‘Maudlin and Elusive’, a new release by Chubby Wolf on Teosinte, is now available!

From Teosinte:

“In this broken evening of truth, a hand is blending the bluest of blues. It lifts up each mouthful and lets it glide across the room. There are children sleeping in the corner, dreaming on cool down pillows. Each tear that drips from their eyelids bears a thousand universal truths, that all slide down their cheeks, slide under the soft curve of their soft cheeks and into the pillow, to evaporate, to rest as a ring of salt. A ring of salt that silent thumbs can eat, plucking each mouthful off to taste the blues. Rest, rest, and dream about every comforting thing you ever knew. Dream that you are still in your mother’s arms, still in your lover’s arms, still standing still in the sky in the sun in the rain with that firm dome beneath you.

Chubby Wolf is Dani Baquet-Long. Dani was an incredible woman who made incredible music, and I am excited to finally be putting out one of her tapes. I just wish she could have been around to see it. In her honor, I am donating 50 cents to Planned Parenthood and 50 cents to Womenheart from every tape sale.

Red c60 tapes in white vinyl cases with National Geographic and Better Homes and Gardens clippings. No two are alike. Hand-numbered, limited edition of 100. $8 in the US; $10 in the rest of the world. Email me at eden at digitalisindustries dot com to order.”

01. greg davis “mindmirror”
02. nobuto suda “ephemeral”
03. sean mccann “guardian”
04. ieva “invisible live at cafe indepandant”
05. hakobune “isolated resonance of”
06. celer “remaining open to grace”
07. celer “the thing that makes everything else unimportant”
08. david tagg “guitar and water”
09. brian grainger “bottleneck”
10. richard lainhart “forming”
11. yui onodera and hiroki sasajima “katamuki”
12. pawn “study of chime”
13. celer “words that should have kept silent”

Limited to 200 copies

Available from Meditations

To many, music can be seen as a form of escapism, reeling a listener into an environment or mindset distant from reality. Emptiness within music can enhance this as well, developing a setting that one can’t connect to familiar elements. Los Que No Son Gentos, the latest release by Danielle Baquet-Long of Chubby Wolf and Celer, is ideal for envisioning scenery. Even the title itself, which translates to “those who are not people,” calls forth this absence of relation.

Akin to Celer’s 2010 cassette Honey Moon, Los Que No Son Gentos’s warm pulses are not only extensive in sustain, but they pensively wrap around both left and right channels. The panorama is bewitching, cloaking each piece in airy resonance. Sides ascending and descending in volume, Long’s material remains unobtrusive, yet becomes endearing in the interest of its emptiness. As sparse as these textures appear, their unadorned composure freely blossoms. Embracing minimalism and attentive arrangement, these 14 pieces paint a stark yet rich canvas encircling the observer.

As evidenced by certain track titles, Danielle’s music is motivated by desire, and this yearning is prominent throughout these 50 minutes. The hums’ asymmetrical rotations and infrequent harmonic agreement allude to swells that could be present but aren’t. This doesn’t result in hunger from the observer; rather, it forms mystery behind the album’s intent. The surroundings of Los Que No Son Gentos are left bare for its betterment and shaped dependently on the listener.

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Несмотря на непреодолимые обстоятельства (Дэниель Лонг нет с нами уже два года), регулярно появляются новые издания ее основного проекта «Celer», которым она занималась вместе со своим мужем, а также с завидной частотой на суд публики выставляются ее сольные релизы, как физические, так и сетевые, выходящие под названием «Chubby Wolf». И это хорошо – Дэниель была талантливым музыкантом и каждая встреча с ее музыкой по-прежнему дарит приятные минуты.

