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DEAN DE BENEDICTIS REVIEWS
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SALVAGING THE PAST reviews
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DEAN DE BENEDICTIS • Salvaging the Past (Spotted Peccary) • De Benedictis is better known to the world-at-large as Surface 10, under which he has released many a fine recording, most recently on Ian Boddy’s stalwart DiN label. Operating under his christian name, his music is no less fascinating. In fact, the differences between Salvaging the Past and S10 material are negligible—De Benedictis’ talent runs rampant, regardless. Treading less abstract waters than S10, a bit more attention paid to the melodic capabilities of his tools separates the personas somewhat; still, this man got’s some synths and he knows how to use them. The outcome ultimately belies this recording’s title, De Benedictis, like some savior of electronica, on a grand mission to rescue lonesome studio wizards from their self-imposed categorical purgatory. Thus the sequencer dance underpinning “Grid Holy 4” exeunts from machineries of joy, alive with carpet crawler shimmers and sonic aurora boreali, buoyant and lustrous. “Sweltering Gazes of Sonora” bounces along on giddy waves of zero-g, Tangerine Dream music for those who don’t like Tangerine Dream music. It’s all in the fingers, y’see, and by any measure, De Benedictis has the agility of a ballet dancer; adroit, light on his “feet,” deft of digit and lobe. Ideas don’t hurt, either—and this fella’s got ‘em in spades.
--DARREN BERGSTEIN, e/i Magazine (www.ei-mag.com)
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Dean De Benedictis - Salvaging The Past. STYLE: Rhythmic instrumental electronica blending synthetic and acoustic sounds to produce an exotic ambient edge. This is a varied album with beats and rhythmic passages, flutes, cello, voices, guitars and plenty of dense, bright atmospheres and sequences. Salvaging The Past has a powerful sound for environmental music, beautifully melodic and poignant at times - in places with beats clear and solid, although too ambient in nature to be beat-driven music. Dean De Benedictis has certainly produced a staggeringly professional sound, musically very mature and moving. The mix is generally lush and rich, the odd voice swimming in the mix, delicate piano chords in places, keening cello - but primarily delivering all manner of synth sounds - choral effects, crystal arpeggios, smooth drones, aural cloudscapes. Where Is The Northern Sorrow brings a female voice to the fore - heavenly, ethereal and warm - courtesy of Cathryn Deering. Ê MOOD Ê Dramatic and expansive through light and serene - from deep piano stabs with a Middle-Eastern slant to clay drums and reverberating flutes - from floational weightlessness to percussive restfulness - from electronic sound synthesis to organic acoustic performance - this is an album of artful contrasts. Nevertheless, everything ties up effectively into a coherent whole. Colourful patches twinkle and bubble, ambient atmospheres drifting like oil on water - little is still for long. A compelling listen. Ê ARTWORK Ê The artwork for Salvaging The Past is sharp and atmospheric - water and cloud dominating the series of landscapes spread across the package. A dead tree, black against storm clouds fill the rear jewel-case panel alongside track titles and times. Grey water floods the inner booklet, a widening ripple pattern of elongated ovals spread out before half-submerged rocks - here we have notes to the listener explaining the project, credits, thanks and a list of inspirational artists. Ê OVERALLÊ Ê Salvaging The Past is released by Spotted Peccary Records as the latest of Dean De Benedictis' offerings - having produced previous compositions in a variety of styles including IDM, tribal ambient and space music. Here he employs a variety of electronic tonalities, samples, and acoustic instruments such as mayahachi flute, bamboo flutes, cello, piano, voice, guitars, hand drums, and percussion. Promotional notes explain - "Our physical realm is comprised of drastically separate entities mix-matching and ambiguously aligning into one harmonious collage. Such is the underlying principal behind "Salvaging The Past.Ó The album brings together pieces written between the years 1992 and 2005. Ê WHO WILL LIKE THIS ALBUM Ê This CD will appeal to electronic fans at the ambient end of the spectrum - but contains sufficient melodic/harmonic content to appeal to electronic fans that like to have a clear tune to hold on to, an occasional beat to carry the mix and plenty of variety to hold the attention.
