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and/OAR is very pleased to present a new work by Dutch sound artist Jos
Smolders, who is also known as one of the founding members of THU20
(along with Roel Meelkop & Peter Duimelinks). This is Smolders' first
release in a long time to not use sounds exclusive to electronic sources.
Sound sources include field recordings from Sweden and Norway,
combined with sounds from the street where Smolders resides. The result
is an ionized mixture of organic progressions and soundscapes.

At times, this release displays energetic jolts of adrenaline tempered with
intermittent moments of late night contemplative quiescence. Abstract and
surreal Escher-like moments appear into distant view like a half
remembered dream, and acoustic and electronic Moebius sound strips
suddenly launch without warning.

This is the first and/OAR CDR release using 2 color silk screen printing on
the disc. Unfortunately, the true silver/silver discs cannot be used as before,
but the disc company has assured that these discs are of the highest
quality.

Limited to 100 copies.

TOUCHING EXTREMES (OCTOBER 2005)
The acoustic ecology of Jos Smolders manages to refresh the listener's
brain through a sapient dosage of silence and events in a sort of sonic
chemoterapy delivering us from residual particles of predictable
manifestations. These sounds are best enjoyed in a silent environment,
with just a modicum of external activity coming to enhance them, in order to
be able to define their position not only in the surrounding space but also in
that precise moment of your existence; street noises get filtered by effects,
becoming an ever changing solution of fluorescent colours and concrete
digital grains, the whole in a continuous struggle against predetermined
shapes. Morphing voices of animals and humans are refracted in a
thousand directions, yet they always remain within earshot, blending and
fusing in shifting dynamic relationships with semi-organic external
activities, thus reinforcing these soundscapes' evocative appeal. Everything
sounds perfect in this veritable documentary; Smolders confirms his silent,
steady growth as an assembler of suggestions. (Massimo Ricci)

IGLOO: microview volume 23 (AUGUST 2005)
* * * A sideline symphony for the street. Sounds like cars whizzing by in the
rain, lots of contemplation, space, space, space. Jos Smolders, a graduate
of the collective known as THU20 (back to the mid 80s), reveals a softer,
deeper side of his senses on Habitat, an acoustic outing. Become a
passive outside listener to indoor goings-on, draw wisdom from the wind,
and bear in mind that when Smolders is ready, he will take a most
industrial turn, with a metallic varietal that he’s aged to perfection. A majority
of the beginnings here, “Nacht 3:30AM” and “Zondag” just float gently. This
is “lose yourself, headphone listening.” These vague field recordings of
birds in the distance and car doors and engines are spliced and repeated
giving the impression of a childhood history of open space and its man-
made interruptions to the balance of nature. It’s damn subtle (until “Beton”).
The assorted percussive noise actually sounds like a writhing, heavy-
breathing organism. It’s more intricate and awkwardly self-aware than
caustic noise for the sake of it. More like the choreography of electric
friction, especially heard on “Arvika” which is a motorized spring-like
doorstop that just rips and purrs and moves so organically. The track also
boasts the howling of what could be boys in an old, cavernous school
hallway. This is a complex listen and may take several sittings to pick up
the delicate minutiae between the static and metallics. (TJ Norris)

VITAL WEEKLY
number 484 week 29 (AUGUST 2005)
It's been a while since Jos Smolders has released a CD, but when he
does it is spot on. This release from and/OAR fits the label perfectly well. All
tracks are based on field recordings done in the past years. Smolders has
not been known to work much with field recordings as such, let alone
exclusively, so this is somewhat of a debut. Then again, after putting the
disc in and hearing muffled sounds from the street it doesn't take long for
electronics to almost take over completely. I presume these electronic
sounds are all based on the original recordings. The disc features 8 tracks,
three of which seem to function as intermezzo's (between tracks 1 & 3, 3 &
5, 5 & 7) and the last one as a sort of finale (it's called coda). But since
there are no real breaks between the tracks, it's not something that is
directly heard. Okay, so much for the layout, now to the content. This CD is
surprisingly full and rich in colours, textures and dynamics. All tracks are
constructed very carefully and display Smolders' abilities to the maximum
without a doubt. I have rarely heard such extreme make over of acoustic
sound without it's identity getting lost in that process. Smolders works
around this problem all the time, juxtaposing the different material in such a
way that one always somehow knows that these are essentially acoustic
sounds. And that is very well done. Compositions are very well done as
well, always ensuring a certain tension that keeps the listener activated.
My conclusion is simple: this as a great CD! Jos Smolders still rules.
(Roel Meelkop)

SMALLFISH (JULY 2006)
A beautifully constructed set of tracks that, once again, feature a lovely array
of field recordings as the basis for most of the pieces. Whether it's city
noise, whining wind or droning scapes, there's clearly a lot of love that's
been put into gently manipulating the recordings to give them an added
dimension. Occasionally there's a foray into a more noise-based and
aggressive style, but these are sporadic for the most part and really add a
level of aural punctuation that works really well. As always with this form of
experimental electronic music you have to really get into the mindframe to
get the most out of it, but once you click with it it'll give you hours of
extremely soothing entertainment. (Mike Oliver)