BEN BERTRAND - Relic Radiation
Of my first visit to Earth in 2024 I have only the fuzziest recollection, for here I must fall back on my own mnemonic resources. My chief impression seems to have been of sunlight, the authentic, inimitable sunlight of Earth. Organs that have evolved under particular conditions will naturally be most comfortable where those conditions obtain, and thus no substitute, however artful, can provide just those balances of colour and intensity, those alterations of night and day, summer and winter, hazy and clear, that our very cells will recognize, demand, and crave.
— from The Puppies Of Terra by Thomas M. Disch
The occasion of possibility runs through Ben Bertrand's new album Relic Radiation. It is all backdrops and layers. Hints of the emotive and the distant. Confronting the classical with what is new, looking for an expressive space. Melancholy, not melancholy. Contemplation on a midnight blizzard. Dust motes in a sunbeam. Sand dunes and microwaves.
Ever since 2018 and the release of his first solo album, Ben Bertrand has been working up his own interpretation of the bass clarinet as an instrument of the avant-garde. Touching upon ambient and cosmic as well as earthy sceneries, his is a gentle musical paradox come to life. Let go of explicit pleasantries, Relic Radiation is the polymathic interpretation of a frozen intercom, of a subdued intent of contact. The music is competent and familiar, distant without being distant. There is no predefined form or context here. It is a different kind of colour.
As musical moments and modi become enormous, things break down into exploration. On the crystal shores of perception, Relic Radiation leaves a lot of space for interpretation. It is never loud, although it works loud. An at times almost sequenced feel to treated and overdubbed bass clarinet and clarinet notes adds to a feeling of paradox. Every voice, every gesture indicates a way in. The electron is now an immeasurable wave.
Ben Bertrand previously released his album Manes (2020) on Stroom and Dokkaebi (2021) on les albums claus. Relic Radiation now subtly deepens the spectrum. It is a hands-on interface for probing into endlessness both inward and outward, personal and impersonal.
— Rafael Severi for Stroom
Biography
Ben Bertrand is a Belgian bass clarinetist and composer. With his instrument and countless machines, Ben creates his live sets with a hypnotic web of sounds. The world he presents is a fusion of diverse influences built around traditional and ancestral music, and even current electronic music. Ben Bertrand skillfully bridges the gap between extreme modernity and references to the past. Listening to his music is like sitting at the sea, watching a slow motion of our crazy lives sailing by.
Ben Bertrand toured in Europe (Rewire Festival, Cafe OTO, Ina GRM, Sonic Acts, ....). His music has been broadcasted on NTS, WFMU, BBC, France musique, … He released several LP’s on Stroom among other, he appears on several compilations (released on Ultra Eczema, Osàre! Editions, Flee Projects, ...). He collaborated with Christina Vantzou on her last album, N5, released on Kranky. His upcoming LP, Relic Radiation, will be released in April 2025 on Stroom.
