Ben Arp- 2010 in 3 Parts

Artist: Ben Arp

CD title: 2010 in 3 parts

Label: Crunch Pod

Genre: Electro

Website: https://www.benarp.com

Reviewer: Steve Fearon

Date: 16/02/11

This EP is available to download for free here: https://www.benarp.com/?page_id=4

Ben Arp has been involved in Industrial and Alternative Electronic Music since the 90's, most famously with the popular industrial act C/A/T.

2010 in 3 parts is a much more introspective, and shoe-gazing affair than fans of C/A/T might expect, with a more down-tempo approach to electronic music.

In fact, the general feel is of a slightly more lo-fi production style, almost a 'back to basics' style EP, which strips away the distortion, excessive percussion and noise of Industrial, to leave a purely melodical and instrumental trio of songs.

However, that is not to say that there isn't some fire in the belly of the Ben Arp solo project, as EP opener 'The Chaos' comes swinging out of the blocks, using a nice lead tonality and simple but powerful melody to really drive the groove nicely.

There are comparisons to Daft Punk, and Fischerspooner that can be made due to quirkiness of some of the tracks, and certainly there are cinematic qualities to the tracks that would emulate the recent attempts of the former.

(A video for the track 'The Surrender' can be found here :https://www.benarp.com/?p=47)

There aren't any conventional stand out tracks as such, which hampers the EP a little, but perhaps that is me missing the point of what Ben Arp is trying to do, and falling back on conventional clichés of what a record should be. This is perhaps meant to be seen and heard slightly differently.

This is certainly an interesting direction for Ben Arp to take, and '2010 in 3 Parts' is an intriguing offering indeed, and certainly considering the fact it is free to download, it would be silly to not give it a try.

Overall, whilst not necessarily an instant classic, there are some interesting ideas and grooves on this little EP, so i recommend you check it out!

7/10