The Dwindlers

Beautiful Unfamiliar

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The latest relase with poet, Michelle Seaman, as The Dwindlers.

“My boots tap cobblestone. Bicyclists whirl past me, tires on the street, trams, and the echo of a train. I am walking through colors. Everything is gauzy, dappled in pale pink and light brown. The buildings curve. I wander among them thinking that they have stories inside, histories to tell. The balconies drip with freshly watered flowers and clothing out to dry in the wind. I smell bread and coffee. I want a beer, some sausage, and honey cake. I am listening to conversations in Dutch, German, Czech, and French. I hear a waltz and then a polka, and I want to cry because I miss my grandparents. This city is memory, my stories, once home, once family, familiar, beautiful unfamiliar…”

Born in Snow

Recent Performance: Friday, June 17th, 8-9:30PM

Visit Born in Snow

My new band with V. Sparks & Michelle Seaman. We are a musical trio combining raw, elucidative poetry and colorful melodies. We tell stories from our road trips and train rides. We write treehouse rock and songs with a fairytale edge.

Voice, guitar, and bass, we are Born in Snow.

RECENT PERFORMANCE

Friday, June 17th
8:00 – 9:30 PM
$10 Cover Charge

Muddy Water Coffee & Café, Tarrytown, NY
Call (914)-909-2826 to reserve a ticket

Come early to chat with the band and soak in the ambience of the café.

Traced in Sand

Distance Recordings / 003

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“Traced in Sand is the first collaboration between Benjamin Dauer and Specta Ciera (Devin Underwood), both of whom have previously released on Distance Recordings. As a duo they intricately weave together synthesizers, field recordings and sparse guitar and piano tones to form an immersive sonic tapestry.”

Twenty Three and Twenty Six

A Strangely Isolated Place / 023

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“Some nights are made for sitting back and just letting the world spin on its axis; nights to watch the snow fall and gaze over misty neon hazes in the distance. Dark skies and white snow always seem to cast a sleepy contrast but it’s also one shared by an almost motionless state.

It’s times like these Benjamin Dauer treasures; the still hours where life is yet to accelerate towards its grinding daily regimen; the wait before the first creaks of cold bones and commuter trains amplify the city.

Free of these pressures, his ‘Twenty Three and Twenty Six EP’ is testament to operating in a haze of AM detachment. Four drifting scores of ambient invention, tape echo and swimming delay, they’re musical explorations that are beautifully, subtly metrical. Awash with hypnotic rhythms and an unpolished human touch, each track feels like it plays out to its untraced, natural end.”

Reef Younis

The Pace of Which

Twice Removed / TR028

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My third solo album, The Pace of Which offers a deeply immersive listening experience. 39 minutes of lush ambience, rich drones, fractured textures and field recordings. This release was available as a limited edition CD (50 copies) with folded 350gsm card sleeve or digital download direct from Twice Removed Records. It is now available for purchase direct or streaming on all popular platforms (Spotify, Apply Music, Google/YouTube, etc.

The Dwindlers

Ambience & Imagery

Visit The Dwindlers

This is my music project with poet, Michelle Seaman.

The Dwindlers are ambience and imagery. Blending poetry and music, we write about strange dreams, birds, cats, primates, and pollinators. Through our music, we’ve healed our physical challenges and honored the places we’ve called home.

This is our first album, released on the wonderful Feedback Loop label. We sincerely thank you for listening.

Disquiet Junto

A collaborative, music-making space

Visit the Junto

For the Junto project, restraints are used as a springboard for creativity and is produced in association with Disquiet.com. Each Thursday a new Junto project is announced. Participants are expected to upload their completed tracks to the group by the following Monday at 11:59pm (that’s 11:59pm wherever you are).

This is a collection of my submissions. Thank you for listening.

Burning of Wine

Distance Recordings / 018

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“Benjamin Dauer is a Washington, D.C based musician and composer who has most recently been working on scores for choreographed modern dance pieces. He has previously released on Distance as part of the duo Offsets, a long distance collaboration with Scottish musician Dominic Dixon.

Burning of Wine is his debut album under his own name and was recorded especially for Distance. The album is both spacious and subdued, and this is contrasted with moments of dense sonic intensity. Benjamin combines digital sounds with occasional processed field recordings and subtle swells from the bass guitar, his main instrument, creating a well balanced contrast between organic and inorganic textures.

The deep sub bass pulses, digital drones and high frequency melodic turns already present throughout the album have all been given further emphasis by the mastering treatment carried out by James Plotkin, whose previous clients have included: Sunn 0))), Earth, Nadja and Fennesz. Headphone listening especially recommended.”

Saturation Event

Feedback Loop / 015

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“Based in Washington, D.C, Benjamin Dauer is a musician, artist and designer who is in possession of a talent that is combined with an impressive output. Besides his solo material, Benjamin is also known as one half of The Dwindlers, a duo with partner Michelle Seaman, whose recent album Dreams was also released on Portugal’s Feedback Loop to very favourable reviews. All this without a single slip in quality, one has to wonder where Benjamin derives such a wealth of inspiration from and when he finds time to sleep.

Saturation Event is an album comprising seven ambient tracks, thick with explorative synthesis and brooding undertones which surround the listener and hint at something which could be sinister, just out of reach. Opening with Borderland Of Sleep, Benjamin composes with care and the artist removes all trace of human design, leaving one alone to navigate a journey through the mysterious and immersive listening experience.

By mid-point, Benjamin delivers the intangible Crown Of Sparks, a possible album highlight, though it is difficult to pick out specific moments in such a cohesive, organic work. After many more high points have passed, the album comes to a close all too soon with Transient Pool. Saturation Event is another unique gem in Feedback Loop’s ever-expanding roster of experimental music and a work which will inspire further exploration of Benjamin’s rich back catalogue of music.”

Offsets – Circular Drift

Distance Recordings / 013

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Offsets is characterized by gentle washes of rich ambient textures, subtle guitar loops, the occasional static interference and sparse rhythmic sections.

The project is a long-distance collaborative effort between Benjamin Dauer and Dominic Dixon (talkingmakesnosense) and the result is a very beautiful and gentle listening experience.