Somewherecold Records has announced the latest addition to its blossoming collection of dreampop, nugaze and ambient offerings with the forthcoming debut album from MIS+RESS. This self-titled 10-track offering is quite remarkable, oscillating between the atmospheric opaque reverie of such bands as Land Observations, the mysterious edge of Michael Brook and Daniel Lanois, and fantastic imagined music boxes for grown-ups.
While the spaced out twinkling mood of Harold Budd or Ryuichi Sakamoto can definitely be found here, one can better sense a sound closer to that of Nils Frahm, William Basinski or Noveller. My fave tracks here areThe History of Fishes, Nested Infinities, The Great Dying, No More Parties, and Mr. Bikinis.
MIS+RESS is the solo project of musician, artist, mixing and mastering engineer, father and educator Brian Wenckebach, who is perhaps best known as a member of Brooklyn shoegaze darlings Elika and experimental electronica outfit Thee Koukouvaya.
He has worked with a number of established artists and labels including Showtime Television Networks, Polyvinyl Records, Ulrich Schnauss, Asobi Seksu, Noveller, Thisquietarmy, Dead Leaf Echo and Nadja, and also re-mastered Blind Mr. Jones' classic album 'Tatooine'. Wenckebach first began recording music to analog tape in 1995 and, by the end of the decade, had started to move towards computer sequencing. The Durutti Column, Land Observations, Daniel Lanois and Harold Budd number among his musical influences, along with Loscil, Nils Frahm, William Basinski, Noveller, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Susumu Yokota, and Tim Hecker.
A long-term professional used to the comforts of his work with Electric Blue Studios in Brooklyn, this album marks a departure from the studio setting. It was recorded in Toms River, New Jersey with an electric guitar and four effects pedals in a make-shift studio he set up in his sister-in-law's abandoned childhood bedroom.
Rather than relying solely on atmosphere and texture, MIS+RESScreates songs with genuine emotional content. They are clever and intricate, dreamy yet broken. They paint a sonic canvas full of gorgeous landscapes, littered with machines languishing in obsolescence. This debut album evokes memories of a past/future you didn’t/won’t have. This is post ambient, instrumental guitar. No frills and no hiding. "This is much simpler and more direct in the sense that I utilized a very limited palette (simply guitar with a few effects). My other projects have emphasized vocals and electronics and had hundreds of layers," explains Brian Wenckebach. "Electronics used to feel rebellious to superimpose on shoegaze/dreampop.
Now, it is commonplace. The danger is gone. I figured I would go in the opposite direction." This MIS+RESS album will be exclusively made available as limited editions through Somewherecold Records, with only 100 copies available on CD and 50 on cassette. They are available for pre-order now via the label's Bandcamp.
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