Brock Van Wey - White Clouds Drift On And On (Echospace Detroit)

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 | Sounds

San Francisco’s Brock Van Wey crafts a poignant, deeply textured maelstrom of ambient sounds, giving the listener a lofty lift upward toward the heavens in his gorgeous work “White Clouds Drift On And On.”

Van Wey, who also records under the name Bvdub, is the first non-Echospace related artist to release new material on the Detroit imprint – a vehicle for various projects from Rod Modell and Stephen Hitchell. Yet, it should be no surprise as to why Van Wey was added to the label roster, as layer upon layer of rich, fluid waves ooze over you as the record slowly progresses, a rich mixture of looped strings, echoey vocals and electronic textures ebb and flow as if breathing extra slowly.

Admittedly, this isn’t the easiest album to digest or understand upon first listen, in that none of the long, expansive tracks (the shortest track is the title track, clocking in at just over seven minutes) are really structured, or at least, it seems that way on the surface. But the more you dig, the more it starts to sink and tug at the deepest recesses of your brain and slowly, the haunting melodies and sometimes paper-thin textures of tracks like “Too Little Too Late,” “A Gentle Hand to Hold,” and “A Chance To Start Over” somehow begin to take shape and somehow begin to make sense.

Lest you lament Van Wey’s entirely beatless format in the 6-track album, Echospace co-founder Hitchell (in the guise of Intrusion) recorded a remix of each of the six tracks and arranged in reverse order of the album itself, giving the listener an even dizzier elliptical audio experience. Intrusion’s takes on the album adds elements of dub techno he’s known for, while still adhering to the key elements and sounds of the original tracks by Van Wey. In all, “White Clouds Drift On And On” is truly mesmerizing and requires ample time to appreciate all its complexities.

Tim Pratt

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Tags: Ambient, Brock Van Wey, Echospace, Stephen Hitchell

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