photo: Pauline van Schoonhoven
Voted Away by Dutch musician Spcyker, stage name of Michiel Omtzigt, is a depressing album. He sings about heartbreak and distress, a tormented soul spilling the beans. This is the dark side of acoustic blues-inspired psychedelica, the comedown after the high. Happy musicians don't write memorable lines and Omtzigt must feel really, really bad, hence great lyrics like "Still on the verge of getting violent and wrong // The love has gone and all the worst has yet to come // The morning feels already empty and gone // The mesmerizing scent of bodies here at dawn" (Leave Me wary). With sparse instrumentation, a few sound effects and controlled feedback, his vocals take center stage. His music is a means of transport for his words and stories
The album ends with a surprise: the classic Paul van Ostaijen poem Haar ogen of de goed gebruikte wensvorm are delivered as a spoken word piece on top of a menacing drone giving way to a lonesome acoustic guitar. It's an appropriate choice, two poets separated by time and joined by emotion. Omtzigt respects the tradition - the other cover is Blind Pig Blues by Robert Hicks ("Barbecue Bob"), one of the earliest examples of country blues. File under like minded acts like The Atlantic Manor, Syd Barrett and Elliott Smith.
Voted Away is a self-released album. Buy it from his website.
Tracks:- A ridiculous mind
- Mean proportional
- A contemporary classic
- La naissance d'un fleuve
- Leave me wary
- Screwdriver crimes
- Blind pig blues
- Never underestimate the fool
- Maddening mockery
- Haar ogen of de goed gebruikte wensvorm
» spycker.nl
