Frenchy’s Fracas

General Description
Artist/Band: Benny Sings
Album Title: Benny… At Home
Year: 2007

Funny, weird and Dutch..
 
How I Got Into This Music
Benny Sings is an incredible Dutch talent who also seems to be a one-man counter-culture. This band’s one of my last MTV discoveries, it’s a drag to watch that station nowadays (then again, I ain’t exactly in their demographics anymore, heheh..); from that I discovered the weird and fuzzy collaboration with Dutch DJ Rednose District, called Euh. This new album goes back to Benny’s previous interests: how to make a great pop album.

Album details at Artistdirect.com || Google Search for reviews of this album || Listen to the album at

Tracks that got my attention:
Coconut
Sweet intro, always lifts my mood . Delicate vocals, nice background percussion and the keyboards work fine too.

For Your Love
Uptempo Brazil beat, like the chorus and the bridge best.

Let Me In
Current single; can get a bit too repetitive for my nerves. Reminds me of other stuff he’s made in the past, Together from his Champange People album, to be exact. This track has reasonable airplay; wouldn’t be surprised if it’d be a hit here in Holland. Check out the video.

Feather
Heavy melancholy, combined with some light 10cc poppy-ness. Love it! Always get’s to my heart and soul. Check out all the weird effects going on in the background.

We’ll Make Lovesongs
Another one that reminds me a bit too much of his previous stuff. Love the effects halfway and near the end of the song. His vocals are utilised to the fullest production-wise, showing some well-needed diversity.

Blackberry Street ft. Urita
Return of the Casio pocket keyboard!! Heheh.. Miss Urita’s vocals are crisp and a nice addition to this track.

Over My Head
Don’t have the right reference for this track, but it’s almost Classic. Funny lyrics, very toned-down approach, love it!

Overnight
A bit more electronica on this one, good thing his vocals keep the song on the right track. Nice scratch/sample interlude.

All I’m Good For
Hmmm, must check my encyclopedia musicalis for this one, because I can’t think of the right name for the genre that’s being used here (is it Ragtime?). Very 70s feelgood, almost a Welcome Back feel (John Sebastian) to the whole thing; great track!

I Can’t Help Myself
Absolute Aerobics Music! It gets me all energized, hyped, and all that active stuff.

Conclusion
Hmm, prefer his previous works Champagne People and I Love You. This album doesn’t go anywhere and sounds a bit too much like the aforementioned albums. For the record: I think this guy is one of the most interesting and talented Dutch musicians ever and I think this style and approach to (producing) music will get him international recognition. Benny Sings has a bit of Steely Dan’s charm and quality, but he’s less anal about Perfection, thankgod. Maybe some people are glad he returned to this type of music after the excursion to Meta-Weirdness with Rednose, but this album lacks progression. So, I love it, but less than I expected.
But you know what? I think this guy’s gonna keep on doing what he likes or thinks is interesting, not paying that much attention to what other people think about his work. That’s what really distinguishes Benny Sings from a large number of entertainers.

Rating: (Always keep an eye/ear on this guy)

Share This

General Info
Festival: NuMoonFest
Location: Lantaren/Venster, Rotterdam
When: 9/10 December 2006

What’s it about?
Well, read about the festival here. It’s an interesting combo of different styles of jazz, electronic music, etc. and also movie documentaries. It’s my first visit, but it’s definitely a great experience! Was there with me mates, Hieronymus Fox and DenDen.

Day 1 (09-DEC)
Hazy recollection, it’s the apfelkorn and sleep deprivation, bare with me Enjoyed a nice set by Belgian band Sweet Coffee, but was very much impressed by young Dutch talent Jeruma. The guy has a great voice!
The main attraction of the evening for me was that crazy combo of ultimate weirdness: Benny Sings with Rednose District. Awesome performance, played a lot of stuff I like of their album. These guys were a bit too mellow sometimes, chatting with each other and almost neglecting the audience, but hey, they’re Superstars (at least, here in Holland). I didn’t mind that too much coz when they connected with the audience, it was very good stuff!
This evening’s closing act: C-Mon and Kypski. Wow! These guys are funny and off-beat combining all possible styles of music and instrumentation. Much, much better than the stuff I heard on their myspace site.

Day 2 (10-DEC)
Slow start of the evening, still a bit hung over, but all for a good cause, heheh.. First surprise of the evening: Miss Sabrina Starke, damn! A very young and talented soul singer who for sure will mature into a songstress in the near future. At this moment she sounds a bit like Randy Crawford (but with more depth) and that’s quite an achievement! Dutch singer Corey was performing on another stage at the same time, but she really lost out to Starke.
Next on the menu: Monsieur Dubois, a Dutch jazz band with great musicians and a groovy modern feel. Great performance, but after ten minutes, Hieronymus Fox told me we should go listen to the best thing happening during this festival: Leslie Nielsen!! Nope, not the actor, but a small three-piece band with excellent musicians. These guys work hard, very very hard to entertain their audience and seem to have fun in doing so. They were playing at the same time as Monsieur Dubois and again the smaller stage drew the largest crowd. Lady Sherma did a coupla tracks on (guest) vocals and totally blew the roof off the place!

Final performance by Briskey was interesting: a Moloko/Portishead hybrid with incredibly motivated musicians - liked the lady doing the vocals: she dominated the stage with her presence.

Conclusion
It’s safe to say that for me, this festival was a great experience: listening to artists trying something different, something new. And listening to musicians I never heard of before offers both rewards and annoyances (Nelson & Djosa). So, yep, it was highly enjoyable!

Rating:

Share This

General Description
Artist/Band: Benny Sings Rednose District
Album Title: Euh
Year: 2006

Dutch beats and weirdness!
 
How I Got Into This Music
Saw a video clip of Benny Sings, I really liked the song, but.. I kept forgetting the name of the performer, silly me. Annoyance can also lead to results coz after a while I finally wrote down the name and started scanning for some material. Found this album, thinking that Rednose District’d be the title of the album, even sillier me.. This is a collaboration between two mellow DJ’s and one great vocalist.

Benny Sings at MySpace

Tracks that got my attention:
Beat 1
Sometimes funny sometimes seriously annoying - like the idea of using samples from almost every Hanna-Barbera TV animation series.

B.E.N.N.Y.S.I.N.G.S.R.E.D.N.O.S.E.D.I.S.T.R.I.C.T.
Another mixed feelings track: the catchy beat combined with catchy but sometimes very annoying vocals and keyboards

ABCDEFG
I was kinda getting worried at the beginning of this track. I wondered if the whole album would be so potentially annoying, but the simplistic lyrics of this song are saved by the great vocals and tight production

Miss Moral
Ok, now we’re cooking! Excellent track, the tech-lullaby theme combined with multi-track vocals are incredible, love this one!

Freedom
Remember Chris Rea’s “On The Beach”? The intro and chorus kinda reminds me of that song. Like it..

Ready To Rock
Man, I wish I was behind a turntable again, spinning discs coz I’m seriously curious if this track’d work. I love the hard tech sounds and beats, love the bass part even better! Reminds me of a track by Ween: Transitions

Oohweeooh (The May Songs)
Another walk-in-the-park track

Common Yall
Love the samples and keyboards!

Feel Like Comin’ Up
The mellowest of shit..

Conclusion
It’s frigging great to discover new stuff, especially when it’s in an area I almost never pay attention to: Dutch productions. I like this kind of surprise..
I’m not sure if it’s just the novelty that got my attention, don’t think so. This stuff oozes professional mucking about and still having fun. And that’s refreshing!

Rating: (just skip the first two tracks..)

Share This