CUT WORMS TRANSMISSIONS
Richard van Kruysdijk solo
With two circuit bent Suzuki Omnichords forming the source of electronic manipulation, CUT WORMS TRANSMISSIONS is clearly not another ambient laptop act. CWT distinguishes itself by utilising only live generated sounds, and intuitively builds compositions from scratch without any prefab sounds, beats or loops. The added touch strips on the Omnichords, as well as numerous, cross-connected analogue effect units and feedback loops, allow for a very detailed sound manipulation. Sparsely added baritone guitar and a monophonic synth complete the aural picture. CWT’s long, dark chords are dragged through gravel while sounds are reversed, mangled, chopped, and regenerated into new entities.
CUT WORMS TRANSMISSIONS was previewed at the Minimal Music Festival 2013, Muziekgebouw aan het IJ in Amsterdam and premiered at November Music Festival, 's-Hertogenbosch with a collaboration with visual artist Rikkert Brok (Optical Machines). In 2016, CWT collaborated
with renowned Canadian choreographer Ginette Laurin (i.c.w. Jens van Daele's Burning Bridges) on the dance piece TIERRA.
German label Opa Loka Records released two CD's, which received very positive reviews in the international press (see below).
Next to live shows with live generated sound and video projection on specially designed screens, CWT can also present itself in the form of a video-installation.
For his videos, Richard applies a similar method, heavily manipulating a combination of self filmed material and found footage. Transferring it into slowly moving, multi-layered, echoing black & white pictures, bordering on the abstract and the figurative. It's haunting imagery allows the audience to create their own narrative.
"You can make a song with two chords, but why use so many?"
Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson (Throbbing Gristle, Coil)
'Drones'; long, sustaining notes or chords, that are at the base of much
ancient, as well as contemporary music, have a special attraction. They are associated with a deep internalization, with rituals of trance. They appear to 'stretch' time, create possibilities for the 'self' to lose itself. They can consist of a single sound, but also of numerous minuscule waves and patterns.
With CUT WORMS TRANSMISSIONS I fuse and accumulate consonant, as well as dissonant harmonies, looking for unforseen frictions between frequencies, thus creating it's own melodies. All this happens intuitively, by ear and by heart. The perception of emotion by means of sound and visuals is the guiding factor here. By organically transforming sound and video, I create paths that the audience can follow as they will.
'Drone' and 'glitch' are the key words. Distorting sound, letting it decay, cutting it up and regenerating it into new structures. Like a fertile soil which swarms with life. Breaking down structures into new, organic building materials, allowing new life to flourish. That is the concept behind CUT WORMS TRANSMISSIONS.
PS: It doesn't stop with live and recorded music and video. CWT also explores the field of installation art and graphic art. CWT can take on many forms, tailored to the occasion and environment.
CUT WORMS TRANSMISSIONS
Press reviews
Lumbar Fist
CD
Opa Loka Records
2016
“Inventive drone music clearly showing Van Kruysdijk‘s sound design skills. Not only very pleasing to listen to but also interesting enough to try to distinguish the sounds you hear.“
Ambientblog (NL)
“Richard Van Kruysdijk – the man who alone is Cut Worms (and what an evocative moniker that is... not that the album title’s far behind) has spent a long time honing his craft, and Lumbar Fist stands alongside artists like Tim Hecker, Oren Ambarchi, Glenn Branca, Stephan Mathieu, Will Guthrie and Jim O’Rourke not just as an exemplar, but an outstanding example of atmospheric, drone-orientated ambience.”
Aural Aggravation (UK)
“Out of streams of molten ore, he creates sublime walls of sound, sonorous roaring baritone-pillars.”
Bad Alchemy (D)
“Cinematic and atmospheric; Cut Worms manages the sound sources in an effective manner, that many people who flirt with field recordings fail to grasp. First and foremost, the project realises the essential ingredient is actual music and not just a wash of random noises.”
Black Audio (UK)
“It will not start a wild party, but your dreams will surely be a lot richer when you let this sink in before going to sleep.”
Dark Entries (B)
“It's hardly possible for me to write something during listening. The music is too exciting, enthralling and intense! By letting the music evolve in a thoughful manner, it grabs you in a merciless hold grip in which melancholy, reflections and dreams seem to play a role. It's all of an intriguing beauty. Recommended for fans of Stars Of The Lid, Dirk Serries, BJ Nilsen and Yellow6. What an overwhelming debut!”
De Subjectivisten (NL)
“Below the carefully constructed play of sounds, breeding emotions can be found, often forcefully suppressed. Listen with full attention and an open mind.”
Gonzo [circus] (B)
“Lumbar Fist is a solid and perfectly constructed album. It is a haven of peace and you should enjoy it.”
Liability (F)
“Nothing less than a great debut effort.”
Nitestylez (D)
“Like the mercurial sun greeting the alchemist, this albums meets the listener and plays out a holy work; not biblical but one of soul. There are moments where I felt a deep link between practitioner and receiver – Cut Worms broadcasting direct into my world. It was an intense experience and one I will revisit again and again.”
Sigil of Brass (UK)
"The layered plateaus of dark sounds slowly cross the room, build harmonies, atmosphere and cinematic width ... With its fragmented and high contrast soundscapes, Lumbar Fist lies in the upper third of the genre. However, we wouldn't have expected less from Van Kruysdijk."
Sonic Seducer (D)
“While this album has a rather “samey” surface, there’s much to recommend about the care and attention with which this hard-working creator has built each piece, and there’s a very burnished quality to the sound – a sort of calm inner glow illuminating and suffusing each moment.”
The Sound Projector (UK)
“This music evokes images of old industrial landscapes, in sepia tones, using a healthy amount of reverb to create and emphasize tension in the music... This is all together a very refined release of some of the darker, sinister drone music of late.”
Vital Weekly (NL)
Press reviews
Cable Mounds
CD
Opa Loka Records
2017
“As far as Dark Ambient goes, Richard has this pretty much nailed on tracks such as ‘Witch Brogues’. The low-ends drag in an alternate direction to the soaring highs; and the space between is utilised as a playground for other effects.”
Black Audio (UK)
“Although Cut Worms' music clearly falls into the category of drone / dark ambient, Richard has a very pronounced, personal sound. The drones are rich and have a very open, almost orchestral character. This is not the kind of drone that kills your brains, instead it feeds them with imagery.”
Dark Entries (B)
“Krautrock-like harmonies meet darkly painted atmospheres and moods. This creates dark ambient without a mystical superstructure. There's also partially 'Kraut-electronica', but without the usual quest for the cosmos. An achievement that by far not all of his early colleagues could or wanted to fullfill. Tip!”
Sonic Seducer (D)
“This is music of dreams that border on nightmares, but allow in sparse glimmers of light. This is a monochrome CD in countless tones of gloom. However depressed the spirit may be, the tones radiate with an uncanny beauty. The heart flows over, but the ears wallow in this magnificence, even though my headset tends to resonate audibly with the forbidding heavyweights in the deepest sonic recesses.”
Gonzo [circus] (B)
“I think these dark, ominous synth pieces are heavily orchestrated beauties ... While the delicate ambient seems to be in abundance in these pages, good quality loud ambient isn’t. Cut Worms is surely one of the better ones in this field.”
Vital Weekly (NL)