DEAN’S MUSIC

Note: the music I’m writing and recording I consider very much to be in the spirit of/another aspect of the direct ‘sound healing’ work I do: in the same way that my type/form/style of sound healing arose out of my being a musician.

Next gig:

DEAN CARTER LIVE: BARD FOR LIFE

DURBERVILLE’S Cafe 90 Cheap St Sherborne  DT9 3BJ SHERBORNE

APRIL 23RD 7pm

Being St. George’s Day and the birthday of our national poet, I’ll be playing a special set of material themed around the works of THE BARD of Avon and his illustrious compeers, Blake, Wordsworth and T.S.Eliot. This will involve both songs and instrumentals  from previous releases, and I will also debuting a good deal of entirely new and unreleased pieces! Please try to form an orderly queue…

Entry by donation suggested minimum £10

Latest radio session for Imbolc :

Last Thursday’s radio session (5th February) on Abbey 104 FM. As well as being available on their website under ‘Listen Again’, you can hear my debut performances of a new song If Love Won’t Hold It All Together, and a new instrumental Introspective, as well as the Imbolc track from the WHEEL OF THE YEAR album, Snowdrop.

(Live session starts at appx 14.00 )

HAPPY NEW YEAR

My Yule/Xmas track from the WHEEL OF THE YEAR album ‘Standstill-Sol Invictus’: live version from last year’s album launch gig here:

My live in the studio slot on Abbey 104 FM from November 6th  previewed a new song co-written with Geoff Davey: What Matters To Me Now, and revisited a very old song/poem addressing the Cenotaph ceremony November In Whitehall/Sabre Rattling . Unfortunately the session has now fallen off the station’s ‘Listen again’ schedule, so your best chance of hearing the song is– come to the next gig! Which is going to be St. George’s Day April 23rd 7pm at D’Urberville’s Cafe 90 Cheap St Sherborne  DT9 3BJ.  Meanwhile here’s the Persistence of Vision version of ‘NIW/Sabre Rattlng’  released in 1992! I intend re-releasing this album  in direct digital download format and will soon have Cd copies available also.

Thursday 31st July

Dean Carter live in the studio: 6-7Pm on Susan Boyce’s ‘Ramblings and Music’ ABBEY 104 FM.

If you missed it you can hear the session again here at appx 9m50secs:

WHEEL OF THE YEAR 

The latest album  out on Spotify etc. as some of you are aware and people have been saying nice things about it too.

 CD / Digital download : for the digital download I send a file via WeTransfer direct to your device for £12 only: email me ahiahel@live.com with the absurdist royalty rates on streaming platforms the CDs and direct digital downloads are the only feasible way artists can make their money back in their lifetime. For physical CD of course I’ll need your address  £12 + £2.60 p+p

a/c no 16123990 sort code 09-01-26 Dean Carter as payee.

Cheques also made out to himself at 8 Dairy Flats, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 4AQ.

Notes on the pieces and the whole Wheel of the Year concept in a wider sense:

WHEEL OF THE YEAR notes on the pieces

What the critics have said:

a gorgeous album; one built on beautiful and bountiful guitar work and emotive and imaginative musical themes. Meditative, marvellous…magical. -The Big Takeover

The guitar work is beautiful and mesmerizing, you can feel the thought and care that went into every song. The album is full of surprises and feels like you’re hearing stories told by a warm fire, with a bit of birdsong mixed in – and even some Shakespeare…“Wheel Of The Year” is the kind of album that makes you want to slow down, get cozy, and just appreciate the beauty of nature. -Beach House

dreamy harmonies and the melodic compositions … We can also only praise the high precision and the expressive style of playing at this point! … the individual pieces embody something very soothing, sometimes even melancholic, and entice one to drift away for the next hour and let all thoughts run free.  -Berlin On Air

Dean Carter – Standstill Sol-Invictus

single taken from the album WHEEL OF THE YEAR 

12/27/2024

Review by Dan Weston Pitch Perfect

Dean Carter’s “Standstill Sol-Invictus” is a sprawling, nearly ten-minute ode to the rebirth of light and hope heralded by the winter solstice. Its title alone hints at the grandiosity within, yet the song’s strength lies in its understated brilliance. Opening with acoustic guitar lines that evoke the vast, windswept plains of 19th-century Americana, it pulls the listener into a meditative space before expanding into something more intricate.

