus Instruments tackles a variety of themes over the ten tracks on this album - a strange supernatural encounter ("Ghost"); passion ("This Fire Burns"); romantic breakup ("It's Over"); seduction ("Come Closer"). Some of the songs that work the best though can't be pigeon-holed to a specific theme, such as the title track "Signal Through the Waves". This little gem relies heavily on a distinctive sample & hold synth riff, a ring modulated chordal descending chordal progression and Sclavunos's snazzy drumming. Truus's voice is at her most appealing on this track, and the lyrics are great too. This track alone makes the disc a worthy purchase. Another great track is "Bad Mood" (rather self-explanatory) where drudgy broom-swept synths and plodding drums and bass back Truus's misery-tinged bluesy vocals. "You and Me" is as close as Plus Instruments gets to some of the chaotic 80's style experimentation so prevalent on 'Trancesonics'. But the most atypical song on 'Signal Through The Waves' is the last- "Your Mind" with guitar as the main instrument, and seething synths in the background. The poetic nature of this number is comparable to Patti Smith at the height of her powers.'Signal Through The Waves' shows just how much de Groot has grown as an artist, and the songs are worth revisiting over and over again. While these tracks are more accessible, don't mistake accessibility for commerciality. This ain't mainstream, and we can be very thankful for that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
De Subjectivisten - SCHADUWKABINET – Web Magazine - http://subjectivisten.nl/?p=5204
Jan Willem 24 mei 2016
I must admit that I've never heard of the group Plus Instruments. Yet since 1978, this is already a fact in the Dutch music scene. This brainchild of Truus de Groot (Nasmak, Doe Maar, Trigger And The Thrill Kings) delivers in early 80s two releases that lie somewhere between new wave, no wave, synth-pop and experimental music. After another 30 years they restart and release a few more albums. Truus meanwhile released a few solo releases. Signal Through The Waves is yet another solid presentation of this group. Besides Truus (vocals, arrangements) are the drummer Jim Sclavunos (8 Eyed Spy, Grinderman, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Sonic Youth, Teenage Jesus And The Jerks, The Cramps, Trigger And The Thrill Kings) and keyboard player and bassist Paulo Beto (Anvil Fx, Freak Plasma, Shiva Las Vegas). The passage of time seems to have absolutely no effect on this trio, let alone any hype of today to influence their style. Uniquely they bring a mixture of the above styles, which has virtually nothing in common with any other artists. That alone is a great thing in this beaten musical landscape of today. The true roots lie in the 80s, but the music is completely here and now. For those who want to have some reference, think of a kaleidoscopic cross-fertilization of AGF, Diamanda Galas, Lydia Lunch, No Safety, Peaches, The Residents, Sonic Youth, Siouxsie & The Banshees and Diana Rogerson. Utterly unique that deserves our full attention. Pleasant introduction!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Bruyn - Lust For Life Magazine – April 2016
The Dutch Ultra movement revival of a few years back was highlighted by the return of Plus Instruments (AKA Truus de Groot). Truus, vocalist and electronica musician, was a member of Dutch group Nasmak around the late 70’s, in 1981 she left for the US where she still resides. She still makes music with the same naivety, yet as torrid and exciting as she did 35 years ago. This was the case with her previous album Trancesonics of a few years back, but this new Album “Signal Through The Waves” has even more of these aspects and it is actually much better. True, this electro pop sounds quite vintage, you can call it “the future of yesterday”, but the songs are very strong and the production is exciting. Sometimes a Kraftwerk-like Robot mood predominates the sound, other songs are organic and melodic. Collaborators are James Sclavunos (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds) who was a Plus Instruments member in the 80’s and Paulo Beto (Anvil FX).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VITAL WEEKLY - Frans de Waard
Here's another release by Plus Instruments; I also reported on the two previous releases. That was 'Dance With Me' (Vital Weekly 814) and 'Trancesonics' (Vital Weekly 894), all of which continues a string of works that has been going on for some thirty-five years now. Right in the centre of Plus Instruments is Truus de Groot, in the late seventies singer for Nasmaak, later Nasmak and then with Lee Ranaldo and David Linton forming Plus Instruments in 1981. A group with a guitar, drums, vocals and tapes. Later on she played more rockabilly tunes as Trigger And The Thrill Kings, but in 2012 Plus Instruments became part of the 'Ultra' revival — the Dutch version of No New York (the shortest description I can think off), and since then there have been releases and concerts.
