Shelter Press / France / 2025
Ston Elaióna (“In the olive grove”) is John Also Bennett’s first album for Shelter Press since his 2019 debut Erg Herbe. Now based in Athens, the American flautist and composer crafts a nine-piece electroacoustic suite for bass flute and Yamaha DX7ii, much of it recorded in the early morning with the Parthenon in view. Using a minimal palette—flute, justly tuned synths, triggered oscillators, and sparse field recordings—Bennett blends ancient Greek atmosphere with modern sonic restraint.
Rooted in a career spanning experimental noise, electronic ensembles, and collaborations, Bennett’s recent semi-nomadic years culminated in a return to inward-focused, meditative composition. The album draws from everyday encounters—geckos, hailstorms, church bells, olive groves—woven into fluid, slow-moving textures. Pieces like “A Handful of Olives” and “First Lament” extend bass flute tones into sustained synth drones, while “Sacred House” and “Oracle” channel the spiritual resonance of ancient Dodoni. “Seikilos Epitaph” reimagines the oldest surviving complete musical work, connecting modern electronics to antiquity.
The result is a deeply atmospheric, time-bridging meditation—anchored in Greek landscape, myth, and daily life—where past and present converge in spacious, resonant sound.