The Black Atlantic

The Black Atlantic是来自荷兰的一个四人团体，核心成员是唱作人Geert van der Velde。有趣的是，他之前曾是一支金属核乐队的成员。而The Black Atlantic的音乐更多的是随性恬淡，干净纯粹的民谣弹唱。 2007年1月，乐队首次在欧洲音乐节出演。在之后的两年，在欧美进行了多达160场的演出。他们的首张专辑名叫 “Reverence for Fallen Trees” ，在2009年发行，当时他们提供了数字版的免费下载，有超过10万多次的下载量。
2008年，乐队开始在阿迪朗达克山脉(在美国纽约州东北部)的萨拉纳克湖边的木屋里制作这张专辑，木屋的主人是van der Velde的岳父母。成员们都才华横溢，朋友Kim Janssen除了唱作歌曲，还会多种乐器，也因此契机地加入了乐队。之后专辑大部分的制作都在荷兰完成，那时已经是09年的春末夏初，也难怪他们的音乐透露出不尽的温暖气息。
《Reverence for Fallen Trees》是“纪念逝者”的暗喻。他们在录制过程，van der Velde的3位家人不幸离世，专辑也因此得名，纪念那些给过他们帮助的亲人们。歌曲名也常围绕着“感激”“家庭”“爱”“觉醒”等主题和隐喻。连去年很红的纽约独立乐队The Antlers的幕后核心Peter Silberman也在当中献唱一首，并演奏了一些乐器。
The Black Atlantic的音乐有着大量器乐的排布，散发着淡淡的，恬静的氛围。他们也受到了Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes以及Beach Boys等乐队的影响。The Black Atlantic的音乐简约而流畅，有时落地中鼓，节奏钹，和一个小军鼓就组成了他们的现场。
The Black Atlantic is the Groningen (Holland) based pop outfit formed around singer and songwriter Geert van der Velde, former frontman for the already legendary melodic metal-core stalwarts Shai Hulud.
The Black Atlantic started as a project of van der Velde in his off time from his philosophy studies. Gradually the itch to play became stronger and the project turned more serious after van der Velde recorded his first song - a Valentine's gift to his then girlfriend, now wife - in February of 2006. After posting the song online (Myspace) and getting 2 immediate indie label deal offers, van der Velde wrote and recorded 'Send This Home' in the early Fall of 2006 with the help of various contributing friends.
The EP documents van der Velde's very first attempts at writing pop music, and showcase his penchant for the melancholy and introspection that infuse his songs, as well as his then obsession with British bands like Doves, Coldplay and especially Elbow.
The Black Atlantic's debut EP was released on July 10th in the US by Five Point Records from New York (one of the two indie labels who had initially offered a deal). In January, 2008, the 'Send This Home' EP finally became available in Europe through Midsummer Records (DE).
In January, 2007, The Black Atlantic made it's first live appearance at the Eurosonic Festival, one of Europe's leading independent music festivals. Since then the band has maintained a steady diet of touring, playing shows with various line-ups. Thus far, the band has clocked in around 160 shows in Europe, the UK and the US in their first 2 years (2007, 2008) alone.
In October, 2007, The Black Atlantic recorded 3 new songs with engineer Matthijs Herder in his Paperboat Studio in Zwolle, the Netherlands. The recording featured both Herder and his band's drummer Robert Koole, as well as touring friend Arjen de Bock on bass, drums and keys respectively. The session resulted in the original recordings of "Madagascar" and "Lonely Moons", songs that showcased van der Velde's new obsession with Sub Pop records' contemporary catalog and hinted at a newly developed interest in folk music. Both songs were made available online for free almost immediatly. They have since been downloaded over 2000 times! The third song still remains to be finished.
In February, 2008, in between tours, The Black Atlantic approached the international recording project "In a Cabin With" (IACW) about a possible recording session. IACW were immediately enthusiastic and plans for a late 2008 recording, to take place in a log cabin, were made. The cabin, owned by van der Velde's in-laws, is located in the small town of Saranac Lake, in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York.
For this recording, drummer Marcel Wolthof was re-enlisted alongside singer-songwriter Kim Janssen on various instruments. Janssen co-wrote some of the songs for the recording and seems to have permanently settled in and joined the band.
The Black Atlantic recently returned from their near-finished recording session with ten brand new tracks and one re-recorded song ("Madagascar"), brandishing it's pop branches with a foliage of experimental, indie, and underground pop and folk.
The new songs showcase a much wider variety of instrumentation and willingness to experiment with sounds and soundscapes, and an ongoing flirtation with Sub Pop's contemporary catalog, the Beach Boys and a general interest in experimental pop music.
Where before he would solely play the guitar and sing, for this recording van der Velde took it upon himself to learn how to play the piano. On the new record van der Velde plays the piano, ukulele, banjo, glockenspiel and his guitar. He also makes use of a wider variety of percussive instruments and auxiliary percussion. van der Velde has also taken to experimenting more with his voice, sometimes only using it instrumentally.
The addition of Janssen's presence to the permanent line-up has also changed the writing process considerably. Janssen's a multi-instrumentalist himself and has a distinct voice that works well with van der Velde's agile but sensitive clarity, steering the band's sound towards an ever-increasing usage of vocal melody and harmony, something van der Velde, a long-time Beach Boys fan, had envisioned since the inception of the band.
Additional recording will take place into early 2009. The band expects to release their debut full-length, as of yet untitled, in the late summer or early fall of 2009.