wraehkel
Laying in the high dry grass, listening to the crickets playing their song, wondering if times of true serenity were never over, but right there under my nose, the whole time.
Favorite track: Garden.
X f 灝
None of the songs on this album have melodies, only chord progressions. It is because there is no melody that I can have more room for imagination. That's great!
Favorite track: Whelm.
sounds and silence
Stunning. Timeless. One of the best things I've been listening to recently. Thank you for this treasure. PS I wish there were still some CDs left to grab ;)
Favorite track: Migratory Birds.
Settlers (Vinyl Edition) includes:
• 180 Gram 12" vinyl of 'Settlers' in a matte gatefold tip-on case
• Settlers mastered by Taylor Deupree (12K)
• Lacquer cut by Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering
• Bandcamp DL code on card: choice of formats: FLAC, 320K MP3
• Hand numbered, Limited to 170 Vinyl Editions
• Vinyl ships in a polylined inner sleeve with cardboard stiffeners and special corner projected shipping boxes to help prevent any shipping damage to this special edition. (See Photos)
Includes unlimited streaming of Settlers
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Sold Out
Japanese Style Gatefold CD
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Settlers (CD Edition) includes:
• Matte Finished Glass Mastered CD
• Housed in a Japanese style heavy stock, reverse printed case.
• Limited to 300 Editions for the World.
• Settlers mastered by Taylor Deupree (12K)
Includes unlimited streaming of Settlers
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Sold Out
Gatefold Tip-on (2nd Edition) 180gm 12" Vinyl
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Settlers (Vinyl Edition) includes:
• 180 Gram 12" vinyl of 'Settlers' in a matte gatefold tip-on case
• Settlers mastered by Taylor Deupree (12K)
• Lacquer cut by Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering
• Pressed to custom formulated Audiophile vinyl by Gotta Groove
• Bandcamp DL code on card: choice of formats: FLAC, 320K MP3
• BONUS ALBUM: All remain 'Settlers' vinyl will come with a DL Code for 'Generations' EP
• Labeled 2nd Edition, Non-numbered, Less than 150 Editions
• Vinyl ships in a polylined inner sleeve with cardboard stiffeners and special corner protected shipping boxes to help prevent any shipping damage to this special edition. (See Photos)
Includes unlimited streaming of Settlers
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Sold Out
Limited 180gm 12" Vinyl Only
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Settlers (Vinyl Only Edition) includes:
• 180 Gram 12" vinyl of 'Settlers' in a poly-lined black sleeve
• Housed in an outer white no-hole board stock jacket
• Settlers mastered by Taylor Deupree (12K)
• Lacquer cut by Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering
• Bandcamp DL code on card: choice of formats: FLAC, 320K MP3
• Vinyl ships in a polylined inner sleeve with cardboard stiffeners and special corner projected shipping boxes to help prevent any shipping damage to this special edition.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The gatefold vinyl edition has been sold out for the last few years. We were holding onto a small handful of the original vinyl that arrived without the outer gatefold packaging. Thought we'd save them for a rainy day. Now's your chance if you want to hear this beauty on vinyl. This is the original pressing, no gatefold jacket, but we will ship it well protected. This is one of the last vinyl the amazing Roger Seibel cut.
Includes unlimited streaming of Settlers
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
Sold Out
Master Reference Acetate (100% to Charity)
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
• One of a kind 12" master acetate of "Settlers" - Originally titled "Settler Songs"
• 100% of the proceeds will go to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund
• Settlers mastered for vinyl by Taylor Deupree (12K)
• Acetate cut by the now retired Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering
• This item is lightly used, and sold as is.
• Vinyl ships in a clear poly-lined inner sleeve, and original outer black board stock hole in jacket. with cardboard stiffeners and special corner projected shipping boxes to help prevent any shipping damage to this special edition. This vinyl will also ship insured at the full cost of the item, so do be aware of potential customs fees overseas customers. (See Photos)
• Acetate discs are used for the production of vinyl records, where the disc is coated in metal, which is then peeled off to form a negative that will later be electroplated and peeled to create a mother (positive copy) which is then again electroplated and peeled to create negatives called stampers.
