Ambient Distress by Tristan Welch
To purchase a CD/Physical copy of this please visit Soemwherecold Records: https://tristanwelchswc.bandcamp.com/
"This Washington DC-based ambient guitar wizard successfully blends power ambient sonic backbone with ethereally stunning celestial textures to a triumphant effect, creating a thing of uplifting, subversive beauty, the core of his artistic credo. The abrasively dark edge of his noisier predecessor “Capitalist Teeth” is smoothed out, balanced by wistfully drawn-out atmospheres evoking ‘Thursday Afternoon’ Eno at quieter times, but Welch’s tight signature minimalism aims for the maximum emotional effect, gothlike in its stark impact. Production-wise, every element is carefully considered, crisp, articulated with remarkable definition and aural elegance. Nevertheless, a certain fuzzy grandiosity of the heavy sound aura subtly distresses the ear with an abrasive vibrational echo. I am slightly reminded of the quietly ear-shattering, emotionally pulverizing grandeur of Kali Malone’s similarily repetitive sound." - A CLOSER LISTEN
"The songs on Tristan Welch’s new album, Ambient Distress, are texture rich songs that act as both a diagnosis and a cure to the problems labeled in the titles of the tunes. With tracks like “Economic Fear,” “Social Hopelessness,” and “Family Stress,” you’d imagine tracks that are dark and unsettling, especially with Welch’s mastery at eliciting emotions with electronic sound. But this album is mostly beautiful and could be used as a meditation tool to help you process and find relief from these very real world woes. " - PRISM REVIEWS
"Tristan Welch is a kind of magician here, given how little this sounds like a guitar-based record. The sounds are organic and oddly electronic in style, with the entire effect being one which recalls old John Adams recordings, or Steve Reich ones. Still, Welch is not interested in repeating figures or patterns as much as he's interested in an overall sound. Tristan's best tracks feel like time has slowed down, and moments of lush beauty are being pulled and stretched around us as listeners." - A PESSIMIST IS NEVER DISAPPOINTED
"Perhaps my favorite part of listening to Tristan Welch is that the music can make you think about so many answers without asking any questions. Other artists can exhaust their words trying to say what these songs can do without any. I'm going into 2021 with somewhat of a hope that we can get back to things we didn't get to do in 2020, but until then and just to help keep us all a little bit more level-headed I suggest we take the time to really listen to "Ambient Distress" regularly." - RAISED BY CASSETTES
"The aesthetic of this EP borders on films like Blade Runner with massive sonic waves crashing around you in the most soothing way you can imagine. This wondrously orchestrated record is clearly the artists way of touching on not only his own fears, stresses, and anxiety, but others as well." THE SOUNDS WON'T STOP
Tracklist
| 1. | Employment Frustration | 4:46 |
| 2. | Family Stress | 6:02 |
| 3. | Enviromental Anger | 4:04 |
| 4. | Social Hopelessness | 5:55 |
| 5. | Recreational Anxiety | 6:25 |
| 6. | Economic Fear | 7:11 |
| 7. | Educational Depression | 6:27 |
Credits
Performed, recorded and mixed by Tristan Welch
Mastering by Douglas Kallmeyer
License
All rights reserved.Tags
Tristan Welch is a musician & artist based in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. His focus is creating soundscapes via electric guitar, treated with electronics. A self-professed fascination with minimalism and repetition is evident in his work- a hypnotic layering of melodics that evolve and dissipate while maintaining a steady tone center.