Rigmarole Colin Benders

Following in the footsteps of his vinyl-only debut EP, “Floaty Things”, electronics transcender and modular warlock Colin Benders clocks in on Hiss & Hertz with “Rigmarole”, a five-track odyssey ushering us amidst mazes of intricately woven improvisations, hectic rhythmic landslides and mood-enslaved machine talk.

Recorded during lockdown, like its predecessor, the album pledges to showcase the darker side of Benders’ live streams turned archival recordings, whilst shedding a broader light on his breadth of scope as a spur-of-the-moment conductor of highly demanding, circuit-bending symphonies of sorts.

A shape-shifting flow of unpredictable essence, flush with climactic flights, untamed divagations and further mind-expanding excursions into chaotic sound expanses, “Rigmarole” is the fruit of a philosophy and particular relationship with his steadily growing online audience, with whom he’s come to go full circle; from sharing his knowledge and approach towards modular expression in open-ended, non-formulaic fashion, onto stamping the result of his jamming sessions on black wax thanks to the continued support of his community. Comprised of five live-recorded joints spanning the widest array of styles, tempi and moods, “Rigmarole” is a magnetic field where Benders’ sound blooms in all its alchemical potency and spontaneous finesse. Via extended windows into his ever-resourceful headspace, Benders threads his way across brooding ambient scapes, sci-fi-indebted spaciousness and metronomic minimalism (“This Is Fine”), hi-octane, tribal-laced industrialism on a droney tip (“Wait”), stadium-sized arpeggiated techno (“What’s That Noise”), gritty basement thunder down your spine (“I Can’t Feel My Legs”) and wide-screen, cosmic-friendly exploratory wares (“Carry Me”) - somehow shaping a cohesive ensemble of music out of his all-embracing investigations in the realm of modular potentialities and live-told inspiration. Keeping you on the edge throughout, “Rigmarole” will be written down as a defining moment for Benders, an unpigeonholeable artist in constant search for the next thrill.