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Benge
Ben
Edwards, better known by his pseudonym
Benge, has been exploring the
sonic possibilities of electronic instruments since he was a young boy,
in the1970s. After graduating from art school in 1990 he set up his own
music studio and started recording his unique blend of experimental
electronica, culminating in his debut album "Electro-Orgoustic Music"
and the formation of Expanding Records in 1995. Since then he has
released dozens of albums as Benge, as well as collaborating with
various luminaries from the electronic music world on many other album
projects. He has formed several notable and ongoing bands such as John
Foxx & The Maths, Wrangler (with Stephen Mallinder / Cabaret
Voltaire and Phil Winter / Tunng), Fader (with Neil Arthur /
Blancmange), and his most recent project Creep Show (Wrangler + John
Grant). Benge's creative output now centres around his Memetune Studio
Complex, located in one of the UKs remotest moorland locations, writing
and producing his various music projects as well as making video art and
TV programmes about his activities.
“The View From Vega”, his debut solo album on the DiN imprint, is
primarily an ambient suite of tracks inspired by the space-music
typically produced in the late 1970s and early 1980s
.
It uses a selection of vintage synthesisers, sequencers and FX units to
provide a fertile sonic landscape to explore. The idea was to use
simple sequences (using both analogue and digital units), sustained
synthesiser pads and electronic piano improvisations, alongside various
ancient delay, flange and reverb units. The beautiful, warm quality of
the tones that exude from such instruments are very evident on the six
tracks that slowly unfold their oscillations in organic, melodic
soundscapes.
An unashamedly vintage sounding album in all its analogue glory, “The
View From Vega” is released both as a 180g Vinyl edition and a Digipak
CD with stunning artwork from Wendy Carroll that matches the music
perfectly. credits
released October 6, 2023
Written and recorded by Benge at Memetune Studios, England, February 2023.
Mastered by Benge April 2023.
Our thanks to
DiN label owner
Ian Boddy for providing us with a copy of this release.
Studio blog:
myblogitsfullofstars.blogspot.com
"This is a primarily ambient suite of tracks inspired by the
space-music typically produced in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It
uses a selection of vintage synthesisers, sequencers and FX units to
provide a fertile sonic landscape to explore. The idea was to use simple
sequences (using both analogue and digital units), sustained
synthesiser pads and electronic piano improvisations, alongside various
ancient delay, flange and reverb units”.
The equipment used was as follows:
Synthesisers:
Moog Modular IIIC
Polyfusion Modular
Roland SH5 / System 100 / Piano-Plus-70
Yamaha CP30 / SS30
EMS VCS3
ARP Chroma
Sequencers:
Roland MC4
Moog Dual 960 (Cloned)
EMS TKS
FX Units:
Dynacord TAM21 Stereo Flanger/Doubler
Dynacord DRP16 Reverb
Dynacord DRS78 Reverb / Delay
Polyfusion Modular Phase unit
Electro-Harmonix Smallstone Phaser
We'll end tonight's shows with a track from this new release from Sonologyst.
The
new Sonologyst "sonic documentary" delves into the secretive realm of
shortwave transmissions; a chronicle of clandestine shortwave
transmissions culled from a span of nearly four decades (1982-2021).
These mysterious transmissions - repetitive voices, signals, sound
pulses, short pieces of music - were collated and edited to compose the
tracks of the main album.
Immersed in an isolating fog of dark ambient, deep drone music and
cinematic sound art, it provides an auditory exploration of the ongoing
Cold War. Originating from covert radio stations engaged in military and
espionage endeavours, the tracks unveil a hidden sonic landscape of
strategic communication.
The second disc, in its extensive presentation, provides a deeper
immersion into these enigmatic broadcasts. Each recording remains
unaltered, accompanied only by a ghostly drone. It offers an unfiltered
glimpse into the world of clandestine communication, where words are
transmitted beneath the radar and in the shadowy confines of the
electromagnetic spectrum.
Double CD in a matt-finish gatefold ecopak with graphic design by Abby Helasdottir.
Watch album teaser (YouTube) by Abby
... morecredits
released November 23, 2023
Our thanks to Raffaele Pezzella for providing us with a copy of this release.
REVIEWS
Nine Circles
ninecircles.co/2023/12/03/rainbows-in-the-dark-sonologyst-shortwave-spectrum
Vital Weekly (excerpt review)
Raffaele Pezzella's musical project Sonologyst doesn't need much
introduction. I reviewed several of his works and liked it a lot. You
can find an indication of the source material in the title, shortwave
sounds, and, in particular, from what is called number stations. This
takes us back to the days of the Cold War when secret services worldwide
used radio transmissions to communicate with agents in the field—voices
reading groups of numbers, Morse codes or otherwise random bleeps and
hard to intercept and block. The Cold War may have ended, but the
information notes that in recent years, Chinese, Korean and Indian
Numbers Stations have been picked up, and I assume these are at the core
of the music here and not the 4CD set released by Irdial in the 1990s.
It would make a damn good book to describe the use of radio (waves) as a
musical instrument and the history thereof, as I believe that, next to
the mouth, the radio is one of easiest accessible instruments available
for any would-be musicians (if you already wrote such a book, then let
me know). That is not to say that it's easy to play great music based on
radio waves, but Sonologyst is a true master in crafting deep, dark,
and highly ambient music with that ghostly atmosphere lingering in the
background. As much as Number Stations are mysterious, so is this music.
Oddly enough, maybe, there are six tracks on the first CD, somewhere
between five and fifteen minutes, and the oddity is that these are more
minimal than the forty-two-minute piece on the second CD. Each of these
six stays in stasis and move within the given parameters. The long one,
'Shortwaves', is a piece that moves between many stations, picking up
spoken word, classical music, pop music and whatever else along the way,
against a backdrop of drones. It shows that one can do many things with
radio waves, which is why I'm still fascinated by it. (FdW)
Avant Music News
avantmusicnews.com/2023/11/18/amn-reviews-sonologyst-shortwave-spectrum-2023-cold-spring-records
Luminous Dash
luminousdash.be/reviews/sonologyst-shortwave-spectrum-cold-spring/
This Is Darkness
Well, this is very cool – an album of dark ambient / deep drone,
inspired by and using edited shortwave radio broadcasts from the
mysterious ‘number stations’ that during the cold war (and beyond)
transmitted coded messages for agents deep undercover in enemy nations.
The resulting album is a collection of haunting and otherworldly tracks
unlike anything I’ve heard in a long time. As a bonus, Sonologyst has
included a 7th track that is less filtered – it contrasts beautifully
with the six expertly crafted tracks that came before it, and provides
an even deeper experience of these ghostly broadcasts. Highly
recommended!
Published by Cold Spring Records
Sound, sampling, processing and mastering by Sonologyst.
Equipment: analogue synthesizers, shortwaves radio receiver, analogue tape recorders.
Mastered by Sonologyst.
Graphic design by Abby Helasdottir.
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