Recently De Groot toured the Netherlands, with former Nasmak drummer Toon Bressers on drums. On her releases, De Groot plays most of the synthesizers, sequences, rhythms and sings, and it sometimes reminded this listener of the old D.A.F. sound: cold, motorik rhythms with a great vocal. That worked on 'Trancesonics' even better than on 'Dance With Me', which I thought was a bit un- balanced, so expectations are high and we are not disappointed, but there are minor changes. For me the music of Plus Instruments works best if it is machine/sequencer driven with a motorik beat (think D.A.F. at their height) and on top Truus de Groot's soulful voice. It brings warmth to the machine and that's what she does best. The minor changes are due to the fact that in some of these pieces there is James Sclavunos playing the drums and Paulo Beto on synthesizers, bass and guitar. Those pieces add a more rock like beat to the music, even when it is trying to sound as machine-like. James Sclavunos we know from 8 Eyed Spy, Nick Cave, Grinderman, and Teenage Jesus And The Jerks and working with Truus before in Trigger And The Thrill Kings, while Beto is for me unknown (he played in Freakplasma, LCD and Shiva Las Vegas). By playing these more rock inspired tunes, Plus Instruments loose a bit of the coolness that it has when Truus does it all solo, I guess, but there are still some excellent pieces on this release, such as 'Come Closer', the moody 'Unlikely Crush' and 'Bad Mood' (which sounds like an electronic Nick Cave song), the joyous 'On The Other Side' (with full band, but still not as rocky) to which we also find some rockers as 'Your Mind' and the title piece. While I think the majority of the songs are great, I think Plus Instruments is at it's best with it's mechanical swing and Truus vocal delivery that goes along and the rock format is something that makes it a bit too normal for me. Keep the boys in the same line and don't let do their rock poses and all will be fine. (FdW)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oor Magazine – 6/2016 (NL)
Oscar Smit
One of the legacies of 40 years of punk is do it yourself. Make your own instrument, record your own record and self-release. Plus Instruments is evident of this DIY modus. Truus de Groot from Eindhoven was in late seventies briefly in the band Nasmak . Her own band is Plus Instruments. Truus was in 1980 one of the first pop musicians who worked with electronic music institute STEIM . The crackle box developed by STEIM became her trademark. That is immediately evident on Signal Through The Waves. Her freaky analog sounding self-built synthesizers and crackle boxes predominate the overal sound and her two companions connect with this. Truus sings and her electronics go wild. Come Closer sounds ominous with dark eighties synth -like parts. On Unlikely Crush space sounds are central to the jazzy vocals of Truus embracing it an enchanting way.
Dance With Me by Plus Instruments was released 2011 on Dewclaw Ditties. After a long Hiatus, Truus revived Plus Instruments with this album of 13 original songs. With guest players, Jimmy Virani and Pietra Wextun. Minimal Euro Dance beat with a touch of exotica.
Recorded in 2010, 2011 at The Ranch, Escondido, CA.
Mastered at Dollhouse Studios by Peter Mavrogeorgis and James Sclavunos, NY, May 2011.
