- Multi-faceted dissertations from clubland's resident historian.
- "Tolmen," the lead track from Ben Murphy's latest EP as BufoBufo, is a bit of a head-scratcher. Murphy starts with loose Latin freestyle drum programming and a heart-on-sleeve synth line. But after an early breakdown, he adds a wailing diva vocal, a melodic 303 and a twinkling arpeggio. It's a strange historical thread—the cigarette and hair gel of 80s new wave morphing into the smiley-faced rave of the early '90s, before gently reshaping into dreamy second wave Detroit electro. If anyone can pull this sort of trans-temporal approach to club music off, it's Murphy, former editor of DJ Mag and co-author of a definitive history of drum & bass.
The history Murphy explores on Beezlebufo is early British rave culture, but he avoids pure retromania with subtle contemporary flourishes. The darkside Reese bass of "Ectoplasm" is offset with a high definition synth lead and sunbursting acid line, while "Sargassum" is retro breakbeat hardcore with the added polished chrome sound design of contemporary UK techno records. The electro track, "Devil Toad," sounds like an outlier with creeping synths and squeaking chords that dart across the drums—but Murphy also nods to UK club culture with a bassline that carries a hint of Bleep.
Although Murphy has been involved in dance music for nearly two decades, he only started putting out tunes in 2017. This lag time underlines the studied care that Murphy takes to making music. Each one of his records (released on his own Poison Ritual as well as powerhouses like Art of Dark and CABARET) feels like a miniature history lesson. But unlike your high school teacher, the material here is never sterile or overly academic. Instead, each track is a veritable lecture on 'aving it large.
Tracklist01. Tolman
02. Sargassum
03. Ectoplasm
04. Devil Toad