--MORPHEUS MUSIC REVIEWS
www.morpheusmusic.co.uk/html/reviews27.htm
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Dean De Benedictis Ð Salvaging the Past (Spotted Peccary Ð 2005) This record label has never released a CD that I didnÕt like. Spotted Peccary could be the most consistent record company out there, at least for me anyway. Dean De Benedictis has put together an album that fuses qualities from the older days of ambience (Tangerine Dream) to the most modern ambient soundscape. He uses a variety of instrumentation to express his inner musical creativity. "The Tech Atonement of Bilagana" teeter tooters between flutes leading the way to dramatic piano and deep ambience. "Chasm Enchanted" is more melancholy and reflective. De Benedictis uses a swooshing electronic sound to sweep us under dark gray skies. Drums strike like thunder in "Occur." De Benedictis surrounds the drums with tapping percussion, swirling synth lines and sparkling melodic trimming. Heavenly voices open the doors to "Grid Holy 4." The electronic notes that echo throughout the track remind me of Charles BernsteinÕs score for APRIL FOOLS DAY. Though this tune is upbeat and certainly not scary. I felt at hypnotic peace while listening to "Where Is The Northern Sorrow?" De Benedictis creates raindrops of electronic ambience in "Sweltering Gazes of Sonora." Notes drop down from above splashing onto the composition. There is an emotional stillness, an emptiness captured in "Then Bled A Tear." "Death for Music" drips liquid notes on top of dreamy melodic foundation. The whip crack like percussion that hits every twenty seconds or so is nice. I truly believe that this track represents what it must sound like inside the head of Dean De Benedictis. "Memories Echo Far Ablaze in The Valleys" is constructed with a large wall of ambient sound that stands up around the emotional center of the arrangement. The longest track on the album "Same Drone, Different Story" wraps up the CD. It runs over sixteen minutes long and features the feel of the atmosphere of a faraway land. Flutes return to blend with the exotic percussion. Acoustic guitar breathes life into the audio space, taking the track to a state of elation.
--MantaRay Pictures - Terry Wickham - director, writer, journalist...
www.mantaraypictures.com/deanmusic.htm
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DEAN DE BENEDICTIS Salvaging the Past Spotted Peccary (2005) The title of Dean De Benedictis's latest release, Salvaging the Past, is indicative of the album's intent, which per his own liner notes, is to present an homage to artists who have inspired him through the years. It's an illustrious and varied list, including (among others) Steve Roach, Robert Rich, Klaus Schulze, R Carlos Nakai, Michael Hedges, Mark Isham and the EM/spacemusic duo Enterphase. If one has more than a passing familiarity with DeBenedictis' music, you realize that he is no one-trick pony, so the inclusion of such an assortment of genres, as represented by the names above, is less a surprise and more to be expected. The ten tracks on Salvaging the Past line up with the same emphasis on variety, as the music veers from Berlin-esque sequencer thumpfests; e.g. the opening "The Tech Atonement of Bilagan" to vast cinematic tone-poems (evoking comparisons to Isham), such as on the next cut, "Chasm Enchanted" (on which the artist is joined by Peter Ludwig playing somber haunting cello), to retro EM numbers, twinkling with analogue synths galore ("Sweltering Gazes of Sonora"), which might bring to mind Enterphase or others artists detailed in the liner notes but not recounted by me in this review. The obvious pitfall of an album with such a wide scope is that fans of any one genre must be broad-minded enough to embrace the myriad of styles which are encompassed on this ambitious recording. Hopefully, the mixture of dramatic pulsing electronic music with quieter pieces (some of which feature acoustic instruments, such as the aforementioned cello, acoustic guitar and hand percussion) will not cause people to overlook this flawlessly engineered (Spotted Peccary, so this is de rigeur for them) and fascinatingly complex release. De Benedictis doesn't just swerve from one genre to another from track merges to track, but he even smashes genres together within individual selections, with retro EM meeting dramatic rhythmic soundscapes, (a la Patrick O'Hearn) on "Occur." Coincidentally, this is probably the aim of the album, since in the liner notes, De Benedictis writes "Our physical realm is comprised of drastically separate entities mix-matching and ambiguously aligning into one harmonious collage. Such is the underlying principle behind "Salvaging the Past."