New Groove Unlimited Download Shop with FLACs !!

I have some great news. It has taken a lot of work, but the new Groove Unlimited Download Shop is open!!! At this moment you can already buy a lot of titles as MP3 and FLAC and Ron Boots is very busy filling up the shop with even more titles. But at this moment all my Synth.nl albums are already in there and you can buy them as 256 kbit/s CBR MP3 or in the Full Quality Lossless FLAC format. FLAC is a compression method that doesn't alter the audio at all so you get the same quality as the CD but cheaper and no shipping costs etc. All the artwork for all my albums is included and I have personally checked all the audio files. You can pay by Ideal (bank transfer), PayPal and major credit cards via PayPal at the moment. Soon also Mastercard, Visa and American Express will be directly available, but we are still waiting for the payment provider to get the contracts in order. We didn't want to wait for this to put the site online though. When your order is complete and payed you will receive an E-mail with the download link directly and you can listen right away! As you might have read before I have build this web shop for Groove Unlimited and I'm very proud that it is finally online. So go have a look and buy some nice stuff :) Groove Unlimited deserves some reward as well for all the hard work I guess in ripping all the CD's and making them available for you in this very easy way ;) So go over now to https://shop.groove.nl and look around!

Refuge en Verre Review by Artemi Pugachov

I received this review of the Refuge en Verre album I did with Ron Boots in my mail. It was done by Artemi Pugachov. I thought it would be nice to share it with you. Enjoy:

This is the first collaborative project of two Dutch electronic artists Ron Boots and Michel van Osenbruggen aka Synth.nl. Both musicians have unique rhythmic / melodic styles, so their influences meld together well to create a work of classic melodic Dutch EM (the "Eindhoven School"). These tracks were performed while both musicians stayed in Belgian Ardennes with their families, so the music has a bit of a pastoral quality to it, without resorting to complete new age relaxation vibe. The title track slowly builds with bass pulsations, floating pads and a wonderful melodic synth solo. It's relaxed, warm and comforting. I like the synth work on this track - everything is in place - the tasty pulsations, the high-flying solos and the warm pads. Some restrained piano notes lend their airy charm to the soundscape. "La Roche-en-Ardenne" kicks in with melancholic pads and a relaxed rocking rhythm. Then a wonderful synth melody appears - rich, symphonic and emotional. Nice stuff that will leave all fans of melodic EM speechless. "Orage d'ete" has an ambient intro loaded with the sounds of nature (do I hear a distant thunder?) and moody pads. Some synth melodies appear as well as some nice flute and sax. This is quite pastoral and reflective. Later in the track a few tribal-like percussion instruments appear but the track remains essentially an ambient effort. "Coucher du Soleil" opens with moody male choirs and some tasty synth effects. A sequence appears and then a rhythm and a rippling synth solo. This track is a bit sad and melancholic. "Contemple du Ciel" begins with mysterious pads and radio voice samples.
A wonderful bass sequence then appears and an electronic tr-808-like rhythm drives this relaxed track forward. I like the way melodies are combined with rhythms on this track. "Rosee du Matin" is very Vangelis-like, with its fat CS-80 style leads and an overall symphonic approach. Really nice and maybe the best track on the entire album. "Combat des Coqs" begins with sounds of roosters but soon a rippling sequence appears. It is supported by a stomping rhythm and a guitar lead. Rocking drums appear and drive the track along. I am not sure if the guitar is real. It sounds like those trademark licks played by Frank Dorittke (at least it is in a similar style) but no guitar player is credited in the liner notes. Anyway, this piece is the most rocking and wild of the lot. "Soleil Levant" arrives with tasty pads and a well-programmed sequence. A slow rhythm then starts, the whole reminding me a bit on Gert Emmens circa "Obscure Movements in Twilight Shades". However, once the solos arrive, you know you're listening to Ron Boots. The sound is very characteristic. Michel adds fine melodic touches as well. A great finish to this pleasant melodic EM album. Recommended.

You can find more information about the album on this URL http://www.synth.nl/Refuge

Soleil Levant Fan Video

Rob Hamertink aka 'bellerob' made another great video from the track 'Soleil Levant' that Ron Boots and me did together on our 'Refuge en Verre' album. Thanks Rob!

Refuge en Verre now also on Itunes!

And now the Refuge en Verre album that I did together with Ron Boots is also available on Itunes. It will probably appear also on Amazon.com and maybe some more places. So do a search in your favorite online shop for 'Refuge en Verre' or 'Ron Boots & Synth.nl'. You should be able to find the album on Itunes by going to this link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/refuge-en-verre/id422901578. If it doesn't work let me know and I'll help you find it. Thank you very much for your support!

