Ceiling Lights from Street
The Milk Factory: "It is rare that unsigned artists achieve such level of perfection....quite simply, a quietly magnificent record."
Lost at Sea: "worthy of unchecked praise"
Diskant: "beautiful.... a gorgeous record that matches any minimal electronica that will see the light of day this year."
Cyclic Defrost: "subtle, intimate... consistently appealing."
Textura: "In a strange way, Tweel's fresh music feels like music perfectly designed for the early morning as its understated yet nonetheless bright uplift feels suggestive of a new day's promise."
Properly Chilled: "perfect for just drifting and watching the world go by"
Urban Climber : "emphasize[s] the complex intermingling of nature and technology, creating a meticulously scattered and minutely textured soundscape that fills a room or pair of headphones like a forest of mechanical insects... a perfect score for our modern times."
there is a problem with my tape recorder
smart-music.net: "Beautiful deep music!"
The WIRE: "For those who find the delicate perpetual clutter of this world just too fascinating for words, Brooklyn-based musician, scientist and philologist Ben Tweel has created a cycle of songs without vocals that may well be worthy of your attention. Using rhythms painstaking assembled from household sounds, customised drum patches and random intrusions, he creates music to accompany the slow accumulation of dust in corners, the passage of clouds across windows and the gentle exertions of the coffeemaker working away in the kitchen. The way Tweel¹s music accepts the proliferation of such tiny moments without complaint or comment should make it recommended listening for agoraphobics everywhere."
Splendid: "It's going to be a hell of a lot easier to keep everything straight if we agree to refer to one-man IDM group Build Buildings by his more human moniker, Ben Tweel. Tweel's muse is of a quiet, reflective sort; pop There Is A Problem in the player on medium volume or less, and you may wonder when the sound is going to kick in. The elements that make up this meditative soundscape are fairly run-of-the-mill, IDM-wise, and as you probably suspected, anyone who actually tried to dance... um... intelligently to this stuff would probably strain something. Or fall asleep.
So why is it so goddamned fascinating? On the surface, it's just another series of glitchy synth burbles, muted snare hits, pretty organ fills, glitchy noises, vinyl skritches and other ephemera. Scratch a little deeper, though, and you'll see hints of the considerable care with which Tweel has wrangled and coaxed all of these sounds into a carefully arranged, gradually unfolding whole. Take, for example, "Dibs"'s bell and glitch opening, which feels like stumbling forward, regaining your balance moments before you would have fallen on your face. Then that figure fades out and a complicated, argpeggiated guitar riff wafts in, remaking the track in its image. Before you know it, there's so much guitar going on, and it's interacting so subtly with a suddenly resurgent rhythm, that when the guitar fades out, your first impulse might be to rewind the track a bit and get it back. Try to control yourself. Tweel isn't interested in resting on any one of his intriguing sonic creations; his is a subtle but unrelenting forward motion. Eventually, it becomes clear that the range of sound he chooses to employ, though perhaps limited at There Is A Problem's inception, is constantly, quietly expanding.
It's not as if there's a one-to-one ratio between a given track's place in the running order and the amount of sonic layering it employs, but it's instructive to listen to, say, "Mackerel Scout"'s deconstructed piano half-melody, and then skip ahead four tracks to the wide-open middle section of "Test Me". The two songs almost sound as if they were written by completely different auteurs -- at least, that is, until the surging sounds of the latter track are swallowed up, broken down in ambient sound, and then reissued in a crackly mess over another subtle keyboard fill.
Rather than merely ranging from simple to complex, Tweel approaches each suite of sounds as though no one has ever touched them before. Even sounds that recur throughout the album sound as if they are newcomers to Build Buildings' style; it's as if Tweel simply refuses to act as if there's an IDM genre at all, or even that he himself has ever composed any tracks prior to the one at hand. This means that no matter how many times you've heard these sounds, it's still possible to hear them the way that Tweel hears them as something new and fascinating that might be manipulated so as to interact with other fascinating sounds, producing a novel sonic construct. Each track on There Is A Problem feels new, and some almost feel daring, which should be impossible at this late stage in the genre's evolution. Kudos to Tweel, then, for assembling a disc that can make us all remember the first time we heard music like this, when we realized that all of our previously imagined restrictions on music composition had been blown away, forever."
