Pondertone

Christmas as usual (the album) is out now. Buy the download on our bandcamp and receive one of the last copies of the Pondertone Christmas booklet or a signed Christmas As Usual card. This way you also have a chance at winning the original artwork for Christmas as Usual, embroided by the hands of my mother, with help from my daughter. Also on our bandcamp page you will find a live recording of our version of the ultimate Christmas classic Silent Night, made last year at café de Stad. 

Please enjoy the Christmas cheer with the Christmas as Usual video playlist on youtube. I have updated it with two live recordings made at Paradiso Amsterdam last year. 

You can also listen to Christmas as Usual (the album) on all streaming media platforms, including my favorite Qobuz. It’s an artist-friendly platform, made by real people. My tip for a New Year’s resolution is to leave Spotify and never-ever buy anything on Amazon ever again.

Since hardly anyone seems to have noticed the underlying cynicism in the title track or any of the others, it’s fitting to release the entire collection as an album. Because indeed it’s Christmas as Usual in every way. War is raging in different parts of the world like any other year and what may seem like peace to the casual, in reality is a brutal business deal only to satisfy the arms traders. The inequality in the so called western world is worse than ever with a handful of white men owning 50% of all wealth. Big tech, artificial intelligence and (anti)social media giants go hand in hand promoting the further rise of fascism by putting the blame on immigrants… 

But still Merry Christmas (in spite of it all).

Patrick 

With fascism on the rise worldwide and elections in the Netherlands coming up, we release the Where Did Love Go? EP. It contains the 2017 Election Night Special version, the original 2015 From Now On album version and as a bonus, an acoustic live version, recorded in Theatercafé de Bastaard in 2016. You can listen to the EP on our bandcamppage now, and on all streaming platforms from 21 October. By the way, please leave Spotify as soon as you can. Watch the 2017 election video on youtube.

We can conclude that nothing has changed. In fact, Christmas ideas such as charity, forgiveness, a clean slate, a new beginning, peace or even hospitality are further away than ever these days. But this year Pondertone are tackling the Christmas depression with a cheerful song. Even though, as usual with Pondertone, nothing is what it seems.

In Christmas as Usual I try to see Christmas through the eyes of a child. Why is there always so much hustle and bustle in December? Why does mommy have a headache? Why does daddy watch Die Hard every year at Christmas? And why is there even more violence on the news?

You can see us play Christmas (and three others) live on December 16, at Paradiso (upper room) Amsterdam. See the agenda for more info.

You can listen to Christmas As Usual (the album) on Spotify and all other streaming platforms, including our bandcamp page and watch the new video (and the older ones) on our youtube channel.

MEANWHILE is out now. A new album consisting material from the Pondertone archives, including live recordings made for VPRO-radio and of a performance in the upstairs hall of Paradiso Amsterdam in 2005. That same year, Pondertone was named as ‘one of the coolest bands in the Netherlands’ and our album SNAKE & APACOLIPS ‘a Dutch masterpiece’ by Kindamuzik magazine. In addition, MEANWHILE contains a number of songs from the unreleased album FATE PRESTO (2005), demos and rarities. All tracks from the album have been remixed by Roel Jorna and mastered by Martijn Groeneveld (Mailmen Studios). You can listen to it now on our bandcamp. Please check out the new merch as well, it includes a large poster screen printed by the hands of Patrick Tersteeg.

Anyone hoping for a new Pondertone Christmas song this year will will be disappointed. I’m sorry, I don’t have anything to say this year that I haven’t said before. Pondertone’s ‘new’ Christmas album is literally old wine in a new bottle. For the artwork I used sketches that I found too depressing last year. The gray, pixelated image you see may appear to show christmas trees but what you see actually is a forest fire. Merry Christmas (in spite of it all) contains all 12 Christmas songs we have made over the years. You can listen to the album on our bandcamp page or any streaming platform of your choice.

You can watch the playlist with all our christmas videos on youtube.

Our favorite Christmas blog Christmas Agogo posted an extensive blogpost in which I share my thoughts about the ins and outs of our tracks.

merry christmas (in spite of it all)

Pondertone

Pondertone offers hope in these extraordinarily dark times. In the context of rising prices and inflation, we defy the dark with the shortest Christmas song ever. We’ve crammed all our hopes, love, and strength into one minute, for you. In spite of it all, the Christmas feeling is still alive, if we only want it.

Pondertone tried to shine a light in these dark times with an Attempt at Greatest Hits Show, with some very special surprises. It was streamed live from the beautiful Marnix-hall in Utrecht. You can watch the entire show on the Facebook page of DUMS.

Are you in lock down, feeling lonely and waiting for better days? Meet Lummel, just like many of us he had a pretty rough year. At one point he had to self isolate away from his beloved friend Woelie and their pet dog Kiki. But he got through it alright. If you want to know how, watch the video on youtube, listen to the song on one of the major streaming platforms and sing along if you like. It will make you feel better.

The new Christmas song is not a happy one. It reflects the mood I’m in this time of year. In the dark days of December we seem to forget what is going on around us. It seems we can’t learn form the past. Instead of joining hands to help each other and save the planet, we quibble, quarrel and fight about our own short term problems. While the climate is changing at top speed, people are starving and war is raging, populism, nationalism, and even fascism are taking the stage again. Let’s make a change now. Let there be light. You can listen to The Darkest Christmas Of All on all streaming services and download it from all platforms except Amazon. On Spotify it has been added to the Playlist containing all Pondertone Christmas songs. Please watch the video on youtube.