Includes unlimited streaming of Settlers
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
TOP 16 AMBIENT ALBUMS OF 2016 - 9/10 STARS "I’m not sure if Schelbeck has seen No Country For Old Men, but I’m pretty sure if you hooked this album up and let it play underneath, it’d sync up Floyd/ Wizard of Oz style." - DROWNED IN SOUND
#7 BEST ALBUM OF 2016 - 9/10 STARS - "Western Skies Motel is Danish guitar maestro René González Schelbeck who has managed to concoct one of those albums which from the very opening notes engulfs you band takes you to a place more peaceful than where you reside." - NORMAN RECORDS
BEST OF 2016: MUSIC FOR THE FROSTY NIGHT WHEN I MISS YOUR WARM LIGHT - "The music penetrates each living cell and every atom, evading all analysis and tests...it feels so very raw and special" - HEADPHONE COMMUTE
BEST ALBUMS OF 2016 - PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE DK
#1 BEST ALBUM OF 2016 - DIVE INTO SUN
#2 BEST ALBUM OF 2016 - THE STEINBERG PRINCIPLE
BEST ALBUMS OF 2016 - TOME TO THE WEATHER MACHINE
#7 BEST ALBUMS OF 2016 - IRREGULAR CRATES
BEST ALBUMS OF 2016 - SON OF MARKETING (Nicola)
BEST ALBUMS OF 2016 - NOWAMUZYKA (Łukasz)
TOP 10 OVERLOOKED ALBUMS OF 2016 - THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN
BEST AMBIENT RELEASES OF 2016 - THE INSIDE SLEEVE (ABC RADIO NATIONAL)
"The Danish musician’s experimental folk instrumentals blend cyclical guitar and droning harmonium into hypnotic reimaginings of Americana style graced by the life experience of a post-rock fan who cut his teeth in punk bands" - TINY MIX TAPES
BEST ALBUMS OF 2016 - "This is slow, beautifully articulated highly emotive music that feels willingly out of step with the world in 2016, which is also why it is so important." - CYCLIC DEFROST
BEST ACOUSTIC, PRIMITIVE, & EXPERIMENTAL FOLK OF 2016 "Americana, British folk, European modern classical, ambient drone, and even echoes of post-rock and noise simmering beneath the surface. All of this is framed in a weathered, minimalist sensibility that makes Settlers satisfying much in the same way as a Hemingway or Steinbeck novel – not a word, or in this case a note, wasted." - STATIONARY TRAVELS
"The music itself feels old, worn and somehow creased, the skin around its eyes wrinkled with the passage of the years...Don’t confuse old age for weakness, though, because the music speaks with a wise, experienced voice." - FLUID RADIO
"Sometimes you stumble on a record that you never want to give up or forget. The new album from Western Skies Motel is just such an album." - DAS FILTER
"Enjoyable throughout... what’s striking is the consistent good judgement. A-" - THE VINYL DISTRICT
"The soft floating guitar feels perfectly at home with the turn of the century imagery used alongside. The music feels classic and timeless. This is definitely a record I’ll be tossing on after a shit day at the office, could sooth any weary soul." - SLY VINYL
"There's an elegance and refinement to Schelbeck's playing that aligns him naturally to the British folk tradition...and yet, despite that, Settlers exudes an undeniably American aura" - TEXTURA
"It’s the sound of the hard-fought quiet night, the song on the front stoop, the roast in the oven and the pie on the sill... The message seems to be: life is hard, but we’ll get through it." - A CLOSER LISTEN
Album of the Week" - MUSIC WON'T SAVE YOU
"Settlers is solemn, contemplative music. It’s the sort of music that ideally, would soundtrack sitting on the porch of a prairie box house at dusk after a long day’s work in the fields, as the sun sets over hills and the cool, solitary night settles in" - OPUS.FM
"This may be the most beautiful electro acoustic, drone/ambient/folk release I have ever heard." - MUGWUMB
"Western Skies Motel has made a great album, one which conjures a land that’s as hard and unforgiving as it is beautiful." - WAKE THE DEAF
"What we have here is a pensive, brooding mood wonderfully evoked over 40 minutes or so." - NO MORE WORKHORSE
"Western Skies Motel absolute nails the rustic beauty and sadness of a lonely trail of settlers. Melodic but understated, I’ve found this on repeat in the quiet hours of the night and feeling intensely sad, but also at times the warmth of home too." - HIGHER PLAINS MUSIC
____________________________________________
In the dry desert of Arizona that Lost Tribe Sound calls home, a letter is received from guitarist René Gonzàlez Schelbeck who’s eager to share a collection of intimately composed songs, titled 'Settlers'. Upon listening, we are immediately enthralled. There’s a timeworn, arid, and almost badlands quality to Schelbeck’s hypnotic, cyclical guitar style. It seems to perfectly capture the lonely, barren landscape of the American West.
