Chamberlain

by Olma

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1.	Saturday Sonnet 03:40	buy track
2.	Oasis 04:21	buy track
3.	Shawnee 02:04	buy track
4.	Interstate Conversations 02:38	buy track
5.	10 Hour Drive 02:50	buy track
6.	Chance 01:16	buy track
7.	Fever 02:21	buy track
8.	Growing Up Too Fast 02:39	buy track
9.	Lee's Summit 03:01	buy track
10.	Slow Sunset 03:13	buy track
11.	Hart 01:30	buy track
12.	Memories With The Kids 01:45	buy track
13.	We Won't Miss The Lights 05:29	buy track

about

What was intended to be a simple, short walk listening to the final master recordings of an album led to several hours exploring hidden dirt paths in the woods, losing track of time and location. With it having rained in the morning, it was a colder-than-normal August afternoon, with hardly anyone else around, the forest floor thick with the scent of red pine. Sometimes the simplest of moments inadvertently turn into a unique, memorable experience. For Minnesota composer Chris Bartels, and his recording moniker Olma, this was all too befitting, as the experience so deeply resembled the natural progression of creating the album Chamberlain in his bedroom studio: simple intentions and small sounds leading to something unique, something rare - a glitchy, minimal, sometimes mysterious ambient guitar journey.

The first ideas for Chamberlain came years prior, with Bartels gently plucking away on the electric guitar - at times applying a method described in the ‘Lowercase’ genre to the guitar - that is, recording and playing so much softer than usual, then significantly boosting the gain in post production, bringing about a personal, minimalist feel to the sound. Rather than jumping into more traditional song forms, these initial ideas were left open and free, letting each layer bring in a flavor of random melodic and rhythmic feel.

“It’s an effects pedal from the 90’s - it doesn’t always work well - but you can get some really trippy accidents from it.” Bartels was sold. This explanation came from a songwriter friend who had remixed one of his songs, revealing the source of a raw, glitchy portion of the vocal track. A few weeks later, minimal guitar plucks were being sent through the Boss RPS-10, and accident-ridden tones coming out the other side of the speakers. The album, and thereby the experience, was born.

Every song was processed and printed on Bartels’ 1968 analog ¼” tape machine, bringing a vintage warmth and subtle distortion to the sound. Touching on elements of folk, minimalism, and ambient, Chamberlain is an experience rich in emotion and exploration.

credits

released January 27, 2023

Written and produced by Chris Bartels (Elskavon, Blurstem)

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Olma Minneapolis, Minnesota

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