Meaty bleeps and bloops shimmy around arrhythmic, danceable beats. Chewy digital textures forge an atmosphere both cold and organic, all while soft, whispery vocals guide you through the harsh yet beautiful world.
It’s an auditory feast. My only complaint is that it’s not long enough.If you haven’t heard of Bediquette you’re not alone. He’s one of the many under-appreciated Dunedin musicians doing their own thing without any expectation of mainstream success. His music is yet another reason why you really owe it to yourself to delve deeper into the underground.
Yield is his third album but his first on the fledgling trace/untrace label, which is quickly building a reputation for picking out the best in ultra-underground local musicians. Jens Moller, the man behind Bediquette, explains how it all happened.
"I had a bit of free time and it all came together and then Julie from trace/untrace contacted me and wanted to make a tape, which I’ve always wanted to do so ...
"It finally feels like it’s coming out how you want it to come out, you know? But I’ve said that before ... so I dunno. I feel like I’m still learning a lot about production or, like, how I want it to sound, I guess."
In terms of instrumentation, Bediquette is not your typical Dunedin musician. He plays guitar, but it’s usually processed to the point where it doesn’t sound like guitar anymore. Other than that it’s just his voice, a MIDI keyboard and his computer running the misunderstood and oft ridiculed FL Studio.
"This is embarrassing," he says, laughing.
"It was the first thing I learnt to use, so over the past five years I’ve been self learning. I always told myself I should switch to Ableton but I decided I’m probably never going to play a live set so I don’t see the point.
"FL Studio definitely got a bad rep in, maybe the late 2000s, for being, like, you could hear if someone had produced something on it, but I think it’s pretty good now. And once you’ve learned how to use it, as long as it’s not constricting you in any way, I see no reason to change."
Rather than taking the easy option of using pre-sets, he builds the sounds from sine waves or triangle waves using subtractive synthesis. The result is a series of organic and unique textures, which puts to bed the notion that real synth musicians need to spend thousands on hardware. Then it’s just a matter of adding the vocals.
"The lyrics are almost always, like, the last thing to come. There’ll be, like, a melody there where I’m just sort of mumbling into the microphone, but actually fleshing out the lyrics is a wee bit different.
"I’m definitely getting a wee bit more confident in my lyric writing and even singing maybe? It’s definitely an acquired taste. I like that about it. It’s a wee bit different, not perfect by any means."
The long-term plan for Jens is to continue releasing the music he loves making for people, like me, who love listening to it.
"It’s always been a hobby and it forever will be, which I’m fine with."
- Fraser Thompson
The EP
• Stream Yield for free or buy the cassette from bediquette.bandcamp.com
