Broken Spectre
by Ben Frost
will dickinson
will dickinson
There's a terrible feeling of waiting that pervades this record. Waiting for change, waiting to strike, waiting for something to end. While we wait, someone else acts. The music makes this abundantly clear.
Sickening, caustically beautiful, and sad beyond measure. Favorite track: The Intensive Care Unit.
Sickening, caustically beautiful, and sad beyond measure. Favorite track: The Intensive Care Unit.
Jonathon Tomlinson
Jonathon Tomlinson
I watched the film that this accompanies this evening at 180 Stand (London) sitting on the floor of the darkened basement while images of Ben and Richard's journey into the heart of darkness played on 4 wide screens. I watched held hostage by scenes of horror, interspersed with the psychedelic beauty of microflora on ultraviolet film. listening at home (too lazy and impatient to play the vinyl) the images - flash backs - are triggered by the sounds. Best listened to very loud,
Dano Williams
Dano Williams
This album, while mostly successful, is only one part of the larger Broken Spectre project documenting the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Seek out Richard Mosse's book. It is truly spectacular, heartbreaking, and terrifying.
Stephen Steinkirch
oneyedummy
_joel_135
mobius faith
Ms. D.O.S. aka SquirrelGirl
Cordovera
maya hardinge
Stijn Vanmarsenille
hejl
nico`wari
Gammelernst
Ehule
Sean Wolfe
maarten_langhendries
Zach
Julia, Teresa, Yo
Brad
Gilberto Agostinho
Sean C
takumi_o
Avantwhatever
mlamberg
Doug Bolden
martynicon
Graham Anderson
Miller Peterson
404
Simon Burdett
Cinik
Citizen Insane
daryljamieson
jonasmigas
wc_helmets
seek:id
Chris SSG
dan lander
Todd Freeberg
yeayeaitsallgood
Mikael Persson
Empty Scott
wahn
duncan speakman
desnos
Keith Quick
tbm
Mark Simpkins
Ernst Karel
Rich Hughes
n.zk.z.zkk.t
Petr Studeny
Paul Tucker
noemibuchi
Joris Perdieus
Jay Pee Bee
curious shapes
Kurt Jensen
Robert Szkolnicki
ljuxx
rmoodycom
cnevin4
-
Streaming + DownloadIncludes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Purchasable with gift card
€10 EUR or more
1. |
||||
2. |
The Index
05:30
|
|||
3. |
Love In A Colder Climate
04:32
|
|||
4. |
The Burning World
05:11
|
|||
5. |
Passport To Eternity
02:58
|
|||
6. |
The Intensive Care Unit
05:20
|
|||
7. |
The Garden of Time
05:53
|
|||
8. |
Cry Hope, Cry Fury
06:16
|
|||
9. |
The Killing Ground
02:39
|
|||
10. |
Low Flying Aircraft
04:12
|
|||
11. |
A Guide To Virtual Death
07:08
|
|||
12. |
The Crystal World
04:13
|
about
“Over the past 3 years, Richard Mosse, Trevor Tweeten and myself traversed the Amazon documenting its destruction. The results of that documentation would eventually become Richard’s new film Broken Spectre.
During that period I witnessed fires so vast they blacked out the sun. I watched illegal-loggers fell 700 year-old trees, and heard the unnerving silence of the forest that followed. I saw mercury poisoning rivers, and vast swathes of forest decimated for the promise of a few flecks of gold by young miners illegally seeking their fortune in Indigenous territories. I recorded volunteer veterinarians treating third degree burns on the paws of an anesthetised Jaguar; injuries inflicted by emboldened ranchers seeking to produce more beef for export on the smoldering remains of her wetland home. All because ‘man shall have dominion’.
To witness this systematic destruction firsthand was to travel back in time, and reflect upon the scarred landscapes of Europe, the US and particularly for me; Australia. It is a safe bet that wherever you are reading this, there was not long ago a vast forest reaching out above you and as far as the eye can see, vast ecosystems erased and buried under concrete. We live in a post-apocalyptic landscape. Our complicity in the ongoing destruction of the Amazon is undeniable and to save it what is required is nothing less than a tectonic shift in perspective and urgent, radical support of the people of Brazil to preserve what remains of that which we have failed to protect ourselves.
This album is ultimately a document of failure. A failure of our democracies, a failure of political will, a failure of imagination, and creatively, my own failure to communicate through sound the vast scale of the Amazon and the ongoing damage inflicted upon it by the policies of Jair Bolsonaro. This album is an indictment of his regime, but also of ourselves. It is a witness statement, an artwork born inside an artwork that draws upon a continuously inspiring, decade-long collaboration with Richard and Trevor, and is my best attempt at a tribute to the natural world from which it came and in that regard it may well be one of my better ones.”
During that period I witnessed fires so vast they blacked out the sun. I watched illegal-loggers fell 700 year-old trees, and heard the unnerving silence of the forest that followed. I saw mercury poisoning rivers, and vast swathes of forest decimated for the promise of a few flecks of gold by young miners illegally seeking their fortune in Indigenous territories. I recorded volunteer veterinarians treating third degree burns on the paws of an anesthetised Jaguar; injuries inflicted by emboldened ranchers seeking to produce more beef for export on the smoldering remains of her wetland home. All because ‘man shall have dominion’.
To witness this systematic destruction firsthand was to travel back in time, and reflect upon the scarred landscapes of Europe, the US and particularly for me; Australia. It is a safe bet that wherever you are reading this, there was not long ago a vast forest reaching out above you and as far as the eye can see, vast ecosystems erased and buried under concrete. We live in a post-apocalyptic landscape. Our complicity in the ongoing destruction of the Amazon is undeniable and to save it what is required is nothing less than a tectonic shift in perspective and urgent, radical support of the people of Brazil to preserve what remains of that which we have failed to protect ourselves.
