Praveen and Benoit: Songs Spun Simla

Inspired by producer Praveen Sharma’s journey to his family’s native village of Simla in the Indian Subcontinent, this excellent collaboration with Kranky recording artist and former Ghostly International employee Thomas “Benoit Pioulard” Meluch is one of the sleeper electronic music releases of 2008. Utilizing the cache of field recordings Praveen sampled from his trip to Simla and offsetting it with a variety of vintage electronic blips, beeps and scratches, processed guitar notes and harmonium space-outs, he provides a perfectly weird, wired bed for the gruff baritone and mantra-like chanting of Meluch’s unique vocal stylings, creating a style on this six-song EP that wouldn’t seem too out of place stuck in a mix betwixt Four Tet and Monster Movie-era Can.