Alamo Race Track


About Alamo Race Track

On paper Alamo Race track is an Amsterdam based alternative rock/folk band which was born in 2001 from the ashes of De Grote Prijs van Nederland-awarded Redivider. Truth be told, the band commongly abbreviated ART not only holds in its posession one of the most promising local contemporary song writters but it also, by this means, represents along with a counted few the future of the Dutch indie music that potentially holds the embrace of international eyes and ears.

Signed by Excelsior Recordings in 2002, the band released their debut album Birds At Home in 2003, opening the doors to key festivals as Noorderslag, Lowlands, The City (UK), Music Works (SCOT) and SXSW (US). And it was in Houston the band got picked up by respectable indie French label Fargo, which lighted the spark for the band’s international career by providing a channel for their music and an “a revelation from the Netherlands’ Liberation Newspaper headline.

Alamo Race Track experienced a landmark point in 2006, when a lively dressing-room performance of their then-current single, "Black Cat John Brown," wound its away onto the popular video website YouTube. Within weeks, nearly 200,000 people had viewed the clip (now 760.000), thus sparking a wave of Dutch media exposure that carried through to the band's sophomore release.

Sharing the same title as its hit single, Black Cat John Brown was released in October 2006 and quickly became a fixture on the Netherlands' alternative music charts. Widespread touring followed, including a stint with the Arctic Monkeys, an appearance at 2007's SXSW festival, De Nachten in Belgium and a three week tour de France. It was in Paris that now renounded film maker Vincet Moon spoted the band and made an unforgeteable two part video for La Blogotheque, adding ART to the ranks of The National, Lykke Li, Tom Jones, Wilco, Mumford & Sons, Vampire Weekened, R.E.M. and Bon Iver.
In addition to this, when "Black Cat John Brown" was picked for inclusion in the TV series Grey's Anatomy (whose viewership totaled 19 million Americans in 2006), American label Minty Fresh took notice and released the album stateside in July 2007. ART recieved a warm welcome in the US press and at festivals such as CMJ.

2010 saw the band exploring new territories and their boundaries by joining and composing for the Avant Garde theater piece Inneschau. This courage provided the band not only with the basis for their next musical effort but also with the opportunity to broaden its reach by gracing Holland’s top theaters, and in 2011 even surpass their national borders with performances in Finland and Austria.

Presently, Alamo Race Track have dropped their third studio album entitled Unicorn Loves Deer. This 11 track gem has stunned the national press (Volkskrant 5/5, Parool 4/5, 3voor12 Album of The Week) and raised the band’s status from a Top 100 to a Top 30 outfit in the Dutch National charts. With a strong home support, an even stronger album, a dedicated team on their side and an international base ART are ready to fascinate and conquer outside their home limits.

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Amsterdam-based indie rock band Alamo Race Track are adept at drawing with multiple sources to create their sound. On their new record, Unicorn Loves Deer, the band seems to be toying with a Midwest sound, with dreamy vocal harmonics that are set against gentle instrumental descends and carefully balanced cadences. Now and again the listener gets a feeling that a raucous campfire sing-along is just about to break out; a trick that the band have always been brilliant at conjuring up. Unicorn Loves Deer is Alamo Race Track's third album and yet their most soulful and melancholic up to now. ART’s reputation as masterful purveyors of multidimensional pop is again reinforced.



- Unicorn Loves Deer is the third and bestselling record from Alamo Race Track with indie label Excelsior Recordings (Triggerfinger, Tim Knol, Moss, zZz).

- Unicorn Loves Deer charted Top 30 in the Netherlands, and it’s due to release in the fall in Belgium, France and Germany.

- Alamo Race Track have been critically acclaimed for Unicorn Loves Deer, including top scores in national newspapers (Volkskrant, NRC, Parool) and major features in this month’s editions of Oor, Fret, Live XS, and Music Maker.

- ART has performed the single Unicorn Loves Deer in national night program De Wereld Draait Door.

- Alamo Have played key festivals worldwide including ‘La route du Rock’ (Saint-Malo), ‘Lowlands’ (Biddinghuizen), ‘South by Southwest’ (Austin, Texas), ‘In the city’ (Manchester), ‘Paleo’ (Genève), ‘Haldernpop’ (Haldern), ‘Dour’ (Dour), ‘Popkomm’ (Berlin) and ‘CMJ’ (New York).

- ART have also walked new paths by joining the avant garde theater piece Inneschau in 2010, taking their live shows to prestigious theaters throughout the Netherlands. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9Ac2FuXsEY

- ART have been featured in La Blogoteque (by renowned film-maker Vincent Moon) joining the ranks of The National, Lykke Li, Tom Jones, Wilco, Mumford & Sons, Vampire Weekened, R.E.M. and Bon Iver. http://www.blogotheque.net/Alamo-Race-Track,2611

- ART will be supporting Canadian established indie rock band The Weakerthans in their European tour, including two UK shows and four sold out shows in Germany.

- Throughout their career ART have been awarded ‘de Amsterdamse Popprijs’ , ‘de Grote Prijs van Nederland’ , ‘Esent-award’’, as well as nominated twice for ‘VPRO’s Album Of The Year’.

- ART’s 2006 sophomore release BlackcatJohnBrown title track became a youtube-hit, was used in several commercials and lastly it was featured in the American critically acclaim television series Gray’s Anatomy , exposing ART to over 15 million people.



Press Quotes:

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“Frontman Ralph Mulder schrijft liedjes zoals Marco van Basten voetbalde: zo mooi, zo gracieus, ongrijpbaar, altijd wegdraaiend naar de kant die je niet verwacht. (…) Het handelsmerk is nu intelligente pop met eindeloze verbeeldingskracht, zo rijk en avontuurlijk als popmuziek zijn kan.” (Menno Pot) De Volkskrant * * * * * ————————-

” Unicorn Loves Deer zou zijn weg naar een nog groter publiek moeten vinden: het is het beste dat Alamo Race Track to nu heeft gemaak en een reuzensprong in hun oeuvre. (…) Het lange wachten meer dan waard.” Parool * * * * ————————-

“Frivool, slim, zo af en toe een beetje raar.” (Atze de Vrieze) 3VOOR12 – Album Van De Week ————————-

“Knappe liedjes, bijzondere arrangementen en prachtige teksten over de kleine en heel grote dingen in het leven. Trots.” (Erik Zwennes) 3VOOR12 – Album Van De Week ————————-

“Het album is gevuld met fantastische songs (…) Tot nu toe het beste Nederlandse album van 2011.” Nu.nl * * * *



International Press Quotes:

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“The four guys create a classy and tight rock sound brimming with references: Radiohead, XTC, Joy Division, and Television, to name a few. Such influences are, however, assimilated and re-assembled with enormous skill and success—especially the superb arrangements, which give each piece a certain depth.” (Vincent Moon) La Blogotheque (FR)

“Combining elements of indie, folk and pop, Alamo Race Track are ready to take the US by storm with their hooky goodness,” FILTER (US)

“a revelation from the Netherlands’ Liberation (FR)

“The Dutch quartet confirm their rise” Le Monde (FR)

“Weird and wonderful enough to make you stop whatever you are doing, in order to seek out everything the band has recorded.” New York Press (US)

“Cast a glum spell that is hard to shake” Spin (US)

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Downloadable Files

Attachment  ARTmaart2011.pdf    
Attachment  Oor Review 2011    
Attachment  Filter (US) 2011    




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