Erik Wollo - Convergence '2020

Tracks list

       “A new Michael Stearns album is a rare treat, but teaming up with
Norwegian guitarist Erik Wøllo is a move that was unexpected but makes
exhilarating sense. Stearns crafts ambient landscapes for Wøllo to stretch
out on his skyscraping, icily poetic guitar solos. I never pick a CD of the
Month so far in advance, but who is going to release something better?”
– John Diliberto, Echoes

Soulful electronic sound-painting and evocative space music combine on
CONVERGENCE, the debut collaboration between Norway’s Erik Wøllo and
America’s Michael Stearns. Known for passionate soundtrack work on
director Ron Fricke’s CHRONOS, BARAKA and SAMSARA, Stearns collaborates
with Wøllo on his first indie-label-released non-film-score since 2001.
Together, these guitarists/synthesists weave a haunting and shadowy world filled
with longing melodies and alluring glimmering sonic textures.

CONVERGENCE ranges from slowly-evolving contemplative and reflective tracks like
“Somewhere in the distance” and “Subterranean Canyon” to
hypnotically pulsing rhythmic movements in “The Nomad’s
Journey” or the “The Herald.” The album is a subtle interplay
between these two pioneering artists’ mystical and emotional sonic
styles, developing an inner resonance of expressive reveries that venture into
dark mystical terrain as the album progresses.

Erik says, “It became obvious when working with Michael that the music
would reflect a very visionary and vast landscape. During the album sessions, I
had a dream about the music and about an expedition into a totally unexplored
endless, surrealistic desert-like territory. I travelled into an abstract zone I
could imagine had never seen people before, yet there were still some traces of
human civilizations. In it, the beauty of the present met the imagination of the
past. There were dark and dangerous places too. Inspired by this dream, we named
some of the album tracks for these visions. And it ended well; the last piece on
the album is calm and melodic, reflecting memories of the travelogue that yields
new, positive and open doorways.”

In 2018, Wøllo and Stearns performed solo headline sets at the B-Wave
Electronic Music Festival in Belgium. At dinner the night after their momentous
performances, conversation got around to merging their talents and working on
new music — CONVERGENCE was born. Over a year in the making, Michael
worked in his studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Erik in his studios in Hvaler,
Norway. The album is a perfect blending of technology, music and emotion
utilizing sophisticated electronics, acoustic and original instruments like the
Kantele from Finland and Michael’s self-built string instrument
“The Beam.”

Michael reflects, “The seeds of this collaboration were planted while I
watched and listened to Erik’s performance at B-Wave. His set was an
incredible blend of synthesis and live guitar. I was moved and thought,
‘Wow, it would be fantastic for us to create music together!’ I had
collaborated with other artists before — Lisa Gerard, Steve Roach
— but this was my first opportunity to blend with another guitar player
(!) and an amazing synthesist too. After the festival, we sent each other photos
from our teenage years as guitarists performing in bands. Amazingly we had begun
our musical explorations at the same age in the same way. We began CONVERGENCE
in the spring of 2019 with Erik sending a series of sketches, some rhythmic,
others melodic. I worked with them using guitar, synthesizers and my scoring
libraries. At some point, I sent Erik several sketches that were very
atmospheric in nature. We shared audio files back and forth between Norway and
New Mexico, and we would Skype to talk face-to-face about our ideas and
progress. It was a great way to work, very different from scoring a film, where
the collaboration follows the vision of a director and there are endless
re-writes. Working with Erik felt more authentically creative, our musical
personalities naturally finding a common creative ground like ‘Musical
birds of a feather’.”

CONVERGENCE develops an inner resonance that is visceral, the masterful blend of
these two pioneering artists’ mystical and emotional sonic styles.

Artist Bio
Erik Wøllo is a Norwegian composer and musician known for spacious, evocative
ambient music primarily using atmospheric guitars and synthesizers. He has
composed numerous works for contemporary classical ensembles as well as pieces
for ballet, theater, multimedia installations, and library music. Coming from a
background of jazz and progressive rock, Wøllo began making music in 1980 but
really found his own style with his 1985 solo full-length TRACES. Since then he
has released over 50 albums including collaborations with other noted ambient
artists such as Steve Roach, Ian Boddy, and percussionist Byron Metcalf. 

1.01 - Erik Wollo - Triptyk (10:12)
1.02 - Erik Wollo - Ruins Of The Past (7:34)
1.03 - Erik Wollo - The Way Ahead 1 (5:42)
1.04 - Erik Wollo - A Solitary Place (8:13)
1.05 - Erik Wollo - The Nomad’s Journey (7:13)
1.06 - Erik Wollo - Somewhere In The Distance (7:13)
1.07 - Erik Wollo - The Way Ahead 2 (6:15)
1.08 - Erik Wollo - Subterranean Canyon (6:42)
1.09 - Erik Wollo - The Herald (7:39)
1.10 - Erik Wollo - Cirrus (Postlude) (5:31) 

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