Newsletter Vital Weekly:Number 1198-Week 37
by; Frans de Waard
PLUS INSTRUMENTS - AIM FOR THE CENTER (CDR by Dewclaw Ditties)
Is that title, and the target cover, for real or is it a remark on the current state of the USA where unfortunately any idiot can own a gun and sadly enough also use them a bit too much? I metTruus de Groot, the woman behind Plus Instruments a couple of times, and didn't ask for herpolitical ideas (I rarely do that, actually), but I am sure it is her cynic comment on the country where she resides since many years and not a plea for more guns. Originally she was from The Netherlands, member of Nasmak and then forming Plus Instruments, along with Lee Renaldo(before his time in Sonic Youth) and David Linton, but since many years Plus Instruments is now her solo project. Sometimes she works as Truus de Groot and does a bit of other music, such as her 'surf' album, 'The Wave Widows' (see Vital Weekly 1162). I like that other work, but for me, Plus Instruments is where she delivers her strongest work. Over the years she gathered quite a bit of synthesizer, including a big crackle box of which only two copies exists and made by Steim in Amsterdam, where she recorded parts of this album. On previous occasions, I called Plus Instruments the feminine version of D.A.F. for the use of motorik beats and icy synths because of De Groot's soulful voice (well, not as in soul music, but you get my drift, I guess). Over recent years, that sound is less D.A.F. inspired, growing slowly into a more electronic project of all kinds. Plus Instruments can be poppy, noisy (the crackle box gets the headline in 'Love Comes In Waves'), techno-based or krautrock alike. De Groot's voice, whether or not treated with a Kaos-pad is sweet, angry, demanding and in a likewise ever-changing mood. The ten pieces last forty minutes and they are all great, without anyone especially leaping out; no straight forward hit single this time, but that doesn't matter. In many of the songs there is that fine rough-edged synth sound, bubbling and bursting away, in a very free role, underneath but various times also right on top of things. That gives the music a fine raw edge, one that works in fine contrast with the voice of De Groot and the strict tempos used. And damn, so I thought, with all the interest in electronic pop-related music, especially from those who have been around so long, and with all the love for vinyl, why is this not released on vinyl, but a CDR? I could see this reaching to all the people who happily shop at all the usual labels with re-issues. That is something that eludes me (unlessTruus de Groot has some hang-up on being independent and wants to have something cheap to mail!) as Plus Instruments is something that I could see reach a larger audience. She aims for the center, now the center has to respond! (FdW)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Wave Widows - Tuus de Groot Solo
VITAL WEEKLY= Number 1162 (Dec 2018 by Frans de Waard)
TRUUS DE GROOT - THE WAVE WIDOWS (CDR by Declaw Ditties)
Now here's someone who continues to surprise me, going new directions all the time. Which is not an odd thing, as Truus de Groot emerged from the late 70s post-punk no wave scene in The Netherlands, the scene we called Ultra, as a member of Nasmak and later on, for a lifetime now, as Plus Instruments, but also as Trigger & The Thrill Kings. Her best-known work is as Plus Instruments, fine motorik beats and sequencers, the female side of the macho DAF sound. Underher own flag she has more freedom to whatever she wants, be it radio play like sound scapes or the modular synth drones of 'Lineality' (Vital Weekly 1114). On this new release she heads out in yet another direction, her own private take on the surf genre. Not really the kind of music I'd say Iknow a lot about, but I surely have a notion. To this end De Groot has her usual Opus 3 Moog, but shut down all the other synths and picks up guitar, bass and drums and plays some heavy guitar tunes. The music is throughout highly atmospheric and drenched with some fine reverb to suggest more atmosphere and bigger spaces. The result isn't just some heavy music, a wall of sound but De Groot knows how to add little melodies on the guitar and synth, bending and shaping string sounds, like a good surf tune would be. There are nine pieces here, thirty six minutes and it's like not much you hard so far from her and yet it still very much fits the vastness of her musical interests. It's new, adventurous and completely fits the idea of doing what one thinks works best; and of course simply to try out something new. Maybe surf music, even when it comes in such a heavy dose as this, is something is not the sort of thing we would know much about, in the capable hands of De Groot she convinces us with this bold move. (FdW)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Linealty
for Louder than War by Ioan - 8.5/10
Louder than War’s Ioan Humphreys gets to listen to the new solo LP from experimental composer and NY No waver, Truus de Groot.
Either as a solo performer, or under the Plus Instruments moniker, Truus de Groot has been at the forefront of experimental music-making for the last three decades. Established in 1978 in the Netherlands, amidst the explosion of punk rock and new wave, de Groot became active in the resulting detritus of the scenes. However, the more experimental aspects of tinkering with toy instruments, mangled improvised sounds, and in particular, analog synthesizers gradually took over and moved de Groot’s sound beyond post-punk, and thus Plus Instruments was born.