Yet, there are curious dynamics at play here as Schelbeck, who makes music under the alias Western Skies Motel, is from Denmark and far removed from any upbringing in the rough-hewn Americana style of folk guitar. Conceivably, his music has more in common with the lonesome, calculated tone of Berlin's modern classical scene or the rainy day folk of the UK. Those are intriguing parallels, since the collective mood of Western Skies Motel's music would adapt so well to either environment.
Words hardly do justice to the rich, immersive experience of 'Settlers'; yet a few may help to set the stage. Schelbeck is a remarkably well rounded instrumentalist, who spent his early days losing his hearing in local punk rock bands. This youthful love for walls of sound and discordant guitar squalls survives in his modern sound palette. However, a more mature approach to these techniques brings moments of palpable tension, adding in uneasy waves of guitar feedback and droning harmonium.
But ultimately, the truth of what Schelbeck hopes to convey through his music may rest fi rmly in his subconscious. In hindsight, 'Settlers' is about moving between worlds: not in the dimensional sense, but more as a constant change in form. Each in fluence and sound Schelbeck incorporates into his music feels native to the delicate ecosystem of these songs and each turn feels as organic and nuanced as that of the natural world. Just as a tree’s leaves wither and fall; a fi re sparks and expands only to expend its last bit of fuel, extinguished and left for ash. So true are the parallels we fi nd in our own existence, the complex ritual of growing old and returning to dirt. Decay is inevitable for all life, yet through this it becomes the rich soil for all things proceeding. Western Skies Motel's weighty instrumental mantras may root in this and other meanings yet to be culled. One thing is clear, this music contains signi ficant power, and, regardless of our conceived themes or geographic locations, it tells a story that is lasting and instantly familiar.
Mastered for vinyl by Taylor Deupree (12k), and with the additional step taken to create the master lacquers with Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering, 'Settlers' sees a 180-gram heavy weight gatefold release very similar to the recent Mute Forest debut, 'Deforestation'. The acetate and test pressings were scrutinized for anomalies on world-class vinyl setups at Arizona’s esteemed audio dealer, Arizona Hi-Fi. Purchasers of the physical edition of 'Settlers' will also receive the six song bonus EP, 'Generations'. Mastered by Kirk Marrison of Kiln (Ghostly Intl.), 'Generations' expands the 'Settlers' cause.
Western Skies Motel is building upon a busy year in 2015, having released two very di fferent full-length albums 'Prism' (Preserved Sound) and 'Buried and Resurfaced' (Twice Removed).
____________________________________________
credits
released April 22, 2016
------------------------------------------------
Originally released on Lost Tribe Sound. See Catalog: losttribesound.bandcamp.com
------------------------------------------------
Written and recorded by René Gonzàlez Schelbeck
Mastered by Taylor Deupree at 12K Mastering
Cut to vinyl by Roger Seibel at SAE in Phoenix, AZ
Photos courtesy of the Keane, Thompson, and the Amundsen and Amundson Family archives
Layout and design by Ryan Keane
Copyright Lost Tribe Sound, LLC
Published by Settled Scores (ASCAP)
Turns (the song, in particular) is precisely the music I wish I could write. It has a melancholic/introspective feel while still having drive behind it. thecombinatorax
Incredible atmospheric cinematic ambient like neoclassical beauty. If blissful serenity was an album this would be it. simply can not give it enough credit. Such a deep, emotional and mesmerizing experience. Your thoughts will drift into it so effortlessly. A mix of melancholic and hopeful songs with incredibly soothing and expansive soundscapes. It really does wonders for ones' mental being and brings such blissful joy that by time it's over you won't feel the same in the least. Magnificent CottonMouthJoe
Soft and soothing acoustic compositions from this Italian guitarist with melodies that flutter like leaves on a breeze. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 1, 2021
Guitar virtuoso readies album of unreleased goodies, flip-sides, and obscurities, and posts her entire back catalog to BC. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 21, 2014
