Browse by Label: BENBECULA (UK)

Artist:	OPERATOR
Title:	Os 1.1
Label:	BENBECULA (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	BEN 011CD

"After making his debut on the compilation Alba Absurdia, Operator continued to record electro-caustic musings and dance floor subversions for his first EP, OS1.1. Here are the results -- Operator's unique production techniques reveal themselves to be most eclectic and contemporary, managing to be both muso and funky at the same time. From the crackle of 'Streetlight Constellation' you could be in Keith Whitman / Fennesz guitar processing territory. 'Closed Circle' whops down a massive bassline on the table, then carves it up. 'Tisch' toys with detuned elements of the Boards/Christ axis, but adds a louche funkiness which goes down very well indeed. 'Das Boggon' broods a little more, but the clay pot percussive resonance translates well to an electronic context. 'For a whale' takes us someplace with Jonah we'd perhaps rather not have gone -- detuned, inside the belly of the beast, this track appears to relish the claustrophobia of its sound. 'I want to go to host' departs radically on a twelve minute conclusion, with guitar and eccentric percussion. Individual and different, enter the world of Operator for a while, you should find something you like."

Artist:	REVERBAPHON
Title:	The Medium Through Which Sound No Longer Travels Is...
Label:	BENBECULA (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	BEN 020CD

...No Longer Present. "It was on Alba that Reverbaphon was first unveiled. The mood here is more pensive and chilled altogether, a large clue lying in the frosty exploits of the sound engineers depicted on the CD cover, we reckon rocking the river Volga. Merging conventional and unconventional instrumentation: melodica, reverbaphone, banjo, biwa, guitar and the human voice all stand next to analogue electronics, field recordings and samples, deftly touched up on computer. This represents a refreshing, organic diversion from preset laptop hegemony -- Reverbaphon allows us to fill in an all important piece of the mysterious, always collectable and above all innovative Benbecula jigsaw."

Artist:	GREENBANK
Title:	Rotating The Square
Label:	BENBECULA (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	BEN 022CD

"This first release from Peter Brittain's Greenbank project glides across classic electronic terrain, employing at its root a love of the seminal IDM sound as employed by Aphex, Autechre and the Artificial Intelligence crew, coupled with an emotive response to delicate, crunchy soundscaping. The opening, 'I Need More Time', unfolds an arrangement of reflective piano cascades and squashed beats, a natural appendix to the sound of Christ that so mesmerized those who dipped into its wonders. 'My Computer' is far denser, a tougher arrangement of crunchy beats and oscillating sub-molecular basslines weaved into a nostalgic, gorgeous line-up of synths in portamento -- a massive electroid monster of a tune. The 8-bit pop-blitz dysfunction of 'Loads of Little Squares' acts as fine preparation for the simply immense opener on the flip -- 'Fluted'. This is an awesome, perfectly executed Plaid-esque moment, all bouncy percussion and playful synths, broken beats wrapping themselves around the mix in a vaguely West London style -- set to be absolutely massive."

Artist:	FROG POCKET
Title:	Moon Mountain of the Fords
Label:	BENBECULA (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	BEN 024CD

"John Charles Wilson, aka Frog Pocket, is back again with this new mini-album on Benbecula. 'My Mentle Ass' is a rampant, manic, squashed, chaotic breakbeat onslaught which ends very gracefully and in keeping with the deep, folkloric chimes and rich sound exhibited on 'Jupiter Lady Mountain Village'. Like stumbling into a strange kind of late night show, lit only by candles and shimmering cavelight, this is like some other worldly Bach recital gone astray, or Afx and Squarepusher junior on a mad one, beats underpin melancholy melodies voiced by delicately plucked guitars.. 'Hey hope', meanwhile, makes you want to don sensible cardigans and hit the slopes. There's a clear headed thoroughly Scottish musician at work here, the crunch of electronics tempered by the soothing melody of a slow air. Violins and stringed instruments resonate clear in the Frog pocket world, underpinned by sub bass hits and the exuberance of the stunning 'My Mentle Ass'."

