Ben Gold - Colossal

Written by Richard Ronchetti on 8 October 2011 in Reviews
Ben Gold - Colossal

Last month the UK was voted the worst place to live in Europe. According to the national papers I'll work longer hours than the Germans, get less days of sunshine than anyone else, retire three years later than the Polish, and if life expectancy figures are anything to go by, die about ten minutes after that.

Add to the above the fact that unemployment is on the up and our football teams couldn't beat the blind school in a game of hide and seek, it's safe to say us Brits have less to be pleased about than Michael Jackson's doctor.

So where's the silver lining I hear you ask?

Well, if like me you're British and have a passion for dance music, then things may not be so glum after all. You see despite our many failings as a nation, I can safely confirm that one thing we have always been good at is churning out talented DJs and producers. I can also safely confirm that a lad well on his way to joining the likes of Oakenfold, Tong and Halliwell is our very own Ben Gold.

Ben's had a great year so far. A fist full of releases on Garuda Records enabled him to collaborate with man of the moment Gareth Emery on one of this year's biggest tracks "Flash". This as well as his work with Jonas Stenberg made it onto the excellent "Sound of Garuda 2"
compilation and this month, he brings us his best work yet, "Colossal".

Now calling your new track "Colossal" unless its anything other than exactly that would be as foolish as calling your pet labradoodle "Furious". Luckily Ben's new offering lives up to its name and has been rocking dance floors around the world ahead of its release on October 31st.

As with many of Ben's (and indeed Garuda's) releases, the emphasis here is placed on simple elements done well. Lush melodic strings build this track gradually, while a bed of sequence lines keep up the pace. Riddled with intriguing bleeps, squeaks, pops and those characteristic Garuda style 8 bar synth interludes, Ben is really flexing his production and engineering muscle on this one.

There is something deeply nostalgic to me about this that track, but like that annoying itch you get right in the middle of your back, I cant quite put my finger on it. Whatever it is, it takes me right back to those nights of dancing away at Slinky on the south coast. 16 years old, in my element and not caring much how I was going to make it the 70 miles back home to start work at 5am.

Despite my wondering away on a nostalgic tangent there, Colossal is as current as it gets and completely embraces everything both Ben Gold and Garuda stand for. Wonderfully melodic and arranged to perfection, it's clear to see why our lad is one of the UK's top production talents.

By the time you read this, Ben will have completed an Australian tour with UK clubbing giant Godskitchen. Headlining with the likes of Marco V, Richard Durand and John Askew, I very much doubt he will go another year without breaking the DJ Mag top 100.

So there we go, with faith in my nation restored I give this track a Colossal thumbs up. British dance music is as strong as ever and Ben Gold is leading the charge.

Not literally of course, we don't get enough time off work to do any actual charging.


About the author

Richard RonchettiRichard Ronchetti is a DJ, producer and reviewer from the UK with an unhealthy obsession for grated cheese.

He plays and produces essentially Trance with lots of House and Progressive influence and will be posting a bi-monthly promo mix on Mixcloud, Facebook and Twitter. Each mix will (if his levels of creativity and grated cheese allow) contain his own tracks, mashups and remixes.

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