Snowstar Records

In 2010 we released I Am Oak’s debut-album ‘On Claws’. Three years, two albums and a sold out 7" later, On Claws is sold out and deserves a reissue! This reissue is the same warm record based on acoustic guitars and vocals, completed with banjo, bass, organ and beats, but with the addition of two beautiful bonustracks, also recorded in 2009.

We've sent the master to print today, so you can pre-order the 'On Claws' (reissue) cd now, all items will be shipped within two weeks: Pre order in our store

If you already own 'On Claws' and are anxious to hear the new songs, they are available to check out at our bandcamp:

The Daily Indie, a cool free Dutch magazine that brings you the latest and finest indie published their fifth issue, with a 14! page counting Snowstar special.

Interviews with Herrek, Kim Janssen and Cedric Muyres to read and 3 goodie bags to win. Read the Daily Indie here:

The Snowstar special starts on page #69, enjoy!

On their German tour, Town of Saints made a video for 'The Endless Unknown', check it; it is the perfect tourmovie! The song is from our Anniversary Compilation, which you can download (pay what you want!) on our bandcamp.

Earlier this year we started making Spotify playlists to introduce you to the gems of our release-collection. This time we've asked Stefan Breuer for his favorites:

"For the Snowstar Records 10-year-anniversary, I made a selection of my favorite Snowstar-released songs (first half of the playlist). My Secret Love Parade by The Secret Love Parade always meant a lot to me and therefore opens the playlist. This was the first song I mixed for Snowstar Records and it's still an amazing song. I had to add some of my own projects (Lost Bear, The Subhuman), to have enough songs to create a proper playlist. It's not that I prefer my own songs, that's why I put them last :) The tracks by Herrek and Kim Janssen prove that this year is also a very good year for new music; these beautiful songs blew me away.

The second half of the playlist consists of songs which in one way or another remind me of, or relate to, the Snowstar songs of the first half, arranged in the same order. For instance, the choir of Herrek's My People always reminded me a bit of The Microphones' song, and the vibe of LUIK's I am Oak cover Pollen of the Plains is similar to me as the Sparklehorse song's vibe. Altogether, the songs on this part of the playlist has been HIGHLY influential to my own music, and all these songs mean a lot to me. I hope people start exploring the beautiful catalog of Snowstar Records through this playlist, and maybe gain a little bit of an insight to where my own influences and taste is coming from."

Earlier this year, Kim Janssen released the impressive ‘The Lonely Mountains’, the sequel to ‘Ancient Crime’, Kim’s second full length released in 2012. Because of this Kim was invited to the SXSW showcase festival in Austin, USA.

After returning from the United States, Kim now leaves for a Geman tour of two weeks, and announces a Dutch clubtour at the same time.

02-05-2013 Gueterbahnhof Halle 11, Bremen
04-05-2013 Motoki, Cologne
05-05-2013 Brause, Düsseldorf (w/ Honig)
06-05-2013 Nelson, Mannheim
08-05-2013 Heimathafen Im Pools, Göttingen
09-05-2013 Blaue Fabrik, Dresden
11-05-2013 Livingroom concert, Berlin
12-05-2013 Franz Mehlhose, Erfurt
13-05-2013 Pension Schmidt, Münster
31-05-2013 De Klos, Emmeloord
31-05-2013 TU Delft, Delft
18-08-2013 Mezz, Breda
19-09-2013 De Kargadoor, Utrecht
22-09-2013 PLLEK, Amsterdam
25-09-2013 Burgerweeshuis, Deventer
26-09-2013 Patronaat, Haarlem
29-09-2013 Gigant, Apeldoorn

Go see him live, you won't regret it.

Last week we've been amazed with the kind words on our anniversary compilation!

