BENJAMIN FINGER, JAMES PLOTKIN and MIA ZABELKA craft a mesmerizing sonic world that buzzes and drones, glitches and slithers, eventually careening into unexplored musical territory.
“Pleasure-Voltage” was born in the mind (and studio) of BENJAMIN FINGER – a composer, electronic music producer, DJ, photographer and film-maker based in Oslo / Norway who in recent years has become quite a prolific artist, expanding his stylistic palette from piano miniatures and off-kilter pop experiments to lysergic, dream-like sound collages spiced with gentle warmth and sublime melody. These ingredients are also characteristic on this latest work where FINGER set the musical frame before passing it on to his inspired collaborators: MIA ZABELKA who for decades now has been involved in countless projects, be it as musician (violin / electronics), curator or founder of the international sound art centre klang.haus and who has worked with a.o. JOHN ZORN, FRED FRITH, ELECTRIC INDIGO, ROBIN RIMBAUD (SCANNER), DÄLEK or PHIL MINTON. And last but not least there’s JAMES PLOTKIN who entered the scene with his first band OLD LADY DRIVERS (or OLD) on EARACHE in 1987 and later was a member of KHANATE (with a.o. STEPHEN O’MALLEY) while also exploring the areas of dark ambient and electronics by working with or remixing SCORN / MICK HARRIS, K.K: NULL and many more.
On “Pleasure-Voltage” which had its live-premiere at the REWIRE festival 2018, the trio crafts a mesmerizing sonic world that buzzes and drones, glitches and slithers, eventually careening into unexplored musical territory somewhere between ambient / drone / psychedelia.
"Sometimes impossible backgrounds create vast possibilities in terms of future development and uniting the elements that might not even coincide in a mututal happenstance.
Mia who has been working for years with idiom of improvised music, countless collaborations, curator at Klanghaus art centre. James Plotkin who now is famous for his production and mastering work evolved from the grime depths of experimental black/doom metal underground into psychodelic post-industrial dub ambient world of infinite frontiers and Benjamin Finger who is a multi – talented cross media artist working within off-pop glitch, dream-like soundscapes as well as doing filmmaking and photography and working as a dj and based in Oslo, Norway.
And what we get is a soundtrack filled with tissues and ambiences forming the one and only half-improvised, half – conceptualised shape of a psychoactive quality where the line between the drone, melody, reflective mood and distant evocative sound from the well of sonic experimentation, create something really unique and touching which is rather rare in this field.
The dreams dreamt by an absent dreamer, the processed wall of sound into a substance of reviving yourself." FELTHAT
credits
released February 15, 2019
Benjamin Finger: synthesizers, piano, field recordings, electronic devices, alien objects.
James Plotkin: electric guitar, granular synthesis
Mia Zabelka: E-violin, electronic devices, alien objects.
Mixed by James Plotkin
Mastered & vinyl cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, Berlin
Mia Zabelka is a musician and composer known for her experimental use of the violin and electronic music. She has performed
at various festivals and venues around the world. Zabelka is known for her innovative and boundary-pushing approach to music, incorporating elements of noise, drone and improvisation into her work. She has played with a variety of artists, including John Zorn and Zeitkratzer....more
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