Album Review: The Centre Cannot Hold by Ben Frost

An image search for Ben Frost will pull up more than a couple photos of the Icelandic-by-way-of-Australia experimental composer.

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The work of Ben Frost has always had a visceral edge. The Australian producer, based currently in Iceland, has displayed a wide range of sounds and influences within his experimental electronic music, ranging from minimal electronic to neo-classical and from drone music to black metal. This mixture has resulted in a number of successful releases, with By the Throat and Aurora standing out in particular.

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Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. Thus goes Irish poet W B Yeats.

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Ben Frost focuses on what most would consider the cracks or mistakes in modern production — buzzing, hissing, feedback, distortion — and amplifies them to sculpt his own unique sound world. His music collects at the vertices of noise, electronic, avant-garde and minimalism. His latest work, The Centre Cannot Hold, was recorded by the legendary Steve Albini, known for raw but huge sounds in rock, punk, grunge, and it complements Frost nicely throughout.   "Threshold of Faith" works well as the explosive opening track (as it did on its ….

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In June 2010, when Ben Frost announced his year-long mentorship with Brian Eno, the match-up may have appeared curious. Following a stint with Coldplay and a gospel album with David Byrne, Eno had recently co-produced U2.

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