A small selection:
- “Enough reason to call ten times 'Hurrah!'” – Kicking the Habit
- “Gefelicitaart, amigo’s!!” - FHM
- “Quality music released with love for the music and therefore 10 years with a modest but very strong catalog.” – Caleidoscoop
- “Beautifully orchestrated….. exciting rootsmusic….. intangible pearl ….. slowcore is in safe hands” - Mousique
- “Ganz grandiosen Songs….Hurra und auf weitere (mindestens) zehn Jahre mit Snowstar-Musik!” – YouSoundGreat (DE)
- “It’s an exhilarating listen, starting with the stellar ‘City of the Dead’” – Knox Road (US)
- “They have some really cool releases on Snowstar, you should check them out.” – Dedicated Ears (US)
- “We ought to have gifts for them, seeing as they’ve been treating us for the last 10 years” - Incubate blog
- “All nine songs hit the sweet spot.” – Daan's muziekblog

Thank you on behalf of all artists and people involved with Snowstar

I am Oak is still touring Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Right now they are in Italy, but when they were in Switzerland for three shows, they also visited Radio 3Fach for an interview and two songs. Check it all out below.

Let's do this!; Today, on Record Store Day, 5.000 people will find our '10 Year Anniversary Compilation' in their goodiebag. It will be a great day, with six instores by Herrek and Kim Janssen!

Yesterday 3voor12 published their interview about our anniversary and the story behind our label (in Dutch) which you can read here.

Listen, stream and download our compilation for free on our Bandcamp and on this website.

Feel free to share it, and we can't wait to hear your reactions!

Yesterday, Kim Janssen played at 3FM's Xnoizz. He took the challenge to write and create a brand new song in an hour. The result is called 'Make Me Belong' and we're glad to share it with you!

Great news: Town of Saints signed to Snowstar Records!

We are very proud to announce that Town of Saints will be the next addition to our label! This Finnish/Dutch indie folk trio has been touring Europe and Great Britain for three years, and blew us away at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival this year.

We will realease their debut album on October 4, but from today you can already listen to the first song 'The Endless Unknown', that will be released with our '10 Year Anniversary compilation' this saturday.

I am Oak will be heading South for their 'Take it Slow' tour next month. So people of Germany, Switzerland and Italy, go say hi!

Kim Janssen had a great time playing the SXSW festival last week!
The coming months Kim will play in the Netherlands again:
06-04 Lakei, Helmond
10-04 Paradiso, Amsterdam
21-04 De Unie, Rotterdam
25-04 Hedon, Zwolle
25-05 De Klos, Noordoosterpolder
31-05 ZOMERfestival, Delft

To set the mood, we have this beautiful song played during the releaseparty of 'The Lonely Mountains' for you.

We might have told you that this year is our 10 year anniversary. Of course we are proud of this fact, so let's celebrate! On April 20 (Record Store Day), we will release a free compilation album with new songs from all artists of our beautiful roster; our '10 Year Anniversary Compilation'. This album will be presented to the first 5000 people to purchase anything in Dutch independent record stores this day.

The ’10 Year Anniversary Compilation’ serves as a prelude for our big anniversary event, on December 13 in Tivoli Oudegracht, Utrecht. So please mark your calendars.

Last week Kim Janssen played the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. He took the occasion to play 'The Lonely Mountains' on the 18th floor of the Hilton, with this beautiful panoramic view.

Kim Janssen plays the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas (USA) this week. When he returns he will play some shows:
06-04 Lakei, Helmond (NL)
10-04 Radio Mortale, Amsterdam (NL)
25-05 De Klos, Noordoosterpoort (NL)
31-05 ZOMERfestival, Delft (NL)

For now, we have three beautiful songs played during the releaseparty of 'The Lonely Mountains' for you.

Bart van der Lee is working on his new album called 'Ballads for the Heathens or Dying'. It's going to be a very special album that he is finishing right now. It will be released in this year's fall.

Watch this new video with Kim Janssen's title-track: 'The Lonely Mountains'. Filmed by Roald van Stijn (Pyropix Viral Videos) on the building of Station Vaartscherijn.

Last week we've been overwhelmed by these wonderful reactions on 'The Lonely Mountains'

"The EP is nearing perfection ... a masterpiece." – Recensies en Meer
"Enough to stop listening to any other music for at least one day." – Mousique
"An incomparable, breathtaking and majestic little gem!" - Caleidoscoop
“The Lonely Mountains ist – wie sein Vorgänger “Ancient Crime” auch – ein kleines, warmherziges und meisterhaft ausgedachtes Wunderwerk." – You Sound Great (DE)
"Ein Unvergessliches Erlebnis!" - Vampster (DE)
“Continue to watch over us, Kim.” – On Da Rock (IT)
"Kim: Thanks again for a wonderful album." – Stilllife

This Thursday Kim's new EP will be released, and you can listen to it now on 3voor12/Luisterpaal.

