While I was eating with 6 lovely friends during new year's eve, I suggested we all should do something new in 2009, something we hadn't done since we were born. Unfortunately not many responded, someone told me she was going to travel by herself and I said I was going to release 12 records in the year 2009. I don't know how I came to think that it was logical to say something like that. However, I persisted, and went to make 12 records in the year 2009.
At times it was great, other times it seemed like the most stupid idea I've ever had. I tried to find my way in new genres, I visited old songs and sometimes I would record my surroundings and build songs with that. In the end, it turns out I've made 12 records, together clocking in at exactly 365 minutes. Some music is ready to be thrown away obviously, other bits I'd love to keep as they are. They're part of the year 2009 like some other good memories.
I highly recommend to not listen to the project in its entirety, but rather soaking up one release at a time. The favourites of people tend to include "Clouds", "Blood Red Bird", "An Empty Canvas" and "Norway". Maybe one of those is a good place to start?
Thanks for listening
- wim
Do share this at will.
Originally released as limited edition (1 copy per day of the month it was released in), all monthly records are now available in a paperback edition. They're printed on high quality cd-r's, wrapped in a beautiful printed cardboard. Handmade as always. All cd's come at 8€ / piece, though there is a buy 'em all option below.
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You want the whole set?
The Paperback Edition set is yours for 80€ shipping included. 12 cd's, 365 minutes, 81 songs, probably enough wixel to last a lifetime. -
Winter. 15 short songs of melancholic melodies on an acoustic, nylon string guitar. Nothing but the warm sound of nylon & wood.
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Clouds. Dense and foggy cloudscapes, slow moving piles of air. 30 minutes of unhurried unfolding ambient compositions.
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Blood Red Bird. Introvert and melancholic folksongs held together with ambient sound callages of tapehiss, decaying guitarstrums and piano. Some vocals by Kristof Deneijs & Ellen Evers
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Slaapliedjes. This record aims at nothing else but making you fall asleep. 10 highly soothing, repetitive, monotonous songs lovingly crafted with nothing but lonely and random guitar notes.
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Two Old Songs. Almost 30 minutes of cinematic music. Made with postrock guitars, big drums and tingelingeling pling plong electronics. Soft shoegazing build-ups and slow unwinding fade outs.
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An Empty Canvas. 2-step beats, deep sinewaves, looming choir-loops and mournful strings. 7 songs hiding somewhere in the dark fields of crackling ambient and reverb drenched dubstep.
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Slaapliedjes #2. One long composition made with tape delay and acoustic instruments. Play this if you want to fall asleep and you will be snoozing in no time.
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Norway. Field recordings from Norway. Rivers, waterfalls, glaciers, lofoten islands & hikes carefully manipulated and wrapped in a blanket of ambient drones and white noise.
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Sway With Me, Aimlessly. A few old pop songs with an acoustic folk guitar, humming vocals, shy drumcomputers and an overload of glockenspiels. All songs were written for a pretty girl, when I was younger.
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Unwind. The sound of unwinding. Drowsy guitars wrapped around field recordings of basic household chores like doing the dishes or hanging up some laundry.
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Somewhere Between The Sun & The Moon Part II. Best seen as the second disc of a non-existing deluxe 2CD version of the album Somewhere Between the Sun & the Moon, released in 2008. Where ambient and postrock meet.
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The End. Exhausted by making 11 other records, this is the sound of finally going to sleep and letting things go. Ambient, floating, random and quiet. Vocals by Laure Geslin.
By my knowledge there's only one review of the complete project, over at the silent ballet. Though there are various opinions on a multitude of blogs.
All songs are still available to download freely over at 2009.bandcamp.com. The paperback edition is just here for people who prefer to have something physical, or those who want to support awesome stupid projects like the one I just did.
Also, there's a useful facebook page here and there's also this tumblr page.
I can be reached at wimmaesschalck@gmail.com.