WHETTMAN CHELMETS / QUALCHAN. “Theme∞Variations” C34 (Strategic Tape Reserve)

 

We couldn’t agree more, Strategic Tape Reserve. Two of your favorite artists on one tape? Try two of ours as well! Whettman Chelmets and qualchan. have both appeared on the STR roster in the past, Whettman with Doesn’t Remember… and qualchan. with the end of all seasons. (What is it with these guys and punctuation?) We here at Cassette Gods have written about the two of them as well – feel free to take advantage of the search functionality on this web page to dig around in the archives. Everything we’ve said about them is complimentary, I promise.  
 
So it’s a big deal that the two artists have gotten together, and the results speak for themselves. Whettman takes side A and riffs on a melody that qualchan. had sent him, employing a bag of compositional tricks to avoid making any one of the tracks sound like the others. Classical techniques? Of course! But he’s also grounded in his own skillset, the one where he makes thick drones and ambient shoegaze and what have you. But don’t take it from me! Take it from Chelmets himself. Go ahead, dig through that back catalog. Also the promo copy. (Hey, at least I cite the ideas that aren’t mine.)
 
And then qualchan. takes side B, and we’re thrust immediately into a tripped-out sample/loopfest inspired by nature (Oregon’s Cascade region), but nature shot through with neon electric currents. How qualchan. juxtaposes the two and gets away with it is beyond me (although it probably shouldn’t be if I’m writing about music, let’s be honest). It’s laid back but verging on the point of soundtracking a lysergic nature doc, which, obviously, would be a really cool experience. Plus everything fades in and out quickly, often in less than two minutes. Come to think of it, Whettman Chelmets’s side does that too, except substitute two minutes with three minutes.
 
There’s so much to explore here – you’ll be here checking this out for a while on repeat.
 
https://whettmanchelmets.bandcamp.com/
 
https://hangontoyrego.bandcamp.com/
                                                      
https://strategictapereserve.bandcamp.com/
 
--Ryan

WHETTMAN CHELMETS “Long Read Memories” (Aescape Sounds)

This is a tough one – when reality encroaches upon us as listeners, we must gird our minds, preparing to be moved. We are no longer passive participants, ingesting entertainment to sate ourselves. We are in the thick of it, lending our empathy to the theme or the cause, or to the artist brave enough to be honest with us.

I am not bemoaning this situation, one where our involvement doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of what weighs on the mind of Whettman Chelmets. The story: Whettman’s brother was convicted of murder at the age of seventeen in 1987, and he is serving a life sentence. “He has grown. … He has facilitated the healing and dialogue of victims of crime with offenders.” Life continues in prison for him. Life continues on the outside for Whettman and his family.

I wouldn’t trust anyone other than Whettman Chelmets with this kind of release. The Joplin, Missouri, musician is a master at maintaining his chosen mood, and he does so wonderfully here through treated guitar and electronics, etc. Field recordings heighten the narrative and add a sense of lived-in-ness to the situation and history. And while the feel here certainly isn’t of the light variety, it’s not remarkably dour either – it’s processual, as the recordings stretch from 2000 to 2019, and you can perceive the hours upon hours of deep thought and contemplation that Whettman’s wrestled through. Fine stuff.

https://whettmanchelmets.bandcamp.com/

https://aescapesounds.bandcamp.com/

--Ryan

WHETTMAN CHELMETS “Alas… The Sun Is Shining and You are Still Alive” (Submarine Broadcasting Co.)

“I used to LOVE netlabels, especially the ones that trafficked exclusively in ambient, electronic, and post rock. The best ones combined all three. Ten years has now passed since I so eagerly dug into that stuff. Ten long years… But hey! Here’s Whettman Chelmets to bring the whole thing back around, full circle, and rekindle my love for that heady brew of the one-person-that-sounds-like-a-full-band recording project.

“[‘Alas… The Sun Is Shining and You are Still Alive’] is a sensory treat.”

So went my initial review of Whettman Chelmets’ “Annihilate Your Masters,” and it feels like I didn’t write that all that long ago, so it remains an apt description here today with this new three-track tape drop. The three tracks are cheekily out of order from how they appear in the full EP’s title: 1. “The Sun Is Shining”; 2. “Alas…”; 3. “You are Still Alive.” The first side is all twinkling instrumental dream pop, definitely some Cure influence in there, sweet throwbacky vibes that get your heart all yearning for yearning again – the moments in your life where you’re nothing but a lovesick loser. Were those moments all that good? I dunno – the nostalgia for them is, though.

“You are Still Alive” takes over everything with nine minutes of sustained ambient feedback – the perfect end to a shoegaze treat?

Sure thing, buckaroo.

Whettman Chelmets 

Submarine Broadcasting Co.


--Ryan

WHETTMAN CHELMETS “Annihilate Your Masters” (WEATNU Records)

I used to LOVE netlabels, especially the ones that trafficked exclusively in ambient, electronic, and post rock. The best ones combined all three. Ten years has now passed since I so eagerly dug into that stuff. Ten long years… But hey! Here’s Whettman Chelmets to bring the whole thing back around, full circle, and rekindle my love for that heady brew of the one-person-that-sounds-like-a-full-band recording project. “Annihilate Your Masters” is a sensory treat.

Not content to simply bludgeon or drift, Chelmets deftly combines elements of rock and electronics (and even musique concrète – check out “Preparation [Thesis]”) into an instrumental package layered with nuance. The distorted guitars are leavened by drum machines, and starry passages (like “Inevitable Synthesis”) offer intriguing counterpoint. Chelmets sometimes even comes off like early Godspeed, especially on “Resignation (New Thesis. Seeds of Preparation),” where disembodied voices speak over heavily treated solo guitar. In fact, with the Hegel quote that adorns the tape and the themes of “servitude, inevitability, and resignation” peppering the recording (not to mention the image on the cover of the person sleeping in the urban daytime), it’s no wonder I’ve pinned that comparison on here.

“Annihilate Your Masters” is a great reintroduction to all that bleak, apocalyptic stuff I never thought would hit me this hard again. But don’t worry, it’s not all bleak – come for some bombast, stay for the glowing, dreamlike passages!


Whettman Chelmets


WEATNU Records



--Ryan