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Ruben Machtelinckx

Ruben Machtelinckx is a prominent member of the Belgian and European improvised, experimental music scene. As a guitarist, but equally as a composer. Since the very start of his artistic course, he focusses on personal projects. 
 In 2013 the quartet Machtelinckx/Badenhorst/Jensson/Wouters released their debut, ‘Faerge’. The album was praised by international press and was listed ‘Best Belgian jazz release’ by KNACK magazine. Later the band issued a second album, ‘Flock’. 
 For many years, Machtelinckx is part of Linus, a duo with saxophone player Thomas Jillings. Their lauded debut, ‘Onland’, was followed by very specific collaborations. The duo remained, but other textures and musicians were added. Three records were released since:
the first in collaboration with Frederik Leroux and Øyvind Skarbø, the second with Nils Økland and Niels Van Heertum, the third again with Nils Økland and Niels Van Heertum but also complemented by Ingar Zach. As a sideman he plays in bands like Veder, Ifa y Xango and Book of Air. As freelance musician he played with Peter Evans, Iva Bittova, Jakob Bro, Christian Wallumrød, Dré Pallemaerts, and many others. 
 In general Machtelinckx’ music has evolved from sweet and gentle melodies and folk influences to music with more frictions and a hidden discomfort, without however letting go the power of songs and strains.
In 2017 he was one of the co-founders of Aspen Edities, an independent record label for contemporary music that issues both improvised music and compositions, often combined in a peculiar interplay. Source: http://www.rubenmachtelinckx.com/

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4
Album Review

Linus + Økland/Van Heertum/Zach: Light As Never

Read "Light As Never" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


Belgian duo Linus—Ruben Machtelinckx, guitar and banjo; Thomas Jillings, saxophone and clarinet—have been recording with additional musicians for several years. This grouping is the largest they have gathered together and revisits the one from the album Mono No Aware (Aspen Edities, 2017). It is rich instrumentation, expanded by Machtelinckx's additional baritone guitar, Jillings' synthesizer and Niels Van Heertum's trumpet (along with his usual euphonium). Nils Økland sticks with Hardanger fiddle and Ingar Zach again provides percussion. The program's ...

4
Album Review

Ruben Machtelinckx: A Short Story

Read "A Short Story" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


In retrospect the meeting of Belgian guitarist & composer Ruben Machtelinckx and Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen seems inevitable. They are both masters of delicacy and texture, as well as having distinctive and unusual sounds on their respective instruments. Machtelinckx composed most of the tunes, but these duets cast both players as equal contributors. It is a sound like chamber music, with no heroic solos. “Lessness" opens the album with an introspective air, acoustic guitar and Henriksen's distinctive ...

4
Album Review

Ruben Machtelinckx: Sualme

Read "Sualme" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


As a local resident, Belgian musician Ruben Machtelinckx was asked to contribute to Kunst en Zwalm (Art and Zwalm) 2019, a contemporary art festival that happens every two years in Zwalm, a small village on the Belgian countryside. Machtelinckx settled on a sound diary format, taking a digital recorder and instruments he could bring with him by bicycle. The recordings he made include field recordings, improvisations and compositions: they are presented without any overdubs or edits. “Mijnmwerker I" ...

14
Record Label Profile

Aspen Edities: The Album as a Work of Art

Read "Aspen Edities: The Album as a Work of Art" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard


It's a paradox of the digital age that it has spawned some of the most beautiful physical editions of music, but perhaps it's quite logical. In an age where almost everything becomes available digitally, it's a good thing for a physical product to distinguish itself. This is exactly what the records from the Belgian-based label Aspen Edities do. Run by musicians Ruben Machtelinckx and Niels Van Heertum and writer Sanne Huysmans, the label has released delicate editions that are a ...

4
Album Review

Ruben Machtelinckx/Frederik Leroux: when the shade is stretched

Read "when the shade is stretched" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


Ruben Machtelinckx and Frederik Leroux are both Belgian guitarists who have made increasing use of the banjo. They have previously performed together on Linus + Skarbo / Leroux (El Negocito Records, 2015)--Machtelinckx's project with reed player Thomas Jillings--but here they present separate solo programs. It's similar to each taking a side of an LP album. While the focus is on the banjo, it is definitely not merely a collection of unaccompanied banjo solos (although there are some tracks that are ...

9
Album Review

Linus+Økland/Van Heertum/Zach: mono no aware

Read "mono no aware" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


The Belgian duo Linus (Ruben Machtelinckx, guitar and banjo; Thomas Jillings, saxophone and clarinet) began recording with additional musicians on Linus + Skarbo / Leroux (El Negocito Records, 2015), following that with the Linus + Økland/Van Heertum combination on Felt like old folk (Smeraldina Rima, 2015). That grouping worked so well that it returns here, with the addition of percussionist Ingar Zach—making this the largest Linus guest collaboration yet. The addition of a percussionist might look like the ...

15
Album Review

Karl Van Deun & Ruben Machtelinckx: Shapes

Read "Shapes" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


Young Belgian guitarist Ruben Machtelinckx has already had an active recording career, especially with his quartet and the duo Linus. His recordings have become progressively more acoustic and ever more freely improvised. Guitarist Karl Van Deun was Ruben's teacher at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp. His performing career has been sidelined by hearing problems, but he contributes most of the compositions here, and the pair stick to acoustic instruments. The dominant sound is two classical guitars, no overdubbing. ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

A Short Story

Aspen Edities
2022

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Light As Never

Aspen Edities
2022

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Sualme

Aspen Edities
2019

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mono no aware

Aspen Edities
2017

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when the shade is...

Aspen Edities
2017

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Shapes

El Negocito Records
2016

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