Tennis - Europe On Horseback

Tennis is the collective nom de plume for British electronica artists Ben Edwards and Douglas Benford, who are respectively known better as Benge and Si-Cut.Db. At first, their collaboration sounds like a mutation of the utopian neo-dub of Pole and Kit Clayton, in which all of the grooves have been shredded into jagged patterns, and reassemled into disjointed filter techno rhythms. However with a outfit name like Tennis, the inevitable Ping Pong 8-bit rhythmic bleeps had to get going, with some bleepy dub elements relating it to the Pole / Clayton continuum. Just imagine two Kraftwerk dummies swivelling at the waist and smacking a tiny ball back and forth.
Unlike the majority of the Force Inc / Mille Plateaux, Tennis retains a welcome sense of humor while rivalling their German counterparts in post techno innovation.

Europe on Horseback, as its title suggests, is a relaxed voyage. The rhythms slowly draw you into a cushioned saddle and an electronic trot then begins, taking us through fields of bubble bass, valleys of sonic glitches, and mountains blooming with digitalia. Not quite as minimal as Pole but just as deep. Stefan Betke recently invited Tennis to write a track for his label ~scape.
They never break into a gallop, conserving energy rather than letting it run wild. This record is a form of deconstructed dub / house which avoids 4/4 time at every corner creating a relaxed, challenging and accessible electronica lined with interesting bass lines. A petit thoroughbred from the bip-hop stables in Marseille.

Imagine Pan Sonic or some of Richie Hawtin's recent minimalist numbers with a bit more spike and a tad more Electro clutter. Their influences are dub and Germanic and the sound isn't quite so sparse and singularly oscillator generated. Acoustic and digital sounds combine together to form nicely disfunctional rhythms, counter-rhythms and textures.
This is the duo's second album, and BiP-HOp's first full length release. Tennis seem to be on the move, and look like they have been since the mid Nineties - with a collective discography as long as yr arm on as many labels. Also on the current agenda are dates in London and Europe, as well as the entirely appropriate possibility of tracks appearing on Pole's ~Scape label. This is an album of glitter for all occasions. Europe On Horseback is yet another reason to keep an eye out for the sound assemblers of Tennis in their various guises.
-a.p-