Hidden Shoal Recordings » Wes Willenbring Reviews

Wes Willenbring ‘Close, But Not Too Close’ – Aquarius Records

Jamie — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 06:03:33 +0000

Excerpt: “SF sound sculptor and dreamdronedrift composer Wes Willenbring… is an accomplished pianist and guitarist, and those instruments form the basis of these songs, in some places that’s obvious, but in others, the piano and the guitar, or any semblance of either, are blurred, or smeared, or pixelated into hazy clouds of sound, of softly shifting streaks of crystalline shimmer, the guitar often transformed into a buried pulse, the piano into soft focus flurries of barely there melody, at its most diffused and abstract, this is total bleary eyed starlight pop ambience, the sort of hushed orchestral drift that would appeal to fans of other sonic abstractionists like Stars Of The Lid or Tim Hecker or Fennesz… Totally sublime moody minimalism, a late night moonlit, slip-into-the-ether sort of dreamdrift dronemusic, equal parts gauzy abstraction and languid whispery post rock drift, that is as divine as it is dreamy.”

Aquarius Records

Wes Willenbring ‘Close, But Not Too Close’ – Igloo Magazine

Jamie — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:12:10 +0000

Excerpt: “The eight tracks, driven mainly by guitar and/or piano with slight electronic tinkering, straddle a fine line between modern classical and drone. It’s very expressive music, painting ghostly images of barren wilderness and other forms of magnificent desolation… This type of music certainly encourages looking for the little things, trying to search out individual notes submerged in a sea of reverb, and Close, But Not Too Close has a lot of aural Easter eggs waiting to be discovered… less a collection of songs than it is pure mood, an audible fog that seeps from speakers to bathe home stereos in frozen moonlight.”

Igloo Magazine

Wes Willenbring ‘Close, But Not Too Close’ – Hypnagogue

Jamie — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:25:19 +0000

Excerpt: ‘The discs are loaded with layered, thoughtful pieces rich in instrumentation and heavy on a narrative sensibility…. with pieces that wander and shuffle through bleak and melancholic landscapes like they need a little space to sort things out. Everything is played with a deliberate grace that allows each instrument’s contribution be fully felt, notes slipping perfectly into place at exactly the right time. Willenbring’s approach skirts the edge of minimalism in that there’s nothing here that isn’t absolutely inherent, nothing wedged or crammed in where it doesn’t belong. The notes fall like rain, the backgrounds shift and float like windblown curtains and everything sounds like it’s hanging at the precipice of heartbreak.’

Hypnagogue

Wes Willenbring ‘Close, But Not Too Close’ – Textura

Jamie — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:51:21 +0000

Excerpt: “Track titles such as “The Anti-Social Aesthetic” and “I’m Looking Forward to Your Funeral” suggest his music might be so hermetic it’s designed to ward off listeners’ advances, but in fact Willenbring leaves the door open just enough to allow visitors in to share his world. His is an unassuming and rather muted style; he’s not the kind of composer who bludgeons the listener with abrasive extremes but rather lures him/her in with the seductive understatement of fully-rounded and plaintive meditations.”

Textura

Wes Willenbring “Close, But Not Too Close” – Adequacy.net

Thea Porter — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:01:08 +0000

Excerpt: “Willenbring peppers his discreet, minimalist compositions with deliberate and interloping melodic accents that promotes active listening but without obligation…Breadth and depth are supplied by adding and subtracting layers of vibrant tonal swells in periodic waves, often times forming shadowy soundtracks to mysterious worlds but just as often providing a serene, hypnotic and majestic soundscape suitable for daydreaming. Close, But Not Too Close entertains in stellar fashion with hauntingly beautiful atmospheric compositions that should please fans of ambient music.”

Adequacy.net

Wes Willenbring “Close, But Not Too Close” – Music, Musings and Miscellany

Thea Porter — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:18:40 +0000

Excerpt: “While you could daub it with the ambient tag, Close But Not Too Close is more than just a collection of cosmic drone, although that certainly plays a part. The eight tracks have varied instrumentation, with moods varying from the introspective to the cosmic. The pace is uniformly glacial which may be why it takes a few listens for the subtleties to reveal themselves. Gentle acoustic guitar, stark piano, mellotron generated flute effects, and spaced-out organ all make their contributions.”

Music, Musings and Miscellany

Wes Willenbring “Close, But Not Too Close” – Luna Kafe

Thea Porter — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:13:17 +0000

Excerpt: “Amazing… Willenbring’s got this quality of creating perfect moods and clever atmospheres. The dreamscapes, or musical paintings created by Wes Willenbring are truly spellbinding beauties. The almost perfect soundtrack to long, cold, dark winter nights. Close, But Not Too Close is ghost music. At least it’s a little bit haunted.”

