A Loss

Dear friends,

With great sadness I have to announce to you, our friends, that Dani passed away yesterday, July 8. On Tuesday morning I woke to find her unconscious, and not breathing. The medics were called, and she was revived, but fell directly into a coma and didn't wake up. She passed away yesterday at 3pm, with her family by her. All that is known to say why is that her heart stopped, for no foreseeable reason. The only relation is that her father died in the same way, of a cardiac arrest at the age of 29. She was 26.

Right now I don't know how to express the loss and sadness I feel, knowing that someone so ultimately close to me, and such an inspiration and friend to so many other people in the world is gone. All I can say is that she won't be forgotten, or pushed aside only because she's gone. She'll always be with me, as my inspiration, my love, my everything. All I can say is I miss her, every second.

Right now I won't be able to answer many emails, as there's only so much I can talk about this. Time will heal this, but I know the sadness will never go away. This, I'm ok with, as I never want to forget every way she changed my life, and touched my heart.

I appreciate all your support and love, and even though many of you only knew her through her poetry, or her music, I hope they are good memories. Enclosed is a favorite photo of her, taken at her beach, at home.

Also, here was her favorite quote:

'The Meaning is in the Wonder"
- Kenneth Patchen

Sincerely,

Will

Four Pieces/Three

A new release from Smallfish! Really hope you all enjoy! Here is the press review:

"And so we reach the penultimate part of the Four Pieces series from Celer. Once again I'm absolutely thrilled to bringing this to you and I think that you're going to be as delighted and wowed as I was when I first heard it. Entitled Photophores this work is just as fluid and beautiful as the other parts but, to these ears, has the most classical feel. Certainly there's an almost orchestral lilt to the sound which carries on from part two by using a lightly discordant tone to convey a sense of darkness in the background, resonantly drifting over you. That said it plays wonderfully against the overall warmth, melancholy and uplifting feel that pervades every second of the piece. With a shimmering sound - which perfectly captures the idea of the title - it conjures up images of a distant heat haze and becomes a sublime 20 minute journey that's purely magical. Once again showing that they're in a league of their own when it comes to producing deeply gorgeous and atmospheric ambient music, Celer really do have their own unique sound - and for that we must cherish them. As always my heartfelt gratitude goes out to both Will & Dani for making this series possible and gracing Smallfish with such phenomenal music. Enjoy!" - Smallfish

Thank you always for your support! <3

R3MIXES

We are very happy to have a remix included in this release by Electricwest, free for download on Archaic Horizon. It can be found here:

http://www.archaichorizon.com/releases/ah033/ah033.html

Many thanks for Patrick for including us.

KOEN PARK / COREY FULLER / KONNTINENT / JEREMY BIBLE / CELER - REMIXES, REWORKINGS AND REIMAGININGS IN A QUIET FORM

"Having heard quite a bit of Ian Hawgood's music over the last couple of years I'm very pleased indeed to be bringing you this beautifully put together collection of reinterpretations of his Koen Park project. This EP is a companion release for the forthcoming 'Remixes, Reworkings And Reimaginings' CD on I, Absentee which concentrates on the more rhythmically inclined versions of his work. I'm thrilled to be involved and I have to say that the artists that have contributed to this release are really 100% 'Smallfish', if you know what I mean? Kicking off the EP is Corey Fuller with a sublime remix of 'This Earth Will Sleep'. Using layered textures and subtle elements of the original track he provides a gloriously uplifting and grainy track that works by simply allowing you to submerge yourself in sound. Konntinent follows with a low-key and beautifully refined meditation on deep ambience. Two chords and gorgeous background tones give this a shimmering, dense, yet light and airy feel - a track to drift away to and no mistake. Experimedia main man Jeremy Bible comes next with his take on 'Tear Road'. There's something about this track that gives me goosebumps. I think it's the initial chord that comes in and the way it slowly becomes more muted and ethereal before fading out to the finish. Whatever it is it gets me every time. Superb track. Finally we arrive at Smallfish friends Celer. Their interpretation is as otherworldly and distantly beautiful as you'd expect with its softly rolling texture running loosely in the background and gentle tones and chords easing in and out of the mix. Really quite magical. So, all in all this is an EP to savour. With artists of this calibre all coming together on one release I have to say that if you're a fan of contemporary ambient music in any way you should consider this a must-have. And, of course, don't forget to grab a copy of the I, Absentee CD as well when it comes out in May. I have to say a big thank you to Ian for coming to me with the project and also to the artists involved for such wonderful tracks." - Smallfish

Many thanks to Ian Hawgood and Mike from Smallfish for including us on this wonderful remix 3"

Two Pieces/Two

"As the reaction to the first part of Celer's Four Pieces was so amazing I thought I'd treat you all to the second part sooner rather than later. Four Pieces / Two is titled Balsam and it sits so beautifully next to the first part that you can sense the link between them. Listen to them one after another and you'll detect a subtle shift in the tonal quality as a small hint of dissonance is added into the layers of almost classical sound. It creates a wonderful continuation of the themes in the slightly more overtly melodic Aronia and creates a similarly enveloping sense of ambience and solitude. As ever with Celer's work it begs to be listened to uninterrupted in one sitting - preferably with the lights down low in my opinion - and enjoyed as it was meant to be. Simply, another stunning release from Celer and it's a complete joy for me to be able to bring you this release. Thanks once again to Will & Dani for making this possible."

