General
“Paris-born composer Daniel Wohl has a knack for creating electroacoustic pieces that blur the line between electronic and acoustic instrumentation and seemingly melt both elements into a greater organic whole.”- Monica Fabian – WNYC http://soundcheck.wnyc.org/story/174923-gig-alert-daniel-wohl/
“shaping our contemporary music scene and defining what it means to be a composer in the 21st century” — NPR (100 Composers under 40) http://www.npr.org/2011/04/23/135473622/the-mix-100-composers-under-40
“rising star composer” - Timeout New York http://www.timeout.com/newyork/classical/queens-new-music-festival
A Resurgence of Electronic Classical Music - WNYC http://www.wnyc.org/story/a-resurgence-of-electronic-classical-music/
Press for Corps Exquis
#1 for 2013 – WNYC New Sounds Listener Poll http://www.wnyc.org/story/new-sounds-listener-poll-2013-results/
Aided by Julia Holter's vaporous vocalise, "Corpus" floats in crepuscular world where electronic and acoustic instruments dwell in fearless equilibrium. – NPR favorite songs of 2013 http://www.npr.org/blogs/bestmusic2013/2013/12/11/249734685/npr-musics-100-favorite -songs-of-2013
“Corpus” - Public Radio’s Songs of 2013 / NPR Heavy Rotation http://www.npr.org/blogs/bestmusic2013/2013/12/12/248799480/heavy-rotation-public-ra dios-songs-of-2013
7.9 “beautiful and maze-like…an original voice – Jayson Greene – Pitchfork http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18244-daniel-wohl-corps-exquis/ “vivid, detailed and engaging …boldly surreal aural experience” - Steve Smith – New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/arts/music/cds-by-daniel-wohl-the-london-symphony -and-alan-feinberg.html?_r=0
Top Classical Album of 2013 - Rhapsody http://www.rhapsody.com/blog/post/top-25-classical-albums-of-2013
Best performance of 2013 – Seen and Heard International http://seenandheard-international.com/2014/01/our-reviewers-choices-for-best-musical-eve nts-of-2013/?doing_wp_cron=1398561755.4131510257720947265625
“fantastic new album” – Chicago Reader http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2013/06/05/12-oclock-track-daniel-wohls-d reamy-corpus
“A terrific welding together of experimental electronic music and classically influenced orchestration…. Intensely listenable and a real masterclass of crossover. Corps Exquis does effortlessly what modern film score composers wrestle with yearly.” – Hittsville UK http://hitsville.co.uk/post/68898895520/koett-golden-peak-taking-a-leaf-from-the
“provocative and surprising” – NPR (All Things Considered) http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2013/06/30/195496249/MUSIC-CLASSICAL-RE VIEW
Critic’s Pick. 4.5 stars out of 5 “-- Emusic http://www.emusic.com/album/daniel-wohl/corps-exquis/14145838/
“diaphanous harmonies somehow transport, unsettle and delight all at once.” – Alex Ambrose - NPR (Heavy Rotation) http://www.npr.org/2013/08/12/209194850/heavy-rotation-10-songs-public-radio-cant-sto p-playing
“new and noteworthy” – Itunes
“endlessly interesting… I couldn’t stop listening to it” -- Molly Sheridan– New Music Box http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/sounds-heard-daniel-wohl-corps-exquis/
Between Wohl's electronics and Transit's instrumentalism, "Corps Exquis" adds up to more than the sum of its parts – Daniel Stephen Johnson - WQXR (Q2 album of the week) http://www.wqxr.org/ - !/story/299274-daniel-wohls-corps-exquis-marries-electronic-and-acoustic/
“many young composers use textures and rhythms drawn from electronic music, but few do it as well as Wohl” -- Rhapsody http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/daniel-wohl/album/corps-exquis
July: album of the month - Textura http://textura.org/reviews/wohl_corpsexquis.htm
Top 50 albums of 2013 - Textura http://www.textura.org/reviews/2013top10s.htm
“Bracingly original and stunningly beautiful” – Jeremy Shatan – An Earful http://anearful.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-best-of-2013-so-far.html - .U1xdouZdW8E
