 The music made during New Order's fantastic streak in the 1980s often carried a tragic, crestfallen tone-- understandable results for a band that emerged from Joy Division's still-fresh remains. But that large period of the band's work contains a euphoric feeling of escapism as well; it's still too easy, after all, to put on a song like "Bizarre Love Triangle" or "This Time of Night" and lose yourself to a place of limitless bliss. It's that electronic escapism that flushes the cheeks of Baltimore-based electronic musician Benny Boeldt's sophomore effort as Adventure, Lesser Known. From the syncopated pulse of aptly named opener "Open Door", it's impossible not to draw comparisons to Sumner and co., as well as the best of the best 80s British synth-pop acts. Unlike the frequent blockiness of new wave, though, Lesser Known sounds expansive and maximalistic in design, as squelching synth runs fill up every last bit of possible space on the record's front half.
Certainly, Benny knows how to do the maximalist thing pretty well; his background in Baltimore's Wham City art scene, as well as Adventure's chiptune-swarmed self-titled debut, fortifies a reputation for Loud and Big sounds. It's his first record's 8-bit confrontational, intermittently aggravating construction, then, that reveals its head on the album's back end, in the form of aggressively sinister synth-padded dance music. There's moments of heavy-lidded bliss in the dark oscillations of "Another World", but the spinning-class insistence of "Lights Out", as well as the sine wave noise terrorism of "Meadows", achieve annoyance rather than transcendence. It suggests that Boeldt hasn't yet fully exorcised the ghost of Wham City's calling card all-everything assault just yet, as the somewhat unintentionally goofy clip for a remix of "Relax the Mind" further suggests.
Despite those hurdles, Lesser Known feels like a riskily successful work of growth from Boeldt, and it rightly should: this LP marks his first time trying his hand at singing. He's not exactly a professional or anything, but he goes for it anyway with often great success, brightly emoting with an open stride on "Smoke and Mirrors" and getting rubbery, like a pop version of R&B abstractionist Autre Ne Veut, on "Fool's Paradise". Lesser Known, then, is about self-exploration in unexplored territory, and how to lose yourself in that void. Boeldt's escaped, and it sounds like he's all the better for it....full text |
| Baltimore and Wham City resident Adventure's 2008 self-titled debut was an energetic journey through the outer expanses of a SID chip, an experience that took listeners whizzing over pixelated mountains and explored the darker corners of the most modernized urban setting. This limited tonal range and lack of human vocals (save for a few dialogue samples from Bladerunner) may have made the music of Adventure seem a bit cold or impersonal, but on his newest release, Lesser Known, Benny Boeldt has brightened up his sound, adding soaring synth blasts and maximalist flourishes a la M83. The airy snare and pulsing bass that open the album act as fanfare, like Boeldt welcoming the listener into the spacious new environment of Lesser Known. His aesthetic remains grounded in the 1980s, but the songs sound more like retro-futuristic radio hits than the arcade-conjuring modulations of his first release. On tracks like "Fool's Paradise" and "Smoke and Mirrors," Boeldt splits the difference between New Order and Nu Shooz, creating a sound that could please even the most cynical bedroom moper while gratifying any partygoer who's simply looking to dance. Those fearing a record of wistful 80s pop facsimiles will be pleased to hear tunes like "Relax the Mind" and "Lights Out" connecting the dots that link Giorgio Moroder and his modern hit-making scion Dr. Luke. Dance beats permeate the bulk of Lesser Known, but the two closing songs introduce pensive atmospheres, perhaps laying the framework for Boeldt's future musical ventures....full text |
Send "Adventure " Ringtones to your Cell 