- Smallfish

Many thanks to Mike @ Smallfish for giving us this great release opportunity.

Breeze of Roses

Hi everyone,

We're pleased to announce that our new album 'Breeze of Roses' is now available from Dragons Eye Recordings. We're very happy to have the opportunity to work with Yann Novak and Dragons Eye, and to release on
this wonderful label. Thank you for your support!

Love,
Will & Dani

Release description:

Breeze of Roses began in late 2005 when Danielle Baquet-Long and Will Long (together known as Celer) spent a long weekend on the banks of Lake Attersee in Austria. During a break in a rainstorm, a one-hour recording was made in the belly of a docked sailboat, consisting of a mini-piano, whistles, and cello. A direct field recording, containing the thumps and thuds of water against the bottom of the boat and the wind howling outside of the open hatch, was also used. This recording was left untouched until 2007, when Celer picked up where they left
off. Drawing Inspiration from the memories of Attersees’ rosewind the old recoding brought back, Celer restructured these cold and early sounds, through processing and editing, into something romantic,
representative, and perpetual.

Presented in 6 imprecise parts, Breeze of Roses continues Celer's amazing ability to take simple tones and field recordings and create breathtaking emotional landscapes that echo the movement and romance of a classical composition without sacrificing a modern edge.

The photography accompanying this release are by artist Peter Lograsso. The cover image Night (2005), a silver rag print, and the inside cover is Last Seen (2005).

It can be purchased here: http://www.dragonseyerecordings.com/shop.html
More info here: http://www.dragonseyerecordings.com/catalog/de5021.html

Thank you!!

Engaged Touches

Release description:

The music of Will Thomas Long’s and Danielle Baquet-Long’s Celer is an absorbing combination of classic ambient, minimalism, and – perhaps as the most distinct characteristic – overwhelming romanticism. Longing, melancholy, nostalgia, and the like seem to be recurring themes in Will and Dani’s works.

Engaged Touches begins with hypnotic sounds of a train clattering on its tracks. This departure seems to set the whole piece into a context of travel and distance, moving away from and towards something, someone. After a while these sounds give way to a rousing, majestic set of string loops. Similar phases of different field recordings and grandiose loops take turns throughout the whole work. This brings about a dynamics of contrasts: the concrete and the abstract, the particular and the general, the mundane and the exalted, and so on. The phases of string loops take up most of the album and evoke a yearning feeling of distance, grand and epic. The title, Engaged Touches, however, refers to quite the opposite, the close and intimate. It feels as if it is these kinds of touches that the string loops wailingly, albeit very gracefully, long for.

This is exactly the kind of powerful romanticism that seems to define so much of Celer’s work.
Because of the heavy presence of string loops Engaged Touches reminds me of some of Celer’s earlier works. I would call it a classic Celer piece, if it weren’t for the fact that their oeuvre spans only a few years back, and it would be too early to ponder the distinct phases and the internal relations in their output.
Engaged Touches is another beautiful addition to the rapidly growing body of work by Celer – an oeuvre that I already consider one of the most important in modern ambient music.

Antti Rannisto

Our new release 'Engaged Touches', was set to be released from Home Normal Records on April 17, 2009, in an edition of 500 CD copies. Stores were supplied with copies ahead of time, and pre-orders were made possible on www.homenormal.com, and as of yesterday, all copies have sold out. We didn't plan to announce this release until the actual official release date, but since it has already sold out, here is the announcement.

The good news is that we will still have copies that can be obtained directly from us if needed, and more importantly/conveniently, from these great stores listed below.

Engaged Touches can be found in these stores throughout the world:

Japan
http://www.inpartmaint.com/pdis
http://www.flau.jp/

Hong Kong
http://www.whitenoiserecords.org/

Singapore
http://www.kitchen-label.com/home/
http://www.theasylum.com.sg/v3/

UK
http://boomkat.com/
http://www.normanrecords.com/
http://www.roughtrade.com/
http://www.smallfish.co.uk/

EU
http://www.databloem.com/ (The Netherlands)
http://www.microsuoni.com/ (Italy)
http://www.u-cover.com/ (Belgium)

US
http://www.darla.com/
http://www.experimedia.net/

We really appreciate all the support, and hope that everyone enjoys this album! You may hear from us again soon to announce the release of our new album on Dragons Eye Recordings, 'Breeze of Roses'.

Thank you again!
Sincerely,
Will & Dani