There are still a few tickets left for the releaseparty in Club Ziggo, Amsterdam. And the best thing is, they are FREE! Add yourself to the guestlist and come celebrate with us. See you Thursday!

Here's a little teaser for Kim Janssen's new EP 'The Lonely Mountains'.
Pre-order now at our webshop and receive it on February 28!

Herrek is on air these days. Last week they played 5 songs at Live @Lloyd on RTV Rijnmond, listen to the full hour here: http://bit.ly/Zad8Rj.
Sunday they were invited at Radio 1's 'Nacht van het Goede Leven', which you can listen here: http://bit.ly/ZrpYyL 
and the next day, they played 3 songs at 3voor12/radio on 3FM, listen to these songs here: http://bit.ly/WHqJ2g.
Herrek surprised us with a new song called 'Fields' Listen it here:

Today we release the new video of Kim Janssen: 'Drift'. It's the first single of his upcoming EP 'The Lonely Mountains' The video is shot and directed by Martijn Bastiaans. Watch it here!

Today we release Herrek - Waktu Dulu!
You can now listen to the full album on our Bandcamp, Soundcloud, YouTube, Spotify and it's still on the 3voor12 Luisterpaal, so there's something for everyone!

Great reactions reached us this day:
"Herrek's music is of an almost unreal beauty" - Krenten uit de Pop

(4/5) "Beautiful debut" - Nederlands Dagblad
(3,5/5) "This debut is promising" - Festivalinfo
(3/5) "Authentic and Mysterious" - Dagblad van het Noorden

Also 3voor12 had an interview with Thomas Azier, mentioning Herrek and LUIK as two beautiful new bands which arose out of his Zero's hero: Adept.

You can buy or download Herrek's debut now in our store, on iTunes or on our Bandcamp.

We already told you Kim Janssen will release his new EP 'The Lonely Mountains' on Thursday February 28, but now we have more news!
Here is the artwork of the EP, and this will be the tracklist:

1. Britten
2. The Stiles
3. Drift
4. Op. 15, No. 3
5. The Lonely Mountains
6. Can I Not Come To Thee?

On ‘The Lonely Mountains’, Kim again collaborates with Marla Hansen, known from The National and Sufjan Stevens. He rearranged Chopin and Britten, and added new verses to poems by Robert Herrick and W.N. Hodgson. He also wrote new material and rearranged his earlier work.

‘The Lonely Mountains’ will be presented in Club Ziggo, Amsterdam. The performance will be recorded by television program Ziggo Live. This will be the only Dutch show for Kim Janssen as after this he’ll be playing the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, followed by a German tour. Best news about this: The show in Club Ziggo is FREE to visit. For guestlist, go to www.ziggo.nl/ziggolive.

The first single and video will appear next week, when the EP will also be streamed on 3voor12/Luisterpaal.

Herrek's debut 'Waktu Dulu' is ready for your first listen. You can pre-listen the full album on the 3voor12/luisterpaal.

Press is receiving "Waktu Dulu" very well. Herrek had this great interviews with VICE and FileUnder and there we're lots of reviews:

"Beautiful slow, sometimes slightly mystical folksongs" - OOR
"It's early February, but I think that we might have a nominee for our yearlist already." - Mousique
"With the song 'Tiger Eyes' Herrek gives me the feeling that he has a beautiful career in prospect" - Magazino
"Waktu Dulu is a beautiful piece of indie" -3voor12/zuid-holland
“4/5: A fascinating listening experience.” - 8Weekly

Herrek - Waktu Dulu vinyl is in the making, and Yes, the vinyl has a different cover than the cd! 'Waktu Dulu' will be released on February 15, pre-order it now to get that free tote-bag.

