July 1, 2009—And now for something. . . no, not completely different. Something worth your attention. A world in itself. I refer to the aural project WD-41 and the really evocative soundscapes that come out of it. WD-41 is electric guitarist Willie Oteri and trumpeter Dave Laczko. Now both of these guys have been around and played with plenty of people, but what matters is the music. And WD-41 has that something that goes far beyond past interactions and influences. They recorded the entire CD using digital delays, laying down spontaneously live sounds direct to two-track.

It’s an ethereal sound that comes out of the lineage of soundscapes like Fripp and Eno’s “No Pussyfootin’.” That is not to say that WD-41 sounds anything like Fripp and Eno. Space and creative invention are paramount to the CD, though, and in that way they are in the same zone. Oteri’s guitar has presence; he is in full control of his sound and builds atmospheric sculptures that Laczko complements with sympathetic and aurally keen counter-envelopes of sound. This is one of those CDs that entirely deserves to be heard by anyone who likes to live inside exotically compelling musical environments. It’s rather beautiful too. WD-41 can be had at CD Baby.
--Gapplegate Music

By Glenn Astarita All About Jazz

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The conceptual, avant-garde mode of electronics-based implementations receives a slender uplift, thanks to guitarist and effects maestro Willie Oteri's collaboration with trumpeter Dave Laczko. This 2009, download-only, release is a spacey trip; chock full of loops, streaming synth noises, and fractured sojourns into the cosmic void.

Oteri's résumé includes collaborations with latter-day King Crimson musicians and former Frank Zappa hired guns, among other notables. In light of this, he's obviously well-seasoned in the progressive rock realm, amid the more experimental persuasions, driven home by the output of this effort. Essentially, the duo portrays a stark no-man's land via oscillating treatments, brimming with Oteri's odd-voicings and howling lines, while Laczko's resonating notes provide gobs of depth and airy environs.

The musicians fuse maniacal psychedelia with free-form improvisation. Oteri makes his guitar weep in concert with otherworldly implementations, where at times, it's difficult to discern from where the contrasting sounds are emanating. On "G-9," the guitarist dishes out a rhythmically framed lower register ostinato pattern in support of the trumpeter's soaring choruses and bizarre phrasings.

The artists transmit a dark and ethereal set of circumstances, while having some notable fun during the process. It's a synthetic soundscape of aural colors that prods the mind's eye—stranger than fiction, some might say.