Celer
Celer is Will Long, an American musician, educator, writer, and photographer currently living in Tokyo, Japan. Celer was formed in 2005 by Danielle Baquet and Will Long. From 2009 to the present, Celer is the solo project of Will Long. He curates and manages the label Two Acorns, and is involved with the Normal Cookie and Bun Tapes labels. Currently he is collaborating with the artists such as with Miko under the name Oh, Yoko, and with Christoph Heemann as Hollywood Dream Trip. He has been a part of other projects with Hakobune, Machinefabriek, Jan and Romke Kleefstra, Mathieu Ruhlmann, and Yui Onodera.
Celer is Will Long, an American musician, educator, writer, and photographer currently living in Tokyo, Japan. Celer was formed in 2005 by Danielle Baquet and Will Long. From 2009 to the present, Celer is the solo project of Will Long. He curates and manages the label Two Acorns, and is involved with the Normal Cookie and Bun Tapes labels. Currently he is collaborating with the artists such as with Miko under the name Oh, Yoko, and with Christoph Heemann as Hollywood Dream Trip. He has been a part of other projects with Hakobune, Machinefabriek, Jan and Romke Kleefstra, Mathieu Ruhlmann, and Yui Onodera.
There Were More Failures Than This
Originally recorded and released in digital format only in 2021, There Were More Failures Than This is a set of ensemble pieces made with tape loops and analog instruments. Related to its companion album It Would Be Giving Up, this set pushes yet again into the reaches of oblivion, utilising a wall-of-sound approach to world building, and imagining alternate realities. Meanwhile, the fires continue to burn, even if from afar. At the least, it is an example of a conjuring of a myriad of memories,…
Landmarks
Following its release in the winter of 2018, "Landmarks", a collaboration between veteran ambient artists Celer and Forest Management, initially drew quiet accolades and a steadfast listenership that has since swelled to unimagined proportions (~20 Mil. streams), resonating with listeners perhaps now more than ever and cementing its status as an experimental classic.
Inspired by Paul Theroux's novel "The Mosquito Coast" and Peter Weir's 1986 film adaptation of that book, "Landmarks" sets out 14…
Perfectly Beneath Us
Field Records takes a look into the vast catalogue of Celer, the prolific ambient project from Tokyo-based artist Will Long. Perfectly Beneath Us was originally released in 2012 as a CD-R on Still*Sleep, and now it’s being presented as a vinyl release remastered by Stephan Mathieu.
It Would Be Giving Up
Originally recorded and released in digital format only in 2020, It Would Be Giving Up is a set of ensemble pieces made with tape loops and analog instruments. Following a similar trajectory as that of Memory Repetitions and Future Predictions, this set pushes further beyond, continuing to utilize a wall-of-sound approach to mood construction, and reflections on complicated grief. Simultaneously, it is a further statement to intensify blurring of the lines between genres, with sound palettes def…
Engaged Touches (Expanded and Remastered)
Originally released on CD in 2009, Engaged Touches has been expanded from the original recordings for a 3LP edition, spanning 5 sides of vinyl, and a 3CD edition of the same expanded version, as well as the original single disc version. All have been remastered by Stephan Mathieu for this special limited edition.
Cursory Asperses
As Celer, Will Long and Danielle Baquet laid out a framework for extended exercises in ambience, texture and atmosphere. Their work, much of which was initially circulated through collectors, traders and fanatics, went on to become a blueprint for an approach to sound that was equal parts patient, generous and drifting. Cursory Asperses collects a unique set of shorter form works that typify the pairs interested in warmth and subtle density. Recorded between 2007 and 2008, it captures a culminat…
Being Below
** 160g black vinyl record housed in a full color, reverse board jacket. Color labels. Record placed in white paper innersleeves. Limited edition of 150 copies ** Celer's Being Below is a mini-album of short songs created with digital and analogue instruments, recorded in 2020. Written with a structure that reflects shifting states, overlooking the past and future as a split pathway with the present endlessly fluctuating between. The pangs of rumination. An exercise in loop-less writing. Mastere…
Discourses Of The Withered
3LP edition. Remastered A classic within the vast Celer catalogue - one of their finest. Originally issued by the Infraction label in 2008, 'Discourses of the Withered' sees the light of day once more via Will Long's own Two Acorns label, complete with a beautiful remaster from Stephan Mathieu. The album, like much of Celer's work, offers a refuge from the fast pace of modern life. The glacial ebb and flow, and swells of lush strings slows the heart rate and creates a place for introspection, pe…
Sunspots
Close your eyes. Open your heart. And allow master of soundscapes and ambience Celer, aka Will Long, transport you to a universe of peace and solitude. The American artist, who resides in Japan, has concocted a new set of sweeping tracks in the new and highly impressive full-length offering 'Sunspots'.
