Originally posted by Herbert the turbot:
I couldn't see the point of John going back to the same old tired analogue sounds... he'd been there and done that years ago...
Likewise I knew little about Benge, but for the fact he seems more famous for the instruments he uses than the music he makes.
The uninspiring "Destination" single last year seemed to confirm that this project wasn't really for me... Yet from what I've heard of Evergreen and Shatterproof, it seems I may have been wrong.
Both have an energy and enthusiasm we haven't heard from John for quite a while and sound almost contemporary
I think Interplay (or the idea of it) has become more significant for some of us than we might have expected it to initially be.
Having seen Benge's Twenty Systems album back when it came out (in HMV of all places), I was later surprised to learn of John's acquaintance with him, which then very rapidly became a collaboration, particularly at a time when we'd had, or were having the release of
A Secret Life and
Mirrorball, though its worth bearing in mind that each of those two works were already old projects when Benge came onto the scene with their actual construction having taken place in a past framework, leaving John looking to move on again along other paths.
I still very much like
ASL, but I can't now necessarily expect a continuation of it. I had high hopes that
Mirrorball signified a move away from electro, and yes, I really wanted those guitars. I also don't feel any loss for myself when I admit that areas of
Mirrorball have become less interesting now for me, namely those tracks which are more specifically linked to the far larger world of John's
C.O. style, and for this collaboration I'd rather have had a little more of the Guthrie acoustic touch settling on the powerful Foxx foundations.
So, the strong presence of those two albums left me with less of a context with which to place the prospect of a return to electro on John's part. Benge and the idea of Interplay did not initially grab my attention as much it might have, and
Destination failed to encourage me away from the other areas that John's then current collaborative releases had opened up in my mind.
But
Evergreen, and
Shatterproof (a fantastic opener for the album) are polished yet raw compositions that maintain an air of excitement about them, and as Herbert says, display a real energy. They are also highly catchy tunes to boot, I have gravitated back and forth from
Evergreen at one moment, and
Shatterproof at another, both going around in my head in a welcome manner making me eager to have an actual shiny CD disc in my hand, like a badge stating: 'this is the kind of music I like', 'and its good stuff'.
These tracks sound contemporary to me in spite of the ingredients making up the pie, that of old instruments and a mature artist, its far from a retro reheat, its much more 'fresh electro',
Future Music Interview, quote:
Benge isn’t fond of explaining things too much, and I can’t really speak for him, but I think he wanted to make a London post-digital electronic band.Here's to them having succeeded
And thus, we patiently wait until that pie comes out of the oven, and can all tuck in.