Diskant: "Build Buildings, a.k.a. Brooklyn based Ben Tweel, is a master of subtlety "there is a problem with my tape recorder" is a strong collection of minimal electronica that is crafted with care, warmth and precision.
Tweel provides the listener with a seemingly limitless assortment of beats and samples, each delicately and purposely placed to build tensions and melodies that slowly slide under the radar of the listener.
There is a feeling of familiarity throughout; Tweel has produced something that is imaginative, playful and rooted in the every day. Sampled clicks, hums and whirrs from the gadget and button filled world around us meet sparingly used acoustic strings, percussion and piano. I imagine at times his music sounds like what a fax machine might sound like if it tried to serenade a photocopier with a harp.
Even at loud volumes, "there is a problem with my tape recorder" will always seem quiet, which is no bad thing. Sounds from outside of the music rub alongside the music with ease - beats mix with the hum of traffic or shop lights elegantly. I even found that at times that I had forgotten that I was listening to music and had become half convinced that my life had always been soundtracked so perfectly by Build Buildings."
Funprox: "Ben Tweel is the man behind Build Buildings. ŒThere is a problem with my tape recorder¹ is his third release under this moniker. As far as I can see, this record is very professionally self-released.
Although not totally hearable, all electronic sounds are derived from computers, instruments and household noises. What¹s presented is a very neutral and mellow cuts Œn clicks /ambient-glitch release. Very delicate and uncommon beat patterns are scattered over the songs, accompanied by pleasant and glistering, sometimes watery, sometimes spacey melodic fragments. Present like shiny objects in clear blue water. In most cases, the melody is repetitive, looped and simple, but created out of such a strangely beautiful sound that it becomes highly effective.
Influences from the Raster Noton family are there, some passages also remind me of the Mexican Murcof and Aoki Takamasa. More melodic than Alva Noto for example, and just as melodic (although more abstract) than Murcof.
A very enjoyable, clean and bright release, with surprising variations and lots of tracks great enough to play over and over again. A gem."
headphone sex: "Finally I received a really nice CD this morning called 'There is a Problem With My Tape Recorder' by Build Buildings, (AKA New Yorker Ben Tweel). Like for instance Matthew Herbert, he uses 'found sounds', but in this case used to create glitchy electronic landscapes.
Every synth has been painstakingly distilled from organic instruments and samples, and every rhythm has been intricately assembled from household sounds, self-designed drum machines and random noise.
'....Tape Recorder' is Ben's third album, and was described by The Wire as '.. recommended listening for Agoraphobics everywhere'. I can imagine the album would sound great on your headphones wandering around the city, transforming the noises of buses and aircraft into things of beauty. Although every sound seems carefully and deliberately placed, the music has at the same time a real disordered organic feel bringing to mind the fluttering of dragonflies or the edgy movements of crickets. Although it sounds good in the background, this is music that rewards careful listening."
textura: "There's somewhat of a wallflower quality to Build Buildings' There Is a Problem with My Tape Recorder, with Brooklyn-based musician, scientist, and philologist Ben Tweel purposefully excluding bold crescendos and diminuendos from his twelve acoustic-electronic songs. Consequently, the reserved dynamic range of the album's pretty micro-minimal material (which at times resembles a 12k/Line and Morr Music cross) makes it easy to overlook the craft of Tweel's third album which was assembled meticulously from household sounds, self-designed drum patches, and random noise. While traces of other artists' styles are audible (Oval in ³Notices,² Colleen in the meditative ³Test Me,² and Alva Noto in ³27 Cents²), Tweel as often as not stakes out a personal ground (³Pendulum,² for example, distinguished by its churning, bass-heavy rhythms of static textures, and the sunny ³Dibs² with its layers of glistening guitar strums). In the final analysis, though There Is a Problem with My Tape Recorder's understated approach definitely has its appeal, the album's restrained style induces more admiration than excitement."
