Ben Frost Grabs You “By The Throat”

Ben Frost By The ThroatAn Australian-born producer and founding member of the Icelandic label Bedroom Community along with Nico Muhly and Valgeir Sigurðsson, Ben Frost releases his 4th full length, “By The Throat”.

The follower to 2007’s “Theory of Machines” features performances by musicians as diverse as Amiina, The Arcade Fire’s drummer Jeremy Gara, Swedish grindcore band Crowpath, and label mate and hip composer Nico Muhly, losely disseminated through its 11 pieces. And the result is at least as surprising as those contributors themselves. With ambiences ranging from the abstract beats of Ryoji Ikeda to a gothic version of Murcof’s “Versailles Sessions”, the freezing soundscapes of Set Fire To Flames or a much richer, more cerebral turn on Fuck Buttons‘ noisy electronic drones, “By The Throat” synthetizes many seemingly incompatible genres in a dark modern chamber music, which stands on its own and is both challenging and emotionally powerful.

Ben Frost explores people’s deepest fears with this score to a heavily twisted mind. “By The Throat” is loaded with murderers (”Killshot”), wolves and vampires (”The Carpathians”), implores help of superior forces (”O God Protect Me”), but only receives intervention from Ghostbusters’ Peter Venkman (”Peter Venkman Pt. 1 & 2″, though the tracks themselves recel less humor than their title).

Choirs, concrete samples, bowed and scratched strings, piano, brass and hints of heavy guitars layer into this nightmarish soundtrack, as the danger comes closer, sneaking into your home (”Through The Glass Of The Roof”), into your own body (”Through The Roof Of Your Mouth”), perverting your view of the world (”Through The Mouth Of Your Eye”). As a matter of fact, you eventually cannot but surrender to Ben’s innovative music when it grabs you by the throat, surrounding you in an explosion of sound fractals, of which one can barely tell if they come from your own mind or from a frightening yet mesmerizing environment.

Bedroom Community’s WHALE WATCHING TOUR will feature the label’s complete band roster (Sam Amidon, Ben Frost, Nico Muhly, and Valgeir Sigurðsson); a great opportunity to catch those outstanding artists live if you’re close to one of the below European cities this November.

November 3, 2009: Centre Escorxador, Elche (Alicante), Spain, 9:30 PM, €5.
November 4, 2009: Museo MARCO de Vigo, Spain, 8:30 PM, €10.
November 5, 2009: Teatro Maria Matos, Lisbon, Portugal, 9:45 PM, €12.
November 6, 2009: La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain, 8 PM, €3.
November 8, 2009: AB, Brussels, Belgium, 4 PM, €12.
November 9, 2009: Effenaar, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 7:30 PM, €15.
November 10, 2009: UT Connewitz, Leipzig, Germany, 8 PM.
November 11, 2009: Stadtgarten Concerthall, Köln, Germany, 8 PM, €12-15.
November 12, 2009: Huset i Magstraede, Copenhagen, Denmark, 8 PM.