Luna Kafe

Wes Willenbring “Somewhere, Someone Else” – Hypnagogue

Thea Porter — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:25:41 +0000

Excerpt: “Each piece is built on Willenbring’s very calm playing on guitar and piano, but these more tactile melodic elements soon evaporate into rising tides of thick, gentle, sometimes atonal drones. It’s quite like discovering you’re on a very small boat that someone has pushed out to sea while you were napping. Whichever song is playing, you’ll awake to a new, intriguing and oddly beautiful landscape that’s both familiar and just slightly unusual. And you can’t stop looking at it. Put Somewhere, Someone Else on repeat, sit in the dark—or, more appropriately, in the light of single flickering candle—and just allow Willenbring to take you along for the ride. Start to finish, this suite of minimalist tone-poems will not only give you reason to think, it will give you many reasons to listen again.”

Hypnagogue

Wes Willenbring “Close, But Not Too Close” – Ondarock

Thea Porter — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:49:36 +0000

Excerpt: “‘Close, But Not Too Close’ sees Willenbring thicken the sound, enriching the instrumentation used, for example the classic fingerpicking of “The Burrow” and the organ that characterizes the initial “I’m Looking Forward To Your Funeral.” [The album embraces] evanescent melodies and restless emotional texture. A good confirmation of a talented artist”

Ondarock

New Wes Willenbring Single Released

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:17:46 +0000

Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the release of the first single taken from the eagerly awaited sophomore album by American ambient craftsman Wes Willenbring.

‘Oh, Most’ sees Willenbring develop on the gorgeous palette of tones explored on his debut album Somewhere Someone Else. The track is submerged in icy washes of guitar, under which piano and bass meet in a rhythmic valium struggle. As with Willenbring’s best work ‘Oh, Most’ is all about time in both its broadest and most discrete sense. There is a deliberation present in its composition that makes for a level of engagement far beyond any easy notion of ambient music.

“Absolutely gorgeous. Dreamy dark meandering melancholia for fans of Stars Of The Lid, Eluvium, Dead Texan, Tim Hecker, Godspeed and other purveyors of darkly dramatic, abstract moody minimalism” – Aquarius Records on Somewhere Someone Else

‘Oh, Most’ is taken from the upcoming Wes Willenbring eight-song opus Close, But Not Too Close. The track is available for free download from the Hidden Shoal Store until the official CD release of Close, But Not Too Close on November 12th, 2009. Fans will be able to get an early taste of the album when it is digitally pre-released on October 20th.

Read a full press release here.

Wes Willenbring – Oh, Most Wes Willenbring – Oh, Most

Wes Willenbring “Somewhere Someone Else” – Headphone Commute

tim — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 09:57:08 +0000

Excerpt: “Modern classical hasn’t felt this young in years! … If you love melancholic piano sounds that bathe you with warm and wet kisses; if you like ambient textures exploring the silence and space; if you like muted guitar and blurry soundscapes that move with synthetic and organic sighs… then Wes Willinbring has a treat for you….Years of recordings, collaborations, and explorations yielded this perfect soundtrack to an emotional repose.”

Headphone Commute

Wes Willenbring “Somewhere Someone Else” – Ondarock

tim — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 23:58:41 +0000

Translated excerpt: “Californian composer Wes Willenbring is a new artist engaged in the exploration of guitar and piano territories… the title suggests its pleasantly indeterminate nature, centred around slow, melancholic waves of piano and soft notes of guitar… an album of delicate development, multiple shadings and emotional depth… Its minimal, sonorous flow involves the continuous manipulation of the elements… like the post-rock refinements of Labradford and the modern neoclacissism of Library Tapes.”

Ondarock

Wes Willenbring “Somewhere Someone Else” – Aquarius Records

tim — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 03:54:45 +0000

“Willenbring employs a piano and a guitar, but for the most part you’d never know it, as most of the tracks here are huge slow moving sheets of pure sound, blurred and abstract. Even the ones that do start with bits of piano, or offer up bits of strum and twang, gradually become more and more washed out, gorgeous wet windshield smears, sparkling with muted colors, glistening and glimmering, it’s the music of light reflecting off wet pavement, the sound of trees heavy with snow and ice, of home movies of long car trips, of out of focus landscapes from the past. Melodies that creep and drift, gradually growing heavier and heavier, the clouds gathering, until it’s a slow drive through thick fog, shapes and sounds barely visible. But it’s those glimpses of piano, or fragments of guitar that ground the music on Somewhere Someone Else, keep it from being “drone music”, imbue it with warmth, emotion, hidden melody, dark secrets, the songs may end up adrift on a glimmering black sea, but they began on the shore, within site of home and family, gradually moving farther and farther away, the familiar fading away, slipping slowly into the unknown. Absolutely gorgeous. Dreamy dark meandering melancholia for fans of Stars Of The Lid, Eluvium, Dead Texan, Tim Hecker, Godspeed and other purveyors of darkly dramatic, abstract moody minimalism…”