Liability Webzine: "Ils sont nombreux à vouloir se faire une place dans le monde de l¹électronica et pouvoir émerger de la masse n¹est pas chose facile. Chacun a sa chance et Ben Tweel a choisi de prendre la sienne avec ses propres moyens. On lui souhaite bien du courage. En même rien ne nous dit que Ben Tweel veuille mettre le monde à ses genoux avec sa musique. Il faudrait être bien prétentieux et à l¹écoute de ce disque il apparaît évident qu¹il n¹y a pas chez ce jeune homme la moindre montée d¹orgueil démesurée ni même de narcissisme grandiloquent. D¹ailleurs quand on visite le site de l¹Américain on voit tout de suite que cela respire l¹humilité et que le bonhomme est là pour se faire plaisir. Il fait son petit bout de chemin, tout content de voir qu¹on parle de son travail (qui ne le serait pas ?) et construit progressivement les fondations de la maison Build Buildings. There Is A ProblemŠ est son deuxième album à ce jour après New Animals (qui est d¹ailleurs téléchargeable sur son site) et un E.P. sans titre. Si la musique rêveuse de B.Tweel donne l¹impression d¹une apparente maturité, elle est encore en formation. L¹électro minimale et mélodique de Build Buildings est une petite bulle fragile qui dégage un esprit presque naïf. Les petites berceuses enrobées de bleep-bleep arrivent certes à vous caresser les neurones mais on sent que B.Tweel ne cherche pas trop à aller plus loin, qu¹il se suffit d¹une musique émotionnelle minimale et cérébrale. C¹est peut-être de la timidité ou juste son état d¹esprit du moment. En tout cas cela laisse à penser qu¹il n¹a pas encore donné toute la mesure de ses capacités. Cependant en a-t-il la volonté ? On le souhaite vraiment car si ce disque est assez ressemblant à pas mal de productions du moment (on pense aux labels Expanding ou Plop entre autres) il ne démérite en aucune manière. Il ne lui reste plus qu¹à confirmer."
music.download.com: "Built around an organic core of melody, New York City's Ben Tweel adds complex, glitchy rhythmic structures to punctuate his blissful, crystalline clouds. Each track is patient and to the point--minimal, but not to a fault."
loop: "Ben Tweel who is based in Brooklyn, New York released
his third work independently, which is an album that
contains different fragmented pieces from guitar,
samples of homemade noises that later are processed
through a software, besides fractured beats. It is to
say the melodic electronica that also is published in
labels such as City Centre Offices, Neo Ouija, Autres
Directions In Music or Audiobulb Records.
The tracks on this CD are like a puzzle with organic
and synthetic sounds that are conforming an ambience
frame, with few variations between tracks, although the
notable here is ŒNovember¹ by its stuttering beats and
its melodic tunes based on keyboards lines that showcase
a facet that achieve moments of great inspiration."
derives.net:
[translated from the French]
"The solo project of a certain Ben Tweel, young American
musician based in Brooklyn, Build Buildings delivers
its third self-produced album here falling in the category
of melodic electronica, fractured but with rather warm
and tranquil sonorities."
Autres Directions: [translated from the French]
"Build Buildings constructs his small electronic pieces
bit by bit, at home, well away from any danger.
It is this place, certainly cosy, and these moments of
creativity, that are suggested by the first listenings
of 'There is a problem ...', the third album of this
american. The ensemble is familiar, as his home-made
electronica recalls that of artists like The Remote
Viewer. Indeed, it is about a clear (minimal) electronica
alternating delicately between melodic butterflies and
harmonious abstractions. With no obstacles, the
listening follows a calm path. A set of tranquil tracks,
not outstanding, but honest and nicely produced."
