Ben Fleury-Steiner - The Places That Find You

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Customer reviews
Press release

4...according to our Mike on Thu 20 Oct, 2011.

Ambient drone music, eh? What's that all about anyway? We sell an awful lot of it, perhaps because it's so easy to hum along to. This is another of those records. You're probably reading this review because you like them and are considering investing in another one. Y'know, bvdub, Hawgood, Hardwick, Celer...all those lot. This'll no doubt tickle your grapes if you're into those. It's a very smooth and meditative listen, with rumbles and metallic washes and ethereal higher notes rubbing gently against one another in a way that may arouse some, but the over-sensitive could find a little uncomfortable. The tracks tend to build slowly with processed live sounds (there's some backwards stuff mixed in here, I'm almost certain) and electronics being the basis of these somnorous rumblings. On the flip-side things get a bit more mid-endy with some clanks and tinkles giving it more of a percussive feel than the flatter hums of the first side, but you're still in the same warm, deep territory, just a bit throbbier. Mastered by Taylor Deupree, so you know it's gonna sound how it's supposed to.

“First impressions pull closer, strings and fizzles fall, carrying you, reaching further and ending up in an all-new place. Time is simple and less than a moment, with the lasting habit of a worn-out keepsake but nonetheless you are still immediately there again, inside those open arms and a world you have always dreamed of.

In homage to minimalism and imagination, 'The Places That Find You' by Ben Fleury-Steiner embodies an ultimate trance, the ability to connect directly with the listener and the truth behind the feeling of music from the heart. Far away but incredibly close, the five tracks forming this album never return to the ordinary but move, invert and grow, through time-lapse expressions and faded visions.

Some listeners want to be transported to other places through music, whilst others hear the technical artistry and find inspiration to delve deeper into the creative process. Without any direction and by simply following your own natural instincts, 'The Places That Find You' is a guide that places you instantly, allowing each listener to find more, not only through the music but from inside themselves.” Will Long, September 2011

Ben Fleury-Steiner is a Delaware-based composer, published author and owner of the Gears Of Sand label. Drawing upon his deep love of minimalism and influenced by the work of Mirror, Jonathan Coleclough and Tim Hecker, 'The Places That Find You ' was recorded over a two year period between 2009 to 2011.

The recording process made use of a mixture of instrumentation, including the use of the kalimba (the traditional name for a thumb piano) and the various sounds produced when played in the manner of a prepared guitar, coupled with more modern electronic instruments including effects pedals and synths.

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