Though we haven’t heard a full-length album album from him since 2009’s jawdropping By The Throat, Ben Frost has poured time and energy into enough projects to warrant the “scenius” distinction coined by his former mentor Brian Eno: a central figure within a “whole ecology of ideas that give rise to good new thoughts and good new work.” Within the last two years alone, Frost has collaborated on film soundtracks, produced acclaimed records, directed and scored an adaptation of Iain Banks’ The Wasp Factory, and assembled a powerhouse live ensemble with Greg Fox and Shahzad Ismaily — musicians who will most likely figure into his unannounced forthcoming solo work (*droooools*). While we pine for news on this pup, which admittedly biased but also not-to-be-fucked-with co-producer and Swans member Thor Harris has called the “greatest record of our time,” we Frost fanatics can find solace in other sterling examples of his scenius: four soundtracks that recently appeared on the composer’s Bandcamp page, comprising more than two hours of previously un-or-barely-available music made for film and drama between 2010 and 2012.
Even out of their original contexts, Frost’s compositions contain enough detail and gravitas to spark dead-serious cinematic reveries in your own brainspace. The four soundtracks share the sonic trademarks that made his solo albums so killer: unpredictable decisions in instrumentation and production style, roomshakingly high-fidelity industrial noise and sub-bass frequencies, a dynamic sense of structure and development across relatively short track lengths. Put on Black Marrow and face down the same wolves that terrorized your internal landscape on By The Throat. Find much beauty and very little sleep in the miniatures and the culminating title track of Sleeping Beauty. Wonder, based on FAR’s inspired showcases and manipulations of the female voice, how much influence Frost has derived from Iceland’s finest since he moved to the country in 2005. Follow The Invisibles’ prepared piano and low-end drones on a journey through uneasy territory.
You can stream all of these soundtracks below, or fork up the well-deserved funds for your own digital copies. We’ll keep all ears and eyes out for an update on new Frost material.
• Ben Frost: http://www.ethermachines.com
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