Press for 'Theory of Machines'
Theory of Machines is the album which is to cement his name as one of the most interesting and in that, groundbreaking producers in the world today... Without a doubt one of the most essential albums you will hear this year – Theory of Machines is the future of electronic music.
-Boomkat.com
"Autechre redefined the boundaries of electronica, through 'Incunabula'. With 'Theory of Machines', Frost has smashed those boundaries into a million little pieces."
-Boring Machines, UK
Simply awesome... Frost reminds us that minimalism was never just the polished sheen of Reich and Glass, but also the sweat and grime of Michael Gira's Swans... Truly brutal... A deeper, darker minimalism- menacing and claustrophobic... This is Arvo Pärt as arranged by Trent Reznor... Magnificent
-Wire Magazine, UK
"Sonic Youth softened guitar rock audiences, Lightning Bolt did the same for many punks, and Fennesz has shown the possibility for melody among noisenik laptoppers... if this is a list of noise artists that could permanently change how music listeners view the genre it may be time to add Ben Frost to it."
-Stylus Magazine, USA
"...The compositional complexity of Arvo Pärt and the sonic nothingness of Wolf Eyes...Yes, it is that good"
-Vice Magazine, USA
"Recalls the dense, relentlessness of the Swans... dynamic, expansive and epic... Like the sound of icebergs breaking slowly apart"
-Cyclic Defrost Magazine, Australia
"...Louder than any Rock 'n' Roll and much more likely to throw you off balance, this record makes you react physically in a literal sense, your stomach may ache, you might need to lie down... In a word, the most striking record that i have heard this year." * * * * *
- Morgunblaðið, Iceland
"Arresting and exquiste... A truly elemental creative force.. "
-Maryanne Hobbs, BBC Radio One
"I'm sure John Cage would approve... ranging from the bottom of an overpowering Tim Hecker guitar crackle canyon to the high atmosphere jetstreams of Eliane Radigue or a 12K Label type like Richard Chartier, Frost's Theory Of Machines has more depth than anything I've heard all year."
-Mapsadaisical Wordpress
Ben Frost: Theory Of Machines
From the ominous darkness and intensity of its opening moments, one might expect a death metal album to break out in an instant, but Theory of Machines is an album whose design is as symphonic as it is confrontational—the tempo doesn't pick up, no hooks or vocals arrive, and when the drums finally kick in they're as fragmented and corroded as they could possibly be and still resemble a groove.
In Theory of Machines, Ben Frost exploits every extreme of pitch, volume and timbre, the changes in this music sometimes seem as gradual as changes in the weather—and sometimes as violent. As the music changes it changes only in texture, colour and intensity so that the sense is not of something being created, altered or even developed, but of something already present being slowly illuminated. ''-Adapted from the liner notes by Daniel Johnson''
About Ben Frost
Theory of Machines is Frost’s first release for the Icelandic Bedroom Community Label. At 26 he has already released such critically-lauded works as 2003's guitar exploration LP, Steel Wound on the Room40 Label, which Pitchfork Media USA marked as ''"...An exemplary ambient experience"'', and the harrowing, self-titled 2005 opus School of Emotional Engineering, which Db Magazine called ''...An atmospheric masterpiece.''
In addition to his compositional work, Frost produces his work internationally in various forms including Gallery-based installations, scores commissioned for film, contemporary dance and multimedia productions (for the likes of The Icelandic Dance Company and as part of A/V installation collective Cicada) and collaborative works, remixes and productions for artists such as Björk, Steintryggur, Neotropic, Lawrence English, Stars Like Fleas and Ai Yamamoto.
Australian borne and a resident of Reykjavik Iceland, Ben Frost operates primarily in Greenhouse Studios in Reykjavik under the wing of producer and founder of the Bedroom Community's label/collective Valgeir Sigurðsson. Theory of Machines fully exploits the sonic resources of this unique environment with collaborators such as Valgeir and Sigtryggur Baldursson (The Sugarcubes).
An extensive overview of the work of Ben Frost is available at ethermachines
********** This myspace site is not 'artist run'. It is maintained by the Bedroom Community Label *******
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Frost: Steel Wound (2003)
School of Emotional Engineering: S/titled (2004)
Ben Frost: Theory of Machines (2006)
