Sunday evenings have recently taken on a whole new look—a great reason to get acquainted with our new programmes. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be introducing a new show each week. This week: Stefan Koopmanschap and his programme Jammer.
In January 2025, I took over from Hessel Veldman as coordinator of the Crosslinks editorial team. Although I have a background in radio, having worked at stations like On Air Radio, Indie XL, KINK, and Pinguin Radio, my initial goal was actually to take a break from compiling and hosting shows. However, following the passing of Bob Rusche, I decided to step in and host the X-Rated tribute to Bob Rusche to hound to share memories of him with fellow programme makers, listeners and artists. That’s when the desire to again make radio programmes returned. As we pieced together the new Sunday evening schedule, a slot opened up to provide a counterpoint to Space Exposure, and I was eager to fill it.
And so, since late July, there has been a new Sunday evening programme: Jammer. Stefan hosts the show on the second and fourth Sunday of every month, from 21:00 to 22:00 CET.
It was important that this programme provides a contrast to Space Exposure, a long-running Sunday evening show known for its mix of IDM, techno, rave and drum ‘n’ bass. I have been obsessed with electronic dance music since the late 80s and early 90s. It started with house and techno, but my taste broadened over time to include genres like IDM, big beat and breakbeat. The industrial techno scene—particularly in Germany and Belgium—and its counterparts in the US and the UK played a major role in this. Yet one thing remained fairly constant: while I love the “four-on-the-floor” beats of house and techno, I also appreciate rhythms that are slightly less predictable or lack a rigid, steady pulse. That is precisely where the idea for Jammer originated: there is so much music out there with rhythms that don’t just go thump-thump-thump-thump, music that is more experimental, chopped up or simply different. The fact that this offers a nice change of pace from what you hear in Space Exposure was a huge bonus.
So, the focus is on rhythm. The programme description tells us more:
An hour of broken beats, glitch, big beat, IDM, and experimental beats. Ranging from dreamy to heavy, from physically danceable to mentally danceable, from beautiful and fluid to distorted and erratic. Energetic, yet with occasional moments of calm.
But how do you go about putting a playlist together?
It’s mostly based on feel. I’m don’t like a format in which every programme follows roughly the same structure. So, one week might feature a lot of energetic, up-tempo music with plenty of distortion. The next week, the rhythms might be more subtle and the sounds dreamier. However, most broadcasts will be a mix of various styles, though I do try to start with high energy and, towards the end, create a bridge to between Your Ears, the programme that follows Jammer.
