BEN FROST - BY THE THROAT
October 14, 2009,
Written by Will Slater
Label: Bedroom Community
Release date: 19/10/09
Website: www.myspace.com/theghostofbenfrost
Producer, experimental composer, sound artist, and manipulator of the elements that fool the mind. Ben Frost brings us his second solo work, as yet again, one of the four great minded pillars of the Bedroom Community label. By The Throat is not to be listened to as an album made up of separate tracks, but as one long dream, stretching your eardrums through a disorientating tunnel, sound-tracking your deepest thoughts and moments of escape from real life.
This is something that I would usually save until the end, but I'll have out with it now; The record, upon first listen, is not only my album of year, but my number one deep listening album of all time. As the listener follows the progress of the sound piece, one is constantly, subtly bewildered by the juxtaposing of white noise, blips, flicks, shreds and howls, with fine minimalist instrumentals. Just the brushing of bows against string instruments causes one to quiver, while attempting to comprehend the supernatural vocals and the eerie streams of electronics. All the while the blissful waves of white noise keep coming back, sometimes accompanied by instruments recorded with such detail, that you can hear with great intimacy, the sound of the brass players taking breath before they breathe into their horns.
As mentioned at the start, this is an album that is most rewarding when listened to as a whole piece, but there are moments that stray off to form something new, which can be taken in as separate sections. For most of 'Leo Needs a New Pair of Shoes' for instance, the whole experience becomes far more quiet, with the simple plodding and plucking of piano and eastern strings. Towards the end however, Frost skillfully lulls us back to the familiar atmosphere of the full piece; the howling and the trademark white noise returns and for the rest of the album we go through the ever more enchanting motions that the artist has to offer.
A piece of experimental sound that is not for the faint of heart or for those with an attention deficit, but more than rewarding to those who listen with a desire to get lost. It grasps you more frequently as you go back for another listen. The real wonder of By The Throat is its levels of frightening beguile, and it will echo in your deepest thoughts for days on end.
Rating: 10/10
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