Furlines

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I'm a big fan of the recent Kit Clayton/Safety Scissors Ping Pong EP,and the whole concept of two electronic musicians bouncing ideas back and forth, catching, mutating, and running with an idea before volleying it back.

This seems to be the idea that Douglas Benford and Ben Edwards have been playing with for the past few years. Under the guises of Si-cut.db and Benge, respectively, they both record as solo artists, yet come together to create something all together different as Tennis partners.

Very organic and warm, confident in it's stride, multiple elements careen and slowly richochet off each other, bouncing along in a wonderful slow robot groove. Analog blips dance with fuzzy melodies and shuffling rhythms, all shaped and carressed by deep resonant bass.

Beginning with an electronic excursion to an idylic day in the countryside, playful tones cajole and gambol with each other through pixelated spring meadows in 'Inedible Doormouse'. 'Bat Too Far' takes a strident low bass trek into deep digital territory, continued further by the fluid mid-afternoon sprawl of 'Vole Shapes' and the time-lapse dub of 'Pine Martin Eden'. 'Bad Hare Day' leads the rest of the tracks into yet further bitscapes - sparse, static-infused liquid headspaces to immerse yourself in. Really well put together, soft and languid, not a sound out of place, it's a cd i find myself constantly returning to.

CD2 comes as a nice additional perk - 15 re-interpretations of tracks from the first Tennis CD 'Europe On Horseback' by a very well selected team of remixers including a standout track by Taylor Deupree, a pulsing, living sound form by Kim Cascone, abstract beats and sound art by BitTonic, the hypnotic scrolling of Pimmon, and the painful genius of CK Dexter Haven.

Wonderful stuff by all involved and well worth picking up.