*With some songs containing an intense electronic base and others a pure acoustic base, creating the mood for "Salvaging the Past" was tricky, but I do feel that we brought the music together as best as possible. As always, it is all from the same soul." So, whether you groove on the juxtaposition of chorales merged with percolating cascades of sequencers and twinkling synthesizers on "Grid Holy 4," float away on the washes of somber Braheny-like spacemusic, sometimes accompanied by cello, which cushion the serene "Memories Echo Far Ablaze in The Valleys," or explore the sensual mysterious ethno-tribal flavored landscape, drizzled with flute and acoustic guitar, of "Same Drone, Different Story," the many diverse wonders of Salvaging the Past await the adventurous ambient music fan. This is a special album and deserves deep introspective listening to reap all the benefits and rewards which lay within its digital grooves.
--Andy Garibaldi (CD Services)
Binkelman's Corner
Reviewer - New Age Reporter
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Dean
de Benedictus - Salvaging the Past
Spotted Peccary Music recently sent us a care package with a variety of their
releases, and we've been impressed with the consistent quality of their artists
and recordings. The latest recording by Dean De Benedictus, Salvaging the
Past , is no exception.
On this release, Benedictus deftly mixes a wide variety of sounds, ranging
from the clearly synthetic to the acoustic sounds of cello, drums and voice.
He also mixes a wide variety of genres and influences, creating a complex
synth music/ambient/new age style of his own.
Benedictus comments on the album:
Our physical realm is comprised of drastically separate entities mix-matching
and ambiguously aligning into one harmonious collage. Such is the underlying
principal behind Salvaging The Past . It is not the first time I've based
a project on this philosophy. So much of my unreleased work had been inspired
by this principle, and specifically by a variety of traditional ambient music
genres, that eventually I felt compelled to tie this particular work together...
how could I not? With some songs containing an intense electronic base and
others a pure acoustic base, creating the mood for Salvaging The Past was
tricky, but I do feel that we brought the music together as best as possible.
As always, it is all from the same soul.
One of the highlights of the CD is Chasm Enchanted , a track featuring the
cello work of Peter Ludwig. Benedictis creates an interesting drone environment
that envelops the cello, while leaving Ludwig plenty of room to explore.
Another very interesting track is Sweltering Gazes of Sonora . It showcase's
Benedictus ear for interesting textures and sounds, blending phased strings,
percussive sequences, vocoder effects and some classic electronic keyboard
sounds.
Then Bled a Tear is an ambient piano piece that shows Benedictus' subtle side.
The track is built around a droning background over which Benedictus layers
piano chords processed with a reverse echo effect, making the piano notes
appear to slowly emerge from the droning backdrop.
The final track, Same Drone, Different Story seems to tip its hat to guitarist
Steve Tibbetts, featuring hand percussion, electric and acoustic guitar, and
a variety of flutes and drones. The track seems like it is about to end about
nine and a half minutes into the piece, and then it transitions to a slow
droning section that focuses on the reflective electric guitar work of Nels
Cline.
Salvaging the Past is an attractive collection of ambient/new age compositions
that showcases Dean De Benedictus' skillful blend of acoustic and electronic
orchestration and some expressive playing, especially by collaborator Peter
Ludwig on cello. Audio samples are available at the Spotted Peccary Music
site.