Releasing their first EP single in 1979, most of Plus Instruments’ live performances were improvised, and after hundreds of performances all through Europe, Truus struck up a friendship with Rhys Chatham’s drummer, David Linton after seeing them play live in her hometown of Eindhoven. This friendship with Linton involved an invitation for a NYC visit in 1981, where de Groot was suddenly thrown into the burgeoning and incredibly fertile No wave scene. There, Plus Instruments would soon include Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) on guitar and David Linton on drums, while Truus played bass and sang lead vocals. They quickly recorded and released an album, February – April 1981, on the Dutch Kremlin label. With this line-up, they hit the New York club scene, and went on to a European Tour. Over the coming years, Plus Instruments would include musicians such as Jonathan Schneider, Craig Kafton, Annene Kay, Marula Verbeek and James Sclavanos (Sonic Youth, Bad Seeds), yet de Groot remained the constant in this fluid, experimental outfit.
December 2017 saw the latest release from de Groot, in the form of the six-track LP, Lineality. Each of the six tracks runs to exactly eleven minutes and it is described by de Groot herself as, “my most experimental album to date”. The full-length album was created solely using her own analog synthesizers, co-designed by Bosko Hrnjak and built by Dr. Moonstien. Immediately from Lineality 1 (Primam Aciem), the widescreen scope of the sounds that de Groot is able to makes is unnervingly evident – wonky analog synth drone, with audial cosmic arrays and modulator bends. Halfway through the track, a throbbing synth beat emerges, only to be beaten down by the experimental warped sounds.
Lineality 2 (II Recta) starts off with a more organic feel. At times it sounds like field recordings and not the results of any electrical involvement. As the track progresses, the spacial architecture De Groot is able to make with her sounds becomes especially evident, as you could imagine these are the last sounds a dying spacecraft would make as it plummets into a planet. Lineality 3 (Tertiam) has the spastic modular bends, ramped up as the other-worldly sounds she is able to produce become more and more outrageous and astonishing. A heavy, unnerving march underlies the track and you could well imagine it playing out to the march of a Triffid, or worse. The second half of the track is taken up with a more noisy experimental feel, albeit accompanied with what sounds like a deranged oboe. Nice.
Lineality 4 (Quarta Acie) has quite a harsh, high-pitched noise start and is closely followed by another drone-heavy slog through the gorgeously-twisted frequencies, sinister heavy throbs, spectral ripples and celestial rip tides. Ironically, it is out of this unearthly electronica swamp that comes the first thing that remotely resembles a ‘tune’ in the most conventional terms. Follow-up, Lineality 5 (Linea Quinque), is another track that trudges through a sonic scrap land soundtracking decrepit and outsourced robots, sending out final distress signals as they head to the crusher. It’s pure modular synth hedonism and de Groot sounds like she is having the time of her life making these tracks.
Final track, Lineality 6 (Tandem Lineam) starts off a more gentle affair than the previous tracks and sees de Groot veering into Max Richter-esque territory. That is until the equilibrium is once again upset and the sonic ground you were walking on changes like an Escher painting. Again, the sounds created are unsettling, jarring and disconcerting. But they make perfect sense.
Equal parts musique concrete and The Quatermass Experiment, Lineality is unnerving and creates disquiet, but never discomfort. This sort of territory is left to the ‘harsh noise’ makers. Instead, what de Groot does so perfectly is mine the depths of sonic possibilities with a masterful knowledge of modular synth to create vast amounts of space and time in which to paint her sounds. Experimental and abstract, yet beautifully distracting (and even comforting) in this increasingly weird and hostile world. Gorgeous stuff.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Devil May Care
Rui Eduardo Paes for Jazz PT
5 stars
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frans de Waard for Vital Weekly
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 years part 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, haunte('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's portfolio.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTIGE TALUURE & PLUS INSTRUMENTS - NEWTONS FLAT FIDELITY VOL. 2
Rene van Peer - Gonzo Magazine
INTIGUE TALUURE & PLUS INSTRUMENTS - NEWTONS FLAT FIDELITY VOL. 2 (cassette by Bananafishing Records)
Belgian Duo Intige Taluure cites influences as varied as they come. In their heart and soul The Shangri-Las rub shoulders with The Residents and This Heat. On Newton’s Flat Fidelity Vol 2 they combined their talents with Truusde Groot, who takes unexpected twist and turns in her dance tunes. She steps to the left where you would expect her to move to the right. All this with angelic
elegance and a wink so fat you could cook a soup from it. In this bizarre collaborative conspiracy they create a mix of Pacific hula-hoop music with the perverted alienation of the above mentioned Residents. Their chosen themes are hardy stuff indeed; dandruff, chandeliers of meat and the liberation of concrete; even Ali Baba, as we remember him from a Dutch childhood song in
which he investigates certain parts of his physical being into some depth. All this cosmic madness does drive songs that are quite danceable. Be invited to cut the rug but don’t forget to go left when your brain commands you to turn right. You are allowed to listen sitting down, by the way. The only thing you’ll have to fear is your brains to be wrung and twisted..
