Relaxed Show By Tika

After spending time together in Canada, David Pino and Marien Dorleijn came back with a great album for the 'In A Cabin With Project'. The album with this one time group Tika was more than a simple addition of the qualities of both musicians. However making an album together is one thing. Playing it live on stage is different.


Tika at Paradiso Amsterdam, September 13 2011 (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)

Since their album was recorded with the help of Canadian musicians they got members of both their own bands to help them out. And it is nicely divided between those bands. El Pino & The Volunteers' bass player Appie and Moss' drum player Finn Kruyning are completing the band on stage. They are only playing a handful of shows to support this occasion.

The show starts with the documentary around actor Carel Struycken and the song 'For Better Or For Worse'. The video doesn't play smoothly and it's not a good start. It will be characteristic for the entire show. Pino and Dorleijn take the stage and start playing. It's simply amazing how well their voices sound so good together. When Appie and Kruyning are joining them the harmonies are heavenly. Although the songs are great it doesn't really sound like a band. You can notice that they put this band together just for the occasion. It doesn't always sound tight and convincing, some things don't run smoothly and the musicians don't look like they are comfortable all time. Maybe they didn't have too much time either to prepare for it.



One can only hope that maybe this project will lead to more Tika music and that it will grow into something more steady in future. With a well prepared band this could turn into something great. They show that by stepping into the crowd in the last encore to play Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain'. When they take the stage for a full blown climax to the song it's a great ending to a somewhat messy evening. But with these great musicians and fine songs it was a pleasure nevertheless.

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Tika Chases The Cold Away

Put a few musicians in a cabin for a while and maybe nice things will happen. That's in short the idea behind 'In A Cabin With'. It lead to nice and surprising combinations in the past. This time it was Moss' Marien Dorleijn and El Pino & The Volunteers' David Pino. They headed to La Peche in Canada and moved into a cabin in the bitter cold. Assisted by local musicians from the Canadian music scene and a black Labrador, named Tika. The result is now out on the album In A Cabin With. The duo call themselves Tika, yes indeed, named after the loyal dog...

Tika - In A Cabin With (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)

The combination between Dorleijn and Pino may not be a surprising one, but it is a logical one. The styles of both bands are not far apart and they both belong to the Excelsior group that produces interesting combinations more often. And it does result in nice music as hoped for. The voices of both men are colouring nicely and the harmonies are beautiful. Especially when Dorleijn with his characteristic voice takes the lead and Pino is supporting it. What's striking is that it all sounds familiar and convincing. As if the two musicians have been playing and recording for years.

The songs themselves are perfectly fine as well as can be expected. Some have been kept small and sound, maybe because of the freezing cold, intense and thin ('Hardware Store') or even threatening ('Guest House'). The songs are supported in a minimal way; smouldering like the last log in the fireplace. Other songs are full of fire or sound warm and friendly ('My Little Truth'). With a song like 'Different Shades of White' that remarkably sounds summery, it's nice to just dream away. Plenty of variation in those ten songs I'd say.

Again the In A Cabin With project succeeded in putting together a nice collaboration. It results in strong and varying songs, despite the fact that the choice of the musicians isn't that surprising and quite obvious. It may be a confirmation of how rich the Dutch music scene is in this segment. With an open approach and by stimulating musicians and enabling them to express their creativity, it is even getting more rich. Just take a look at the Happy Camper project or the collaboration between Roosbeef and Torre Florim in De Speeldoos. And now the more than successful Tika.

This review has been published on ROAR E-Zine in Dutch over here.

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