Artist:	CHRIST.
Title:	Vernor Vinge
Label:	BENBECULA (UK)
Format:	12"
Price:	$8.50
Catalog #:	BEN 017EP

Christ. is Benbecula's best-selling artist to date, with his 2002 debut classic Pylonesque and follow up full length album Metamorphic Reproduction Miracle in 2003 causing quite a storm. Christ. got some old friends together to help out with a limited vinyl promo for his new album Blue Shift Emissions, and the result is "Vernor Vinge," a track culled from said album along with an exclusive short and two excellent remixes of exclusive tracks. dDamage appear courtesy of Planet Mu and Benbecula label-mate Prhizzm steps in to remix "Happyfour Twenty," a track from the new album. The result is a four track EP that will hopefully spread the word about how excellent his second and long-awaited album really is and yet also step forward as another classic Christ. release in its own right, with three tracks exclusive to this limited run.

Artist:	CHRIST.
Title:	Blue Shift Emissions
Label:	BENBECULA (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	BEN 031CD

This is Scotland-based Christ.'s long-awaited second full-length release on the Benbecula label. Following the intermediate Vernor Vinge EP of 2006 and the Seeing and Doing EP in 2005 which journeyed through an introspective path, Christ.'s new album is a return to the melodic fold and builds upon his unique, individual style that was unleashed to the world via Pylonesque, his outstanding and best-selling Benbecula debut. Blue Shift Emissions glistens with simplistic beauty underpinned by subtle yet expertly crafted washes of sound. Tracks like "Cordate" have been Christ.'s trademark from pre-Benbecula days, and one only has to marvel at the recording of this live, single-take keyboard piece to fully appreciate the influence he has had. Christopher Horne was an early participant in the nebulous Hexagon Sun collective, and as a result collaborated with Boards of Canada, appearing on the Twoism album. Christ. strips back electronic melody to its purest form and when you have the talent, foresight and confidence in the originality of your music, less is definitely more.

Artist:	SYNTAKS
Title:	Awakes
Label:	BENBECULA (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	BEN 032CD

This is Denmark-based Jakob Sk�tt's full-length debut under his Syntaks alias. Sk�tt has been a lifelong collaborator with friend Jonas Munk more recently on his Manual project, as well as their first release on Morr Music as members of the band Limp. A couple of years later the duo released under their own names for the album Golden Sun on Darla. Jakob is also part of the four-piece Causa Sui with a release on Germany's Nasoni. Where the previous collaborations with Manual have featured soporific hip-hop beats and melting soundscapes, Awakes sees Syntaks explore more varied territories. The ten track album clocks in just under 50 minutes and journeys into an expertly-crafted concoction of seductive dub, guitar pop, leftfield beats and Slowdive-esque washes of guitar with the slightest hint of Cocteau Twins at their best. Awakes is a broad-brush stroke of accomplished, grandiose electronics that transports to wonderful netherworlds -- a soundtrack to navigating deserts alone, hallucinating glittering digital oasis after digital oasis.

Artist:	GENARO
Title:	Genaro
Label:	BENBECULA (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	BEN 038CD

Genaro are a Glasgow four-piece band from Carluke, near Glasgow. Genaro are managed by Benbecula Records and are the label's first venture into pop territory having vocal, guitar, keyboard and bass set up. However, this band sets itself apart from the rest. Igloo magazine states that "Genaro are a group that have taken all the elements of rock and made something breathtaking with them. This is not simple pop, nor is it something weighted down in genres like post rock; this is just amazing music ... Genaro have created something truly inspirational. Rock is a genre that has been sullied, dragged down by massive record labels, made ballast by commercially created bands. Genaro are the antithesis of this ... Lovingly created guitar riffs, subtle bass and haunting lyrics are the components of the Genaro sound. Genaro are a group that have taken all the elements of rock and made something breathtaking with them. This is not simple pop, nor is it something weighted down in genres like post rock; this is just amazing music."

Artist:	ELLIS, BRIAN
Title:	The Silver Creature
Label:	BENBECULA (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	BEN 042CD

The multi-talented Brian Ellis hails from San Diego, CA, and this is his debut full-length release. Ellis' jazz-inspired mix of electronic funk is possibly one of the most unique blends of sound to be produced this decade. Followers of the label will no doubt recognize Brian's output as one half of the duo Free Festival along with Brian Grainger -- released as part of Benbecula's highly-acclaimed Minerals Series. Brian's solo work is a phenomenal one-man band with multi-tracked instrumentation that is so well put together it easily deceives, sounding more like a 6-piece band. Meandering, spacy keys match with burned-out guitar reveries, next to scrawly, high-buzz Moog whine, like driving through an electronic desert at high noon with sun-glare in your eyes.

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