Originally announced for 2002, Offices At Night
has apparently been hanging round the offices of Fällt
for some time now, but the project actually extends
far beyond this album. Subtitled Volume 1 –
Originals, this album is actually part of a triptych
of releases, with Volume 2 and 3 made
available as MP3 downloads from the Fällt website
soon. Volume 2 will see the likes of Stefan
Schneider, Stephan Mathieu, Sebastien Roux, Keith Fullerton
Whitman or Tu M’
offering their own versions of the original album, whilst
Benford is set to revisit his own work for Volume
3.
While Douglas Benford is best known for his work as
Si-Cut.db, he is also one half of the team leading Sprawl,
an organisation which helps young artists by offering
them a club night during which they can perform live.
A missing link in Benford’s discography, Offices
At Night was recorded four years ago while the
man was setting up his home studio and developing a
complete new approach. It could therefore be announced
as a transitional piece of work, yet this is not what
the confident compositions lead to think. Unlike on
some of his earlier work, in which he seemed to still
be looking for the very essence of his sound, or on
his more established recent work, Benford appears to
totally dispense of gravity and let his beats and soundscapes
float freely to create a thrilling piece of work. Offices
At Night is dense yet fragile, dark yet accessible,
and features some of Benford’s most subtle stylistic
effects. From the upbeat circumvolutions of Slavic,
Application or Transfer to the more
laidback Voluptuous Midnight, Pass Out
or Assistance, Benford appears to twist and
tear his usual electronic dub to give it a variety of
forms and shapes. Yet, this album is far from being
just a style exercise. Behind the beautiful sound structures,
clever beat patterns and sumptuous melodies, Benford
draws crystalline lines that wouldn’t have looked
out of place on Chain Reaction. Here, Benford works
textures and atmospheres in consistent way, creating
a truly organic and captivating masterpiece.
Offices At Night might not be the most recent
work from Douglas Benford, but it remains fresh and
creative, and is without a doubt his most subtle piece
of work to date. It remains to be seen what shape these
compositions will take in the hands of remixers, and
even more so when Benford revisits his own work. For
now, Offices At Night seems like THE place
to hang out.
4.8/5 |