Aquarius Records

Wes Willenbring “Somewhere Someone Else” – Losing Today

tim — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 00:08:18 +0000

“Sublimely statue-esque guitar and piano treatments are on offer – classically tinged noire-ish scores, deliciously delicate, darkly romantic and teased with a sense of profound loss. All at once beguiling, bewitching and enchanting, these shy eyed and timid brief though hurting suites appear like impromptu though thought lost memories the type of which are fleetingly rekindled by a smell or a sensation identifying directly to one’s past. Appeal wise ’Aperture’ and ’Sometimes’ should in particular evoke in most the haunting dreamscapes of Satie – both refined and elegant these glacially swept gems are frail though nonetheless deeply touching while ’Correspondence’ is a gloriously tranquil moment that shimmers lonesome like a lost and detached dronescape scored by Yellow 6. That said our recommendation goes to the exquisite ’Lost Illusions’ – think of it as a Godspeed type calm before the storm basking beauty. Sumptuous stuff.”

Losing Today

Wes Willenbring “Somewhere Someone Else“ – Angry Ape

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 03:15:08 +0000

Excerpt – “The vast, luxuriant soundscapes can transport you to another world… Every single track provides an alluring listen and Willenbring’s meticulous attention to detail catapults this album ahead of its peers… Somewhere Someone Else raises the bar and offers something new to the ambient world. A tremendous affair of restrained, multi-layered and hypnotic soundscapes.”

Angry Ape

Wes Willenbring “Somewhere Someone Else“ – The Silent Ballet

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 17:25:17 +0000

Excerpt – “Somewhere Someone Else is the latest release from Hidden Shoal Recordings, as well as the debut album from the U.S. based Wes Willenbring. Willenbring is another fine example of the label’s rise in the ambient electronica field, as they continually showcase new, innovative artists to the masses…As the album progresses, more sounds are introduced to the formula; echoing melodies of string-like guitars, a trembling piano part, smooth subtle bass, and other components all add up during the length of Somewhere Someone Else to produce an intoxicating atmosphere…Considering this is his first release, it is surprising how mature and well-crafted this album is. Somewhere Someone Else is a definite success, and Wes Willenbring is a name we’ll be hearing much about in the future.”

The Silent Ballet

Wes Willenbring “Somewhere Someone Else“ – Ambient Music Guide

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:28:35 +0000

Excerpt – “Also new from Hidden Shoal is Somewhere Someone Else by Wes Willenbring. Of the three HSR albums reviewed here this is the most landscaped in an ambient sense and also the most sombre. He uses ringing drones and hovering strings to good effect on “Lost Illusions” and “As You Fade Away”, over which he sprinkles some lovely electric guitar figures. The overall picture is a fairly monochrome one, with some lonely piano poking through the gloom on “Aperture” and “In A Quiet Dark Room”. As the album’s title suggests there is an overall sense of alienation and loss in these instrumentals, even death on “While My Lungs Fill With Water”. Intelligent music, unquestionably dark, and not for the easily distracted.”

Ambient Music Guide

Wes Willenbring “Somewhere Someone Else“ – Record of the Week on Radio K’s Nowlikephotographs

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 17:11:03 +0000

Excerpt – “With only a guitar and a piano, this San Francisco composer creates somber ambient music that demands attention. Alternating between modified washes of minimalism and neo-classical fragility, Willenbring’s arsenal of simplicity both soothes and tenses up the ears. What’s even better is that Willenbring is just one of many fantastic instrumental artists we just found out about on the international label Hidden Shoal.”

Nowlikephotographs

Wes Willenbring “Somewhere Someone Else“ – Boring Machines Disturb Sleep

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 17:04:36 +0000

Excerpt – “Bringing to mind artists such as The Dead Texan, Labradford and Eluvium, Willenbring has managed to add something new to this genre…..Dripping with melancholic guitar work, each note and tone is deliberately placed…..Every single track provides an alluring listen and Willenbring’s meticulous attention to detail catapults this album ahead of its peers……Hidden Shoal are fast carving out a niche for themselves in the ambient/electronica market. Following on from Slow Dancing Society’s “The Sound of Lights When Dim“, Willenbring’s “Somewhere Someone Else” is a tremendous affair of restrained, multi-layered and hypnotic soundscapes.”

Boring Machines Disturb Sleep

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Wes Willenbring “Somewhere Someone Else“ – Textura

Hidden Shoal Recordings — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 17:22:00 +0000

Excerpt – “Wes Willenbring’s Somewhere Someone Else further testifies to Hidden Shoal’s emergence as a significant player in the ambient electronic music genre. On his debut full-length for the Perth, Australia imprint, the San Francisco-based composer transmutes the natural timbres of piano and electric guitar into crepuscular settings that straddle a space betwixt ambient drones and melodic compositions. Illuminated by shimmering waves of piano radiance, Willenbring’s pieces sometimes imperceptibly drift in and out of focus, while their titles—“In A Quiet Dark Room,” “As You Fade Away,” and “Reverie”—leave little doubt as to the music’s retiring character……Willenbring’s music impresses throughout, but most especially when the echoes of blurred piano notes bleed into the ringing sustain of guitar atmospherics.”

Textura

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