simulacraic wonderland
written and produced by ben businovski
ben businovski makes his debut appearance on netlabel thinner with a smooth, sensual techno release showcasing his own unique fusion of detroit techno and dub-inspired sounds. influenced by the music of the transmat (detroit) and basic channel (germany) labels, ben modestly and succinctly characterizes the album as "just music to make people feel calm and relaxed". an important counterpart to the musical focus of the album is the theme of an "asian megalopolis" as alluded to in the title and images. according to ben, the album tells a story - "something of a futuristic, cyber-punk, film-noir anime film." the tracks were written prior to his move to south korea (where he presently resides) while at student at the university in australia. time spent watching hong kong action movies and japanese animation inspired the quixotic idea of an asian megalopolis. these tracks were composed while lost in a "simulacraic wonderland", and there′s a bit of naive romanticism evident here induced by watching these movies and animations as their images created a vague, idealized semblance of living the asian experience.
the first five tracks establish the musical theme for the album as the strong techno and dub influences make their presence known via an abundance of steady kick drum beats, synthesized sounds, minor-scale chords, punctuated stabs, mellow pads, accentuated with just the right touch of echo and delay. especially notable is the poignant "ceiling fan" whose evocatively melancholic tone is carried over into "communication bridge", "deception", and "dissolving".
"lurking" continues the techno/dub theme complemented by a memorable, rolling bass line. the mostly dub-flavored "negating" drops the steady kick drum in favor of some catchy rhythms and beats followed by "once" and "purge all levels" which bring back the solid techno beats. the dubby and highly rhythmic "song for a cybernetic amazon" continues the album′s theme complemented by some deep bass, soft synths , and soothing piano lines.
"simulacraic wonderland" brings the album to a bucolic ending by diverging from the tech/dub theme in favor of some relaxing sounds featuring an orchestral-like atmosphere with haunting synthesized strings and a beautiful piano melody.
in retrospect, after having moved to korea and visiting japan several times, it became clear that the simulacra of the images on the television screen bore little resemblance to reality and to quote ben: "familiarization demystifies everything, it sobers you up and in a sad way destroys the deluded romantic concepts one can develop. listening to it brings me back a few years to when things were not so familiar, not quite so old."
text written by larry johnson
reviews
bernhard straub | germany | 08/2006
nach einer kleinen pause ein neues release bei thinner. gewohnte klänge erst einmal, ben businovski bietet auf 10 tracks alles, was das dub-verwöhnte ohr gerne mag. gleich die ersten titel zeigen, dass hier aus den schon oft verwendeten sound-zutaten etwas ganz feines gemixt wird, tech-dub ganz ohne hektik, eher träumerisch und laid-back. z.b. darf sich deception über 7 minuten im raum ausbreiten, in aller ruhe hirn und herz öffnen. leise nickt der kopf dazu und begibt sich in angenehme alpha-wellen. kein einlullen jedoch, sondern eine angenehme steigerung der konzentration. kein mozart-, sondern der busikovski-effekt?erwähnen möchte ich noch den titel purge all levels, bei dem doch plötzlich die energie ansteigt, ganz heisses teil, das ich mir für meinen nächsten mix vormerke. im kurzen titel simulacraic wonderland klingt das release ganz ohne beats aus und hinterlässt wohlige melancholie.
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