Carl Weingarten: Living In The Distant Present
Azure Vista
Records
Something of a lost classic, Carl Weingarten's Living In The Distant Present appeared on cassette in 1985 on his own Multiphase Records and now has been given the full restoration treatment by Jonas Munk's Azure Vista Records, with CD, digital, and vinyl (300 transparent blue copies) versions being made available for the first time. Given the aural evidence, the argument certainly could be made that had the release received wider distribution and more exposure during its first go-round it might today be regarded as an ambient classic of some kind and perhaps a highly influential one at that.
Though it's not the only one, the primary reference point for Living In The Distant Present has to be the collaborative work issued by Brian Eno and Robert Fripp; in fact, it wouldn't be going too far to say any listener cherishing 1973's (No Pussyfooting) and 1975's Evening Star would be doing him/herself a grave disservice in not adding Weingarten's to the collection. Throughout the release, multiple layers of guitar phrases are woven into gauzy, meditation-inducing formations, with the natural sonorities of the sound sources modified in such a way that it's sometimes difficult to determine whether it's a synthesizer, guitar, or even harmonium we're hearing (e.g., “Glide,” “Swim”).
“Her Father's Hands” presents the first indication of a similarity between Weingarten's project and Fripp & Eno's. For four rather plaintive minutes, E-bow-like guitar expressions arc serenely across a constantly shifting synthesizer base, while “Soft Waters” and “Dreaming in Colors (at length)” present classic riffs on the loops- and guitar-based approach so remarkably documented on the duo's own releases. As much as Weingarten's playing might invite comparison to Fripp's (during “Swim,” with its dive-bombing guitar figures, and the slow-burning “Silk and Sand” perhaps more than at any other time), there's no denying its beauty, with Living In The Distant Present an unqualified treat for aficionados of ambient guitar playing.
Still, while the Fripp & Eno-related dimension is very much present, other bases are covered, too. A beatific state of New Age splendour is brought into being by the ever-twinkling opener “The Fifth Season,” for instance, and other settings, “Of the Moment” and “Two Friends” among them, are veritably Zen-like in the kind of soul-calming tranquility they instill in the receptive listener. Weingarten's been releasing music for nearly four decades, so any listener enamoured by Living In The Distant Present might also want to check out the many other releases in his catalogue, which includes a 2015 release on Spotted Peccary in addition to the large number issued on Multiphase. There's certainly lots to dig into for those so inclined.October 2018