Josh Benash - The Body Light [EP] (2015-2016)

4/13/16 2:00PM

Only a few weeks away now.



4/8/16 6:30AM


Vinyl Preorder which includes some Vuvuzela tracks!

3/10/16



The Body Light is an upcoming new EP from Josh Benash, which he was kind of enough to send me to check out early, before the May 3rd, 2016 release date.

Josh's last record, Stasis, from 2014 I liked a good amount, along with his 1st solo record The Dismal; The Beautiful from 2012 I also enjoyed a number of songs from.

Quirky, experimental, humorous, extreme and bombastic. And genre-bending/blending are many of the elements of his previous work.

I'm just sampling some of this tonight, and will try and add more perhaps tomorrow. Some of this sounds rather soundtrack-like, which Josh actually has also done some soundtrack work actually (an independent horror film titled Bleeding Hearts for example, and a number of others are listed on his imdb page here), so that doesn't surprise me.

Also, among the many artists I've been trying to feature on YouTube, I likely will try and make a video about Kiss Kiss and Vuvuzela as well as his solo music hopefully soon. Perhaps around the time of the release date of this new EP on May 3rd, on Motor Oat Records.

I imagine it'll be posted for stream and download, likely on his bandcamp page and on soundcloud, so I'll have to bump and include those links when they show up as well.

edit: So I've checked this out a couple of times now and this among his best work, although not a huge departure as it has the quirky, waltzy, circus-like tones and sarcastic lyrics and vocal personality. There's some nice female vocals that contrast well with Josh's voice (on the last 2 tracks,"Swim in the Blood" for one, I wonder if the title is a reference to Elizabeth Bathory? and "Extinction on Our Lungs.").

A lot of use of vocal distortion on this EP, which Josh Benash's music certainly has used, but maybe more prominently here. The title track I'm thinking of namely.

The final song "Extintion on Our Lungs" is sublime at times. The both melancholy yet beautiful ending which many of his records seem to have.





1. a moon by my side 4:01
2. the body light 2:46
3. prelude to pitchforks 3:00
4. swim in the blood 2;14
5. extinction on our lungs 3:56

Josh Benash - Stasis (2014)

1. And I'm Told 4:08
2. Soul Eyes 3:36
3. You Are Being Killed and We Do Not Care 0:59
4. For Two Weeks (You've Been Happy) 3:26
5. Will You Shine 3:11
6. Every Time I Close My Eyes All I Hear is Lil' Kim Screaming 0:47
 7. Your Word 3:19
8. Holy Holy Holy; Round and Round and Round 5:34

I wanted to wait and give this album another listening or two before going into *initial* detail, but what the hell, my schedule is so screwed up and unreliable with time, I'll go ahead and do it now.

This album is being released on August 12th (Facebook), but I was lucky enough to be sent a copy early to review.

Josh Benash, who is known for not only his debut LP from 2012 The Dismal; The Beautiful , but also his great current band Vuvuzela and awesome ex-band Kiss Kiss, is back again with another crazy collection of tunes.

Some of my early favorites are "And I'm Told,"  "Soul Eyes" and especially "For Two Weeks (You've Been Happy)." That track is odd with the tempo and the way Josh goes from his sort of Alfalfa-style falsetto (in a good/charming way), to his deeper contrasting vocals. But it leads to some really nice, simplistic, dreamy sections that even leave an ear-worm that if it doesn't appeal to you right away, may grow on you. And I can't help but like and relate in a lot of ways to the line "All I Want to doooooooo, is WATCH MY TV!!!"

Electronics, layers of vocal chanting, ambient textures, manipulated speeds of vocal recording, quirky, humorous twists and dynamic mood changes happen throughout this album.

There's a fair amount of dreamy, almost hypnotic moments. There's also a bit of acoustic sections, even what may be harp which I probably think of Vuvuzela for of course.

I am getting a sense of maturity and less-is-more from this album. Although every record Josh seems to make is of the shorter length, but I guess given how much I found The Dismal; The Beautiful more hit and miss, this record seems to last almost the right length and I am getting the sense it's best heard all at once.

"Stasis" I suspect refers to being under stasis as a medical stasis. So, perhaps Josh wrote some if not all of the music here from the perspective of someone whose hospitalized or at least is more or less confined to being in one place, perhaps indefinitely. Which sounds potentially horrifying or at least sad potentially. But, with Josh's dark almost black sense of humor, it doesn't come across so bleak.

It's odd how with each thing Josh does, he seems to do new different things, yet still remind you its him.

This album is about 1/3 more straight forward songs, and maybe 1/3 more slow tempo, atmospheric mood pieces and 1/3 of his odd quirky numbers. But it still is rather cohesive.

I would say it's only issue could be it leaves me wanting more or even just rather curious what may come in the future from Josh. He has consistently impressed me, which is why I still regard him as one of my favorite songwriters actively writing and making music currently.