Good news everyone! Kim Janssen is recording a new EP at the moment. It’s been almost a year since "Ancient Crime" took us into a world of ambition, loneliness, disconnection, desire and friendship. And because it is as good as sold out already, we thought it deserves a sequal. Kim has been writing new material, rewriting his old songs and rearranging parts of Chopin and Britten. The result will be released as “The Lonely Mountains”. A new EP, following the same themes and sounds of 'Ancient Crime'.

Kim already recorded strings, a choir, and, again, Marla Hansen (known from The National and Sufjan Stevens). “The Lonely Mountains” will be released on February 28.

It’s three weeks before we release Herrek’s ‘Waktu Dulu’ and the international press already confirms our feeling about this album. The first single ‘Rain’ was tipped by the Guardian (UK) as ‘best music from across the map’ and there are many more positive reactions, here is a selection:

"Fantastic slowcore" -Perfect Porridge (US)
"Herrek makes the best music in the world" -Radio 501 (NL)
"a succesful album with a very authentic sound" -Keys&Chords (BE)
"Un altro buon colpo targato Snowstar" -OndaRock (IT)

We also added package-shots to our webstore, where you can pre-order 'Waktu Dulu', so check it out!

There are only seven days left for Bart van der Lee to achieve his goal on VoordeKunst.nl.

Bart has been working on new songs to make an album. The Voordekunst project is at 68% now. If the limit of 80% is exceeded, it is a successful project, so you can really help out here by donating those last percentages.

Listen to the almost instrumental summary of the new album "Ballads For The Heathens Or Dying" or visit VoordeKunst for more updates.

Check out the brand new split screen Lost Bear music video, shot in Utrecht, Deurne, Vlaardingen, Zwolle, Bordeaux st. Clair and Harderwijk.

We're going to try and start a new tradition here, for our 10-year-anniversary. We present to you a semi-regular Spotify Playlist, in which we'll ask people in and around Snowstar Records to make a playlist of their favorits. Starting with our brand-new intern Jacky. Nine songs from our catalog and one special bonustrack. Enjoy!

For everyone who just wants to listen to everything, here is our entire catalog that's available on Spotify: http://spoti.fi/10BI41R

Great news, I am Oak announces their new tour in the Netherlands and Herrek will support! So all you Dutch snowstar folks.. Get your tickets now and go see them in Zwolle, Arnhem, Leeuwarden, Haarlem and Breda!

After the Music Alliance Pact (a collective of impressive blogs worldwide) already selected 'Rain' as their featured track for the Netherlands, we now proudly present you the video of the song.  
 
It is a video that's shot 20 years ago, in the village in Papua where Gerrit grew up. You can recognize a very young Herrek, as well as locations that also serve as artwork for the album. Enjoy:

We hope to see you in Groningen this week because it's going to be a fun ride. Herrek will be playing both Friday and Saturday, so come say hi:

20.45 - 21.25 Groninger Museum Auditorium
14.20 - 14.45 Sign Gallery (this one is free for everyone!)

Plus we will be present at the Onafhankelijke Labelmarkt #2 on Saturday. From 11.00 - 16.00 at Ebbingekwartier.
We can secretly tell you that we will be selling Herrek's debutalbum (releasedate 15-02) there.

It is amazing to have seen all our releases from 2012 appear in all your yearlists. We did our best to collect them all on our facebook. One in particular we wanted to share:

We are very proud that I am Oak's 'Palpable' is voted Song Of the Year 2012 by 3voor12/Utrecht. And even better; the rest of the list is filled with Snowstar artists: The Subhuman at #2, Kim Janssen #6, Lost Bear #11 and LUIK #13. That's why we love this Utrecht-scene.

The Subhuman made a video for his winning song, and the album it came from is now available for free.

Here's all the releases we did in 2012, please enjoy them, for free:
- I am Oak - Skulk
- LUIK - Owls
- The Secret Love Parade - Mary Looking Ready
- Kim Janssen - Ancient Crime
- I am Oak - Nowhere or Tammensaari
- Lost Bear - Shingolai

Happy new year everyone!

We hope you had a great night full of party, champagne and friends. 2013 is going to be a special year for us because it marks the ten year anniversary for Snowstar Records.

