Shifts (NL) ‘Vertonen 16’
CD-r-2004
100 copies.
Shifts is the solo-project of Frans de Waard (Kapotte Muziek, Goem, Captain Black etc).
"Vertonen 16" is another lengthy ambient piece of 33’ in his ongoing series to explore the world of the guitar.

We zoeken tevergeefs naar links met het Amerikaanse project Vertonen en stellen gewoon vast dat het de zestiende keer is dat Frans de Waard (Kapotte Muziek) zich op deze wijze vertoont. Als Shifts wil hij de grenzen van de gitaar verleggen, al dan niet met behulp van computers. Op de gelimiteerde cdr ‘Vertonen 16’ resulteert dit in één sferische dreun van 33,33 minuten. Nu wordt er teveel dreunmuziek uitgebracht naar onze zin, maar voor een sterke track die tegelijk melodisch en onheilspellend is, is er steeds plaats tussen onze oren. Na! ar goede Shifts gewoonte worden zowel het artwork als de oplage geminimaliseerd: de honderd exemplaren reizen in een verknipt schilderij van de Nederlandse Meester de Waard.

2006 - P. Vercauteren (Gonzo Circus)

In a edition of 100 copies EE Tapes offers a new CDR by Shifts, a side-soloproject of Frans de Waard. He started this project in 1995 and defines it as an "ongoing exploration in the world of guitars". 'Vertonen 16' being his 16th step in this research I suppose, results in one lengthy ambient piece lasting some 33 minutes.
In order to describe the experience of listening to this music I would like to make the following comparison. Imagine yourself looking at a very abstract painiting. A painting even more abstract then the painting (by Frans de Waard) that is on the cover of this release. Imagine a square painted smoothly in just one colour. After concentrating at it for some time, it is as if 'things' start to move and to flow in the painting. Of course you know you are imagining it, but on the other hand, it looks as if things really start to move. Listening to the new Shifts CDR is a similar experience. We hear just 'one' sound moving slowly ahead with no shifts at all for about half an hour. Because there are no shifts, it's not correct to say that the piece 'moves'. In a way development, progress and even duration are no fitting concepts here. It's a very static and 'timeless' music. But by listening closely to the piece it starts to reveal many little changes at a microscopic level and within a very limited range. You start to ask yourself whether these changes are real or effected in the mind like the moving of the colours. So you end up in an ambigious soundworld and that's an interesting experience. Also an enjoyable one, because de Waard created some nice rich sounds that didn't bore me at all. So whether imagined or real, in the end this is not relevant. Because one way or the other: it really Shifts!

2004 - D.M. (Vital/Staalplaat)