Rather skeletal in nature, Polyrhythmic Electronica is mainly dialed in on the glitched out percussion from classic drum machines that sit comfortably atop squelchy synth bass tracks—best enjoyed on a night time drive through the city.
Fabricating a unique sound of his own
Prolific could be an understatement when referring to UK producer and electronic musician Ben Edwards. who has been actively churning out albums since the mid 90’s. Whether it be on his own Expanding Records imprint, or most recently on the DiN label, Benge has been a reliable source of experimental electronic music for quite some time and shows no signs of slowing down.
In 1996 Benge released his first EP, titled Polyrhythmic Electronica which went relatively unnoticed by me until it was reissued on vinyl for the first time by System Of Objects, a new imprint that focuses on reissuing obscure but classic electronic music from the 90’s. Originally only available on CD, the album lives up to its title—boasting five tracks that showcase Benge’s drum machine prowess. Released at a time when Warp Records was truly at its height, Ambient techno was en vogue and this EP fits right into that mold. Autechre’s Amber would be a pretty obvious influence, as well as The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld—just to name a couple of records with sonic similarities.
Benge seems to create his own vibe here, however, fabricating a unique sound of his own—that holds up against contemporaries from that time period. Hearing these tracks for the first time was a pleasant surprise because they truly do stand the test of time. Rather skeletal in nature, Polyrhythmic Electronica is mainly dialed in on the glitched out percussion from classic drum machines that sit comfortably atop squelchy synth bass tracks—best enjoyed on a night time drive through the city.
One thing is for sure, System Of Objects has done an excellent job thus far of digging up obscure gems from that era, giving the music a chance to reach our ears again here in 2023 and beyond. Keep an eye out for what’s to come from System Of Objects, as they’ll surely be putting out more classics for us to (re)discover in the near future.
Polyrhythmic Electronica is available on System Of Objects. [Bandcamp]