There will be good music, great shows, and surprises!
Thanks for all the support, and enjoy!

Next week, Saturday December 22, I am Oak and Herrek will give a Christmas concert in Ekko, Utrecht. The unofficial end of the concertseason comes with a fully decorated Ekko.

It's the most wonderful time of the year, so wear your most comfortable knitted sweater and come drink some hot chocolate or an even hotter gluhwein, jah!

Because Christmas is coming up: Until December 25 it's 'Buy 1 get 1 free' for both The Secret Love Parade albums! So order any cd, and receive two copies of it so you can give one away to a friend, or someone you love or like, or one you want to like you!

Get them while it's cold.

Last weekend, we hosted a party at Le Guess Who?'s Le Mini Who, in Tilt Utrecht. It was a really great afternoon and we want to thank everyone involved and everyone who came to see The Secret Love Parade, The Subhuman, Herrek and sang along with Lost Bear.

A lot of Kim Janssen related news today! First of all, he is one of the first six Dutch artists that will be playing the worldfamous SXSW festival in Austin, Texas (USA) March 2013. There will be more US-shows added over time.

Also, Kim's album 'Ancient Crime' is nominated for Best Album of the Year by 3voor12/Utrecht, together with Blaudzun and Bodypolitics. The winner will be announced at the award ceremony in Ekko December 15.
And then there's a new song Kim sang for How To Throw A Christmas Party, check it out here:

You could have already seen them live at our Le Mini Who party last Saturday, but now it's official: we will release Herrek's debutalbum 'Waktu Dulu'.

Partly inspired by the contemporary Brooklyn-scene, but most of all doing their own thing, Herrek made a beautiful debutalbum full of atmospheric, dark folk with haunting vocals and keys.
Listen to the first song 'Tiger Eyes' here:

On January 11, Herrek will play Eurosonic in Groningen. From February 15 on, 'Waktu Dulu' will be available on vinyl and cd on Snowstar Records.
Pre-order now, and receive a free tote-bag when the album will be released.

It has been five years ago since The Subhuman released his first album on Snowstar Records, the full-length A World Full Of Melodies (2007). Since then, The Subhuman played shows in various countries, put out self-released cd-r's and worked with other artists.

Here's a nice video of Kim Janssen playing 'Drift' for Onder Invloed:

Bart van der Lee has been working on new songs to make a new album, and he is now asking your help to make this happen. Read all about this crowdfunding project on Voordekunst.nl, watch the movie and donate if you like what you see and hear. It is promising to be a big step forward from his already beautiful 'Between Tall Pine Trees: Sadness and Thunder'.

Kim Janssen is currently doing a small Dutch tour with Rue Royale. For this tour he recorded a new song, 'City of the Dead', which is released on a limited (100) edition split-cassette which also holds a new Rue Royale song.

Listen to 'City of the Dead' on Soundcloud.

On this tour, Kim is on stage with nine musicians, which sounds absolutely amazing. Yesterday was the first show in Den Bosch, don't miss the other three shows:

Friday: De Spot, Middelburg

Saturday: Ekko, Utrecht

Sunday: Trianon, Nijmegen

Tip: Watch it in HD

The new Lost Bear 12" will be released on November 1. but you can already stream it on the 3voor12 Luisterpaal.

You can still pre-order the transparent 12" vinyl with different covers here.

Check out the first song of the upcoming Lost Bear record in this great video. Pre-order in the store to receive free vinyl and cd's!

I am Oak and The Secret Love Parade will fly to Jakarta, Indonesia tomorrow for a couple of shows together. If you happen to be in the neighbourhood, this is where you can catch them:

18-oct-12 / Stingray Club | Crown Plaza Hotel / Jakarta
19-oct-12 / Erasmus Huis / Jakarta
20-oct-12 / Rolling Stone Cafe / Jakarta

I am Oak just returned from their tour through Germany and Switzerland, where they sold out 3 shows and visited at least that amount of recordstores.

