Benedikt Frey

German house/techno producer Benedikt Frey likes to challenges DJs and dancers alike with writhing unpredictable tracks, with the aim to push against the boundaries of functional and safe dance music. Although he had been producing for five years previously, his career upped a notch in 2015 upon releasing five separate records, among those Ghosts best demonstrates his penchant for shambling groove. From there his productions went from strength to strength, culminating in a full-length album in 2018, Artificial, which abandoned club sensibility in favor of low-slung chugging rhythms. Frey's debut single, 2010's Escape/Indica, saw a low-key release on Aldebaran, causing him to step back for a couple of years to further his craft. Upon his return in 2012 Frey had amassed a wealth of material, which he spread across three labels: releasing Fairytale on Mule Electronics, Running in Circles on Live at Robert Johnson, and Delinquencies, the latter of which he released through his newly minted record label Love Pain Sunshine Rain (aka Lopasura). Frey once again stored most of his music for a further two years, springing back in 2015 with another barrage of records; amongst them were his breakthrough EP Ghosts on Crème Organization and a full-length album, 2015's Two Pole Resonance, recorded as INIT in collaboration with Nadia D'Alo and released via Hivern Discs. Frey released his debut EP for ESP Institute in 2016, titled The Lobbyist, before going on to release his debut solo album, 2017's Artificial, on the same label. He spent two years recording the album, deciding to veer away from a record full of high tempo tracks, instead delivering a broader take on his ramshackle productions, partly inspired by industrial music. The remix EP for Artificial followed in 2018, featuring producers such as I:Cube, Tolouse Low Trax, and DJ Normal. ~ Liam Martin