The Centre Cannot Hold by Ben Frost.
I’ve enjoyed Ben Frost’s albums in the past, so I was intrigued when I heard he was working with Steve Albini on this new one. Albini is known as something of an iconoclast and a fancier of obscure analog recording equipment, so I was curious what would happen when someone as tied to digital sound technology as Ben Frost would collide with Albini’s world view.
My initial reaction was that the album sounded a bit retro, reminding me of some of Tangerine Dream or John Carpenter’s soundtrack work from the 70s. Something about the keyboard washes.
However, digging deeper, I started to hear more interesting sounds. Sonar Pings, Heartbeats, etc.
So, I’m a little on the fence. I do like “Entropy in Blue” quite a lot.
The title refers to William Butler Yeats most famous, and most quoted, apocalyptic poem, “The Second Coming”. The titles of the songs themselves are quite topical. “A Single Hellfire Missile Costs $100,000” and “Healthcare” are actual song titles.
In any case, Yeats’ words “…what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem”, are, unfortunately, sounding far too prophetic.
#BenFrost #TodaysCommuteSoundtrack #TheCentreCannotHold
