Last great track: Ben UFO
Ben UFO is one of three behind setting up Hessle Audio (the other two being Pearson Sound/Ramadanman and Pangaea). The label has been responsible for some of our favourite 12“s of the last few years, from the likes of Elgato, Blawan, Joe, Untold and Ramadanman. This month sees them release Pangaea’s excellent ‘Inna Daze/Won’t Hurt’. First and foremost though, Ben is a fantastic DJ. His Rinse FM show is essential listening, joining the dots between house, bass, and absolutely anything else, while out in a club context, the mix is equally exciting. Here he tells us about a track that’s been getting under his skin recently.
The Pinch – Shot Out (Spider Mo Records 1982 / People’s Potential 2010)
“This tune was the first time I came across the People’s Potential label, one of the strongest reissue labels around. They seem to specialise in re-releasing tunes whose first pressings sell for hundreds of dollars, but it wasn’t any kind of record collector’s credentials that put me on to them – it was this amazing vocoder tune by The Pinch. I have absolutely no idea who they were, and I only paid any attention because I found the idea of someone making music so unashamedly bright and colourful sharing a name with the dubstep producer Pinch amusing.
Having bought the 12” along with a few other releases on the same label, I soon became completely addicted to it. It’s one of those old extended disco mixes which never get dull, and puts so much house and techno to shame with its constant invention – there are elements in there which by rights should sound incongruous, vicious bass growls next to ecstatic synth washes and unrestrained keyboard solos, but it fits together beautifully.
It’s probably not the best track I’ve heard recently, and I doubt it sounds particularly fresh to many people, but it’s been in my head for months now, just in the background, and that’s a pretty good indicator of whether something’s worth holding on to.”
