Formats
MOLMAN002LP - LP
859706774483
Details
**FMD WILL BE GETTING A LTD QTY OF THE BEN VON WILDENHAUS CATALOGUE**Benjamin von Wildenhaus. Name sounds like a turn-of-the-century Prussian duke or peddler of curios, snakeoil and ersatz jewelry. Maybe not such a bad set of images to start by thinking about, rather than all his influences or whatever. Ben Wildenhaus is a guitar player, pianist and all-'round musical dude, on par with modern guys like Alan Bishop and older ones like Sandy Bull. All three were drawn to the vast space, windblown grit and non- Western twang of desert guitar/oud music. None went the tacky world [sic] music route, Allah etc. be praised. All three instead took gracefully and intuitively to the music's deeper structure -hazy or unmarked beginnings and endings, subtle dynamic rise and ebb, and unhurried play-and adapted it into their own idiom. They've given us ambitious wandering soundscapes, suitable for salt trading by caravan, qat chewing in humid caf?s, and walking to work with your headphones on ! To me, Wildenhaus has always made good use of tools like a light touch, melody and subtlety in his songs. Knowing full well that regularly placed lacks-of-music and well considered phrasing set a mood and give songs that much more oomph. This is music built around tones, careful dynamics and strange, non-linear melodies. These songs, and generally the guy's oeuvre, are genuinely and honestly playful. They have subtexts and ideas that don't easily emerge on a first or second lesson. Rather than riffs, this is music of melodies and timing, of odd and subtle beauty, and music that doesn't seem at all temporary. Not temporary, but strangely circular, bringing one back to the place where the thing started rather than some perfectly choreographed, linear end. These days Wildenhaus plays the electric guitar, sine wave generator and spare touch on a looping pedal. ! Wildenhaus's background includes some formal training and tours, beers and bands beyond number (notably, the blown-out fuzz of 2000s Northwest giants Federation X, or the country and western Quaalude County Country Band and Juanita Family and Friends). More recently, he has lent hands to established non-indie rock groups and artists like Bar Tabac, Two Dark Birds and Ozan Aksoy's CUNY Middle Eastern Music Ensemble, and has also released a series of home recordings via his Instrumental Quaalude podcast, which is one the best damn things on the Internet. "...creepy soundtrack ether, distilling bits of acoustic and electric guitar into swaths of slow, mesmerizing weirdness." SPIN "Von Wildenhaus offers a tantalizing alternative to CMJ's borough-spanning frenzy, a sonic k-hole from which recovery may not be possible, or even desired." CMJ "...employs a combination of haunting Americana, tons of effects and eye-popping visuals in his live show." BROOKLYN VEGAN "Sonic poems dissolving into ancient radio static..." MAGNET
Tracks
N/A
Press
?Von Wildenhaus [works] his influences -- modern primitive folk, cassette hiss, Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks score --
into a tight confluence of meditative anti-shredding.? ? Spin