Adventure
Weird Work
Release Date: Apr 29, 2013
Genre(s): Electronic, Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Club/Dance, Indie Electronic
Record label: Carpark Records
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Album Review: Weird Work by Adventure
Fairly Good, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 7/10
Now that Benny Boeldt (aka Adventure) has gotten chipwave and chillwave out of his system, the Maryland-via-South Carolina instrumentalist is free to focus on the more textural and subtle aspects of synthetic music on Weird Work, his third LP. Crafting eight traversing instrumentals, Boeldt abandons the genre-sculpted absurdities of his Wham City cohorts for something resembling a straight-faced post-IDM record. Allowing his work to adopt a less-structured mould, tracks like the standout, Aphex Twin-esque "Laser Blast" and instructional-video-gone-funky "Constantly" possess unobtainable melodies and peripatetic rhythms.
Based on rating 7/10
Adventure's Benny Boeldt has been no stranger to change over the course of his career, moving from his debut's chiptune naiveté to Lesser Known's chillwave-leaning pop. On Weird Work, he borrows a bit from each approach and still manages to sound fairly different than where he's been before, stretching and twisting his 8-bit palette into tracks that would make for very strange video game soundtracks indeed. Songs such as "Laser Blast" are tense and playful at the same time, topping a frantic beat with synth tones that suggest the cutest ray gun ever.
Based on rating 6/10
Adventure’s Benny Boeldt may be as well known as part of Baltimore’s Wham City Arts Collective as he is anywhere. The connection led to a split recording with fellow Wham City Arts collaborator Dan Deacon in 2009, released on Carpark, who’ve been releasing his music since 2008. His most blatant influence comes from retro video games and the Sega Genesis catalogue in particular, validating the artistry of video games and their wider influence.
Based on rating C+
Adventure is the Baltimore based project of (solo artist) Benny Boeldt best described as computer music with a sense of humor. An achievement reached by straddling the fence of the IDM (“Intellectual Dance Music”) and chiptune (vintage arcade samples) movements, creating a frenetic brand of electronic music that is neither too pretentious nor too obnoxious. Weird Work is less synthesized and more nuanced than their previous works; a refreshing move since there’s plenty of diversity to hear.
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