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frans de Waard - Vital Weekly
with Rudy Trouve and now with Geertruda de Groot, best known as Plus Instruments (see also Vital Weekly 1034, 894 and 814). This is my first introduction with Intige Taluure, a duo of Phlitman and Kang, from Belgium. Their cassettes are about working with other people. So in this case we have songs that are started by Plus Instruments and finished by Intige Taluure and vice versa. With eleven pieces the balance is in favour of Intige Taluure when it comes to starting them. As I haven’t heard of them before, I cannot judge easily who’s doing what. Surely the voice of De Groot is a clear presence in most of these pieces. Throughout I think the sound owes quite a bit to De Groot’s work as Plus Instruments (but also her work outside that context), especially her singing. The music is all-electronic and the one thing that Plus Instruments didn’t bring to the table, it seems, is the sequencer, motorik beats that she is also known for. The mood is more atmospheric here, more poetic, and songs as poetry, such as in ‘Curtain Call’ or even the funnier ’Sjeik El Pfff’. It is perhaps also a bit more surrealistic, nightclub atmospheric, intimate than wholly extravert. A nice game can be played by closing your eyes and think which one was started and which was finished by either one (in my case, knowing De Groot’s music better, of course I was thinking of her contribution), but in reality (and honesty) I should say
that this is almost an impossible job. These eleven pieces sound very coherent as they are, and it’s not that one influence prevails over the other, but in reality they all sound as the result of three people in a room writing these songs together. I heard lesser music from people that actually were together when recording, so all the greater the achievement here. (FdW)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Surrealist Ball
Vital Weekly - Frans de Waard
"Is that by Mark Ryden", a friend of mine asked. "No, it's Truus, you know Truus de Groot, also known as Plus Instruments". He didn't know, but he was referring to the cover image, which is indeed by Ryden, which he knew and I didn't. It's looks a bit like a surreal image, but in all fairness I am not really taken by the whole surrealist thing. It all seems to be a bit of well-walked cliché, image wise but also music wise. It always seems to refer back to places and times which were hardly the times of the creator: say, for instance, the ball room dances of twenties in a far away American city, or the talking dolls in an empty house, covered with fog and oho… suspense. Take an old 78 rpm record, make few loops out of it, add some reverb, some children voices whispering 'I'm so alone; big tree don't hurt me' (add more reverb) and you're half way a surrealist record. It made me all the more curious what Truus would do on her disc. I really enjoy her recent Plus Instruments releases (see for instance Vital Weekly 894), which are synth and sequencer heavy along with Truus' voice. On this release, as Truus, the rhythms are derived from a farfisa organ and she sings, but also adds weird, other sounds. She still plays songs however and doesn't depict the haunted house scenario. A lyric about 'Monster' ('you are a monster') is a bit tacky of course and some of it harks back to that ballroom atmosphere, such as 'Bird In A Gilded Cage', but I like the way she processed her voice on this piece. That sounds very much Truus like, so that was good. For each of these songs the dance is mentioned on which the rhythm is based, waltz, salsa, tango, pasodoble, latin etc. 'So Much' is disco and is the most Plus Instruments like piece, with it's minimalist beats and stomp rhythm. While Truus doesn't avoid cliché’s that I seem to detect in the world of current surrealists, I enjoyed this release quite a bit. It had all the trademarks of a great Truus de Groot release, funny, dance like, poppy and a bit odd from time to time. With or without any surrealism. (FdW)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Signal Through the Waves - Plus Instruments
Chain D.L.K. website by Steve Mecca on 2016-07-03
5 stars
My last encounter with Plus Instruments was the 'Trancesonics' album from 2013, and since then, Truus de Groot has been kinda busy, sneaking by a limited vinyl release ('Exile in Paradise') that I wasn't even aware of prior to this one. Whereas on 'Trancesonics' Truus had only a little help from a single musician (Jimmy Virani on theremin and moog), here she employs additional musicians Paulo Bento (synths, bass, guitar) from Anvil FX and James Sclavunos (drums) from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Grinderman. The result is something a lot less raw and a lot more controllled than 'Trancesonics,' yet still with that kind of "synth electronics as synth electronics" (as opposed to synths trying to emulate real instruments) ethic that seems integral to de Groot's music. Here Plus Instruments sounds a lot more like a real band than a solo artist with a lot of synths as on 'Trancesonics'.
