Erica and David make beautiful, lo-fi, ambient piano music.  David Wenngren does that Library Tapes thing everyone seems to like so much, while the lovely Erica is a Suicide Girl.  So, I regret to say that I was a bit underwhelmed by this release.  Sure, it is beautiful, and yeah, so is Erica, but that’s not enough. Aesthetically pleasing appearances are great, but after awhile we require some real substance to get us through the day. Xeltrei just doesn't provide this much needed component.

I understand the concept behind lo-fi and minimalism better than most, I’d say, and this doesn’t quite manage to  justify it’s sparseness.  The found sound doesn’t compare to those employed by David in Library Tapes, and although Litotes has a similar tone, it doesn’t hold up.  The drone in the background sounds more like poor production, and the lack of form in the piano parts comes off as more like indecision and spur of the moment than minimalism.  The record has its moments, to be sure, but overall, although it can be quite lovely, never manages to escape from the realm of enjoyable background music. 

Being the third like-minded project by Wenngren released this year, we might start to wonder if the artist is beginning to spread himself thin over the course of his various commitments. This isn't to say Xeltrei won't appeal to some, but I'm not here to recommend it.

-Joseph Sannicandro