Music, Soundscapes and Radio Plays from late 1980ties and 1990 ties, when I was still young.

Cassette CORA compiled by Willem de Ridder late 80-ties, on double LP by Calax records, 2021

CORA

A by far incomplete list of audio works together with then partner Willem de Ridder with several other guest artists.
More about Willem de Ridder and how we met in this interview Willem did with Calax Records.

Home studio of Willem de Ridder, Amsterdam

picture: Wink van Kempen, late 80ties.

Let Us Storm

Willem de Ridder en Cora Emens first cassette together.

Il Pozzo Canta

Artwork By – Zintah
Performer [Rocks, Tibetan Bowls], Voice Actor, Vocals – Cora*
Performer [Rubber Tube], Mixed By, Voice Actor, Artwork By [Cover Design, Computer Graphics] – Willem De Ridder
Recorded By [Field Recordings] – Cora*, Willem De Ridder
Voice Actor, Performer [Tibetan Bowls] – Bernard Crijns

Published By Radio Art Foundation, Alexander Boersstraat 30, Amsterdam, Holland. Two musical landscapes from Ireland, Belgium, Holland and Inside..
Comes in an A5 carton box with artprint by Zintah and Tapes For Dying catalogue.

Ei Blot Til Lyst

A “Fluxus/spontaneous” opera created by Willem de Ridder and Cora Emens-de Ridder from improvisations and field recordings of New York streets and subways. De Ridder calls himself “Wille de Riddle” on the cover and plays percussion, whistles and supplies vocal parts, Cora Emens-de Ridder offers “vocals, percussion, bass, inspiration” and they are joined by Ben Hollander Hessel Veldman and “Nicole”. The computer graphic artwork on the box is by De Ridder.

Amsterdam: Staalplaat, n.d. (1985)
21.6 x 15.7cm. two part box with printed labels, drawer and two inserts – both 31.4 x 21.5cm plus standard audio cassette with printed titles on the plastic.

FNTC

FNTC started after the Holland Festival shows in 1985. Willem de Ridder and Hessel already started making radio programmes in the late seventies and early eighties: normal stories and fairy-tales for children. But also did sound and storytelling performances with musicians like Alvin Curran, Han Reiziger, Francis Marie Uitti and Jon Rose.

Cora Emens, partner of Willem, asked Hessel and Nick Nicole to join when she was asked for a making a sound-art-play. Willem started doing “singing” and making music. Nicole took her ‘playing with objects’ part. Hessel came out of his comfort zone, being a musician, and started chanting as well. The first release was called “Ei blot till list”, a sound-art piece by Cora Emens, released by Confrontation tapes. This worked out so well that Willem, Cora, Hessel and Nicole decided to make more music together and perform at churches and other venues.

After this experiment our group FANATIC Willem de Ridder, Hessel Veldman , Nick Nicole en Cora Emens (de Ridder) was a fact. And FANATIC appeared more and more “on stage”, doing strange perverse performances while audiences were blindfolded and/or confronted with extreme sound-sculptures. In 1986 the name was changed into F.N.T.C. and several music- and videotapes were released during the late 80’s.

Re-release:

Fanatic – Europe in Flames CD

The word Fanatic comes from the Latin fanum, temple. A fanatic is someone possessed, by God or the Devil. From 1985 until 1989 Willem de Ridder, Hessel Veldman, Cora Emens and Nick Nicole were the members of post-art ensemble FANATIC (or later FNTC). Willem and Hessel already worked together in the late 70s and early 80s on various radio shows and performed with musicians like Alvin Curran, Francis Marie Uitti and Jon Rose. Together with Cora and Nick they started FANATIC to focus on field recordings, intimate happenings and theatrical storytelling.

You can order here

As a multi-media project FANATIC was not just obsessed by sound but dedicated to live rituals, producing videos, cassettes and radio plays like Europe in Flames, the pinnacle of this album. It’s a multi-layered piece for which the foundation was recorded by Willem on a boat trip to England. One of his spontaneous field recordings that sounded more like an intricate studio production. In a house near the North Sea on a windswept Autumn evening in 1985 percussion, voices, synthesizer and sound effects were added and when their friend and collaborator William Levy arrived, he listened to the freshly recorded wall of sound, took a short poem from 1978 out of his pocket and started reciting. This final layer of sound complemented the audio perfectly and the result was published on the Neuropa cassette in 1986 and is still chillingly relevant in 2025.

