POP
Blue Sky, Red Guitars
Spotted Peccary Records Erik W¿llo's music is easy to take for granted. His sonic palette and heroic melodies are instantly attractive. But then he sustains interest, drawing you deeper into layered compositions that are simple on the surface, yet impeccably chiseled, sprayed with the finesse of an airbrush.
Sometimes Erik is acoustic, as on Guitar Nova, sometimes all electronic, like Polar Drones, but it's on the blending of these two worlds that Blue Sky, Red Guitars really glistens. Erik W¿llo bases most of his compositions on ostinatos, but rather than being redundant, the patterns flicker at your consciousness like a mandala in motion, constantly cycling in prismatic shifts.
Because of this modal approach, and his sinewy single string e-bow solos, W¿llo's music has an Indian sensibility, without sounding Indian at all. Revealing roots that you might not suspect from most of his music, W¿llo covers two songs from German electro-dance godfathers, Kraftwerk. He transforms their "In the Hall of Mirrors" and "Computerlove" into pastoral guitar chamber instrumentals.
It's difficult to make music that is at once pristine and still screams through the air, but Erik W¿llo does it on Blue Sky, Red Guitars, an album that is about as perfect as they come.
John Diliberto selects the best new Echoes CD each month.
Every day, John Diliberto tunes in and chills out to an ambient world on Echoes, a music soundscape.
Copyright © 2012, Pennsylvania Public Radio Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2012, Pennsylvania Public Radio Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
