(July 2009) It was around two years ago that Dickie Smabers and the Morwijk Crew made a press communique via Astro Unicorn Radio, hosted by Smackos aka Legowelt, on the then Cybernetic Broadcasting System. Apparently Mr. Smabers and the Crew had something to say about the dutch “electro” scene:
“It has come to our attention that some losers that produce handbag
apres-ski (spring break) farmerboy trance/clubpop of the most horrible
kind dare to call that crap ELECTRO nowadays. It has nothing to do
with ELECTRO and it’s a straight up wrong use of the term… a
falsification of history and disrespect to many. Those idiots don’t understand the jams from the Naayifsh Planet Rock
Lover angle, they don’t know what a TR808 is and probably never seen
a SL1200. This amsterdam fake electro is made by talentless and fantasyless
pretentious cokeheaded pricks that don’t give a fuck about music…
but only how their hair looks (als je haar maar goed zit jaja) and how
they can score enough poppers to put in their flobby asses so they can
shit all over huppelkut Ableton iPod mp3 players well fuck you all you
know who you are we are going to DISSSSS your ass of with our TR808s,
BMWs and the knowledge of TRUE ELECTRO!!!!!!“
Dickie and the Morwijk men have come out from behind this mantra with
a full release 2X12″, FC Den Haag. Now it is not certain who Dickie
Smabers and the Morwijk Crew are, though it might be a safe bet that
they live in Den Haag, perhaps near Scheveningen, but we’re not hear
to unravel mysteries but to see what this electro outfit are all
about. Dickie is unhappy that electro is not living up to the
standards set by the Den Haag team of ’75, but to bring back some
pride and live up to NKVB Cup winners of the 1970s a record is out on
Dumb Terminal. F.C. Den Haag sets the 808 hommage in motion, with
vocoders boldly boasting “F.C. Den Haag, we are the best. F.C. Den
Haag, we are the champs.” Classic analogue tones follow, burbling
synthlines mesh with measured beats to create a sound that Aad
Mansveld would be proud of. “Morwijk Blues” follows in similar
fashion, dropping the tempo but maintaining an unapologetically sharp
edge. The long knives are out for the glossed up “farmerboy
trance/clubpop” that has polluted the electro name with stripped
rawness coming through in tracks like “Crusing in Scheveningen” and
“Lost in Van Stolk Park.” The double vinyl set ends in true homage
style with the reverberating beats and basslines of “TR808 Roland
Drumcomputer.”
In his press communique, Dicke (or Danny) had a venom in his words. He
is not only distressed to what electro is becoming, he is angry. For
the Morwijk militia the use of electro has a real meaning, it is not a
generic label to be stuck on t-shirts and turned into some neon
nu-rave flash in the pan snake. Electro has a history, it has a
heritage that spans decades and has found its way into the four
corners of the globe. FC Den Haag is one team that are keeping the
true name of electro alive, and this album is their manifesto.
F.C. Den Haag is out now on Dumb Terminal.
