Celer is the solo project of Will Thomas Long. Previously a duo with his late wife Danielle Baquet-Long (who also recorded under the Chubby Wolf alias), the project has been very prolific and continues to release volumes of music since his move to Japan.
One of the admiral things that Will does is even though he has a well-known profile and has appeared on esteemed labels such as Home Normal, Baskaru, Spekk, Low Point and Dragon’s Eye Recordings to name a few, he also releases on small run cdr and cassette labels. He established the Two Acorns label which has put out material by Maile Colbert, Il Grande Silenzio as well as his own material.
He has recently released several buy it now/ pay what you want releases via his bandcamp page such as the long form pieces “Fragile That Eventually Breaks” & “In The End You Will Just Disappear”, the experimental “Vapour”, and the reissue of the previously ultra small edition of “Plays Red River” amongst others.
“Plays Red River” initially was limited to 13 signed copies and sold at shows in August 2016. Constructed using Television, reel-to- reel tape, Boss Reverb and Tape Echo, it was recorded live.
This 16 minute piece is classic Celer. The piece is the result of layering of multiple drones approximately 20 seconds in length with a rich haunting sound reminiscent of William Basinski’s “The Disintegration Loops”. “Red River” is a 1948 western starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift, half a still from the film is used for the front cover (of John Wayne embracing Joanne Dru). Whether or not any source material that the loops are based on cone from the movie, is something only Will would be able to answer.
The beauty about this piece is when the next wave of loops come in there is a slightly highlighting drone that ties them together before fading away. The repetition and the varying drones interlock and give the piece an ethereal and pulsating sound which could easily be extended to form a larger work.
Ambient/Drone artists can be a dime a dozen these days, but when its good its truly enjoyable to listen too and over a decade working at it, Will knows exactly what to do.