a_dove_on_fire

 
today is the day (well in three hours).  my new album television landscape is officially released as 7/27/10.  in celebration, i'm taking the day off and going to wave hill to look at the palisades. in the meantime, here's a nice four star review just posted in time out new york: 

"One of 2009’s most astute bits of music criticism issued from a highly unlikely source: Michael McDonald. Remarking on his surprise cameo with Grizzly Bear, the yacht-rock legend observed, “When I was with the Doobies, we all [tried] to make things as complex and interconnected as possible. The punk movement swung towards being as primitive as possible, but now it’s back to where these guys are good musicians. I never thought that would come back around, but it has.” Listening to Television Landscape, a fascinating new full-length from classically trained local art-pop composer William Brittelle, one can only think, Has it ever!

The cohesive 50-minute album plays like a glorious reclamation of lush sounds that crusty critics have vilified for years. Fusion-inspired guitar shredding, passionate sax solos, retro synths and a wholly sincere sense of pathos unite in a kind of avant-soft-rock opus. Impressively, Television Landscape doesn’t sound the least bit kitschy, even when the glammed-out Brittelle is crooning an ode to Sheena Easton.

There’s a whiff of avant-classical pretension on the lengthy title cut, but overall, Brittelle gracefully channels his background. Tracks such as the enveloping, orchestral “Pegasus in Alcatraz” may be a world away from lo-fi, but they’re no more taxing than, say, Radiohead. Like the finest AM gold, Television Landscape soothes even as it dazzles."

nice thorough review of television landscape over on classical tv.  check it out here. i especially appreciate the lennon nod, and the suggestion of a flaming lips collaboration, which would be a dream beyond a dream come true. here's a quick excerpt:

 "Brittelle has a keen understanding of textures and tonal shifts, and brings us down from the heights of “Pegasus in Alcatraz” with a painfully beautiful ballad, “Halcyon Days.” His voice has a deep melancholic quality that brings to mind Radiohead’s frontman Thom Yorke with a touch of Leonard Cohen. There’s an orchestral interlude between verses that brightens the mood slightly before taking it down again. When it’s brought back after the final verse, the orchestra plays together in chilling counterpoint to the quietly distorted guitar and piano. It’s such a short song, though, so I found myself playing it over and over as it was always ending before I wanted it to."

right now, filter magazine is offering a second track for free download from my new record television landscape. the track is titled "sheena easton" and features a formidable guitar solo courtesy mark dancigers and the vocal stylings of the brooklyn youth chorus. sheena was en vogue and dating prince when i first started listening to the radio.  her audrey hepburn-like looks and eighties edge will forever be fodder for nostalgia in my mind. check out the filter post here, or stream/download the track below.

Sheena Easton

 

a couple of really nice reviews from my recent residency with roomful of teeth at mass moca.  the first, from berkshire fine arts, says: 

the most riveting moment in an evening full of hypnotic dazzle came with william brittelle’s "amid the minotaurs", inspired by alabama football coach bear bryant's response to a question about what he would do after retirement. (bryant answered that he would probably just die, which he did, 28 days later.) virginia warnken’s insistent, rising repetition of the lines, “there is no subtlety in death / like a hurricane / like farrakhan,” through controlled angst to a near anarchic hysteria at the crescendo left a high-water mark of devastating proportions for which no one could have prepared and which will not soon be forgotten. 

the second, from the albany-based times union, states: 

the star of the show was “amid the minotaurs” by william brittelle, the most daring and also cohesive piece of the evening, showing the singers to be extraordinarily skilled with huge ranges and sweet, clear voices, the climax coming with contralto virginia warnken suddenly became a pop diva soprano, pinning the audience to their amazed seats.

 hope to post audio from the above-mentioned track soon. for full press coverage, go here.

i was recently included in an interesting article entitled "8 great bands emerging outside of williamsburg and the les" in blackbook mag.  it's funny to be called a "band", especially after spending all day notating a string quartet, though the included photo is definitely more "band" than "composer". check out the article here.

in honor of the impeding release of my new record television landscape,  i'd like to offer for your listening pleasure the track "dunes of vermillion". written entirely while in los angeles by my lonesome, the track was inspired by an emotional cocktail of isolation, joshua tree national park, loneliness, mulholland drive, and kayne's 808 album. right click to download.

Dunes of Vermillion