MIS+RESS, the solo ambient project of Brian Wenckebach, best known as a member of Brooklyn shoegaze darlings Elika and experimental electronica outfit Thee Koukouvaya, is releasing his debut album via Somewherecold Records. This album has also become a 2017 favorite of electronic mastermind and radio host Ulrich Schnauss.

This self-titled 10-track offering is quite remarkable, oscillating between the atmospheric opaque reverie of such bands as Land Observations, the mysterious edge of Michael Brook and Daniel Lanois, and fantastic imagined music boxes for grown-ups.

MIS+RESS is the solo project of musician, artist, mixing and mastering engineer, father, and educator Brian Wenckebach. He has worked with a number of established artists and labels including Showtime Television Networks, Polyvinyl Records, Ulrich Schnauss, Asobi Seksu, Noveller, Thisquietarmy, Dead Leaf Echo and Nadja, and also re-mastered Blind Mr. Jones’ classic album ‘Tatooine’.

Wenckebach first began recording music to analog tape in 1995 and, by the end of the decade, had started to move towards computer sequencing. The Durutti Column, Land Observations, Daniel Lanois and Harold Budd number among his musical influences, along with Loscil, Nils Frahm, William Basinski, Noveller, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Susumu Yokota, and Tim Hecker.

A long-term professional used to the comforts of his work with Electric Blue Studios in Brooklyn, this album marks a departure from the studio setting. It was recorded in Toms River, New Jersey with an electric guitar and four effects pedals in a make-shift studio he set up in his sister-in-law’s abandoned childhood bedroom.

Rather than relying solely on atmosphere and texture, MIS+RESS creates songs with genuine emotional content. They are clever and intricate, dreamy yet broken. They paint a sonic canvas full of gorgeous landscapes, littered with machines languishing in obsolescence. This debut album evokes memories of a past/future you didn’t/won’t have. This is post ambient, instrumental guitar. No frills and no hiding.

“This is much simpler and more direct in the sense that I utilized a very limited palette (simply guitar with a few effects). My other projects have emphasized vocals and electronics and had hundreds of layers,” explains Brian Wenckebach. “Electronics used to feel rebellious to superimpose on shoegaze/dreampop. Now, it is commonplace. The danger is gone. I figured I would go in the opposite direction.”

MIS+RESS’ album is the latest release on Somewherecold Records, whose blossoming collection of dreampop, nugaze and ambient offerings includes albums from Ummagma (Canada-Ukraine) with Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins and Dean Garcia of Curve, The Corrupting Sea (Fort Worth, Texas), The Beremy Jets (Malmo, Sweden), and Yellow6 (Leicester, UK.

This MIS+RESS album is a limited edition with only 100 copies available on CD and 50 on cassette, available exclusively through Somewherecold. They are available for pre-order now via the label’s Bandcamp.

“It’s like opening the gates of heaven, and getting lost in its circular ‘trippyness’ – its optimism, haziness and watery imagery”
– Last Day Deaf

“Looking for that late summer ambient guitar album – delivering not only a generous range of delicate tones and scapes, but also a rich palette of actually hummable melodies and sequences? Brian Wenckebach’s new solo record provides exactly that and may establish him as a Chicagoan Vini Reilly- highly recommended!”
– Ulrich Schnauss

“Like distant clarion calls hailing through the twilight fog”
– The Sunday Experience

“Waves of joy and bubbles of bliss, winds of hope and breaths of truth. MIS+RESS is our new best find. Calming, chakra aligning enlightenment as far as music goes and the fact that it is just a few minutes shows that Wenckebach doesn’t require much time to show that he’s capable of delivering a masterpiece”
– The Record Stache

LINKS:
http://www.facebook.com/mis.plus.ress
http://soundcloud.com/misplusress
http://twitter.com/MisPlusRess
http://misplusressswc.bandcamp.com
http://vimeo.com/misplusress