Donato Wharton - A White Rainbow Spanning The Dark
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Label: Serein
Year: 2011
Format: 10", Digital
White noise, radio static and slow-moving soundscapes seem to be the signature of our new discovery, Donato Wharton, who after a first look turns out to be no debutant at all – having previously released LP and singles on the notable City Centre Offices. For A White Rainbow Spanning The Dark, Wharton takes on the EP format in a sleek 10” release as the ‘Summer’ edition of the Seasons vinyl subscription series (ed. with a release frequency you should be able to figure out!) for one of our favourite labels Serein.
Wharton’s sounds is deep and organic with an immense world of detail in microsounds and tonal explorations stemming from processing of guitar and electronics. Fans of Tim Hecker, Jasper TX, Christopher Hipgrave, Jasper Leyland, Christopher Willits (ed. ho-hum, note all the Jasper’s and Chris’s we could think of!) will appreciate Wharton’s compositions – music that is difficult to define but rather presents itself as abstract meanderings in an obscured landscape – befitting track titles such as A Vast White Solitude, Ink Mountains, In a Mute Scape and Mind Like a Snow Cloud. The music never ceases to keep the listener within grasp and Mogwai-esque chords create soothing melodies to unwind to in the after-hours, but there is also explorations of the full array of palettes the guitar spread out in fuzzy, warm ambient pieces that glow like a flickering candle in the dark. At once both uplifting and dark, Wharton’s album feels like a very successful, defining release for this musician.
Listen to an exclusive preview / excerpt of track A2, ‘Ink Mountains’:
Donato Wharton / Ink Mountains (Preview / Excerpt) by Serein
