From Oregon to Berlin, this Bnjmn (can’t be bothered doing capitals the whole time) and Best Available Technology (BAT) collaboration is stupidly good. Not sure what we expected from it, probably something sparse but danceable for the club, but De/Re-Constructions as a whole is just one total trip in to abstract spaces, loosely guided with beats and synths.
For the most part it feels like Bnjmn’s bringing his experimental synth bending to BAT’s darkened field patterns. This could be due to a pre-conceived notion of what the man does, as despite it now being more than a couple of years old, I’ll always hold Bnjmn to the stunning Black Box LP on Rush Hour. Going from the beatless to the club vibe effortlessly, that LP was the early indicator that this guy could do anything.
BAT for me continually sits on the outskirts of Actress’ vibes; rough and dark, with a live field-recording essence to the elements that he puts through his machines to make his music. Always been a big fan of his work; the man knows how to work a sonic palette and most importantly his tunes are never predictable.
There’s a handful of moments on the album – mainly cuts ‘Tred’ and ‘ Ghosting’ – where we get a taste of traditional beat patterns that would slip in to a set, but for the most part this is a cinematic creation to be marvelled at. It’s dark and moody, and due to the structures seeming scattered across the record randomly it seems to take on an organic life of it’s own across the eleven tracks.
You really can’t take away from anything that either artist might’ve contributed. The way that the two artists have manipulated their own signature sounds to slot in to collaboration with each other is testament to how deep their skill and vision for the music goes.
Big ups to both artists, and to the label. Astro:Dynamics are one of my go to labels when the releases hit a dry spell, and this really is top shelf material. A couple of tracks below, press release underneath that.
via Astro:Dynamics
Astro:Dynamics start off 2015 with a collaborative LP from Berlin-based Ben Thomas aka BNJMN (Delsin, Rush Hour, Technicolour) and Portland, Oregon-dwelling Kevin Palmer aka Best Available Technology (Opal Tapes, Further Records, Left_Blank).
This collaborative album is a document of a musical dialogue between the two artists that has been ongoing for a number of years. The passing back and forth of ideas and snippets in the pursuit of feedback gradually grew into a body of work that eloquently moulds each artist’s sonic palettes and approaches – harking back to Thomas’ previous cross-atlantic collaborative work with Brainfeeder’s Teebs under his earlier Jackhigh handle.
Both artists have appeared previously on the label, with Ben Thomas’ first appearance under the BNJMN alias showing up on the label’s debut release back in 2010 (later releasing multiple albums and EPs under the name for revered house/techno labels Rush Hour & Delsin) and a 7″ from the Singing Statues sub-project in 2012. A cassette of Palmer’s ruff and ready jam sessions as BAT (culled from tape recordings made between 1992 and 1999) ‘Excavated Tapes’ also surfaced on the label in 2013 and saw reviews and features on Dazed & Confused, FACT Magazine, Resident Advisor, Tiny MIx Tapes and more.