Ben Von Wildenhaus :: “II” - Globos Record
Seattle, WA-based guitarist aficionado, Ben Von Wildenhaus, has been involved in the influential iconism of the northwestern music scene since the early to mid 1990s, where he briefly occupied outfits such as The Teamsters (1993-1996), Federation X and Quaalude County Country Band, before eventually splitting off to further explore the excitingly esoteric elements of solo guitar and the fundamental fusions of Middle Eastern influences via the sonically drenched practice of strings. With his 2011 debut on Riot Bear Recording Co entitled “Great Melodies From Around”, the musician released perhaps his most compelling and sophisticatedly cosmic effort back in 2015 simply titled “II”, Wildenhaus has made a name for himself over the years both in the world of music and film scores with titles such as “Rebel Dread: The Story of Don Letts”, “Let Me Take You Down: The Assassination of John Lennon by Mark David Chapman” and “Hear to be Heard: The Story of the Slits”, to name a few among his radically focused repertoire of calculatedly tasteful work.
Calling on an array of talented and professional musicians from studio engineer, Jeff Cook’s inner circle, Wildenhaus was joined by Denis Fillion, Jude Weber and the volcanic voice of Clara Kennedy, while each member brought to the table both the dueling tonality and a wide range of electrifying rhythms that, in the end, helped in bringing Wildenhaus’ acclaimed follow up to a harmonious horizon for all to hear and marvel over its sonically splendid success. With tracks like “Two”, “One Bad Motherfucker In His Day” and the crystalline captivation of the album’s opener “Bad Lament I”, “II” brings forth this almost ghostly opportunity to connect with the spiritual schedule of the stage and its historical calling. Breaking the chocking chains of not only seasonal-affective disorder, but the uprooting from NYC to Seattle, it would be nearly three years before Wildenhaus pulled himself and a band together to lay down the sonic soil of what would eventually grow into the harmonious harvesting of “II”.
“Both Melodies and II are conceptual. Melodies is based on degraded audio fidelity, and II is based on pristine New York sensibility. Also, I moved to Seattle by the end of the II’s production. So if Melodies was how I imagined my ideal northwest, II is how I like to remember NYC.”
Echoing the fabulous familiarness of Sun City Girl’s monumental classic “Funeral Mariachi”, Wildenhaus takes his listeners on a multi-chambered excursion into the exciting depths of ethereal ecosystems layered with radiating reverb, the atmospheric affirmation of praise from greats like Ethiopian legend Mulatu Astatke and the outstandingly outer-world experience that can teleport you someplace quick and divine. Across the album’s 10 tracks of reminiscent reflection and central sensitivity to the soulful swings of the blues and instrumentation of ideas, Wildenhaus compels the eager ears and mesmerized minds by swiftly introducing a powerful aroma of worldly sound and pristine performance within the vibrational fibers of just what makes “II” a full on listen from start to finish.