Refuge en Verre on CDBaby.com

I have good news. Refuge en Verre, the collaboration album I did together with Ron Boots, is now also available on CDBaby.com. That means that you can buy it as High Quality MP3 download, Artwork included. They also have CD's in stock. So if you are in the USA now you can order it from US company, pay in dollars and it saves you shipping costs. I'm happy to see Groove Unlimited has put it on there. You can find it on this URL:
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RonBootsSynthnl I'll put the sales link also on my own website where you can also find more information on the album http://www.synth.nl/Refuge

Refuge en Verre for sale in Asia?

Last week someone also pointed me to this. It looks like the 'Refuge en Verre' album I made together with Ron Boots is for sale in Asia as well. I just have no clue what it says here :) So if someone knows how to translate this please let me know :)

Here is the URL that I got: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=7486171312

Please enlighten me :)

Interview with Sylvani Lupari

I recently did a nice interview together with Sylvain Lupari who writes for several music magazines. We talked a bit about the Refuge en Verre album and the cooperation that I did with Ron Boots. You can read the interview on this URL:

http://synthsequences.blogspot.com/2010/11/synthnl-talks-about-refuge-en-verre.html.

Sylvain also wrote a review of the album that you can find on this URL:

http://synthsequences.blogspot.com/2010/11/synthnl-ron-boots-refuge-en-verre-2010.html

I'll also place a copy of both on my own website very soon. Enjoy :)

Rosée du Matin on Robocast #46

On the latest Robocast Podcast you can hear another song from the Refuge en Verre album by Ron Boots & Synth.nl that didn't get any airplay yet and also has no samples online anywhere. The track is called 'Rosée du Matin' and that is French for 'Morning Dew'. It is one of my personal favorites on this album, but it is a very quiet and slow track. So if you would like to hear this track go to the Robocast website and download show #46 to enjoy it. You can find the podcast on this URL: http://robocastradio.podomatic.com/

La Roche-en-Ardenne on Elektroland #118

Bjorn Jepessen played the track 'La Roche-en-Ardenne' from the 'Refuge en Verre' album by Ron Boots & Synth.nl on his latest radio show Elektroland #118. He also played a track from the latest Nattefrost album called 'Close Encounter' were Bjorn and I play together on Elektroland #117. So Two Synth.nl collaboration track on two different shows. The shows are still online as a podcast on http://www.nattefrost.dk/elektroland. You can listen to them online, or download them to your mp3 to enjoy on a later moment.

Live Radio Interview with Terry Hawke

I did a very nice live radio interview last night with Terry Hawke on his radio show Hawkes Chill Out Sessions on Harborough FM. It was broadcasted on 102.3 FM in the South Leicestershire & North Northamptonshire area, but it was also broadcasted on the Internet via the webstream. I know a lot of you listened in. Thank you very much for that. In case you missed it you are lucky because I was able to record it from the radio stream and with kind permission of Terry Hawke and 102.3 HFM I was allowed to put a copy of it on my websit. You can still listen to the interview and some other interviews as well on this URL: http://www.synth.nl/press/interviews/

La Roche-en-Ardenne on Artic Mist #207

Jorge Sergio from the Spanish Artic Mist podcast played a track from the 'Refuge en Verre' album by Ron Boots & Synth.nl. Since it is a podcast you can still download it and listen to it whenever you like. Please do note that the announcements are in Spanish. The track that Jorge played is called 'La Roche-en-Ardenne' and that was the name of the town we visited in The Belgian Ardennes and where most of the album was produced. On the end of the track there is a dual solo where Ron and I play together. You can find the podcast on this URL: http://articmist.podomatic.com/

Soleil Levant on Dreamscape #117

Ron Boots played another track of the album 'Refuge en Verre' that we made together on his radio show. This time he played the last track of the album called 'Soleil Levant', The track is about the Sun Rising in the early morning. Ron also announced that you can pick up this album at the Hampshire Jam 9 event in Lipton in November with 10% discount is you order it upfront. You can listen to the radio show that is still available as a podcast online from this URL: http://dreamscape.groove.nl/. Be sure to allow pop-ups because otherwise it won't play. Listen to it quickly since it will only be online until next Saturday.

First Refuge en Verre Reviews Coming in

The first reviews of the Refuge en Verre album are coming in. I will put as much as I can find on my website for your convenience. Some of them are a bit longer than what you initially see, so don't forget to click the 'Read More' button. If you want to write your own review of one of my albums please do send them to me as well and I will place a copy on my website. OK you can find the reviews on this URL:
http://www.synth.nl/reviews

E-live was Super :)

I completely forgot to write something about the E-live festival I visited recently. The main reason is that I had two new releases on that festival and I was quite busy with the promotion of the new Refuge en Verre CD after the festival. I had a stall there where I also sold my CD's. It was nice again to catch up with some new and some old connections there. Always nice to get some feedback on these festivals as well. There were quite some visitors again and the atmosphere was great. I also saw two concerts from Bjorn Jeppessen as Nattefrost and Picture Palace Music.

