The life and art of Danielle Baquet-Long, 1983-2009

November 19, 2011 11:33 AM

"One of the most moving releases I heard in 2010 was the 90-minute cassette entitled Ornitheology, by a mysterious individual by the name Chubby Wolf. Two long, 40-minute long songs that recalled beautifully the best moments of Brian Eno, yet the two songs struck me as something more…more. In doing research, I discovered two things about this mysterious band: a. that Chubby Wolf was the moniker of Danielle Baquet-Long, who performed in a group entitled Celer with her husband, Will Long, and, b. sadly, that Danielle had passed away suddenly, at the tragically young age of 26." Joseph Kyle of The Big Takeover interviewed Will Long, providing an overview of Danielle's life and art. Much of her music, which was released on limited edition CDrs, cassettes or vinyl is streaming on bandcamp, along with music she created with Will as Celer.
posted by filthy light thief (16 comments total)

Beautiful music from an astonishingly prolific artist gone too soon. Thanks for this post, flt.
posted by box at 11:39 AM on November 19, 2011

.
posted by Navelgazer at 12:26 PM on November 19, 2011

Thanks for sharing. This is deeply gorgeous stuff.
posted by naju at 12:32 PM on November 19, 2011

So beautiful. I'm speechless.
posted by mintcake! at 12:38 PM on November 19, 2011

this is nice and new to me, thanks.
posted by mannequito at 1:29 PM on November 19, 2011

I started listening to On Burnt, Gauzed Wings and a funny thing happened. There seemed to be swelling, rising tones preluding the actual music. It took me a moment to realize that it was yard work being done outside. I stopped the track and started it again. It happened again. I stopped and came back an hour later. The moment I started the player it happened again. The distant machines spun up in smooth harmony with the music. I kept listening. Soon tiny voices from neighbors down the street folded and textured themselves into the music. Then as the notes from the speakers dwindled the far away leafblower came back to pick up the score. As it faded the music swelled into the space left behind. This has been going on for ten minutes now.

According to a site linked above her favorite quote was

“The Meaning is in the Wonder”
- Kenneth Patchen

I suppose she was made of this.
posted by clarknova at 1:42 PM on November 19, 2011 [5 favorites]

lovely and tragic— thank you.
posted by a halcyon day at 4:35 PM on November 19, 2011

Thanks for this.
posted by safetyfork at 5:22 PM on November 19, 2011

These are wonderful compositions. I had never heard of
her before. Thanks for posting this.
... Only the good die young.
posted by quazichimp at 5:29 PM on November 19, 2011

I liked celer. Thanks for sharing
posted by azarbayejani at 6:10 PM on November 19, 2011

I've had a lot of conflicting thoughts about ambient music over the course of my life, but the Chubby Wolf pieces I've heard so far have been quite moving. I'd guess that part of my reaction is due to my knowledge of the nature of her passing, but I'm also willing to say that it's just well-crafted sound and leave it at that. Thank you for putting this out there for folks to find.
posted by bmarkey at 7:03 PM on November 19, 2011

I'd guess that part of my reaction is due to my knowledge of the nature of her passing, but I'm also willing to say that it's just well-crafted sound and leave it at that.

I was trying to figure how to best post about her work. I found out about her through a recommendation of Ornitheology, which I loved. Only when I went to find more did I learn of how prolific she was, and that she died so suddenly and so young. I didn't want to pull on heartstrings in this post, but that interview/overview encapsulated my thoughts well.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:10 PM on November 19, 2011

Nothing like premature death, huh?
posted by Joseph Gurl at 4:26 AM on November 20, 2011

I agree--premature death is a terrible thing.
posted by box at 9:26 AM on November 20, 2011

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing this.
posted by islander at 8:44 PM on November 20, 2011

This is a gift, thanks for the post.
posted by everichon at 8:59 AM on November 26, 2011