Erik Wøllo — Visions: A Collection of Music by Erik Wøllo

 ^{Erik Wøllo — Visions: A Collection of Music by Erik Wøllo}
Born: 6 January 1961, Hemsedal, Norway
Instruments: Guitar, Keyboards
Location: Hvaler, an island south in Norway
Album release: February 4, 2016
Record Label: Projekt Records
Duration:     49:20
Tracks:
1. Echotides No. 4      7:23
2. Revealed in Time      7:01
3. Gateway      5:28
4. Visions      6:07
5. The Native Chant      5:17
6. Misty Blue      7:03
7. Within These Walls (remix)      5:29
8. Airborne 2      5:32
↔★••→   limited edition of 1000
↔★••→   Vision — the state of being able to see; an experience within a dream or trance.
1: Echotides No 4 (from Echotides)
2: Revealed in Time (from Blue Radiance)
3: Gateway (from Gateway)
4: Visions (from Timelines)
5: The Native Chant (from Tundra)
6: Misty Blue (from Various Artists: Possibilities of Circumstance)
7: Within These Walls (remix) (from Black Tape for a Blue Girl: The Rope 25)
8: Airborne 2 (from Airborne)
↔★••→   With eight re~mastered selections taken from twelve Projekt releases, Visions offers a low~priced, hour~long sampling of work Norwegian electronic artist Erik Wøllo produced between 2010 and 2015. His material sits comfortably alongside the work of other ambient~electronic artists, though Wollo’s distances itself from theirs in threading electric guitars, e~bow guitars, and guitar synthesizer (and even an occasional guitar solo) in amongst the usual electronic elements. He also opts for a rather more energy~charged presentation compared to the ambient norm, a move that in turn makes his tracks play less like wallpaper meditations than vibrant, melodic instrumentals.
↔★••→   The beatific, synthesizer~rich soundworld of his Echotides and Airborne releases are well~represented by the quiet splendour of the kinetic reveries “Echotides No 4” and “Airborne 2.” Blue Radiance’s “Revealed in Time” flirts with New Age in merging synth whooshes with sequencer patterns before a tougher downtempo groove and chiming guitar figure add some welcome muscle to the proceedings. Percolating traces of ethno~tribalism work their way into the sound design of 2010’s stately “Gateway,” the Possibilities of Circumstance compilation track “Misty Blue,” and, even more overtly, Tundra’s “The Native Chant.”
↔★••→   If there’s a downside to Visions, it’s that its content goes down perhaps a little too smoothly. In being so unfailingly harmonious and polished, material of Wollo’s kind can lack the kind of tension and edge that would make it register more powerfully. There’s no disputing the beauty of the music and the immaculateness of its presentation, but some small degree of dissonance or rawness wouldn’t be unwelcome.
↔★••→   http://www.textura.org/
↔★••→   This remastered $6.98 budget~priced collection brings together standout tracks from the twelve Projekt releases by this renowned Norwegian electronic artist. Visions highlights the cascading melodic and consonant lyrical side of Erik’s intuitively~crafted soundworlds. On these eight expressively performed and immaculately produced instrumentals, Erik’s luscious sense of harmony and narrative mix with insistent electronic rhythms. Propulsion and cyclical movement leave an invisible thread of optical insight in the wake of these essential moments.
↔★••→   Led by electric guitar, guitar synthesizer, and keyboard melodies, the songs build upon arcs of rhythms and layers of sequencer patterns with dramatic percussive punctuations, pulsating arpeggios and deep analog basses.
↔★••→   From the creative and deep journey reflected in 2010’s Gateway, to the expansive and wide~ranging landscapes on his latest 2015 EP, Echotides, these tracks reflect music rich in depth and colors with echoes of reminiscences and imaginary places, epic dimensions and a minimalist’s restrained elegance. “Misty Blue” and “Within These Walls (remix),” having only previously appeared on various artists collections, find Erik exploring versatile and perceptive territory.
↔★••→   Showcasing the beauty and elegance of tracks with a visual, crisp and immediate quality, Visions invites the listener into an hour of the impressive and kinetic music of Erik Wøllo.
↔★••→   “Wøllo’s music has an exuberance, an energy, that shoots straight through me. It’s the way the e~bow pulls notes out of the guitar and off into the far horizon, rising the whole time. It’s the analog bliss of those sharp sequencer lines bouncing out a rhythm. It’s the points where things dial down to an edge~of~ambient quiet that’s still loaded with kinetic potential. …the voyage is cool, smooth and pleasant.” — Hypnagogue
↔★••→   “For Erik Wøllo success is a simple measure of dedication to his artistic path. The beauty of his life in music is that every moment is a phenomenon described in a way that is both precise and deeply felt. With each release he becomes sharper and more confident. At the extreme high end of his skill set, Erik Wøllo offers an explanation of what it means to be human; … (his) epic realizations offer us a means to connect with this forgotten fundamental feeling.” — StarsEnd.org
Bandcamp: https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/
Website: http://www.wollo.com/home.htm
Label: http://www.projekt.com/
Notes:
↔★••→   33~year~old Portland~based Projekt Records is home to Steve Roach, Erik Wollo, Black Tape For A Blue Girl and Voltaire. The label’s two~genre approach covers both the electronic/ambient and goth/darkwave realms. With over 50 Steve Roach titles on the label, Projekt is the home for his new albums as well as his catalog classics. His releases include 1984’s groundbreaking floating ambient Structures from Silence, which Y Journal calls one of the “...top ten all time releases for Y.” Other Roach milestones include Quiet Music, Dreamtime Return and the 4~CD Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces. Projekt’s noteworthy and boundary~pushing darkwave acts established the label in the 90’s as the American counterpart to England’s famed 4AD. Surviving throughout the decades where so many other labels perished, Projekt continues to bring new artists to the fore while nurturing the careers of the label’s biggest acts. Look forward to new releases in 2017 from Roach, Wollo, BlackTape and Voltaire. On CD as well as vinyl.
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Erik Wøllo — Visions: A Collection of Music by Erik Wøllo

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