My wife and kids were also there. In the picture on the right you can see them both play on the Nintendo DS. Unfortunately my oldest daughter seems to have misplaced her Nintendo DS on the festival. So if you found one you know who to contact. I'll not hold it against you, but she really would like it back. Also my friend Hans was there. We only missed one concert because we went out for dinner together with Remy and his wife. We had a very nice dinner at an Italian restaurant. And afterwards I joined the usual after party with Ron Boots and all the artists. Well It was a great day again and I'm always amazed how quick these days just fly by. I'm already looking forward to the next festival that Groove organizes called E-day. It will be held in April and hopefully I'll have a new release again on my stall then. I hope to see you there!

You can find some pictures and reaction of visitors on here: http://e-live.groove.nl

Thanks Ron and Kees for organizing another great festival!

Coucher du Soleil on KlangARTen podcast

I wrote last week that I send out two batches of promo CD's and it looks like they arrived. Brammi played another track of the 'Refuge en Verre' album on his latest podcast. This track called 'Coucher du Soleil' was not played before and there are no samples online of this track. So listening to this podcast will give you another change to hear a new bit of the album I made together with Ron Boots. You can find the podcast on this URL:
http://www.klangarten.de. Thanks again Brammi :)

Refuge en Verre Released !!

Yesterday a new album called 'Refuge en Verre' was released by Synth.nl & Ron Boots. It is our first album together and there is a nice story to it. We first met at a Synthesizer Meeting organized by the Dutch 'Synth Forum' in 2006. There we started talking about synthesizers and synthesizer music and found out that we shared the same fascinations. As a result Michel signed up as Synth.nl in 2007 with Groove Unlimited. We worked a lot in the studio together after that remixing and mastering. Since then we have become very good friends and we visit each other on regular basis. Also our wives, kids and even the dogs like each other. In 2010 our wives decided to rent a house together in the Belgian Ardennes for a weekend. We both brought a synthesizer and a laptop and tried to make music together for the first time and that went very well actually. We recorded quite some tracks there. After the weekend we decided that we should release this music on CD. So we started on finishing the music together when we got back in our own studios. The result is this album called 'Refuge en Verre', which was the name of the house we rented. We got the inspiration for the music we played from the beautiful nature in the Belgian Ardennes and the nice time we had with our families over there. Most of the tracks were played live as improvisations in the temporary studio that we created in the rented house. This album was released by Groove Unlimited at the E-live festival in Oirschot (NL) on the 9th of October 2010. The CD holds 8 tracks on it and is over 70 minutes long. You can find more information about the album and also where to buy it on this URL: http://www.synth.nl/Refuge

Contemple du ciel on Syndae #105

Stefan Schulz from the German podcast Syndae played a track from the new 'Refuge en Verre' album that I made with Ron Boots. The track is called 'Contemple du ciel' and you cannot hear this track on the samples on my website or the Groove website. So I think it is worth listening to it on the podcast. Stefan already made his 105th radio show and plays some very nice music on his shows. You can find the podcast on this URL:
htttp://www.syndae.de

Refuge en Verre Sound Clips Online

I just uploaded more sound clips for you to listen to from the upcoming 'Refuge en Verre' album from Ron Boots & Synth.nl that will be released next Saturday. The album holds 8 track in total and they are a bit longer than my own track usually are. So we decided to take 5 minute excerpts from 5 tracks. That is 25 minutes you can listen to from a total of over 70 minutes of the CD. So I guess that should give you a good idea what the CD is like, but then you will still have 3 surprise tracks left when you buy the album. You can find the sound clips and more information about the CD on this URL: http://www.synth.nl/Refuge

Refuge en Verre Radio Premiere on Dreamscape #115

Yesterday Ron Boots played the first track from out upcoming 'Refuge en Verre' album on his radio show Dreamscape Radio #115. The whole track is actually 12:16 long, but Ron played a large part of it. You can find the radio show on this URL: http://dreamscape.groove.nl/. Please mind that you need to allow pop-ups to be able to listen to it. It will only be only for a week so be quick. You can read more about the album on my website http://www.synth.nl/Refuge. There are still no sound clips online. I'll do that the coming days so keep following this blog as I will announce that here of course. Only 6 days to go until the release. I'm getting excited here :)

Synth.nl with stall at E-live Festival in Oirschot (NL)

On the 9th of October there will be another E-live festival in Oirschot in The Netherlands. It is organized by Groove Unlimited and they have quite a nice line up. I will have two releases on CD that day that you can pick up first hand from my stall over there. The new CD 'Refuge en Verre' with Ron Boots & Synth.nl will be there and also one track of Nattefrost and Synth.nl will be on his new CD 'Scarlet Moon / Dying Sun'. Nattefrost will also play live. Check the website of the E-live festival on this URL for more information: http://e-live.groove.nl