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Matt Baber & Richard Wileman — Baber Wileman 2
(Bandcamp Believers Roast BR34 , 2024, CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2024-10-31

Baber Wileman 2 Cover art

I believe that in my review of the Baber Wileman self-titled debut in 2022, my closing argument was that it would be great if these two could find the wherewithal to do another collaboration. And so it’s happened, and only two years later. We’ve been following Richard Wileman for many years at Exposé, via his earlier bands Lives and Times and Karda Estra, on to his more recent solo offerings. Similarly, we have been covering Matt Baber’s earlier endeavors with Antique Seeking Nuns and Sanguine Hum, both excellent bands. A visit to the Sanguine Hum website will show that it hasn’t been updated since before the release of A Trace of Memory in 2020, so appearances are that the band may be on a long term hiatus. The duo at hand is certainly an expressive unit that incorporates the existing musical backgrounds of its members, with Baber handling piano, keyboards, and occasional drums, and Wileman writing the lyrics and singing on the few tracks that feature vocals, as well as playing guitar, bass, percussion, and additional keyboards. Amy Fry is on hand playing clarinet on three tracks. The works on 2 seem to pick right up where the previous album left off, a beautifully melodic and exotic, sometimes haunting mix of classical and pop songcraft, though mostly instrumental and quite cerebral. Opening with the gentle “One” (the first track, and one minute long) which serves as an introductory piece to “2005 Pt.1” (parts 2 and 3 are included elsewhere in the album), a majestic and angular melodic instrumental that features all three players (keys, bass, acoustic guitar, and clarinet), a true delight for the senses and imagination. Vocals (lead and harmony) and drums are introduced on the third track, “Grindhouse Dreamer,” which takes a distinctive turn in a more song-oriented direction, something that wouldn’t be out of place on the Beatles White Album, though it eschews a propensity for all-out rocking, instead opting for somewhat of an unplugged sound, and with the vocals one will find similarity to Wileman’s solo and Karda Estra works. Other standouts include the haunting “Evolver” where a variety of keyboard sounds tangle with electric guitar, bass, and occasional drums, reminiscent of something Steve Hackett might come up with; the overtly introspective and dreamy “The Coming Storm” builds slowly with intentful menace and release across its four minute duration, while “Memory No. 3” amounts to a gentle and somewhat surreal duo for multi-keyboards. Wileman and Baber composed all of the pieces together, the result is another astounding success.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Karda Estra / Richard Wileman, Matt Baber

More info
http://baberwileman.bandcamp.com/album/baber-wileman-2

 

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