Isomers EP
The Milk Factory:
"There Is A Problem With My Tape Recorder announced Ben Tweel back in 2004 as a summary to his debut album, which collected twelve lovingly put together melodic pieces, built primarily from processed guitar, piano and other instruments, and arranged into short atmospheric vignettes. For his most recent effort, New York City-based Tweel has teamed up with Marlo Bright, a musician originally born in Minsk, Belarus who now lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and who made his debut MP3 album, Polymers & Monomers, available for free on his own website last year.
The Isomers EP is not a collaborative effort as such, as booth contribute remixes of each other¹s compositions. However, the pair tend to work from similar sound sources and, although they adopt a different process here, the result is surprisingly consistent. Ben Tweel reworks four tracks from Marlo Bright¹s album, creating fragmented formations over Marlo Bright¹s gentle atmospherics and revealing the sharper side of his music. Cast in micro beats and clicks, opening piece City Mist becomes more angular and crisp. His two versions of Bond retain some of the depth of the original, but once again, Tweel gives his versions a much more granular aspect, especially on Bond Intl. where he projects Vlad P¹s processed guitars into stuttering sequences and increases the pace in the process. I Don¹t Know is left pretty much intact as he simply deploys the rhythmic pattern more prominently, but the effect is potent enough to get noticed.
Marlo Bright¹s take on the three Build Buildings tracks, all lifted from There Is A Problem With My Tape Recorder, is quite different. Instead of intensifying the hues and adding texture to the compositions, Vlad P strips down the originals, leaving them exposed in their barest and most vulnerable aspect. While the original version of Notices sparkled with grace, the rendering showcased here is much sparser and introvert, evoking the grey immensity of an arctic landscape caught in a blizzard. A similar treatment is applied on the two version of Test Me, with Vald P creating dense formations out of minimal sound sources, as to cast a dark shadow over the light molecular pieces created by Tweel.
While exploring different sides of a similar work process and approaching the challenge from somewhat radically different angles, Ben Tweel and Vlad P create here a much more coherent collection than one might expect, and although their respective impact is a bit diluted in the process, the EP offers an interesting insight into the work of two like-minded artists."
Textura: "Who says heavily processed electronic music can't be Œwarm'? Isomers, a twenty-two minute collaboration by Build Buildings (Ben Tweel) and Marlo Bright, proves that in the proper hands, it most definitely can be. The EP features NY resident Tweel and the Minsk-born and now Milwaukee-based Bright remixing each other's work, with the former tackling three songs from Bright's Polymers and Monomers album, and the latter interpreting material from Build Buildings' There is a Problem with My Tape Recorder. Abstracting guitar, piano, and assorted other instruments into almost unrecognizable form, the artists produce heavily textured material that unfurls peacefully in a manner reminiscent of Ezekiel Honig's Scattered Practices. Isomers' seven songs abound in crackling and rippling textures, minimal clicking beats, and tones that flutter, stutter, and shimmer in equal amount. An occasional hint of lazy hip-hop enters the mix (in Build Buildings' ³Bond² mix, for example) while deep, resonant echo gives Bright's ³Test Me² mix ambient dub flavour. Though the treatments range from remixes to total makeovers, the seven tracks collectively exude a vaporous, floating ambiance that easily leads to entrancement."
Vital Weekly: "Quite glitch like, but with a strong sense, or rather love, for pop like structures, but in a sort of twisted manner. Quite a nice release."
On Milwaukee:
"The two are cut from the same subtle force, giving them the patient vision to create music so soft, warm and refreshing that could be the soundtrack to a spring rainfall. Their collective effort, the "Isomers" EP, is a seven-track collection of sonic transformations, three from Marlo's debut, "Polymers and Monomers," and four off Build Buildings' "problem." The result is calming waves of sound and electronic melodies that play out like whispered secrets."