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Shortcut Code: [r1491715]
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4.60 / 5 (15 votes)
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Benge - Twenty Systems

Label:
Catalog#:
ecdb1:08
Format:
CD, Album
Country:
UK
Released:
20 Oct 2008
Genre:
Electronic
Style:
Experimental

Tracklist

1   1968 Moog Modular 3:26
2   1969 EMS VCS3 5:12
3   1970 ARP 2500 3:08
4   1971 ARP 2600 1:44
5   1972 Serge Modular 4:05
6   1973 Roland SH2000 3:45
7   1974 Oberheim SEM 1:55
8   1975 Moog Polymoog 2:56
9   1976 Yamaha CS80 3:49
10   1977 Yamaha CS30 2:24
11   1978 Roland 100M 4:11
12   1979 Korg Lambda 1:42
13   1980 Korg Trident 2:04
14   1981 Yamaha CS70M 2:09
15   1982 PPG Wave 2:04
16   1983 Fairlight CMI 3:47
17   1984 Oberheim Xpander 1:44
18   1985 Yamaha CX5M 2:35
19   1986 NED Synclavier 7:28
20   1987 Kawai K5M 4:23

Credits

Artwork By [Layout By] - Daniel Edwards
Mastered By - Benge
Other [Studio And Synthetizer Maintenance] - Alan Smith , Kent Spong
Photography, Artwork By [Designed By] - Paul Merritt
Producer - Ben Edwards
Written-by, Recorded By, Other [Booklet Written By], Photography - Ben Edwards

Notes

20 tracks made on 20 synthesisers spanning 20 years. Includes 52 page Colour booklet.
▸ show all 1 review

Reviews & Discussion

Rated 5/5
Review by oootini May 13, 2009
Terrific album from Benge. An album of twenty tracks, each track created from the sonic character of a single synth from each of the years 1968-1987. A great concept and album package, a booklet is included that describes each track and constituent instrument in all its wayward idiosyncrasies.

Absolutely minimal extra processing on the raw synth materials that Benge manages to coax out of these machines means that each track speaks fully for the individual synth that birthed it. The album could be viewed in one sense as a sort of sonic museum for those of us that will probably never see these machines in real life.

While this may sound like a somewhat austere and academic project, the resultant album is alive with a uniquely human character full of veiled emotion and depth. The album feels like some abstract paean to man’s ingenuity and his ability to create. At the very heart of these machine songs; one can see the hand of countless tinkerers, engineers, and musicians that worked to create complex musical instruments from a collection of diodes, transistors, and wires.

Highly recommended.