Alan Hawkshaw / Brian Bennett - Synthesis LP

Be With Records presents a reissue of Alan Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett's Synthesis, originally released in 1974. The "vivid contemporary sounds for a fresh visual image" make up the now-canonized Synthesis. These two greats go deep; the end result is a synth concept record of sorts. It's an essential companion piece to their Synthesizer And Percussion LP (1974). Like most of Be With's favorite library records, Synthesis has that gloriously funky "weird electronic music" vibe without ever being inaccessible. With the ARP Odyssey at the fore, Hawkshaw and Bennett have created a blissed-out soundscape laid back in all the right places and somehow also heavy on the funk. It's a throbbing, proto-G-Funk sound that's found on many of these low-lit basement workouts. Take the ice-cool "Alto Glide", a sunset-funk highlight with an electro-flute refrain that conjures those dreamier Dre/DJ Quick instrumentals from '91 to '92. Stereolab, Koushik and all those Ghost Box artists were clearly listenin