Truus's vocal stylings have changed too; less experimental, less New Waveish, a lot more melodic, and somewhat jazzy and slightly soulful. Imagine Anette Peacock meets Amy Winehouse with someone else I've heard but can't remember her name. Plus Instruments tackles a variety of themes over the ten tracks on this album - a strange supernatural encounter ("Ghost"); passion ("This Fire Burns"); romantic breakup ("It's Over"); seduction ("Come Closer"). Some of the songs that work the best though can't be pigeon-holed to a specific theme, such as the title track "Signal Through the Waves". This little gem relies heavily on a distinctive sample & hold synth riff, a ring modulated chordal descending chordal progression and Sclavunos's snazzy drumming. Truus's voice is at her most appealing on this track, and the lyrics are great too. This track alone makes the disc a worthy purchase. Another great track is "Bad Mood" (rather self-explanatory) where drudgy broom-swept synths and plodding drums and bass back Truus's misery-tinged bluesy vocals. "You and Me" is as close as Plus Instruments gets to some of the chaotic 80's style experimentation so prevalent on 'Trancesonics'. But the most atypical song on 'Signal Through The Waves' is the last- "Your Mind" with guitar as the main instrument, and seething synths in the background. The poetic nature of this number is comparable to Patti Smith at the height of her powers.'Signal Through The Waves' shows just how much de Groot has grown as an artist, and the songs are worth revisiting over and over again. While these tracks are more accessible, don't mistake accessibility for commerciality. This ain't mainstream, and we can be very thankful for that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
De Subjectivisten - SCHADUWKABINET – Web Magazine - http://subjectivisten.nl/?p=5204
Jan Willem 24 mei 2016
I must admit that I've never heard of the group Plus Instruments. Yet since 1978, this is already a fact in the Dutch music scene. This brainchild of Truus de Groot (Nasmak, Doe Maar, Trigger And The Thrill Kings) delivers in early 80s two releases that lie somewhere between new wave, no wave, synth-pop and experimental music. After another 30 years they restart and release a few more albums. Truus meanwhile released a few solo releases. Signal Through The Waves is yet another solid presentation of this group. Besides Truus (vocals, arrangements) are the drummer Jim Sclavunos (8 Eyed Spy, Grinderman, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Sonic Youth, Teenage Jesus And The Jerks, The Cramps, Trigger And The Thrill Kings) and keyboard player and bassist Paulo Beto (Anvil Fx, Freak Plasma, Shiva Las Vegas). The passage of time seems to have absolutely no effect on this trio, let alone any hype of today to influence their style. Uniquely they bring a mixture of the above styles, which has virtually nothing in common with any other artists. That alone is a great thing in this beaten musical landscape of today. The true roots lie in the 80s, but the music is completely here and now. For those who want to have some reference, think of a kaleidoscopic cross-fertilization of AGF, Diamanda Galas, Lydia Lunch, No Safety, Peaches, The Residents, Sonic Youth, Siouxsie & The Banshees and Diana Rogerson. Utterly unique that deserves our full attention. Pleasant introduction!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Bruyn - Lust For Life Magazine – April 2016
The Dutch Ultra movement revival of a few years back was highlighted by the return of Plus Instruments (AKA Truus de Groot). Truus, vocalist and electronica musician, was a member of Dutch group Nasmak around the late 70’s, in 1981 she left for the US where she still resides. She still makes music with the same naivety, yet as torrid and exciting as she did 35 years ago. This was the case with her previous album Trancesonics of a few years back, but this new Album “Signal Through The Waves” has even more of these aspects and it is actually much better. True, this electro pop sounds quite vintage, you can call it “the future of yesterday”, but the songs are very strong and the production is exciting. Sometimes a Kraftwerk-like Robot mood predominates the sound, other songs are organic and melodic. Collaborators are James Sclavunos (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds) who was a Plus Instruments member in the 80’s and Paulo Beto (Anvil FX).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VITAL WEEKLY - Frans de Waard
Here's another release by Plus Instruments; I also reported on the two previous releases. That was 'Dance With Me' (Vital Weekly 814) and 'Trancesonics' (Vital Weekly 894), all of which continues a string of works that has been going on for some thirty-five years now. Right in the centre of Plus Instruments is Truus de Groot, in the late seventies singer for Nasmaak, later Nasmak and then with Lee Ranaldo and David Linton forming Plus Instruments in 1981. A group with a guitar, drums, vocals and tapes. Later on she played more rockabilly tunes as Trigger And The Thrill Kings, but in 2012 Plus Instruments became part of the 'Ultra' revival — the Dutch version of No New York (the shortest description I can think off), and since then there have been releases and concerts.