Tracks:
The Tech Atonement Of Bilagana
Chasm Enchanted
Occur
Grid Holy 4
Where Is The Northern Sorrow?
Sweltering Gazes of Sonora
Then Bled A Tear
Death For Music
Memories Echo Far Ablaze In The Valleys
Same Drone, Different Story
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Dean De Benedictis makes an introspective brand of electronica full of literary and mystical references. He records under his own name and as Surface 10 and has also started an electronic community in Los Angeles called the Fateless Flow Collective. His latest CD, SALVAGING THE PAST (Spotted Peccary), is a recording of emotional resonance as De Benedictis looks back at his music, fusing elements of German space music, glitch electronica, operatic vocals and his Native flutes.
John Delaberto - Echoes
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A LONE REPLY reviews
Every
once in awhile, a CD comes seemingly out of nowhere and just blows me away.
De Benedictis has done solid music before, generally in modern ambient and
experimental electronic styles. But nothing prepared me for my reaction to
A Lone Reply. The musicianship on this very tribal work is simply stunning.
He rightly credits Steve Roach and Robert Rich for inspiration, and thanks
Loren Nerell for his assistance, so that should give an idea of the musical
direction. This is one of the most consistent, captivating 80-minute sets
of music I've heard in some time. It is haunting and dramatic throughout,
full of grace and power. Synthesizers meld with a vast array of primitive
instruments from around the globe. Dedicated to the American Indian, it actually
calls up images of several ethnic backgrounds, though the Indian roots remain
throughout. Sometimes, the music is haunting and slightly dissonant, as on
"What The Wind May Not Tell You." At other moments, like "Embraced,"
the mood is brighter and prettier. Though the music generally leans toward
the dark side, it is all beautiful, all brilliant. If you like ambient with
a healthy dose of tribal beats and flutes, this is among the very best. A
Lone Reply is a masterwork that deserves a wide audience.
2001 (c) Phil Derby
Exposé Magazine
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Dedicated to the spirit of Native Americans and mastered by Robert Rich, these ten terrific tunes are captivating ambient tone poems that harken back to the heyday of spacemusic maestros like Steve Roach, Jonn Serrie, Kevin Braheny and Rich himself. Haunting, mesmerizing, unsettling at times but also poignant, optimistic and beautiful, De Benedictis makes music for the subconscious, music that awakens cross-cultural cellular memories in an orgy of rebirthed engrams. The bone-on-stone patter that underlies the catchy rhythms of "Avenging Illfated Visions" is followed in delicious and deliberate counterpoint by the crystalline emptiness of "What the Wind May Not Tell You;" together they represent the earth-ether duality of De Benedictis' inspiration. But the masterwork here must be "As the Ocean Emptied," an epic aural adventure that grabs the imagination from first note to last. It's a tale of naked new land claimed, of ego and achievement, and of gods deprived. And we all know that old saying, "whom the gods want to punish, they first grant a heart's desire..." Hence, the intimate, almost suffocating closeness of "Bilagaana Weaps, In Quiet Memory," a tune that inverses the grand proportions of typical soundscapes yet still manages to create a vast interior space in which deep emotion rises. This is not easy music to hear, but it is profound.
-PJB
-New Age Voice Magazine-
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After
way too long a period of time, we finally have the next great ethno-tribal-ambient
recording. A Lone Reply earns its place alongside such essential works as
Undercurrents in Dark Water (o yuki conjugate), All Our Ancestors (Tuu), Soma
(Robert Rich and Steve Roach) and Lillin Dewa (Loren Nerell). Dean De Benedictis
has recorded a true masterpiece of the genre. Deeply spiritual, sensual in
an earthy vein, incredibly evocative, and sonically transportative, A Lone
Reply is so good that it may be beyond my abilities as a reviewer to accurately
describe. The masterful blending of ancient instruments (assorted> percussion
and flutes) with the modern (synths, piano, bass) yields a primal recording
almost dripping with raw emotion; even my most effusive hyperbole may not
do it justice.
