I’m getting tired of chloroforming myself every day and losing whole afternoons in an effort to temporally inch my body closer to the release date of the new Ben Frost LP. I wake up in the bathtub like, “How the hell did this shit happen, oh baby?” and then I remember the wet rag, the overhead light dimming, five years of Frostlessness flashing before my eyes. Sure, he offered up those soundtracks last year to tide us over. And we’ve got some details: the forthcoming album is called A U R O R A, and it features the likes of Greg Fox (Guardian Alien, ZS), Thor Harris (Swans), and Shahzad Ismaily (Secret Chiefs 3, Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog). But honestly, knowing this makes my wait even more excruciating. Maybe the answer has been right in front of my eyes this whole time: cryogenic freezing. It worked in acclaimed documentary Austin Powers, so it can work IRL. Excuse me while I fall into an ice drift, retreat into fetal stasis, and fast foward two months until…
Wait, what?
Damn. “Venter” plugs two world-class drummers into Frost’s intricate grid of drones, bells, and glacial synth figures. Their organic tom pulses carve out the low-end, propelling us blindly across the tundra as Frost’s production flourishes churn their way through the haze alongside us. At the four minute mark, we’re treated to a passage of maximal sonic stimulation such that only Frost can provide: charged with ethereal melody, mixed down to the finest detail, sparked into new harmonic grandeur with the onset of the cyclical bass tones under the ongoing detonation. If I listen to “Venter” about 13000 more times, it will be May 26, when Mute and Bedroom Community drop A U R O R A into my eager mitts.
• Ben Frost: http://ethermachines.com
• Mute: http://mute.com
• Bedroom Community: http://bedroomcommunity.net
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