Carl Weingarten / Walter Whitney: Dreaming In Colors Vinyl LP

Forgotten new age masterpiece by St. Louis slide guitarist Carl Weingarten and keyboardist Walter Whitney, originally released in 1985 on Weingarten’s own Multiphase imprint. Dreaming In Colors was recorded in between sessions of the their main band Delay Tactics, allowing the duo to focus on more subverted guitar work and hi-profile synth textures than their main project. You can’t help but notice a distinctly cinematic feel running through Dreaming In Colors, probably something to do with Weingarten’s background (and day job) as a cinematographer shooting Super 8 film. “Mermaid” opens the record; a vivid scene fleshed out with synth arps, pads and echoing vocal samples before Weingarten’s disarmingly beautiful slide guitar comes in. The rest of the album makes good use of Whitney’s cache of synths, gently incorporating Weingarten’s guitar in a way that’s never subtractive. The most transcendental moments exploit the grey area between these instruments; about halfway through both the title track and “Maiden Flight,” you sorta lose track of where the guitar ends and the synthesizer begins (in a weird way, Dreaming In Colors sounds like the missing link between Oneohtrix Point Never’s early tapes and his later proggy guitar stuff). Other highlights include the crystalline “Painted Lake,” high-tension FM synth drama of “Obsession” and sublime arpeggios of “Pathways.” This repress comes courtesy of Emotional Rescue, who describe themselves as a “reissue label for lost or forgotten tracks, remastered and pressed on vinyl with love.” If you’re looking for arbitrarily hyped-up new age / ambient popularized by algorithms, keep it moving… Dreaming In Colors is a lost gem for true lovers of beautiful synth music only. Recommended.

• full-color reverse board jacket
• printed inner sleeve w/ photos + liner notes
• music label: Emotional Rescue 2018

reviewed by Ted Drewes 05/2018