Their haunting, meditative and immersive audio pieces and challenging performances evoke comparisons with groups like COUM Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle. Bleak and raw, but also sensual and poetic. FANATIC released 3 cassettes in the 80s with more material to be discovered in the EXART archives. In addition to the classic Europe in Flames, we dug up 2 unreleased pieces from 87 for a long overdue conspectus.

200 copies. CD wallet with 8 page booklet including photos from a scrapbook, found in Willem de Ridder’s archive.

All Chemix Radio Series

De Ridder produced the All Chemix Radio series transmitted by various radio stations in America, Canada and Australia. These narrative pieces were produced on the spot and include spoken word, field recordings and electronic sounds. Previously released on cassette in very limited editions, these pieces have now been released on vinyl by Slowscan for the first time. Eight radio plays have been mixed into four long pieces including collaborators such as Cora Emens, Stefan Weisser, Andrew McKenzie, Nick Nicole, Annie Sprinkle, Alvin Curran, Julia Romanov, William Levy & Hessel Veldman.

Fanatic* – Neuropa

Label:	Not On Label (FNTC Self-released) – none
Format:	Cassette
Country:	Netherlands
Released:	1986
Genre:	Electronic
Style:	Abstract, Experimental

Europe In FlamesFeaturing – William Levy (2)

A Z YFeaturing – Bernard Crijns

Encoded Message / Rabotnik

All Chemix Radio Series: Cassette 18.
Willem de Ridder: Encoded Message
Willem de Ridder, Cora, Hessel en Nick Nicole Veldman: Rabotnik
Radio Art Foundation.

Opera

WILLEM DE RIDDER – “All Chemix Radio” – Vinyl (Dubbel LP)

“All Chemix Radio” is een dubbel-LP van kunstenaar Willem de Ridder uit 2020. Het is een publicatie uit de serie Slowscan, volume 49. De platen bevatten verschillende fragmenten van hoorspelen van Chemix Radio, ge-edit door Willem de Ridder. Artwork met dank aan Artkitchen Gallery, Amsterdam. Design: Johnny van de Koolwijk.

Oplage: 300

Tracklist

A1 “Two More Days For Gabriel”
Electronics – Stefan Weisser
Electronics, Voice, Engineer – Andrew McKenzie
Musician – Hessel Veldman
Voice, Noises – Cora Emens

B1 “Go For It & Kill All Memory”
Electronics, Engineer – Hessel Veldman
Noises – Nick Nicole (2)
Synthesizer – Julia Romanov
Voice – William Levy (2)
Voice, Noises – Cora Emens

C1 “Zombie In The Closet”
Electronics, Engineer – Alvin Curran
Voice – Annie Sprinkle, Cora Emens

D1 “This Is Not true”
Voice, Electronics, Noises – Hessel Veldman
Voice, Noises – Cora Emens, Nick Nicole (2)

Dubbel-LP: Slowscan 49 (300 copies)(2020)

Featuring – Jon Rose
Performer – Cora*, Hessel Veldman, Nicole*, Willem De Ridder
Recorded By, Mixed By – Ben (Balance) Uijtjens*

Tape with offset printed and specially folded cover housed in a series specific PVC jacket with screen-printed silver text on the outside. Black unlabeled chrome tape.

A live recording of FNTC’s famous 3 dimensional hearplay. During this performance the audience was blindfolded and stretched out on couches. The sound came from all sides.
Recorded and mixed in the summer of 1986.
Use headphones while laying down.
Opera has been featured in the All Chemix Radio Series and has been broadcasted by Stations in Canada, USA, Australia, Germany and The Netherlands.

RE

AIDA

All Chemix Radio Series cassette #6 (ca 1985).

