Colin Benders (NL)
Sole but far-from-lonely emperor of a monster 243-module rack, genre-unbound sound explorer, modular mad scientist to the bone, call him whatever you like it’s a fact: Dutch wave-tumbler Colin Benders defies the conventions of so easily tag-slapped electronics as much as his music confronts gravity itself. Untamed and unshackled from today’s main line of tepid production behaviourism, striving in an artistic lane truly his own, Benders has completely veered off the grand street’s accepted modus operandi to operate his gear and imagination in utterly innovative fashion.
The send-off of his own streaming channel a few years ago has in itself catalysed Benders’ genre-busting synth experimentations onto a decidedly bold, unhampered creative route. Best evidence of his non-formulaic approach towards music-making, his debut EP “Floaty Things” – released with the assistance of his Discord fellowship and boasting 4K vinyl copies shipped the world over – featured an assortment of live-recorded material from his end-to-end free-flowing streaming sessions.
Also recorded during extended lockdown sessions, the second volume of Benders’ online tweakings and meanderings in the realm of modular empowerment, “Rigmarole”, is set for release on Hiss & Hertz on Dec 17. Following suit in terms of musical direction and enduring collaboration with his community (they were involved at all stages of the album’s making), the release sweeps the darker side of Colin’s hi-amperage sonic hikes off the beaten paths of techno, electronica, EBM, ambient and much more.
Having garnered a more than solid experience of the first-hand musician-to-listener experience, Benders keeps on cutting new trails for live electronics, away from drowsy standards and mimetic attitudes. Instead, the Dutch performer pledges to rethink our whole consumption and digestive process of music through lengthy, free-jazz-like momentums to lose your mind and body to. The knowledge and time spent perfecting his craft both apart and before his online audience shines through these patched-up symphonies of boisterous sine-waves, all-engulfing lo-end swells and hair-raising crescendos that have already conquered the likes of Dekmantel, Awakenings, ADE, Berghain and many more.