This album is ultimately a document of failure. A failure of our democracies, a failure of political will, a failure of imagination, and creatively, my own failure to communicate through sound the vast scale of the Amazon and the ongoing damage inflicted upon it by the policies of Jair Bolsonaro. This album is an indictment of his regime, but also of ourselves. It is a witness statement, an artwork born inside an artwork that draws upon a continuously inspiring, decade-long collaboration with Richard and Trevor, and is my best attempt at a tribute to the natural world from which it came and in that regard it may well be one of my better ones.”
credits
released December 5, 2022
Mastered by Christian Wright at Abbey Road Studios
Broken Spectre was recorded on location in remote parts of the Amazon Basin along the BR-230 Trans-Amazonian Highway in the Brazilian states of Rondônia, Amazonas and Pará, as well as along the BR-163 (the ’soybean highway’) in Mato Grosso.
Further recordings originate from Yanomami Territory and Munduruku
Territory; on the Amazon, Crepori, Madeira, Pastaza, São Lourenço, Tapajos, Uraricoera, and Xingu rivers; as well as in the Pantanal wetlands, the capital city Brasilia, and the Llanganates–Sangay Ecological Corridor in Ecuador.
Audio was captured using a combination of a quarter inch analogue tape and an untrasonic recording system desgned to capture ultra-high frequency sound, undetectable by the human ear. This frequency spectrum, repitched several octaves lower so as to be audible, reveals the hidden communications of bats, birds and insects. Over 90% of the animal biomass in the rainforest communicates at wavelengths beyond the range of human hearing.
Broken Spectre, made between 2018 and 2022, is a collaboration between photographer Richard Mosse, cinematographer Trevor Tweeten, and composer Ben Frost. The project was co-commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, VIA Art Fund and the Westridge Foundation, and by Serpentine Galleries. Additional support provided by Collection SVPL and Jack Shainman Gallery.
Design by Loose Joints Studio
Artwork by Richard Mosse
© ℗ 2022 Ben Frost under licence to Vinyl Factory Productions Ltd
Mastered by Christian Wright at Abbey Road Studios
Broken Spectre was recorded on location in remote parts of the Amazon Basin along the BR-230 Trans-Amazonian Highway in the Brazilian states of Rondônia, Amazonas and Pará, as well as along the BR-163 (the ’soybean highway’) in Mato Grosso.
Further recordings originate from Yanomami Territory and Munduruku
Territory; on the Amazon, Crepori, Madeira, Pastaza, São Lourenço, Tapajos, Uraricoera, and Xingu rivers; as well as in the Pantanal wetlands, the capital city Brasilia, and the Llanganates–Sangay Ecological Corridor in Ecuador.
Audio was captured using a combination of a quarter inch analogue tape and an untrasonic recording system desgned to capture ultra-high frequency sound, undetectable by the human ear. This frequency spectrum, repitched several octaves lower so as to be audible, reveals the hidden communications of bats, birds and insects. Over 90% of the animal biomass in the rainforest communicates at wavelengths beyond the range of human hearing.
Broken Spectre, made between 2018 and 2022, is a collaboration between photographer Richard Mosse, cinematographer Trevor Tweeten, and composer Ben Frost. The project was co-commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, VIA Art Fund and the Westridge Foundation, and by Serpentine Galleries. Additional support provided by Collection SVPL and Jack Shainman Gallery.
Design by Loose Joints Studio
Artwork by Richard Mosse
© ℗ 2022 Ben Frost under licence to Vinyl Factory Productions Ltd
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
Ben Frost
The music of Ben Frost is about contrast; influenced as much by Classical Minimalism as by Punk Rock and Metal, Frost's throbbing guitar-based textures emerge from nothing and slowly coalesce into huge, forbidding forms that often eschew conventional structures in favor of the inevitable unfoldings of vast mechanical systems. ... more
shows
-
Apr 26Krems, Austria
-
May 10Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
-
May 16Hamburg, Germany
-
May 17Warsaw, Poland
-
May 19Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine
-
Jun 14Athens, Greece
discography
-
Mar 2024 -
Nov 2023 -
May 2023 -
Mar 2023
contact / help
If you like Ben Frost, you may also like:
-
Everywhere at the end of time
by The Caretakersupported by 72 fans who also own “Broken Spectre”
Actually astounding and emotionally moving, creating a community that I have been proudly a part of for 2 years
go to album -
supported by 71 fans who also own “Broken Spectre”
Tim Hecker again beautifully building and deconstructing sounds. This is anticlimax music that makes you work for that ease and comfort. Great representation of life in so many aspects
go to album -
Promises
by Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra -
ILLUSION OF SAFETY & Z'EV
by ILLUSION OF SAFETY & Z'EVA potent sound collage from 2008-2012 by experimental titans Illusion of Safety and Z'ev.
go to album -
Introspection / Migration
by J.H. GurajItalian enigma Dominique Vaccaro approaches avant-garde jazz from a guitar-driven, electro-acoustic perspective.
go to album -
CM_30 (Music for a performance by Kolja Huneck)
by MachinefabriekOriginally written to accompany a juggling performance, “CM_30” stands on its own as a collection of beautiful electronic compositions.
go to album -
supported by 54 fans who also own “Broken Spectre”
Burial fully realises the ambient aspects of his work that he has been leaning towards over the past few years. Whether you like it or not, you can't deny that this is undeniably Burial.
go to album