“completely unique” – John Hubner
Press for Microfluctuations in Plainchant
“spellbinding…what might happen if J.S. Bach had access to electronics and/or hallucinogens.” – Backtrack http://bachtrack.com/review-jack-ny-composers-now-festival?destination=%2Finstrument%2 Fwind-ensemble
Press for Holographic
The brilliant blend of timbres—a sound that was probably more suited to be heard than described—used very unconventional textures that formed a tonal and rhythmic minimalist structure. – I Care if You Listen https://www.icareifyoulisten.com/2014/03/ecstatic-music-festival-2014-bang-on-a-can-all-st ars/
Part of his gift is alchemical, combining instruments – both acoustic and electronic – to create new and wondrous sounds. The end result is beguiling and seductive…there is real melodic and compositional development in Holographic and I’m sure it will reveal even more delights upon further listening. – An Earful http://anearful.blogspot.com/2014/03/bang-up-world-premieres.html - .U1xEk-ZdW8E
Press for Glitch
“Mr. Wohl’s ingenuity was evident…deeper than the cleverness at it’s surface” –- Steve Smith – New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/arts/music/22mata.html
“virtuosic wildness” Allan Kozinn - New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/arts/music/the-ecstatic-music-festival-at-merkin-conc ert-hall.html
” Blum&Poe w Calder Quartet does Dan Wohl’s “glitch” Shostakovich meets Coil” – Sasha Grey via Twitter
“thoughtful and provocative… Whatever it was, it was powerful.” — Feast of Music
“a sense of awe and grandeur” – Jake Cohen - Consonance of Sound http://consequenceofsound.net/2012/03/live-review-dan-deacon-now-ensemble-and-calder- quartet-at-ecstatic-music-festival-320/
“Glitch by Daniel Wohl does not fall short, does not disappoint, and if anything is more than the sum of its equally spare and excellent parts.” – Disquiet http://disquiet.com/2010/08/19/daniel-wohl-glitch/
“ecstatic…shimmering” – Seated Ovation http://seatedovation.blogspot.com/search?q=daniel+wohl
New Sounds http://www.wnyc.org/story/313623-glitch-music/
Wohl always has something forceful and concrete to convey; the activity keeps the ear poised and interested. The idea sucker-punches you.… exhilarating sense of clarity and focus.” – The Big City http://thebigcityblog.com/against-the-prevailing-order/
Press for Cycles
A considerable success Gilles Charlassier – Concerto.net http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=9653
Press for Corps Remix (collaborative piece with Laurel Halo and Julia Holter)
The pieces were heavy on vibes, never fully committing to drone, ambient IDM, modern classical or avant-garde, but pulling characteristics from all of those things to create drifting, floating atmospheres that were entirely their own. – Brooklyn Vegan http://www.brooklynvegan.com/tag/Corps+Exquis “the piece was stunning in its execution… an invaluable asset to bridging the electronic underground community with the burgeoning minds of next-generation orchestral composition. - URB Magazine smoldering electroacoustic music combines field recordings and deep bass drones with shimmering strings and percussion - Peter Matthews - Feast of Music http://www.feastofmusic.com/feast_of_music/2013/02/ecstatic-music-festival-with-daniel-w ohl-laurel-halo-and-julia-holter.html The evening often unfolded as ambient clouds of sound that blurred the lines between composition an recordings and the pointillistic entrances of Transit – a quintet of piano, clarinet, violin, cello and percussion – colored the resonant vocals of Holter and Halo with expressive impact. – WQXR http://www.wqxr.org/ - !/story/272044-download-julia-holter-laurel-halo-daniel-wohl-with-transit/ (Halo’s) various manners of working make for a riveting mix, and one that feels genuinely—even generationally—new. They also bode well for more embellished music of a kind she will present as part of the ongoing Ecstatic Music Festival, in collaboration with the angelvoiced composer/chanteuse Julia Holter and the more classically inclined new music maestro Daniel Wohl with his group Transit. -Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323949404578314350217868498 fearlessly incorporates electronic textures into the classical idiom, forging an aesthetic that proves to be the perfect accompaniment for Holter and Halo's contributions. – Adhoc.fm http://adhoc.fm/search/?q=daniel+wohl
