Cover photo:
The Green House
© 1990 Sandy Skoglund

Tracklist
01. A Schlemihl and Human Yo Yo
02. Elevator Shoes
03. By Analogy, Apocheir
04. Koala Sideburns
05. Turning More Zebra-like
06. Face Like a Metronome
07. Dog Does Eight Impersonations
08. Once Youth With a Crispy Beard
09. Travail Le Fleur
10. Silenzio Stampa
11. Inside His Vagina
12. Quick Thinking Inmates

Reviews

English
The Silent Ballet , Soundproector, Soundscaping, Textura

Various
Autres Directions (fr), Caleidoscoop (nl), Groove (no), Hamar Arbeiderblad (no), Sound of Music (se), Undertoner (dk), Universitas (no)

FEN005: Beneva vs. Clark Nova - Dramadadatic
Released November 2nd, 2009

"It's playful, thought-provoking, intimate music. Highly recommended."
-The Silent Ballet

"The prestigious Norwegian label Fenêtre comes with one strong electronica release after the other. (...) a splashing piece that you can easily swallow, while in fact it shouldn't be that easy to consume. This once again shows the strength and creativity of the two men. A great listening trip."
-Caleidoscoop

"The duo is surely one of the most exciting outfits on the Norwegian electronic music scene at the moment"
-Soundscaping

"Beneva vs. Clark Nova has made one of the best albums this year"
-Radio Nova

4.5/6
-Undertoner

5/7
- Groove

"Catchy noise"
- Universitas

"A beautiful music scenery"
-Hamar Arbeiderblad

The Oslo based electronica duo returns to the digital underground to go head to head in a fast paced sonic battle of Dramadadatic - as they follow up to their much celebrated debut album Sombunall of last year. Since last time both have released solo albums and worked on other projects beside music, Frank Benjamin Finger (Beneva) as a music video director for a children's show and Rudi Simmons (Clark Nova) as a director for a few animated tv-series, both on Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK).
 
Dramadadatic is packed with atmospheric samples and a wealth of simple and sweet melodic structures, topped with groovy - often frantic - beats, creating the kind of campfire headfuck we became familiar with on Sombunall, but taking it a step further this time as Dramadadatic is more purely electronic than its predecessor - but with more attitude and confidence.
 
"A Schlemihl and Human Yo Yo" kickstarts the album, with its looped guitar-chord sample and chopped up, distorted vocal sample and some weird flute in the back. It's soon pierced by slamming beats and crazy noise that grooves for a while until the whole thing breaks down into a muddy AM radio sample that is too short to risk the band being faced with a lawsuit.
 
From there the album plays out like a magician pulling rabbits out of a hat, from the intense and melodic "Elevator Shoes" to the sweet, childish innocence of "Koala Sideburns" via the clap-a-long pop-groove of "By Analogy, Apocheir". Yes, there is a lot of variety here – take for instance the hiphop inspired "Face Like a Metronome" feat. the droney organ that dropped in during the session and insisted on making some noise. Or the quirky "Once Youth with a Crispy Beard" that combines out of sync combat beats with soft and mellow harmonies. As we get closer to the end of the album things get increasingly intense and noisy until someone pulls the plug and things fade out in a soothing drone.

All in all Dramadadatic is a gutsy display of skills, thrills and wacky ideas, representing a step on and a notch up for Beneva vs. Clark Nova's acceleratingly exciting sonic journey. You'll have these guys dada your drama - or drama your dada even - any day.


Cover photo by Sandy Skoglund
Artwork by Allan Näslund