Track listing:

1) This Will Sting (5.30)
2) Epheral (5.53)
3) SERVICE 10 Rendered (13.08)
4) Farewell Microscapes (5.52)
5) Of My Efforts (4.24)
6) Littt (9.33)
7) Perahn (6.16)
8) It Utters in Stealth (10.20)
9) Defrag Harvest Nocturn (DHN) (12.39)

The new SURFACE 10 release "In Vitro Tide" is a re-edited mesh of musical materials Dean had recorded since the time of his first release in 96. It is a sentiment of timelessness filtered through a series of experimental approaches. As an edition to the electronic music world, "In Vitro Tide" epitomizes the mystery of existence through technology.

Surface 10 is nothing less than a pulsing, wreckless tour de force of spiky, punchy beats welded and fused with white noise, grunge guitar, dislocated voices and a swaggering disregard for somnolent sine wave culture that permeates much of todays Electronica.

With a glistening, extrovert production, the album is a cavalcade of ideas which fly off like sparks. The dense layers of texture are frequently parted to reveal astonishing knots of wry melody lurking deep beneath the surface of the album. Each track slides from one oeuvre to another in a dazzling, almosy precocious attention to detail which offers much in the way of rewards for repeated listening.

In many ways this is the most adventurous release yet from DiN and shows that the label refuses to stand still in it's search for new and interesting forms of contemporary electronica.


Review in Issue No. 7 of Grooves - experimental electronic music magazine.

The work of one Dean DeBenedictus, the music on this CD was compiled from compositions done between 1995 and 1999, and so it was fairly in step, if not much ahead, of the times. There's a Rephlex / Planet Mu level of complexity in the programming, which is swift, beat oriented IDM with plenty of sputtering, thrumming beats, pings and doings as well as a spooky, atmospheric outer-space feel and a high density of procesed samples, including liberal snippets from science-fiction films.

For those who like basslines and beats with a bit of fusiony synth burbling and some sense of foreboding apocalyptic doom, "Service 10 Rendered" sounds like something the Art of Noise might do if they downloaded their Fairlights onto a laptop. Some sounds here really hearken back to the era of jazz-fusion and '70s electronic music, and maybe that's a bit of Squarepusher influence popping through. "Perahn" and "It Utters in Stealth" are surprisingly ethereal, with only very understated beats that don't break the smoothly immersive mood. The final track, with it's Tangerine Dream-esque synth arpeggiations, is definitely something that could have appeared on one of the Warp Artificial Intelligence comps. DeBenedictus certainly plays the game as well as any of the bigger names in ambient-leaning electronica.

Manny Theiner

Review by Phil Derby in Sequences magazine.
More dense, textural, experimental stuff from Ian Boddy's DiN label. This time, it's Dean De Benedictus at the helm, taking us through dark and noisy twists and turns of the strange and ambient type. Mixed sound collages predominate, with lots of raw edges and rhythms. "This Will Sting" is appropriately titled. Starting with low gurgles and noises, in then assaults you with cutting, sharp beats unlike any drum you've ever heard. It's more like highly magnified sounds of paper being crinkled and rubbed together, clipped into a one- or two-second sound bite and then looped. This is a very active track, alternating between thick atmospheres and an excited, frenetic pace. "Epheral" lets you come down and catch your breath a bit. Though still firmly rooted in modern techno trance, it is more in the chill-out vein, with almost a jazz feel in terms of the rhythm, but still with cutting-edge sounds. This is laid back and very cool. "SERVICE 10 Rendered" goes back into dub, very rhythmic with occasional voice samplings. It threatens to spin out of control midway through, with a wild assortment of sounds, but draws itself back in, going briefly through a more traditional Berlin school mode and then building nicely from there. Another rapid-fire number, there is energy aplenty. Again sensing the need to bring us back down to earth, "Farewell Microscapes" provides. A really cool bass line forms the foundation of "Of My Efforts." Here, De Benedictus is able to pull together seemingly random elements into a cohesive track with its own sense of melody and rhythm. Cute French lesson at the end. "Littt" is much more abstract, intentionally dissonant and semi-abrasive. Keeping things off-balance, this is followed by the most serene floating piece by far, "Perahn," which is strikingly beautiful, especially by contrast to most of the material. The impression you are left with largely depends on your mood. Experimental and almost disjointed, it is also quite fascinating and cleverly constructed. -Phil Derby