Profil Prog Review of Candles Burn
“What beautiful alchemy from the first notes! Only two instruments, but it seems like there are many more.” 9.1/10
The Story Behind ETHEREAL DIALOGUE
Chapter One:
After recording DREAMING IN NUMBERS for Wayfarer Records, an idea was put forth to do some live shows with one of the artists on the label. I liked the idea, but wondered how I would be able to pull off something like this. While all sounds on that album came from the Warr guitar, it was heavily processed and run through multiple pedals. Plus, the recording was a culmination of drones that have been condensed and built over time. In other words, the boring (subjective, I know, when it comes to ambient music) parts were omitted. So, if I were to play music like that live, would it come off as long winded and humdrum? Ultimately, my answer was, “Yes!” Therefore, I sought out a different approach to this style of music.
Chapter Two:
My next thought was to tackle some of the material from my TERNARY INSTINCT trilogy (FICTIONAL MIRRORS and THE COMPROMISE RATIONALE). While this music contains some drone textures, they have more of a song quality to them. In order to make the songs sound close to like they are on the record, they require a lot of looping. Playing a twelve string instrument with a bass and guitar on one neck, I just felt like people would be thinking, “Why does he need all those strings to play that?” There are moments in this music where I play the instrument extensively, but others where I’m just using one part of the neck and for a live setting, I thought that this may look boring. Also, on a personal level, the lack of true solos in the music is pretty far removed from what I have been playing with my other music. Coincidentally, this has changed my approach for the third part of the series which is slowly moving towards completion.
Chapter Three:
If I’m going to play “ambient” music live, I needed a different approach. I wanted to combine some of these ideas while making each experience different. I started with simple drones using only one sound that could easily be looped in a matter of seconds if necessary. Next, I wrote odd time signature heads, so to speak, for each of the songs. This would give them a song quality, but with a lot of space to improvise which I felt was key. This would give each performance its own unique character and allow it to sound closer to what I typically sound like when I play out solo. This all seemed good in theory so it became time to record.
Chapter Four:
I began recording this music in Spring of 2023. I had just released by album SUBSEQUENT RUINS so much of my time was spent promoting, doing interviews, and playing some shows. When I could get into Gravel Road Recording, I would and each session yielded great results. In no time, we had recorded the seven songs before beginning the mixing stage. At this point, I reached out to Michal Karz to create what became the cool artwork for this release. Soon after, the album was given to Dave Luxton to master. With the album done and artwork complete, it sat.
Chapter Five:
For the better part of a year, the album remained in limbo. The original live performance opportunity never materialized and so there was no urgency to release the music. This coupled with the fact that the label was beginning to transform itself somewhat made it feel like waiting was the smart choice. The next obstacle was finding a time in my prolific release schedule that made sense and didn’t compete with another one of my albums. This year, an EP (CANDLES BURN) was scheduled for April along with the follow up to SUBSEQUENT RUINS later in the year, both on the 7d Media label. We found a short window this year that seemed to work in June and ETHEREAL DIALOGUE was finally released.
Summer Dates
Last night kicked off a handful of summer dates set up to promote Ethereal Dialogue. I will be in Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio. Visit my events page for more details.
Morning Breeze
Tune in today to Morning Breeze for a special Wayfarer Records showcase. One of my new songs will be played.
https://www.themorningbreeze.org
“Pluvial Thoughts” Video
Check out my video for the song “Pluvial Thoughts” from the upcoming Ethereal Dialogue album (out June 21st). Animation was done by frequent collaborator, Alex Smith (Oblivion Dawn).
https://youtu.be/3ekoY-Mk75c
Ethereal Dialogue Preorders
My latest album for Wayfarer Records will be released on June 21, 2024. This music mixes what I have doing at my live shows with elements of prog rock, improvisation, and ambient music. For more information visit the discography page.
Preorders are now available at https://jasonblake.bandcamp.com. You may listen to one track and look out next week for a new video.
Autopoietican Reviews
Candles Burn, Radiant Dusk, Slightly Different Paths, and Seemingly Quixotic have all been reviewed at Autopoietican (in Spanish):
https://autopoietican.blogspot.com/2024/06/luces-sombras-y-algo-mas-desde-el.html
Saiten Kult Review
“A feast for the senses for fans of rich and modern progressive sounds.” It’s always nice to see a new review come in. Thanks Saiten Kult! Read the full review:
Wayfarer Records Press Release
My new album for Wayfarer Records was announced today. Read the press release below:
Music Street Journal Review
“Jason Blake puts out consistently strong music. So, it really means something when I say that this four track EP might be my favorite thing from his solo catalog. It's blending of Latin fusion and Warr guitar prog instrumental music is just so effective”
Read the full review at https://www.musicstreetjournal.com
Gagliarchives Re-Air
My interview on Gagliarchives from last year is replaying on this week’s program:
Aziola Cry Video from ProgStock
I just received footage from the Aziola Cry performance at last year’s ProgStock festival. I am currently making plans to put it together to individually release each song as its own video. Look for this later in the year along with an announcement about the next Aziola Cry album.
New Shirts
I have a new shirt design that I will be selling exclusively at shows. It has my logo printed on the left side pocket area and comes in a grayish blue color.
The Progspace Review
An intriguing meeting of two extraordinary instrumentalists. Read the full review at https://theprogspace.com/album_releases/week-14-2024/
Gotto Contro Topo
I had the pleasure of playing on the instrumental song, “Gatto Contro Topo” from Dario Saraceno out now on Bandcamp and streaming everywhere. https://darioandtheclear4.bandcamp.com/album/banquet-of-noise
Heavy Metal Philosophy
Check out this cool mention of Candles Burn as part of the “Dealer’s Choice” segment:
Metal Digest Review
"chamber music for metalheads"
Read the full review at https://metal-digest.com/2024/04/05/jason-blake-candles-burn/
Too Much Rock Podcast
“Rift and Reckoning” from Candles Burn. Was featured on episode #690 of the Too Much Rock Poscast. Listen now on your favorite streaming service.
Betreutes Proggen Review
“Intimate and passionate, gentle and unbridled. One could even believe that two soul-mate instruments have finally come together after a long search.
Chamber music for friends of progressive rock.”
Read the full Betreutes Proggen review at https://www.betreutesproggen.de/.../jason-blake.../