[i:Vibes] Benjamin Bates - Music Nobody Likes e.p. [Big & Dirty]

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Benjamin Bates - Music Nobody Likes e.p. [Big & Dirty]

19:10 - March 19, 2006

by Dreej

Be Yourself Music's house stable brings us two slick clubby housetunes by Benjamin Bates, featured on a vinyl which mysteriously contains two B-sides instead of the usual A and B order. Want to know what that is all about? Then head in...

With last year's summer smasher 'Whole' and the more recent 'The Manimal / 16' EP, mister Bates showed that he's able as ever to create true floorfillers with an always inventive, interesting touch coming with them.
The story behind the double B-side is actually that Benjamin was just bored by the ever returning A/AA or A/B order, so he decided to do things a little differently and just release two B-sides. Don't start thinking that 'Shelter' and 'Off' are two fillers though, 'cause quite the opposite is true...

B-side: Shelter
Right from the start, it becomes clear that this tune is influenced by a range of styles. Subtly building housey percussion is being led onwards by wicked electro-ish effects, with a simple bit of catchy, clean basses and multiple neat drum tricks doing their thing to back up the rest. The cool thing here is that the simple bass parts from the beginning slowly unfold to become a superbly catchy rhythm, magnifying the electro-ish vibe while being combined with weird, inventive FX and an ever rumbling bit of percussion. A tight breakdown introduces another infectious lil' riff gently playing along the lines of the rest of the track, sounding very original together with the bassy madness that we we're treated with earlier. This has massive dancefloor potential gleaming all over it with its very staight-forward feel and hum-along melodies. Top quality house!
Rating: 8/10

BB-side: Off
While this one could be typified as house as well, it has a totally different atmosphere and structure compared with the B-side (see how confusing this is?). A superbly clean, simple bit of percussion filled with snare-like sounds gets things going at first, kind of giving away a somewhat slow feel near the start. Don't be fooled by this though! While building up, this track gains a truly immense amount of drive, using a continuously repeating yet amazingly infectious high synth, which sounds simple at first sight but somehow has the ability to make this tune a spontaneous 'I have to shake my hips' affair when it bursts out for the first time. Multiple breaks filled with spoken, weirdly vocoded vocals have been implemented, just for the track to showcase its amazing ability to totally rock your socks off afterwards. 'Off' is an unbelievably fresh sounding corker of a house tune!
Rating: 8,5/10

Conclusion:
A man whose initials correspond with the two B-sides on this EP has brought us two amazingly groovy, fresh slices of house which will definitely be caned by a wide array of jocks during the coming months. 'Shelter' has a more accessable feel coming with it, combining catchy rhythms with this cool electro-housey structure. 'Off' uses its looped synths and pumping percussion to great effect, resulting in a true dancefloor bomb.
If you fancy house with a special flavour, try this.