You NEED to listen to this with headphones. The mix on the first cut ("avenging
illfated visions") alone will realign your consciousness and send your
mind reeling. Those hand drums, those drones, those flutes and ocarinas -
yikes! And, the good news is that it just gets better and better. I didn''t
think I'd ever hear an album that would re-awaken my love affair with ethno-tribal
music - but this one is it. Listening to this on headphones or in a quiet
room is positively revelatory -it's a total immersion into the wonders of
recorded music.
Mixing deep ambient drifting pieces with snaky-sensuous tribal textures, erotic
and primal rhythmic beats, and spiritually fluid musical excursions (courtesy
of the flutes, percussion, and gamelan touches), DeBenedictis' awesome talent
to paint cave-wall images of subtle power and mournful beauty is superbly
evident and totally on display. Track titles are appropriately indicative
of what lies in the virtual grooves: "what the wind may not tell
you," "a sense of home the sky remembers," "places I will
never see," et all. The album itself, per liner notes, is "dedicated
wholeheartedly to the American Indian" And the haunting, mystical, and
somber music (even when the rhythms are frenetic and uptempo) hammer home
the sorrow and pain implicit in the plight of the oppressed native peoples
of North America.
Detailing the ten cuts on this CD is superfluous. You have a good reference
point with albums like those mentioned above, as well as other well-regarded
works like Rich's Rainforest, Roach's/Obmana's Cavern of Sirens, Parson's
Dorje Ling, and Stearn's soundtrack to Baraka. A Lone Reply incorporates elements
of all those fine albums, while also adding unique musical textures that DeBenedictis
on his own brings to the event. And that?s what this album is - an event.
Whether you prefer the more tribal sounds of o yuki conjugate or the more
cerebral sides of works like Soma (with its mixture of synths and flutes),
A Lone Reply will astound you with how completely immersive an experience
it is. Turn out the lights (all of them), put on your headphones, and settle
back. This is Altered States territory, folks! Give this album your undivided
attention and you may find the journey takes you for a walk along ancient
pathways that are both frightening and illuminating. This is a VERY special
recording and earns (with remarkable ease) my highest recommendation. A Lone
Reply is the epitome of a landmark release. Buy the damn thing already, okay?
Trust me, you won't regret it.
Bill Binkelman
WIND and WIRE
http://www.windandwire.com
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DEAN DE BENEDICTIS: A
Lone Reply (CD)
Also
available from Amazon.com, Condor
Records, and Backroads Music.
With this CD from 2001, Dean De Benedictis (who has gained quite a reputation
in trance and contemporary electronic circles with his Surface 10 identity)
delivers a sensitive 79 minutes of delicate and spiritual electronic music.
With this release, De Benedictis' agile electronics appear in accompaniment
with many ethnic instruments, such as American Indian flutes (Mayan style),
ocarina, Balinese flutes, piano, hand drums, slit drums, and voice. Accumulated
by him during his travels through the American West, these instruments motivated
De Denedictis to apply his considerable talent to creating a selection of
music that would capture the grandeur of the American Indian heritage. Languid
tribal drums swim in the distance amid spiraling flute strains. Electronic
riffs become saturated by environmental soundscapes spreading like aerial
mesas among the purpled clouds. These haunting passages drift through vistas
of wistful flutes that convey the serenity of hundreds of years of successful
dreamquests. Rather than standing in contrast, this coefficient presence of
sedate electronics and eerie woodwinds blends to create a union of technology
and tradition that is an evocative portrait of fertile spirituality dedicated
to unraveling the mysteries of existence. A substantial portion of all proceeds
from "A Lone Reply" will be donated to various American Indian charities.
Matt Howarth
SONIC CURIOSITY
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CDs Available through:
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