'Shingolai' is the new alternative rock record from Lost Bear. Released only on transparent 12" vinyl, and with different covers. Five songs in cooperation with Shaky Maracas. If you pre-order now, you will be buried in extra gifts on releasedate November 1:
- a free The Subhuman 7"
- a free Monotones 7"
- a free surprise Shaky Maracas release
So that's 4 releases for the price of 1! I wouldn't wait. Click on the picture for more detail:

Lost Bear has been working on a new release. Five new songs on clear vinyl will be released here November 1st under the name 'Shingolai'. We will start a pre-order with fabulous gifts next week. In the meantime, check out their releasetourposter. More shows will be added soon.

You've seen it, we have a brand new website. Do you remember this?

This is what this place used to look like. Hope you like the new environment as much as we do. Best enhancement according to us: you can listen to all our releases, on this very website. So enjoy!

Last January we released LUIK's debutalbum 'Owls' with success. Both we, and the press loved it.
Some quotes:

**** -nu.nl
**** "Prachtig" -volkskrant
"verbijsterend mooi" -3voor12
"Betoverend" -NRC
"geen woorden nodig om te ontroeren" -OOR

So now we decided to still release it on vinyl as well. We made a limited (300) handnumbered, silkscreened, beautiful release of it that we sold for the first time at the labelmarket and will be released on Incubate Festival. But you can pre-order it from today to make sure you won't miss it. All pre-orders will ship on September 14.

I am Oak announced a lot of new tourdates. There's two Dutch dates:
September 28 - De Oosterpoort - Groningen (with LUIK)
September 29 - Effenaar | Studentenkapel - Eindhoven (with Broeder Dieleman)

and right after that they will be on another German tour. Check all the dates on this poster:

On September 2nd The First Dutch Independent Label Market is going to take place at Tolhuistuin in Amsterdam-Noord.

During this record market various record labels are showing and selling their stuff directly to the audience. The market is free of charge.

Among many other Dutch indielabels, Snowstar Records is present with a stand, of course. Next to us you’ll be seeing NON Records, Top Notch, Excelsior and many more.

This label market is going to be a celebration of the independent pop culture. Among the stands there are small acoustic performances, dj-sets and some fine drinks. Hope to see you there, come say hi!

I am Oak releases their video of single ‘Palpable’ today! The video is recorded in one single shot and directed by Wouter Stoter. Watch it here:

After our release of I am Oak’s new album more and more international press gave beautiful reviews. Cutting Edge gives ‘Nowhere or Tammensaari’ four stars and says that “The Netherlands can be proud of this musical export product”, Platomania calls it a better album than the two predecessors and God Is In The TV Zine gives 4/5 stars for “A gem of an album”. These weeks, the album is also being released in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, the UK and Ireland. And more good news; next week, a video for first single ‘Palpable’ will be released. It was shot in Slovenia and is going to look very nice. Can’t wait!

Ondarock.it wrote a beautiful article about Sowstar Records, including interviews with Cedric Muyres, I am Oak, Kim Janssen en LUIK. Read it here!

Le Mini Who? was a big success! Thanks to Le Quess Who?, Plato and everybody who was there! 3VOOR12 and 8 weekly agreed with us in their reviews, which you can read here and here.
Alice Nell made beautiful pictures that day, which you can see here.

I am Oak’s new album ‘Nowhere or Tammensaari’ will be released on june 1, but you can download their first single ‘Palpable’ already now here!

It is still possible to pre-order ‘Nowhere or Tammensaari’ in the store.

This Friday is the release of the new I am Oak album, and we are already more than happy with the first reviews. Nu.nl gives 5/5 stars and says it’s even better than ‘Oasem’, which they called “hard to surpass”. German Intro.de tells Bon Iver and Iron and Wine to “watch out for this big band from those small Netherlands”. OnDaRock from Italy calls the album a succes
and there’s more and there’s more coming.

Snowstar Records will be present at festival le Mini Who? in Utrecht on May 26th. The small version of Le Quess Who? added five Snowstar acts to their line-up yesterday. The Secret Love Parade, Lost Bear, Kim Janssen, LUIK and Bart van der Lee and will play at Plato between 12.00 and 18.00.

More information: www.facebook.com/leminiwho or keep an eye on our website

Last week Kim Janssen played “LA” and “Casket” backstage in the Vera for “De Kemenade Sessies”.