one touch button music
written and produced by benjamin fay
after three busy years with several eps, remixes and compilation tracks for thinner it was more than about time to present the native german, but swiss residing thinner-allstar benfay within an album context. and with “one touch button music” he presents a heart-shaped box that contains twelve pralines of electronic music ranging through many styles. having studied the double-bass at the college of music in berne, benfay is an open-minded character who transposes the many different influences of the electronic / acoustic music fields he’s working in within his many projects by using his unique clean and crisp production skills. benfay’s sound is established on thinner - he doesn’t hide behind samples, his education in composition is obvious by the flowery melodies his tracks use to have.
“one touch button music” is everything else but simple, from what the title might imply – it is a collection of thoughtful compositions that range between mellow ambient spheres within a lounge character and thoughtfully developed minimalhouse anthems.
the album is divided in two parts – tracks 1-6 represent benfays vigorous minimalhouse side, the songs 7-12 unfold a mellow, idyllic ambient/lounge enviroment. the journey starts with “kingfish” – a perfect opener with killer bassline and carefully unleashing beats. “bluestone” is a wet cycling minimalhouse spring track with magic forest atmospheres. “oak” keeps on shifting the breathing pad with the clever beat programming, while “warm home” is one of those unique-benfay burners, that devastates the floor with it’s firework of cut-off chords and gwendolyn’s charming voice environments. mellow, very mellow and somewhat beautiful with the everlasting floater “segelflieger“, benfay drifts into warmer patches of sunset-sounds that is made to perfection with the summer roller “flussbett” that is twisting and turning with blissful chords, tender breathes and catching grooves. with “elfenblond” benfay starts the pearl diving by deep diving into an infinite ocean of cool organic ambient/lounge pearls, to stop by “the carribean bar” to hear what happened with “jack and jill” ... rain, toll grass, an old couple on a bench, enjoying each others accompany ... and restlessly climbing nearby, somewhere in the swiss mountains … benfay.
text written by sebastian redenz
reviews
bleed | germany | 04/2004
vielleicht ein wenig ünglücklich, dass etwas ravig schwärmerisch daddelnd trockene "kingfish" an den anfang des albums von benfay zu stellen, denn obwohl das hier im office mit: "schon wieder ne neue funk d`void" kommentiert wurde, finde ich dass der track weitaus weniger ravepotential hat, als zum beispiel das detroitigere "warm home" mit seinen vocals, strings und dem etwas zuckender funkigeren rhythmus. 11 tracks mit subtilen bassdrums, swingender tiefe und vielen leichten dubs zu perlend klaren minimalen sounds, die, das cover trügt da ein wenig, auch nicht kitschiger sind als jeff bennett tracks, dafür aber oft genug über sich hinauswachsen und einem versprechen, dass dubtechno in seiner melodischen form auch das nächste jahrzehnt noch überleben wird. sweet. gegen ende wird die platte immer ruhiger und trudelt vielleicht auf "jack and jill" ein wenig zu sehr in richtung fantastische erzählung.click here for more reviews