Part composition and part improvisation, the show utilises synths, field recordings, Holter and Halo’s vocals and the classical instrumentation of Transit (piano, violin, cello and percussion) to create something that’s occasionally dark and looming, and often quite beautiful. -- DummyMag -- Selim Bulut http://www.dummymag.com/new-music/listen-to-julia-holter-laurel-halo-daniel-wohl-with-tr ansit-live-from-nyc-s
It’s a truly forward-looking example of the intersections of experimental music, pop, and classical composition that excellently illustrates how to put the above principles into action. --- Tiny Mix Tapes http://www.tinymixtapes.com/chocolate-grinder/listen-laurel-halo-julia-holter-daniel-wohl-tra nsit-live-at-the-ecstatic-music-fes
Press for Aorta
“mesmerizing” – NJ Star Ledger http://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2011/01/ecstatic_music_festival_-_crit.ht ml
It was a consistently strong, aesthetically focused concert that seemed, especially in “Aorta” and “Oog,” to well integrate acoustic and electronic aspects into a feeling of musical singularity. One was left with a sense of ease and assurance with which the Sonic Generator musicians performed these works and with the creative voices of the composers. — Mark Gresham, Arts ATL http://www.artsatl.com/2013/01/review-sonic-generator%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cfour-for ty%E2%80%9D-blends-electronic-tracks-live-musicians/
“Daniel Wohl’s excellent Aorta…one of the (Ecstatic Music) marathon’s most successful uses of electronics” - Daniel Stephen Johnson — New Haven Advocate
“Over a series of sections an electronically distorted prerecorded piano interacts with, pushes against, or combines with the live performance. The resulting piece has a compelling, edge of the seat quality, as one waits to hear what will come next.” – Fool in the Forrest http://www.afoolintheforest.com/2011/09/carlsbad-music-festival-day-1-vicky-chow.html—
Press for TAR
“based on a collection of poems, in this case written by prolific Pulitzer Prizewinner C.K. Williams (born in 1936) who is played by a number of actors at various ages but most resonantly by Franco. Boasting a dream cast that includes Jessica Chastain and Mila Kunis, the film should have no trouble finding festival berths. It’s enough of a surprise to find that the 12 young cooks have produced a unified work, one whose stylistic variations are largely smoothed over by common D.P.s, production designer Maki Takenouchi and the lyrical scores of Daniel Wohl and Garth Neustadter.” – Hollywood Reporter http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/tar-rome-review-391642
Press for Saint Arc
“Daniel Wohl’s Saint Arc… grow(s) out of the faintest whisper of a bow on string — into a luminous electronic soundscape” Daniel Stephen Johnson – WQXR http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/237476-cellist-mariel-robertss-nonextraneous-sounds/ Daniel Wohl’s “Saint Arc” plays with timbre, matching Roberts’ subtle bowing with prerecorded and processed cello lines. –The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/ci_22141049/fleming-levingston-offer-solid-sounds-from-2012