Диск «Los Que No Son Gentos» вобрал в себя композиции, записанные в зимний (что иногда сказывается на настроении) период 2008-2009 годов в доме музыкантов в Калифорнии и в мотелях Сан-Франциско. Как и прежде, источниками звуков служат многие инструменты, такие, как бас-гитара, аналоговые синтезаторы, экзотические колокольчики, привезенные из Тибета, голос самой Дэни и лэптоп. И, как обычно, в итоге опознать что-либо из этого практически невозможно – стараниями создателя все инструментальные партии предельно замедленны, закольцованы, доведены до крайне разреженного состояния. Вообще, одно из лучших сравнений, приходящих в голову, когда слушаешь этот альбом – лампа, в которой в масле плавает парафин, поднимаясь вверх при нагреве и медленно опускаясь при остывании, тотально завораживая наблюдателя. Так и здесь – звуки, не выстраиваясь в мелодии, медленно парят в воздухе, опускаются и поднимаются, иногда неторопливо изгибаясь и лишь изредка заходя за пределы «комфортных» для слуха частот (что давно уже стало фирменным стилем семейства Лонг), вызывая резкие вибрации и малоприятные колебания. Смотреть на такую лампу можно бесконечно – бесконечно можно слушать и «Los Que No Son Gentos». Музыка существует как бы сама по себе, ты, слушатель, ей не особенно и нужен, но она будет рада, если ты обратишь на нее свое внимание, вольешься в неторопливый поток меланхолии и растворишься в нем, наблюдая, как звуки блуждают по твоей комнате, «выглядывают» за дверь, перемешиваются с привычными шумами и даже теряются в них,  чтобы снова вынырнуть и заполнить пространство абстрактными колебаниями и гулом, поверхность которого практически неподвижна, но в глубине порой плещется что-то очень темное и волнующее. Как мне кажется, именно наличие этой «тьмы» и отличает «Chubby Wolf» от «Celer», словно Дэниель старательно исследовала что-то потаенное внутри себя, может быть, связанное с сексуальностью (вспомним недавно вышедший винил «The Darker Sex» и кассету «Ornitheology»), не допуская никого к этому процессу самопознания. Очень личный, даже интимный релиз, впрочем, как и всегда.

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Chubby Wolf’s Los Que No Son Gentos will be released from Dragon’s Eye Recordings at the end of the month. It is an edition of 200 copies, and will ship June 24. Pre-order is available now.

Press release:

Within each piece of art is rolled a history; an undercurrent of unknown mystery, influences of defined desires, and outcomes that give new meaning to the intent. Los Que No Son Gentos may display most of all a misleading mystery that is incapable of certainty, yet honest, and defenseless.

Like many Chubby Wolf albums, there are certainties. Danielle was careful about ensuring titles were appropriately placed, recording locations and instruments were listed, and photography was specifically chosen (in most cases). Yet, always there is mystery closeby. All these materials were simply placed on the bookshelf after completion, stuffed in a random book, or shoved in a drawer full of bank statements. There is no explanation of why the album was made, what the inspiration was, nor were there even efforts to send it out to be released. It was created, completed, and on to the next thing.

Dragon’s Eye Recordings is pleased to present Los Que No Son Gentos as is, just as Danielle left it.

Available now from Dragon’s Eye Recordings, shipping June 24.

Thank you for your support,

Sincerely,

Will

Tobira Records compilation release party

Celer

Yui Onodera+Hiroki Sasajima

Hakobune

Nobuto Suda

Chihei Hatakeyama

Visual Yuki Izumi

Visual Samuel Andre

6/25 sat.

Open 18:30 Start 19:00

adv. 2000 Door 2500

at Ochiai “soup”

tel.03-6909-3000

The discography of Celer is quite impressive. Some dozens of releases – self-released or released through numerous labels – have been pressed on CD, CDr and vinyl and received a lot of critical acclaim. ‘Engaged Touches’ is an even orchestral drone work based on field recordings and tape that could be placed somewhere between William Basinski, Janek Schaefer and Leyland Kirby as The Caretaker.

The two long-form pieces of ‘Engaged Touches’ come in one of these well-designed Home Normal digipaks, with a cover photography by Danielle Baquet-Long. Both long-form tracks could be divided into several chapters or themes. All of them are based around a certain loop that is constantly repeated with slight modifications, more or less experimental sometimes. The string-laden drones they created with (probably) processed tape recordings are textured with beautiful field recordings like a train or fireworks. The arrangement of all this is excellently used to image a heartwarming story of travelling. A discreet uncertainty alternates with unleashed romanticism, but never leaving a minimalistic and even abstract level. In ‘Part 2′ especially there is more silence, maybe loneliness, uncertainty but also maybe quietude. The story might depend on the listener’s view, it could be both tragic or melancholic. With some thin drones the arrangement moves to the lower frequencies, brightens shortly and gets back to the lower drones again. Then – appearing from the nothingness – the bright and somehow peaceful strings return. After nearly 70 minutes the story slowly fades out, disappears with a final orchestral loop. A beautiful journey.

A last personal note: it’s always sad when a young and talented person passes away far too soon. With Danielle Baquet-Long also a truly outstanding artist passed away in 2009. So we have to thank Will Thomas Long that he still continues releasing their work as Celer to keep the talent at present. And ‘Engaged Touches’ might be one of their most beautiful albums.

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