Brooklyn band Netherlands is led by prolific musician Timo Ellis, whose decades in the New York scene have featured collaborations with Yoko Ono, Cibo Matto, and many more, Netherlands is a singular force. They released their new EP Hope Porn last February, which cements the style that has been in the works since the band’s 2011 debut: euphoric choruses and brain-rattling psychedelic freakouts soar above a violently grooving rhythm section.
We asked Timo about the 3 most influential albums that have led him to become the musician he is today..
The Jacksons – Destiny
I always credit hearing ‘Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)’ on the radio in 1979 as being THE original catalyst for my entire “I want to be a musician” epiphany – the band, all the performances, and MJ’s incredible singing on this record are all IMO flawless, fun, soulful, and just razor-sharp-killer. (Now, I suppose someone could (maybe) make a case for its “pop cheesiness”, in the context of everything else that was also going on musically in that moment…) But that song, and this whole record, just absolutely crushed me, enchanted me, and utterly enamored me with MJ as just being a fucking GOD of music. And I still feel this way. So, thank you MJ (and co)… for igniting my entire life!!
Melvins – Ozma
This LP deeply kicked my ass when it came out. The only other vaguely “doom” band/ music I knew about at that point was Trouble, doing their relatively slow/evil (and aesthetically more “metal”) jams, so this record was next level shit that way (and I hadn’t even heard Gluey Porch Treatments yet!!) To me, Ozma is a back-to-back a killer record; simultaneously ultra foreboding, frenetic, funny, and overall just ultra-fucking sharp/ gnarly in its delivery. This, for me is “peak Melvins” (although I LOVE a lot of their other songs n’ records, they are musically super diverse) and in terms of its musical influence on me, yeah… I don’t think I ever really recovered from this.
Blonde Redhead – Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons
At the time I was also completely mesmerized by this record – it seamlessly fuses punk, Italy, 60’s, and electronic music. it super confidently creates its own atmosphere, has distinct mood changes, a bunch of tonal and timbral variety… and just has fantastic fucking songs! It’s, in my opinion, a near perfect record and is like a great movie in terms of the story, pacing and overall effect. Genius.
