Pieter Nooten

Pieter Nooten (born 22 January 1961 in Oss) is a Dutch musician and composer best known for his work with Clan of Xymox.[1]

Pieter Nooten
Pieter Nooten in 2007
Background information
Born (1961-01-22) 22 January 1961
Oss, Netherlands
GenresDark wave, electronic, experimental, ambient, film music
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsAnalog synthesizer, keyboards, MacBook Pro
Years active1981–present
Labels4AD, I-rain, Rocket Girl
Associated actsClan of Xymox
Cyberia
Websitewww.pieternooten.com

Music career

Nooten's musical career began in the late 1970s. Starting out as the drummer in a local symphonic rock band,[2] he quickly changed to bass guitar and later keyboards, playing in different bands. At the height of house squatting culture and new wave, Nooten met Anka Wolbert and Ronny Moorings who had just formed Clan of Xymox together. During the mid-eighties Clan of Xymox recorded two highly acclaimed albums on 4AD.

In 1987, he teamed up with Michael Brook to record Sleeps with the Fishes, released also on 4AD.[3] This album would become Nooten's most acclaimed work.[4]

In 1989, Clan of Xymox (by then simply "Xymox") signed to Polygram and released their third album, Twist of Shadows. By 1990, in spite of the band's success, he decided to leave Xymox due to growing internal musical differences. While Xymox clearly wanted to stick to their 1980s roots, he started exploring new musical directions. The new, young dance culture intrigued him and a post as in-house producer at the famous One4Two studio's in Amsterdam was readily undertaken.

During the first half of the nineties Nooten produced countless dance 12 inches and ambient orientated music for labels and projects (Hypercycle/First Contact/Ultimate Dream Mix),[5] some of which reached the national record charts.

By 1995, he moved back over to London and renewed the cooperation with Anka, who had also left Xymox. Nooten became somewhat tired with the slowly more and more morose dance music. He signed a publishing deal with Momentum (London). Anka and Pieter signed with EMI (NYC) under the name Vaselyn. However, due to record company internal re-organizations, the Vaselyn project in London was unexpectedly cut short. Anka and Nooten decided to take the material of Vaselyn with them knowing that some day, this material will get released. Shortly afterwards Nooten took an extended sabbatical from the major record industry during which time he wrote music for theatre, commercials and other media occasions.

In 2004, Anka and Pieter started producing Sophie Zeyl's debut album Two Ways of Running.[6] After recordings were finished in 2005, he started producing and remixing the material for Ourspace. They both also released Anka's solo album Cocoon Time on I-rain Records.

In 2008, Nooten re-entered the music industry and started writing and composing again. He sang on Stoa's album Silmand[7] and released a compilation on the Twilight label.

In 2010, Nooten signed with Rocket Girl in the UK, releasing the 12 track CD called Here Is Why which showed his skill as a producer for other artists. Surround Us was produced completely using a MacBook Pro and Midi keyboard; no other instruments were used except for Lucas Stam’s improvisational cello, which adds texture to the tracks it is featured on.

In 2013, Nooten released the double CD Haven again on Rocket Girl. He also performed during the 2014 World Press Photos awards and wrote a highly acclaimed Bach transcription for the NY based Red Hot organization. Tired of the restrictions of writing and releasing music only, Nooten set up La Compania Parpadeo with dancer and choreographer Miryam Chachmany in 2014, crossing borders between traditional flamenco music, electronic and neo-classical music, poetry, visual art and dance. Also in 2014, Nooten teamed up with long time friend Bert Barten and Real World producer/engineer/composer Stephen W Tayler, collaborating on an avant garde music project.

In August 2017, Nooten announced a pledge music campaign to fund his next album, which was eventually released in November 2018 under the name 'Stem".[8]

Discography

With Clan of Xymox

Albums:

With Michael Brook

Albums:

With First Contact

Singles/EPs:

  • "I Call Upon" (Hypercycle/Virgin, 1992)
  • "Proze & Cons" (Hypercycle/Virgin, 1993)
  • "Into the Light" (Hypercycle/Virgin, 1993)
  • "Gotta Get Back (2 Love)" (Hypercycle/Virgin, 1993)

With Fingerprince

Singles/EPs:

  • Trancelucent (Hypercycle, 1993)

Solo discography

as Cyberia

Singles/EPs:

  • "Hanggliding" (Hypercycle/Virgin, 1992)
  • "Albatross" (Hypercycle/Virgin, 1992)
  • "Open Up" (Hypercycle/Virgin, 1993)
  • "What Kids Do on a Rainy Day" (Third Mind Records, 1995)

as Pieter Nooten

Albums:

  • Ourspace (I-Rain, 2006)
  • Collected (Twilight Records, 2008)
  • Here Is Why (Rocket Girl, 2010)
  • Surround Us (Rocket Girl, 2012)
  • Haven (Rocket Girl, 2013)[9]
  • Stem (Rocket Girl, 2018)
  • Se Dire Au Revoir (Rocket Girl, 2019)
gollark: What do you mean "make improvements in housing"? I can't say much about this without further context.
gollark: As I SAID, silicon fabrication is literally the most capital-intensive industry in existence.
gollark: I mean, more macroscale parts, but easier to make.
gollark: Nope!
gollark: > Because smaller groups are shafted by the government.No, the government can't really stop you from forming small organizations and getting equipment and stuff, the issue is that research now requires lots of specialized expensive stuff and lots of people with deep knowledge of subjects together.

References
  1. "An Alternative 4AD: The Treasured Acts Buried Beneath The National And Pixies" Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 2015-5-5.
  2. "Bio Pieter Nooten". I-Rain. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  3. Brook, Michael (4 October 2008). "Sleeps With the Fishes review". Archived from the original on 2 January 2012.
  4. DiGravina, Tim. "Sleeps With The Fishes". All Music.
  5. "Post-(Clan of) XYMOX - Vaselyn, Hypercycle, Born for Bliss (Biography Part 5/5)". unruhr. 10 April 2011.
  6. "Sophie Zeyl: Two Ways Of Running (review)". Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  7. "Stoa: Silmand". Projekt Darkwave. Archived from the original on 2010-01-11.
  8. "Pieter Nooten new album on PledgeMusic". PledgeMusic.
  9. Blake, Thomas. "Pieter Nooten Reviewed: Organic Beauty From the Digital Age". Spindle. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
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