https://obsidianskyrecords.bandcamp.com/track/the-conclusion
https://www.instagram.com/kenwohlrob/
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Performed and produced by Ken Wohlrob
Recorded at Quatre Cagne, Mohegan Lake, NY
August, November, and December 2024
Obsidian Sky Records #011
© 2025

What is minimalism when it comes to music? Can a song with 10 different instrument layers be considered minimalist? Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians is considered a minimalist masterpiece, but it’s written for 18 musicians, a large ensemble. So, is it still minimalist if you have 18 musicians all hammering on the same chord at the same time? Is there some cranky old man out there who shouts “Judas!” at Steve Reich because he chose to work with large ensembles instead of just a single swinging microphone and an amp speaker?

This is what I struggled with when creating “The Conclusion.” But I was not in control, the idea was.

David Lynch was right. We don’t create ideas. We catch them like fish. “The Conclusion” began on an early morning in Asheville, North Carolina, while I tinkered away on a Prophet synthesizer app on my iPad. It was something, but I didn’t know what yet. Months later, the original Prophet synth line became a B3 organ part. Suddenly, there was a solemnity to the idea. If you know me, solemn I ain’t. But the idea was dragging me along. A tenacious vibrating bass rhythm, followed by signals from somewhere. Images from the final scenes of Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man (a very solemn ending indeed) in my head. And then from nowhere, a counter melody. Why the frick would I add that? The idea said, “Put it in there!” So I did. And suddenly, it was all there, all these layers intertwining, working together as the piece kept building. Eventually, the idea said, “Enough.” It seemed right. But was this still minimalism? Was it too much? Had I gone from soundscape into song? To be honest, I still don’t know. The final version is something I never would have created before. This was some new territory. In that lies the victory. You can tell me whether it works or not.

The Conclusion

Instrumental water magic. Goes in a straight line the way only crows and water can.

Base tracks were recorded in my tiny room at the Westgate before I got back into a real home. I added production touches and remixed everything on my PC at the lake house once I got properly settled in.

Water Magic

You can check out the album art, track notes and video at https://narion.xyz/music/signs-in-the-stars/

Sound stripped back to eight channels. Hat-tip to the pioneers, I wanted to explore dimensions of progression with fewer elements; extrapolating them in time and frequency. Hold on to the silence, morph the break, scatter the snares. 

Thanks for listening, I’d love to hear what you think, where you listen, where they take you.

signs in the stars

signs in the dub

Noisemaker. Guitarist for End of Hope (endofhope.bandcamp.com), Northern Heretic (northernheretic.bandcamp.com), and Eternal Black (R.I.P. -- eternalblack.bandcamp.com). Creator of un-ambient experiments (obsidianskyrecords.bandcamp.com). Bike rider. Salty dog.

The Conclusion

Ken Wohlrob

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