A Format That Fits

So why put a horizontal listening session at the Haarlem Vinyl Festival? Because it's the same idea, pushed to its logical end. Playing a record is a commitment. You pick a side and let it run without skipping and shuffling. When the side ends, you get up and flip it. It's listening as something you do on purpose, with your full attention, rather than something humming in the background while you do six other things. Sonic Journey pushes it even further with no sleeve to study, no needle to cue, nothing to do at all except lie down and let it wash over you. In a week built entirely around records, it's the purest version of what the whole festival is quietly arguing: that music is worth sitting still for.

From Jamaica to the Dutch Dance floor

And there's a real journey to sit still for. It starts wide, in the roots of Jamaican sound-system culture, and moves through Grandmaster Flash, Donna Summer and Kraftwerk into Chicago and Detroit where Frankie Knuckles, Juan Atkins and others built entirely new genres that drifted across the Atlantic almost as fast as they appeared. When the sound landed in Europe, a generation of Dutch icons picked up the baton:

Orlando Voorn, Eddy De Clercq, Joost van Bellen, Shinedoe, Paul Elstak, Steve Rachmad, Dimitri, Miss Djax and plenty more, each one shaping (and still shaping) Dutch club culture. A generational relay race of dance music that's very much still running.

Sonic Journey is an idea from Nathan Kofi and Derk Louwes.

Nathan is a music professional, cultural analyst (drs.), concept developer and educator with a deep love for subcultural music and identity. He's also a DJ, producer and devotee of night culture, with 14 years in the industry — founder of De Lichting and former artistic director of De School Amsterdam.

Derk spent years as a programmer and curator in electronic music, for the likes of Red Bull, WaTT Rotterdam and Thuishaven. He teaches part-time and researches how music can shape wellbeing, recovery and performance, building music interventions for top athletes along the way. He's one of the minds behind Sonic Journey.

Want to take it all in lying down? Bring your own mat.

Sonic Journey
Date & Time: Saturday October 3, 13:30 (doors 13:00)
Venue: PHIL
Tickets (€10) are available here, access is also included in the Haarlem Vinyl Festival Weekend Pass (€95).

Lees ook:
+ DJ Rimini Express takes you back to the origins of Italo Disco