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National Features >
Westword
How William Orr's quest for better, cheaper gas became a crime.
By Alan Prendergast
Miami New Times
The family of a dead judge blames a creeping fungus in the federal courthouse.
By Tim Elfrink
The Pitch
I worked at Kmart with John McCain's director of strategy.
By Alan Scherstuhl
Bend It Like Benga
Published on June 11, 2008
South London dubstep veteran Benga operates on several (next) levels when he plants himself in front of a synthesizer keyboard and a hard drive of edited drum patterns. The producer's collected works, Diary of an Afro Warrior, speaks to how far this key player has come in the years since establishing a celebrated dubstep sound. His 2006 track "Music Box" displayed bass wobbles, chopped strings, and organ mingling tastefully in a web of delay effects. It's one of Diary's strongest entries, while another standout, 2007's "Night," is a cascade of stuttering synth tones and shuffling beats. Benga works jazzy elements into "Zero M2" and "Light Bulb" — paranoid, ambient sequences that, like the rest of Diary, display a lot of emotional resonance for being created by a guy and a keyboard.