You may remember that a while back I was given a number of demo tracks from Ben Mullins, former member of Midwest Product and currently in PostPrior (both essential Ghostly International artists) to post. That was one of the more commented upon recent posts and I received quite a few emails begging me to get Ghostly to put the stuff out. So, I picked up the phone and dialed info, asked for the number of Ghostly International head honcho Sam Valenti, and said, “Sam, look, the scissorkick readers won’t leave me the fuck alone so can you do your bro a solid and make this shit happen stat?” Of course Sam responded the only way he could. “Who is this? Stop calling me or I will tell my guy with the laser sighting focused on your forehead to go ahead and gently squeeze the trigger. Nighty night.”
Obviously the above conversation never happened. But what did happen was that Ghostly remained one of Scissorkick’s favorite imprints by recognizing the subtle genius of Ben’s compositions. Titled The Many Moods of Ben Benjamin Volume 1, the album will be released by Ghostly in the months to come, firmly cementing Ben’s gifted songwriting ability among the label’s heavy hitters like Dabreye and Matthew Dear. Perhaps I’ve been listening to the new Radiohead record too much, but I can easily imagine Thom Yorke’s tormented falsetto over any one of these songs, especially the record’s opener “Blake Bloodaxe,” and today’s post “Temporary Aztec.” Ben manages the ever-difficult combination of nostalgic and current, and if John Hughes ever makes another movie, someone better hire Ben to score the thing. This record is like running away from the bleached-blond prom queen, so you can catch up to the brunette down the block who has secretly loved you her entire life. And you know — you totally fucking know — that you so made the right choice that you just ran three times faster than you ever have before.
RIYL: PostPrior, Midwest Product, Tiki Obmar, Thom Yorke, Max Tundra, Small Sails, Minotaur Shock
READ:
PostPrior MySpace
Midwest Product at Ghostly.com
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS
