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LP
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FTR 650LP
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"It is absolutely appropriate the second volume of Wednesday Knudsen's Soft Focus suite appears as spring finally begins to take hold. Like the brilliant first section of this work (the whole of which was initially released on CD), the music here is a celebration of shimmering sunlight and the awakening of nature's tonal brilliance. But where the first LP focused on more bite-sized pieces of work, this one envisions and documents instrumental horizons that are ever expanding. The first of the three tracks, 'Sunshine,' is the shortest, and picks up where Volume One left off -- slow single note electric piano runs with lightly buzzing sustain that are darker than the song title suggests, but utterly devoid of overt bummer tongues. The way the keys' edges are muted for its ending feels like washing your hands in a bag of rough-cut diamonds. The second, 'Ariel's Letter and the Rain,' has a mysterious title that turns out to be far less abstract than you might imagine. It references a friend making some suggestions involving the rhythms and flow of nature at a crucial moment in the tune's gestation. As simple as that, and the resultant sounds are stunning. The final, side-long 'Soft Focus II' begins with the same slow-massed notes that end 'Soft Focus I,' but it mostly explores long tones generated by two or three notes that fluctuate and pulse like soft drops of dew on a car's window, drooling to the wind's commands while accreting size and strength. After a while, things shift to small piano figures that repeat and mutate casually, before cascading upwards with a sense of coalescent rebirth. Unlike Soft Focus Volume I, there are no vocals on this album, but the music creates its own meditative language that will transport you from wherever you happen to be, into warm sunshine and air filled with the languorous scents of earth awakening. Paradise is rarely this portable." --Byron Coley, 2024
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LP
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FTR 649LP
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"Here is the vinyl we promised, consisting of the first half of Soft Focus, the recent solo CD by Wednesday Knudsen. The second half may be along before the end of the year, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. This here is a solid foot of brilliant musical meditations that will fit snugly onto your shelf RIGHT NOW. The project was begun deep in the Plague Era, when it was hoped things might be turning better. It is virtually all unaccompanied work, apart from a little harp by PG Six on the first track. Wednesday displays her sweetly abundant chops on woodwinds, guitar, keyboards and vocals. The mood is abstract and wistful, bright at some moments, shrouded in the fog of mystery at others. Wednesday describes the record's sound as 'ambient,' which is true, but there's more here than that term often infers. To me, the pieces feel closer to the song-shaped abstractions Eno explored on Another Green World (1975) and Before and After Science (1977) than to Music for Airports (1979) or Discreet Music (1975). There's a lovely pop sensibility hiding in them that hillocks. Wednesday's other solo releases are two CDRs on Mystra and a cassette on Microdose. And she has a long recording history with the Pigeons as well as a few other combos. Previous appearances on FTR are Viewer's New Salem MC, both Weeping Bong Band LPs (FTR 313LP and FTR 448LP), and a pair of LPs in duo with Willie Lane (FTR 530LP and FTR 589LP). She has other pots boiling as well, but for now, here's some Soft Focus vinyl for your weary head. Don't miss the opportunity to grab it. What goes around does not always come around." --Byron Coley, 2023
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CD
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FTR 651CD
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"First off, I should probably mention that this CD contains what might one day be two separate LPs. But if you have even a scintilla of info about the state of record pressing these days, you'll also know that all our best laid plans could go sideways. Fast. Still, this is a damn nice way to hear all this music without a lot of the endless huffing and puffing required by the flipping of individual LPs. Which means, for now you can just let the sweet swelter of Soft Focus wash over you like a warm, mid-summer wave on a tropical island. And if you want to have a cocktail while listening, go right ahead. This is Wednesday's fourth solo release, following two CDRs on Mystra and a cassette on Microdose. But she has a long recording history with the Pigeons and a few other combos. And it's her fifth appearance on an FTR release, following Viewer's New Salem MC (2017), both Weeping Bong Band LPs (FTR 313LP, 2018 and FTR 448LP, 2019), and a pair of LPs in duo with Willie Lane (FTR 530LP, 2020). We have some other pots boiling for her as well, but for now, here's Soft Focus. This project was begun last spring, deep in the Plague Era, when it was hoped things might be turning better. It is all solo work, apart from a little harp by PG Six on one track, and Wednesday displays her talents on woodwinds, guitar, keyboards, and vocals. The mood is abstract and wistful, bright at some moments and shrouded at others. Wednesday describes the sound as 'ambient,' but there's more to than that term often infers. The pieces are closer to the abstractions Eno explored on Another Green World (1975) and Before and After Science (1977) than to Music for Airports (1979) or Discreet Music (1975). There's a lovely pop sensibility hiding in them hills. And now it's available for you to hear on full repeat. You must have done something right!" --Byron Coley, 2022
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