A selection of reviews and opinions:
The press on Dia del Mercado:
‘Another Clumsey Mile’ (2017):
| ‘Very surprisingly, after almost five years of silence, a new EP wrapped in a beautiful package, of Groninger Ruud Slingerland fell on our door mat. Ruud is the driving force behind the band “Dia del Mercado”, with whom he repeatedly hung out in the past and that he made the CD “Seven Years of Dirt” with…….
The EP itself: I repeat my admiration for the handmade pizza box in which the CD is packed. A great job it is, but now that I have heard the album X times, I really do think it’s not more than normal that there has been taken so much care to the packaging: this EP, which bursts of the “eye for detail”, would not really be “complete” if it had been released in a regular slip case. Musically I enjoy this record from A to Z……My favorite peace is ‘Death By My Song’ a falsely-cheerful piece of work in which Beatles and Floyd meet each other, but all-together, above all it sounds like Dia del Mercado in the first place…’ (freely translated from the review in dutch) |
‘Kaleidoscopic desert moods….….The songs on Another Clumsy Mile remain in your head and make you long for more…’
Make A Fuzz (in Dutch)
‘Tumbleweeds roll through a dusty town, the barroom doors clatter back and forth in the wind and the Ennio Morricone soundtrack rattles with a raucous choir. It’s not, however, a cheroot chewing man with no name who stumbles into view – rather it is Ruud Slingerland, the Dutch multi-instrumentalist behind the Dia del Mercado name.’
‘Verzerrte Gitarrentöne bringen zeitweise auch ein bisschen Garage- bzw. Psychedelic-Feeling mit ein, was der Platte keinesfalls schadet. So etwa bei “Death By My Song”, das bis dahin neben dem Titeltrack die Höhepunkte ausmacht. Das abschließende “My Patchwork” überzeugt dann auch noch einmal mit coolen Melodien und gutem Gesang.’
‘« Another Clumsy Mile » des Dia del Mercado : un EP pour patienter jusqu’au prochain LP ?’…..’L’ultime piste, « My Patchwork » est la piste la plus country de l’EP, avec une introduction au banjo… Une piste courte, mais qui conclue l’EP en beauté, avec une envie : connaître la suite. Un EP ou un LP ? En tout cas, même si l’attente a été longue entre les deux opus, elle en valait la peine.’
Older reviews:
‘Seven Years Of Dirt’ (2012):
‘Opening Scene, the first track off this collection by Dia del Mercado is one of the most arresting this reviewer has heard in a long time with the listener instantly taken to an abandoned dusty high street of some Wild West town with his finger tickling the handle of a six shooter. ‘
‘Dia del Mercados “Seven Years Of Dirt” ist besondere Musik für besondere Momente.’
‘This is an interesting mix of pleasant mainstream pop rock with nice spacey western landscape slide guitar. There is some careful thought and execution in these arrangements and that pays off handsomely in the end. The songs are more varied, but they seem to follow each other into a comfortable pattern like that of a smooth rail journey across the scrub brush of the old West. And although they are from Groningen, Netherlands, and probably have never been to the east in the USA, let alone the west; their imagination is fertile and succeeds in creating vivid imagery when this works. This is music that challenges and the rewards outweigh the miscues, which is exactly what you want with gutsy efforts that attempt to try out new things.’
‘ **** …but definitely highly recommended for those who like some adventure.’
‘While Calexico left the dusty desert for their new album Algiers, the Dutch band Dia del Mercado went looking for it. At least, in mind. Seven Years Of Dirt (Root & Branch Recordings) was in fact simply recorded in Groningen, but with remote dusty towns in mind. That resulted in a very nice album full of cinematic music in the style of, yes, Calexico. And therefore also of Ennio Morricone…’ (translated from a review in Dutch)
“The music on the album ‘Seven Years Of Dirt’ from the Dutch band ‘Dia Del Mercado’ remains unconventional, but such offering amidst the multitude of pop and rock songs might just become the main reason of success for this cinematic sound which resembles the desert music of Ennio Morricone blended nicely with the etheric pop songs of Pink Floyd.” (translated from a review in Dutch)
‘Dia del Mercado vient de proposer son premier album, Seven Years Of Dirt’. Ce groupe néerlandais comme son nom l’indique nous propose un mélange intéressant et détonnant, dont voici la recette : prenez un peu de Pink Floyd, un peu d’Ennio Morricone, un peu de folk, un peu de country, mettez le tout dans un shaker et secouez bien.’
Frederic Bezier blog in French
‘Seven Years Of Dirt (the Instrumentals’ (2013):
‘This is a reworked Dia del Mercado album that features reworked instrumental versions of previous songs. Composer Ruud Slingerland accurately points out this release highlights the cinematic qualities of the band’s music. I completely agree with that, as I felt I was listening to an Ennio Morricone soundtrack album featuring cuts that could feature in westerns comfortably positioned next to his more urban soundtrack scores. There is a load of atmosphere here, and even some forays into jazz and some songs that seem to pull from world folk tunes. You can try to put this on in the background, but there is so much going on that you will likely find yourself actively engaged in listening to this dense and intriguing music.’
‘Changing Sceneries – part one’ (2014):
‘A Tree Drinkin’ River from ‘Changing Sceneries’, new EP from @DiadelMercado. A unique blend of ambient & Americana’