As the track unfolds, Carter’s exceptional guitar work takes centre stage. Two distinct guitars—one panned left, the other right—create a rich stereo effect that feels intimate yet expansive. The addition of tom drums, which pulse like echoes of ancient rituals, infuses the piece with a ceremonial, almost mythic quality. There’s a timelessness to the composition, as though it exists outside of any specific era.

While the instrumentation is consistently engaging, the final two minutes are where “Standstill Sol-Invictus” truly ascends. The song takes on a mantra-like quality, pulling the listener deeper into its hypnotic layers with each measure. It’s an immersive experience that feels both personal and universal, a reflection of the solstice’s symbolic promise of renewal.

What makes this track so compelling is its restraint. The warmth of the acoustic guitar and the minimalist arrangement create a delicate balance that never feels overwrought. It’s a song that doesn’t demand attention but effortlessly earns it. Carter’s ability to channel such profound emotion into a deceptively simple framework makes “Standstill Sol-Invictus”not just a great track, but a quietly powerful statement.

Dean Carter – “Standstill-Sol Invictus”

review by Mike Mineo

January 2, 2025

 Folk/Tracks

A calming, reflective folk sound enamours throughout “Standstill-Sol Invictus,” a lovely new track from Dean Carter, an artist based in Glastonbury, England. The instrumental sound spans from quaint acoustics to multi-layered ardency, building enjoyably across 9+ minutes of blissful guitar work and ample melodic heart.

“Standstill-Sol Invictus” comes via Carter’s fourth full-length, Wheel of the Year, which pays tribute to each festival or “station” of the pagan calendar. The album’s opening track, “Standstill-Sol Invictus” represents the rebirth of light and hope following a long night; it translates from Latin to “Unconquered Sun.”

Comforting guitar tones move from a gentle lushness into more vibrant expressions past the one-minute mark, as twangy layers reflect charmingly into the following sequence. A mixture of twangy suaveness and acoustic undercurrents make for a jovial entrancement by the track’s third minute, thereafter carrying into a beautiful second half that continues the intermingling, textured instrumental folk appeal.

Carter’s own life and career have experienced setbacks and ensuing triumphs; he was diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and that led to an inability to perform and listen to music. He took to sound healing practices and his ability to work with music regained as well. A fantastic comeback ensued, and Wheel of the Year is certainly evident of that.

OUT OF THE LOOP

SONGS WITHOUT WORDS VOLUME II, the all-instrumental follow-up to SONGS WTHOUT WORDS/TOWARDS TOMORROW has now been released on all major digital platforms

The CD version from us non-robots @£12 + £2.50 p+p, bacs details : a/c no 16123990, sort code 09-01-26,  cheque payable to D. Carter, 8 Dairy Flats, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 4AQ. email ahiahel@ live.com so I can send it to the right address.

Digital download version also available: I send a file via WeTransfer for £12 only: email me ahiahel@live.com

link below to YouTube version of ‘Father Figures’ :

‘an immersive and unique listening experience…a refuge for the soul in a world overwhelmed by words and noise, providing solace, healing, and space for personal reflection…a transformative musical odyssey’.–Indie Suburban

‘… spellbinding … mesmerizing tunes and stirring compositions effortlessly resonate with your soul. This sensational album transcends linguistic barriers through its instrumental prowess, taking you on a captivating melodic adventure. ..this auditory delight showcases Carter’s unparalleled gift for creating bewitching soundscapes. With a rich tapestry of folk arrangements, evocative guitar patterns, and unforgettable riffs, each song is a masterpiece in itself.–‘Testing Melodies’ full review: https://www.testingmelodies.com/post/sonorous-whispers-dean-carter-s-musical-tale-songs-without-words-vol-ii

...a relaxing and placating piece of instrumental folk that’s a deeply immersive and cathartic experience. It’s soothing and mesmerising, purely off the back of an acoustic guitar that’s able to convey so much emotional weight through so little. Deeply personal and immensely intimate, the sheer expressiveness of songs like “Hyacinth” and “Mabon Dawn” are so innately supple with their weight and vigour but so strong and resonating for their emotional core and clarity. Anyone with even the slightest affection for the acoustic guitar is bound to find so much on this record.—Find No Enemy