It Is All That Is Made

“The first track, Darkness Falls Upon The Face Of The Deep, picks up where the last record [A Priori ] left off. Van Wissem is still tracing and retracing his steps in each track, and even recycling material from tune to tune; his music remains quite self-contained. But the judicious use of overdubbing to overlay multiple patterns and ornament the melodies creates a more rich and inviting sound. Bright harmonics ring out above the gamboling plucking on The Stars Fall From The Sky And The Heavens Are Rolled Up Like A Scroll like a planet blinking bright against a backdrop of stars, and doubled bass notes exert a magnetic force that pulls you close in.” “Once there, you’ll hear how simple the beseeching air really is and how well Van Wissem has absorbed the core lesson of minimalism. If you’re going to work with reduced means, your core material has to be strong. Van Wissem is working with iron.” Bill Meyer

Dutch lutenist and composer Jozef van Wissem uses the lute in an unusual context: he plays his own compositions, which fall essentially under the minimalist and trance umbrellas but also make use of the retrograde technique in a simple way: each piece plays out to a certain point and then goes into reverse.