“The cycles of white noise and harmonic exertions of Daniel Wohl’s “Saint Arc” and col legno schizophrenia of Alex Mincek’s microtonally constructed “Flutter” keep (Mariel Roberts’ ) Nonextraneous filler-free, while Tristan Perich’s wondrous, 8-bit interstellar transmission “Formations” closes out this exceptional collection. The “lab” is generating thrilling new specimens. Piped through the catalyst of Mariel Roberts, the results are prize-worthy.” – Time Out Chicago http://www.timeout.com/chicago/classical/mariel-roberts-nonextraneous-sounds-album-revie w “ethereal harmonics with bone-crunching power chords..” Sequenza 21 http://www.instantencore.com/buzz/item.aspx?FeedEntryId=192359
“Ashley Bathgate performing Saint Arc by Daniel Wohl. After a brief introduction by Daniel Wohl himself making his debut at the Bang on a Can Marathon) Bathgate delivers electronically processed, haunting harmonics on the cello.” – Thomas Deneuville - I Care if You Listen http://www.icareifyoulisten.com/2012/06/bang-on-a-can-25th-marathon/
“Cellist Ashley Bathgate followed, solo, with Daniel Wohl’s insistently minimalist, echoing, rhythmic Saint Arc, a good segue with its bracing atmospherics.” – Lucid Culture http://lucidculture.wordpress.com/tag/daniel-wohl-composer/
“Visceral” – OutsideLeft http://www.outsideleft.com/main.php?updateID=1316
“Teaser (by Sean Friar) moves into and out of interesting spaces quite effectively and, while it doesn’t go where I expect on first listen, its arrival points are always worth the trip. Similar things can be said about Daniel Wohl’s Saint Arc, which brings electronics back into the mix. The piece itself uses timbral juxtapositions to build a sense of tension and release and Wohl shapes his piece quite well in that regard. Different than the Akiho work, the electronics are certainly cello-related/based sounds but the goal is the “otherness” of the sound and putting the live performer in relief to more sustains and shimmering backgrounds.” - Jay Batzner – Sequenza 21 http://www.sequenza21.com/cdreviews/2012/09/mariel-roberts-nonextraneous-sounds/co mment-page-1/
Press for +ou- “Daniel Wohl’s +Ou- (Plus ou Moins) (2008): Trills, tremolos, murmuring and muttering abounded as Wohl confected a shimmering veil of sound from marimba/glockenspiel (Terry Smirl), cello (Zitoun), bass clarinet (William Helmers) and piano (Cory Smythe). Pre-recorded gurgling water and white noise mixed with the shimmer in various proportions. Fragments of melody and bits of perceptible meter drifted in and out of audibility, like figures obscured by fog. Intriguing.” Tom Strini – Third Coast Digest http://thirdcoastdaily.com/2012/01/08/present-music-democracy-inaction/
“Takes the listener on an emotional, sometimes dark, journey. Preparing for the concert, I found myself listening to the work repeatedly on the composer’s MySpace page. It was even more compelling in live performance.” – ArtsCriticsATL http://www.artsatl.com/2011/03/concert-review-sonic-generator-goes-to-extremes-with-phili p-glass-milton-babbitt-and-a-robot-musician/
“Daniel Wohl’s “+ou-” used electronics as a ground – somewhere between television static and the burbles of an underwater cave – while gentle piano arpeggios and chimed vibraphone chords created an ethereal atmosphere.” – Paul Kosidowski – Inside Milwaukee
“imaginative”- Seen and Heard International Concert
“contemplative” - Journal Sentinel http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/audience-picks-then-enjoys-present-music-prog ram-tm3m2u3-136907413.html
Press for Pixelated As the improvisational Pixelated proceeded, Chow, Weaver, and their partner instruments …produced sounds evoking a combination of ringtones you’ll not soon hear and very pleasant, percussive harmonic feedback. – Brooklyn Rail http://www.brooklynrail.org/2012/08/music/just-add-rain
“ingeniously conceived and structured” – New Haven Advocate
Press for One Piece
“Dynamic” – Chris McGovern – Feast of Music http://www.feastofmusic.com/feast_of_music/2011/12/twosense-chamber-music-meets-eas tern-culture-at-rubin-museum.html