Coral Sea
Noise is coming from every direction. Backseat tvs flicker, and shuffling sounds fill the spectrum. Light glimmers from the windows, and only a few of us look out. I'm consumed by everything (else) and it all seems overwhelming. I'm outraged by the extending evils, their smiles filling my consciousness. It's not good enough to be a bystander. I won't make those mistakes. I will try. But what, do you give? Below, there are tiny islands passing by. They appear for minutes, and disappear. So will t…
Malaria
Inspired by the journals, letters, and photographs of James Jenkins, 1942-1943 from Luzon, Philippines. Writing letters in the rain under the canvas, listening to records played from the center of the mosquito nets, or from the veranda overlooking the city lights. It may not have been in the same places.. Under the waterfall, ignoring their calls, receiving a Dear John Letter, or being iced on your anniversary. It may have been at different times, but we felt the same..
Whether from the jumpdoor…
Nacreous Clouds
“Polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs), also known as “Nacreous Clouds”, are found in the winter polar stratosphere at altitudes of 15,000–25,000 metres (50,000–80,000 ft). Due to their high altitude and the curvature of the surface of the Earth, these clouds will receive sunlight from below the horizon and reflect it to the ground, shining brightly well before dawn or after dusk. PSCs form at very low temperatures, below −78 °C. These temperatures can occur in the lower stratosphere in polar winter…
Tempelhof
“Touring is a strange experience. There are disappointments and surprises. The audience you expected wasn’t there, but those shows usually end up being the best. I didn’t expect I’d see these cities. Frankfurt in the rain, or falling asleep in the back of a car in Basel, waiting for a show to start. You wake up and you’re in a different place, or already moving on to the next before you can experience the place.
All the tapes I dubbed for the tour I left in the first hotel, and did the rest on t…
Inside The Head Of Gods
*300 copies limited edition* "Inside the head of gods" is an EP of music made to accompany the paintings of Taichi Kondo for his exhibition "What’s my name?" at Finale Art File in Manila, Philippines, April 6 – April 30, 2016. "When I first saw his paintings, they gave me a very clear sound of music. I had many ideas, and there were many elements of each of his paintings to represent through music. When I began creating the music, I made many different kinds of tracks with different lengths, str…
Callisto
*300 copies limited edition* edition Have you ever looked up into the sky at night, and it seemed that you could see beyond the stars? How many times have you looked up, but how few do you actually remember? I remember two times:
The sky seemed to roll, the stars flickering in the humidity of the late-August evening. It makes your throat feel dry and your body strained. Staring up, “We can’t see stars like this at home”, we said to each other. Lying on the concrete slab behind the garage, and at…
Akagi
"In the fall of 2012, I was asked to create music for a live yoga event at Yougenji temple in Northern Tokyo. The performance was centered on the yoga instructor with the musician playing to the back of the audience, so that music served more as a live soundtrack for the event. For this I created a new piece of music using two reel-to-reel tape machines, and two tape loops of keyboards with similar time structures, but each with different, overlapping chords. They played simultaneously, crossing…
Alcoves
“I’m spending the days cataloging books and filling the shelves of the new library. In the early afternoons, the new library employees come in and we learn about their system, and how to work it. It’s a 4km walk out of the edge of town, along the hills and red dirt roads with broken palms back to our house. I’ll listen to the radio, or the wind as I walk. When I get back you’re on the phone with family, and our child is outside the window playing in the sand nearby. When she comes back in to joi…
In The End You'll Just Disappear
Created for an installation to be played on 3 speakers in a triangular shape facing the center of a room. Each speaker played a continuous loop of a low end cut (speaker 1), a mid end cut (speaker 2), and a high end cut (speaker 3). From the center of the room, they should be perfectly mixed, yet evolve due to small differences in start times.
Selected Self-releases 2006-2007
The years 2006-2007 were an exceptionally prolific creative period for Will Long and Danielle Baquet-Long. A quick peek on Discogs tells us they self-released an astounding seventeen albums during that time. Those original discs are like gold dust and difficult/expensive to obtain. Thankfully we can now get ten of those, beautifully remastered by Stephan Mathieu for this collection. Celer's music is timeless and seems to dissolve time itself. A veritable feast of lush gently unravelling ambient …
Malaria
*In process of stocking. Limited edition of 150 copies. First time reissued on vinyl* Inspired by the journals, letters, and photographs of James Jenkins, 1942-1943 from Luzon, Philippines. Writing letters in the rain under the canvas, listening to records played from the center of the mosquito nets, or from the veranda overlooking the city lights. It may not have been in the same places.. Under the waterfall, ignoring their calls, receiving a Dear John Letter, or being iced on your anniversary.…