The Unicorn Lives

Having a penchant for silly things like unicorns is more common than you might think. If memory serves, I think that’s how I discovered insane band Gay Against You long ago, whose song ‘Gay Unicorn’ brought me endless joy (and still does). Nowadays Joe Howe has moved away from the high-pitched exuberant glee of that band and is making some spacier, deeper, but still crazy songs in their own right. Joined by Bastian Hagedorn, Joe now creates clumsy, fun and unpredictable messy electronics by the name Ben Butler & Mousepad, splitting their time between Berlin and Edinburgh. I think they are resigned to the idea that “more is more”, as every part of their songs are filled with silly synth wobbles, patchy drum beats and shattering stabs of higher notes.

They have some darker, denser songs like ‘Electric Bamber Boo’, where moogs battle over dance beats with the persistent, unbridled energy of Disasteradio, but I prefer the typically more light-hearted fare like ‘Hum Ghar Sajan’ and the friendly, bendy ‘High Life’.

Their output is varied – ‘Supermotion’ manages to sound both retrospective and futuristic, with its gleaming synths and shuddering bassline, replete with decorative keyboard swipes. And the mutant collage that is ‘Formed For Fantasy’ reminds me of parts of Jonny Greenwood’s epic Bodysong.

BB&M’s multi-pronged songs feel like they’re piecing apart your brain and replacing old memories of sounds with new ones. They’ve worked on a synth opera, and released an EP that was recorded using only analog vintage synths. Their latest, debut album Formed For Fantasy, is available for pre-order from their Tumblr, and will be out on London’s LOAF records.

Ben Butler & Mousepad- Future Tent: MP3

Ben Butler & Mousepad- Bandcamp

 

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Berlin, Edinburgh, Germany, Scotland, UK
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