PALMBOMEN II

Cindy is the eulogized muse behind Palmbomen II’s newest collection of limitless dance music. Appearing anecdotally in a cable access talk show and a four part 12” EP series episodically scored by Palmbomen II’s patent melodic house and remote, otherworldly fidelity, her story takes stage once more in Memories of Cindy.

Kai Hugo, the artist behind Palmbomen II (and its sister project, the traditionally “live” band Palmbomen), is an idiosyncratic producer that relies on spontaneity as much as structure. Almost identical to the process that prompted Palmbomen II’s self-titled debut (Beats In Space, 2015), Hugo worked through several iterations of each MOC track in a single day before using a comprehensive end edit to create a piece with an immediate, impossible feel.

On said self-titled album, Hugo applied vocals only to the video realizations of Palmbomen II’s songs. On MOC vocals appear as a primary component of and conduit to a stranger, haunted space. Whether contributing to the narrative as spoken word or morose melodies, it’s as disquieting as the echoed vaults from which they come that some other voice is now guiding Kai’s vessel.

This voice and world is Cindy’s, the paradigm depicted in Hugo’s self-scripted and directed videos and films. Hugo’s visual practice provides a separate view of the Palmbomen II venture: a surreal, neo noir-ish California dislocated by the no-frills aesthetic of its music, and the tragicomedy of its imagined characters. The word “palmbomen” is in fact Dutch for palm trees. Hugo’s background fuels the expatriate’s fascination with California as an alternate universe of curious, convoluted culture and mutant music habitats.

The airwaves of the world envisioned for Palmbomen II’s unfolding narrative are familiar, yet discordant, set apart from the gloss of the contemporary with an inquisitive view toward excavating a past that seems contrarily to have long been post-human, or perhaps not only human. The scenes and characters Kai creates in his musical and visual landscapes seem to transmit from another planet, though his own world is the more indistinguishable, alien impetus.

Creating in isolation while contemplating these irregularly scheduled programs, it’s unsurprising that Kai would find solace and stability in Cindy. After her final respects are paid and very existence questioned, a new album of Palmbomen II music—pulsing with odd particularity and evoking a somber, surreal sound of a fifth-dimensional West Coast panorama—appears in her place.

Kai Hugo is the artist behind Palmbomen II (and its sister project, the traditionally “live” band Palmbomen). Hugo was born in Breda, Netherlands and currently splits his time between Los Angeles, California and his home country.

Palmbomen II took form after Hugo spent a summer watching X-Files in his mother’s attic in the Netherlands

His newest album, Memories of Cindy, follows his debut self-titled LP as Palmbomen II on NYC-based label Beats In Space. Hugo recorded MOC out of his garage in Silverlake, Los Angeles throughout the years 2014 and ’15.

Hugo records his Palmbomen II music live in one take using an array of drum sequencers, synthesizers and FX units, which he then edits and runs through tape.

Cindy is the eulogized muse behind MOC. Cindy reveals herself over a series of four 12” EPs bearing her name (Memories of Cindy Pt. 1 – 4), each one constructed by Hugo as an autonomous episode of melodic house laced with remote, otherworld fidelity.

Hugo turns each of the four Memories of Cindy parts into late-night TV transmissions hosted in the fictional, sunny and slightly warped world of Carmel Vista, California. The show takes form as Real Talk (scripted and directed by Hugo, “starring” Hugo as himself alongside Damon Palermo of Magic Touch as show host Samantha), providing a separate view of the Palmbomen II venture.

MOC was influenced by Hugo’s interest in the Dutch Bunker and Belgium New Beat scene of late 80s early 90s, as well as his love for Chicago House and Acid.