_          _              _              _      ___                     
| |__   ___| |_ ___  _ __ | | ___   _ ___| |_   ( _ )       .         .             
| '_ \ / _ \ __/ _ \| '_ \| |/ / | | / __| __|  / _ \/\                  
| |_) |  __/ || (_) | | | |   <| |_| \__ \ |_  | (_>  <         .         
|_.__/ \___|\__\___/|_| |_|_|\_\\__,_|___/\__|  \___/\/                  
                                                         .                
      .      _           _    .                              _____ _____ 
 _ __   __ _| |_ __ ___ | |__   ___  _ __ ___   ___ _ __    |__  _|_   _|
| '_ \ / _` | | '_ ` _ \| '_ \ / _ \| '_ ` _ \ / _ \ '_ \     | |   | |
| |_) | (_| | | | | | | | |_) | (_) | | | | | |  __/ | | |   _| |_ _| |_  
| .__/ \__,_|_|_| |_| |_|_.__/ \___/|_| |_| |_|\___|_| |_|  |_____|_____|  
|_|                                                                      
                               _ _      _     ____                        
         _ __   __ _ _ __ __ _| | | ___| |   | __ \                       
 _____  | '_ \ / _` | '__/ _` | | |/ _ \ |   |    /      .         .                
|_____| | |_) | (_| | | | (_| | | |  __/ |   |  _  \                       
        | .__/ \__,_|_|  \__,_|_|_|\___|_|   |_____/  .                     
        |_|                                             
                     .               .                     .
                                                                .
\             .              .                     .                    /
 \/\/\                                     .                        /\/\/
      \/\/\                                                    /\/\/
           \/\/\      .                                   /\/\/
                \                 .          .           /
                 \/\/\                              /\/\/
                      \/\__                    __/\/
____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________
--__              |           |______________|           |              __--
    --__          |           |_--    .   --_|           |          __--
        --__      |       __--      _- -_     --__       |      __--     
            --__  |   __--        _-     -_       --__   |  __--
                --|_--          _-         -_         --_|--
              __--            _-             -_           --__
          __--              _-                 -_             --__
      __--                _-                     -_               --__
  __--                  _-                         -_                 --__
--                    _-                             -_                   --_


It was only a matter of time before Dutch producers Betonkust and Palmbomen II
would team up again for another EP. As usual, they rented a house outside of
the Randstad and brought everything they needed for one week of production
bootcamp. No internet, no girlfriends, no alcohol, only straight edge vegan
studio time, recording two or three songs a day to a mono track. This way it's
possible to finish large amounts of music fast because you can't 'fix' anything 
afterwards, it's just done. The only break that was allowed during these sessions
was watching a local TV show with footage from a car that was driving through
the local surroundings.

Just like the previous Betonkust & Palmbomen II records, 'Parallel B' has a theme.
This time it's not about a hotel next to the A2 highway or a recreational area
with bungalows, but a person. In the late 20th century, there was this guy called
Bart, who wanted to become a media tycoon in the Netherlands. He worked hard to 
accomplish his dream, and eventually succeeded. An interesting man with a
tumultuous life. What if this Bart guy had decided to make electronic music
instead of television? What would his world look like? That's pretty much the
concept of this EP, A nonfictional character put in this fictional, PARALLEL
universe. Bart is working on his tracks, and goes on a melancholic journey filled
with loneliness, bad decisions and rejected demo tapes.

This EP was recorded using a selection of mostly small, cheap gear that Betonkust
and Palmbomen II use for their live shows. To change things around a bit, the duo
chose not to use the trusted Boss DR-660 drum machine that is very present in
their previous recordings. Instead, all of the drum and percussion sounds are
coming from the slightly more obscure Yamaha RY30. A fun machine with some cool
functions. For instance, you can record the motions of the pitch wheel within your
patterns, resulting in weird, melodic drum loops.

This particular RY30 once belonged to Dutch disco/house legend Peter Slaghuis,
at least that's what the previous owner said. If this is true, it is probably one
of Slaghuis' last purchases, since the machine is from 1991 and Slaghuis died in a 
mysterious car crash that same year.
Other equipment used: x0xb0x (fake Roland TB-303), Roland JV-1010 and E-mu
Proteus/1for pads and bells, and a Korg EX-800 that was mainly used for 'special
effects' and noise sweeps.

An Akai MPC1000 sent MIDI to all the devices and a simple 8-channel Mackie mixer
provided some minimal equalizing options.
A custom built tape/distortion/compression pedal made sure everything was squeezed 
together, causing the overall LO-FI sound.

'Parallel B' will be released on the 14th of January on Dekmantel Records.
Previews: