For those unaware, Multiphase Records is proud to announce the release of The Simian River Collection 1980-2020, an extensive compilation featuring the music of guitarist/composer Carl Weingarten.

Carl Weingarten is an acclaimed American guitarist, photographer and founder of Multiphase Records, and has played a significant role in the progressive independent music scene since the 1980s.

Recording numerous solo and collaborative instrumental albums, that has earned him critical acclaim and a dedicated fan base, he has been described as “one of the best indie musicians working today”, by the San Francisco Chronicle.

This limited edition release provides a comprehensive overview of Carl’s signature ambient, experimental sound and melodic blend of slide guitar and ensemble music.

Furthermore, The Simian River Collection 1980-2020 is a 3xCD compilation that covers Carl’s solo produced releases from the early 1980s through his Ember Days CD in 2020. The package also includes selected tracks of previously unreleased, out of print, remixed and live recordings.

Disc 1:
1. Laughing At Paradise (6:11)
2. Pandora’s Garage (Previously Unreleased) (5:27)
3. Romance & Evolution In B Minor (5:40)
4. Late That Summer (5:33)
5. Swim (5:34)
6. Out of Somewhere (3:56)
7. Lost Guitars (3:11)
8. Lemur Nocturne (5:34)
9. Somber Geese (4:05)
10. Dreaming In Colors (At Length) (7:42)
11. All Things Return (6:00)
12. The Slo-Guitar Live (Previously Unreleased) (3:37)

With his music having been praised for its atmospheric sound and captivating melodies, the first disc of this genuinely soulful, wholly organic new recording opens on the subsisting preciseness of Laughing At Paradise and the previously-unreleased, and sonically rambunctious Pandora’s Garage, and then come the (possibly captured live) playful, yet skillfully masterful Romance & Evolution In B Minor, the languishing beauty of Late That Summer, and the Celtic-hued Swim and the veritably glistening Out of Somewhere.

Along next is the ornately free Lost Guitars and the melodically-hued Lemur Nocturne, and they are in turn followed by the atmospherically-charged, synth and horn-adorned Somber Geese, the processed, statically-imbibed veins throughout Dreaming In Colors (At Length), the almost ethereal All Things Return, and then we get brought forth the shiny sheen of the previously-unreleased The Slo-Guitar.

Disc 2:
13. Local Journeys (4:20)
14. West of Austin (2:52)
15. An Early Fall (3:01)
16. Bone Dog Blues (3:02)
17. Up The Down Slide (4:47)
18. Falline (5:00)
19. My Beautiful Moon (3:29)
20. Cambodian Waltz (3:37)
21. Illumina Suite (7:15)
22. Dust Covers The Sky (5:32)
23. Pedro’s Lament (1:18)
24. Holographic Blues (Previously Unreleased) (6:30)
25. Come With Me (4:42)
26. A Sacred Sleep (0:33)
27. Red Night (5:48)
28. Hand In The Sand (3:59)

The second disc opens on the flourishing Local Journeys and the countrified twang of West of Austin and they are followed by the majestically ambient An Early Fall, the elegantly harmonica-hued Bone Dog Blues, the aching yearn within Up The Down Slide and then we get the gentle synth-guitar hipsway of Falline and the acoustically divine My Beautiful Moon.

Up next is one of my own personal favorites from this gorgeous collection, the airy, uncluttered Cambodian Waltz and that is in turn backed by the veritably ethereal, Latin-imbibed Illumina Suite, the low slung craving for less over more on Dust Covers The Sky, the short, but sweet Pedro’s Lament, the disc rounding out on the previously-unreleased, gently rambunctious Holographic Blues, the quietly joyous Come With Me, the 30 second incisiveness of A Sacred Sleep, and both the guitar-led Red Night and the steely acoustic guitar piece Hand In The Sand.

Disc 3:
29. Deitaloo (4:39)
30. Sing Like Water (4:33)
31. Western Overnight (4:55)
32. Geola (5:29)
33. Bunk Beds (Reprise) (Previously Unreleased) (1:34)
34. Dublin (Previously Unreleased) (4:58)
35. Mr. Sundance (6:00)
36. Ei Saa Mitte Vaiki Olla (“I Cannot Stay Silent”) (Previously Unreleased) (1:58)
37. A Different Rain (7:27)
38. The Simian River (7:41)
39. The River King (Remix Previously Unreleased) (4:23)
40. Found The Others (Previously Unreleased) (0:49)
41. Ember Days (5:10)

The third, and final disc opens on the tangible, yet always restrained fervency of Deitaloo and the luxuriant Sing Like Water and they are followed by the wholly compelling Western Overnight, the harmoniously entwining Geola, the previously-unreleased duo of Bunk Beds (Reprise) and the aptly-named Dublin, and the shimmeringly palatial Mr. Sundance.

Up next is the previously-unreleased Ei Saa Mitte Vaiki Olla (“I Cannot Stay Silent”) and the pulsing A Different Rain, and they are dutifully backed by the layered growth of hauntingly spacial energy within the soaring, and titular The Simian River, the collection coming to a close on the previously-unreleased duo of a dulcet remix of The River King and the guitar craftsmanship so elegantly shown within the short, but sweet Found The Others, the disc culminating on a mystical confluence of guitar, keyboards and harmonies within Ember Days.

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