Chubby Wolf - The Darker Sex

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release

5...according to our Brian on Thu 31 Mar, 2011.

If I was to have a decent nickname instead of the lumpen & idiotic Dangerous Brian, it would have to be Chubby Wolf. Alas I cannot adopt that moniker because it belongs to the late Danielle Baquet-Long of Celer. This is the first time i've actually heard her solo work. This sure is one scintillating dreamscape is this 7". I was unsure how her solo stuff would pan out within the medium of a 7" but oh, it totally does the job. There's a gentle industrial undercurrent to side A of this captivating record. It flows in & out of focus with fluctuating waves of sound that sound like echoes of ghostly machines quietly drawing to a close. But there's so, so much more happening! It sounds great on 33 but even better on 45 where it starts to emit crystalline shoegaze style elements. The way she layers her ideas into these zen-like evocative gliding tapestries is quite mesmerising. The flip-side (titled 'If You Love Me....) recalls the caress-like guitar kiss of Slowdive, but even more tactile & richly detailed. The range of instruments Dani stockpiles to blend & manipulate at her whim proves that she was a true visionary musician rather than some cheeky laptop brandishing chancer (you all know who you are!) You can strongly sense that in the tranquil depth & spectral beauty of her sounds. Also for fans of Grouper I reckon!!

"Time moves differently with Chubby Wolf’s latest work of fluid sound art….more than a single, you're embraced and carried, pulled gently in one direction, urgently in another. You feel Dani had woven a tapestry of emotional choreography just for you. As with all her work, there is a sense of a personal touch…a slight weight of a hand on the shoulder, your skin gone electric where her sound has lifted you.

We sadly do not know what Dani’s exact intentions were with this music. Our only direct hint the title, 'The Darker Sex'. Even that, like a game of playfulness or frustration with a lover…which is the darker sex? But don’t you know? All of her work was a labor of love and gift to the world, and I believe we were meant to feel more then define. For here purgatory is not flat, it is pregnant and undulating with expectation and anticipation…and above all else, an effervescent timeless beauty. We will want to stay a while." - Maile Colbert, March 2011

Featuring artwork by Jennifer Chen. Mastered by Corey Fuller. Limited edition one-off pressing of 250 copies.

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