Recently De Groot toured the Netherlands, with former Nasmak drummer Toon Bressers on drums. On her releases, De Groot plays most of the synthesizers, sequences, rhythms and sings, and it sometimes reminded this listener of the old D.A.F. sound: cold, motorik rhythms with a great vocal. That worked on 'Trancesonics' even better than on 'Dance With Me', which I thought was a bit un- balanced, so expectations are high and we are not disappointed, but there are minor changes. For me the music of Plus Instruments works best if it is machine/sequencer driven with a motorik beat (think D.A.F. at their height) and on top Truus de Groot's soulful voice. It brings warmth to the machine and that's what she does best. The minor changes are due to the fact that in some of these pieces there is James Sclavunos playing the drums and Paulo Beto on synthesizers, bass and guitar. Those pieces add a more rock like beat to the music, even when it is trying to sound as machine-like. James Sclavunos we know from 8 Eyed Spy, Nick Cave, Grinderman, and Teenage Jesus And The Jerks and working with Truus before in Trigger And The Thrill Kings, while Beto is for me unknown (he played in Freakplasma, LCD and Shiva Las Vegas). By playing these more rock inspired tunes, Plus Instruments loose a bit of the coolness that it has when Truus does it all solo, I guess, but there are still some excellent pieces on this release, such as 'Come Closer', the moody 'Unlikely Crush' and 'Bad Mood' (which sounds like an electronic Nick Cave song), the joyous 'On The Other Side' (with full band, but still not as rocky) to which we also find some rockers as 'Your Mind' and the title piece. While I think the majority of the songs are great, I think Plus Instruments is at it's best with it's mechanical swing and Truus vocal delivery that goes along and the rock format is something that makes it a bit too normal for me. Keep the boys in the same line and don't let do their rock poses and all will be fine. (FdW)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oor Magazine – 6/2016 (NL)
Oscar Smit
One of the legacies of 40 years of punk is do it yourself. Make your own instrument, record your own record and self-release. Plus Instruments is evident of this DIY modus. Truus de Groot from Eindhoven was in late seventies briefly in the band Nasmak . Her own band is Plus Instruments. Truus was in 1980 one of the first pop musicians who worked with electronic music institute STEIM . The crackle box developed by STEIM became her trademark. That is immediately evident on Signal Through The Waves. Her freaky analog sounding self-built synthesizers and crackle boxes predominate the overal sound and her two companions connect with this. Truus sings and her electronics go wild. Come Closer sounds ominous with dark eighties synth -like parts. On Unlikely Crush space sounds are central to the jazzy vocals of Truus embracing it an enchanting way.
Dance With Me by Plus Instruments was released 2011 on Dewclaw Ditties. After a long Hiatus, Truus revived Plus Instruments with this album of 13 original songs. With guest players, Jimmy Virani and Pietra Wextun. Minimal Euro Dance beat with a touch of exotica.
Recorded in 2010, 2011 at The Ranch, Escondido, CA.
Mastered at Dollhouse Studios by Peter Mavrogeorgis and James Sclavunos, NY, May 2011.