Aida (27:10)
Cora Emens: voice & singing
Willem De Ridder: voice, electronic sounds & library tapes

A pregnant Cora is about to give birth to the child she’s having with Willem De Ridder. Note they are at home, not in a hospital, but a nurse is helping. She previously recorded her soothing voice and the song is being played here while the couple is awaiting the child. Heavy breathing is heard along heartbeat sounds while Cora eventually goes through the throes of childbirth (switching to dutch language). Willem is taking polaroid photos of the process. Later, after Cora actually gave birth, we hear a baby crying. Rerecording technique and montage allows the event to be summarized in 30 mns. Anyway, this is unlike anything I’ve heard before or after. Totally unique and breathtaking.

Two More Days

Two More Days (29:23)
Hessel Veldman: guitar intro
Z’ev: six k7 players w/ industrial sounds
Cora Emens: voice
Willem De Ridder: voice and singing

Ashort car trip brings Cora & Willem to a suburban slaughterhouse area. Industrial scraping sounds abound, courtesy of US percussionist Z’ev. The couple’s conversation will eventually lead them to fall apart. We are in Eraserhead territory – a paranoid journey in an industrial soundscape.

Walk to WAHA

Walk To Waha (29:25)
Nicole and Hessel Veldman: electronic & sound effects
Cora Emens: field recording
Willem De Ridder: field recording

Psychogeographic meandering across neurotic belgian areas in paranoid mood. A road movie for the ear complete with footsteps sounds, protagonists comments, engine noises. Very nice electronic sounds by Nicole & Hessel Veldman. The latter ran the Exart Cassette label during the 1980s. Go to this radio show to listen to some of his k7 releases. Also a member of Y Create and FNTC (with Cora, De Ridder & Andrew McKenzie).

More All Chemix Radio Series Releases with Cora

Just Relax Girl
Paganini’s Grave
Volcano Dance
Another Day Another Depression
Kali
Fly

FNTC on Video

Radio Artivity

Radio Artivity
massive sound eruptions

Radio Artivity is a multi dimensional sound work and radio play, based on recordings made by Hessel Veldman, Willem de Ridder, Cora Emens and Nick Nicole between 1985 and 1990.

Recorded in real time, round the living room table, at the EXART studio in IJmuiden; The Netherlands.

Willem de Ridder: field-recordings, voices + ordinary objects.
Hessel Veldman: real time sound manipulation, mixing and composing; using field-recordings and all kind of instruments + voices.
Cora Emens: voices + ordinary objects.
Nick Nicole: voices + ordinary objects.

Concert Zender (radio)

In deze uitzending aandacht voor Fluxus kunstenaar, tijdschriften maker en verhalenverteller Willem de Ridder. Twee uur lang nemen we u mee door Willem de Ridder’s audio-archief, met soundscapes en experimentele hoorspelen.

LUISTER HIER

1. Willem de Ridder. Flagula (radio-edit). 11:30.

2. Willem de Ridder. Zombie In The Closet. (Alvin Curran, Willem de Ridder, Cora Emens, Annie Sprinkle) 18:51. LP: All Chemix Radio. Label: Slowscan.

3. Fanatic. Europe In Flames. (William Levy, Willem de Ridder, Hessel Veldman, Cora Emens, Nick Nicole) 5:30. (Audiosphere exhibition Museo Reina Sofia; Madrid – edit) Cassette: Neuropa. Label: Exart.

4. FNTC. The Fly. (Willem de Ridder, Cora Emens, Hessel Veldman, Nick Nicole) 24:59. (unreleased)

5. FNTC. Opera part 1. (Jon Rose, Willem de Ridder, Hessel Veldman, Ben Balance Uijtjens, Cora Emens, Nick Nicole) 31:04.
Cassette: Opera. Label: Staalplaat. (foto: FNTC)

6. FNTC. Eronatic. (Willem de Ridder, Cora Emens, Nick Nicole, Hessel Veldman) 19:28. (unreleased)

7. Willem de Ridder. De Ridder Synthphonie. (Willem de Ridder, Armeno Alberts, Yeapsystar, Dread Rat (remastering), Paul op de Weegh, Cora Emens, Mister Philly, Hessel Veldman) 7:41.
Recorded live @ de Willem Twee Toonzaal in ‘s Hertogenbosch. (unreleased)