Mark Van Hoen: The Primer

Celebrating the release of new great album (“Where Is The Truth”) and Seefeel reunion, Pontone dig Mark Van Hoen‘s back catalogue and found many musical treasures.

PLAYLIST:

1. Mark Van Hoen He Run Far (“The Warmth Inside You” Very Friendly, 2004)
2. Mark Van Hoen Another Light Casts Its Will (“The Last Flowers From The Darkness” Touch, 1997)
3. Locust I Feel Cold Because Of The Things You Say (“Truth Is Born Of Arguments” R&S, 1995)
4. Scala A Category (“Compass Heart” Touch, 1997)
5. Daren Seymour & Mark Van Hoen Thursday’s Light (August 20th, 1977) (“Aurobindo: Involution” Ash International, 1994)
6. Locust All My Sadness (“Natural Composite” Apollo, 1994)
7. Daren Seymour & Mark Van Hoen Tema (V/A “Invisible Soundtracks 1″ Leaf, 1997)
8. Scala Broken Down Beauty (“Compass Heart” Touch, 1997)
9. Mark Van Hoen Since Tomorrow Will Come (“The Warmth Inside You” Very Friendly, 2004)
10. Mark Van Hoen You & Me Inside (“Playing With Time” R&S, 1999 )
11. Mark Van Hoen Real Love (“Playing With Time” R&S, 1999 )

Mark Van Hoen occupies the shadier, more melancholic side of electronic music, assembling records of unmistakable beauty out of shards of dark, somewhat foreboding textures and arrangements. A London native working in TV and radio before concentrating full-time on recording for release, Van Hoen produced a string of highly thought-of releases for the R&S subsidiary Apollo, and experimental label Touch in a relatively short period of time. He’s quoted Steve Reich, David Sylvian, Kraftwerk, and Brian Eno as early influences, but more recently has been attempting to pursue paths of creative conception opened up by John Coltrane and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Although earlier releases focused on sprawling, mostly beatless experimental soundscapes, his mid- 90’s work has incorporated elements of breakbeat styles such as trip-hop and jungle — mostly in terms of production techniques, as opposed to aesthetic qualities, and with decidedly Locust flair. Truth Is Born of Arguments was the first release of this sort, and included heavy, distorted percussion and complex, looping polyrhythms similar to (although much more sluggish than) those found in drum’n’bass.
Not always the ambient misanthrope, Van Hoen splits his creative activity between Locust and a number of ongoing collaborative ventures, among them Autocreation (techno) and Involution (post-techno experimental electronic), the latter with Seefeel member Daren Seymour.

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