Yes, it's here! Oh joy! And our favourite duo have already been chosen as Band of the Week at
The Silent Ballet with these fine lines attached: "
It's playful, thought-provoking, intimate music. Highly recommended." The track "Turning More Zebra-like" is No. 3 Track of the Week.
Boys, girls and you in-between - you know what to do!FEN005: Beneva vs. Clark Nova - Dramadadatic
Release: November 2nd, 2009
The Oslo based electronica duo returns to the digital underground to go head to head in a fast paced sonic battle of
Dramadadatic - as they follow up to their much celebrated debut album
Sombunall
of last year. Since last time both have released solo albums and worked
on other projects beside music, Frank Benjamin Finger (Beneva) as a
music video director for a children's show and Rudi Simmons (Clark
Nova) as a director for a few animated tv-series, both on Norwegian
Broadcasting (NRK).
Dramadadatic is packed with atmospheric samples and a wealth
of simple and sweet melodic structures, topped with groovy - often
frantic - beats, creating the kind of campfire headfuck we became
familiar with on
Sombunall, but taking it a step further this time as
Dramadadatic is more purely electronic than its predecessor - but with more attitude and confidence.
"A Schlemihl and Human Yo Yo" kickstarts the album, with its looped
guitar-chord sample and chopped up, distorted vocal sample and some
weird flute in the back. It's soon pierced by slamming beats and crazy
noise that grooves for a while until the whole thing breaks down into a
muddy AM radio sample that is too short to risk the band being faced
with a lawsuit.
From there the album plays out like a magician pulling rabbits out of a
hat, from the intense and melodic "Elevator Shoes" to the sweet,
childish innocence of "Koala Sideburns" via the clap-a-long pop-groove
of "By Analogy, Apocheir". Yes, there is a lot of variety here – take
for instance the hiphop inspired "Face Like a Metronome" feat. the
droney organ that dropped in during the session and insisted on making
some noise. Or the quirky "Once Youth with a Crispy Beard" that
combines out of sync combat beats with soft and mellow harmonies. As we
get closer to the end of the album things get increasingly intense and
noisy until someone pulls the plug and things fade out in a soothing
drone.
All in all
Dramadadatic is a gutsy display of skills,
thrills and wacky ideas, representing a step on and a notch up for
Beneva vs. Clark Nova's acceleratingly exciting sonic journey. You'll
have these guys dada your drama - or drama your dada even - any day.
Cover photo by
Sandy Skoglund
Artwork by
Allan Näslund