Marco Benevento- Me Not Me [Album]

The Royal Potato Family

Marco Benevento is by no means a newcomer to the music scene, he is perhaps better known for his collaborations with Joe Russo. Together they have been making jazz based lounge music under the name Benevento/Russo Duo since 2002. Benevento/Russo managed to push ambient jazz music as far as it would go, with a sound reminiscent of early Royksopp, they created music that was not-so-easy listening.

Me not me is the latest solo album by Marco Benevento. Well, nearly solo. Benevento gets help from Reed Mathis on bass, and drummers Matt Chamberlin and Andrew Barr to back up his eclectic entourage of instruments. Ranging from the Optigan- an organ renowned for its poor quality and cheap sound, the Mellotron- the world’s first sample playback keyboard, to an improvised instrument- the Tack Piano- where pins replace the hammers to create a more percussive sound.

The majority of the songs on Me Not Me are covers, which include the likes of Leonard Cohen and Beck Hansen. This may seem peculiar for an album which is highly experimental, but it seems Benevento uses the familiar melodies to tie together his more unconventional music.

In The first track ‘Golden’ (originally by Jim James) Marco Benevento surrounds the warming piano riffs with an underlying jazz drum rhythm, and swirling, distorted organ noise. Tension builds with the juxtaposition between the innocent piano and heavy distortion, until the track explodes into an eruption of noise in the final few seconds. Many of the songs on Me not me follow the same suit; the piano sets up a standard tune, until it is eventually enveloped in layers of harsh drums and static noise. Some tracks venture down an electro route, like Track 2 Now They’re Writing Music, which introduces itself with an electronic sound, with drums faintly reminiscent of Venetian Snares, before settling down into a jazzy, ballad-esque song.

Me not me is an exploration of the combination of well known popular melodies with a mix of electronic and classical jazz. A little more downbeat, a little more pensive; this is Marco Benevento’s idiosyncratic take on the pop song.