08 November 2011 - 0 Comments

Fans of Dudley Benson’s groundbreaking live performances now have the chance to relive the experience, with the release of a double live album recorded on his two nationwide tours. Dudley Benson – Live Series: Volume One is released on November 14th in both a deluxe two-CD set and digital format by Golden Retriever Records, available now for preorder at dudleybenson.com.

Live Series: Volume One archives two of Benson’s shows, recorded three years apart. Disc one features his 2008 TheAwakening tour and the second disc, the 2010 Live with the Dawn Chorus tour, which introduced the acclaimed album Forest: Songs by Hirini Melbourne. The double album is mixed and mastered by Dale Cotton.

“I love the energy and immediacy of performing live – it delivers a completely different experience and sound from the studio. Both these tours were profound experiences for me as an artist, and many of the songs I’d previously recorded took on totally different forms in their live manifestations. I wanted to share them in a more permanent way,” Benson says.

Benson is known for his innovative live performances. The 2008 TheAwakening tour took the melancholic beauty of his ‘chamber pop’ debut album into a series of churches.  Disc One: The Awakening Live was recorded by Andre Upston in the breathtaking acoustics of St Matthew-in-the-City, Auckland. The twelve songs include Audrey H., Asthma, On the Shoulders of the Earth, and the Kate Bush cover Hounds of Love (streamable now at dudleybenson.com). 

Disc Two: Forest Live was recorded during the 2010 Live with The Dawn Chorus tour at Waitakere’s Oratia Settlers Hall. Most of the songs are from Benson’s Forest: Songs by Hirini Melbourne album – later nominated for the 2011 Taite Prize – as well as fresh takes on his own back-catalogue. Like the album, the tour featured only the human voice, with Benson and his alt-barbershop quartet alongside champion trans-Tasman beatboxer Hopey One. The twelve songs include Ruru, Pūrerehua, Rapaki and Benson’s early EP throwback Nothing Left At All (streamable now at dudleybenson.com).

As with all Benson offerings, the visual aesthetic and packaging is intricately detailed. Housed within a black two-paneled wallet of 320gsm superfine stock, the deluxe two-CD set continues Benson’s collaboration with celebrated artist Nigel Brown. A six-card series of paintings by Brown depict moments from Benson’s shows, with slits in the CD wallet allowing the user to insert their choice of artwork as the cover.

Dudley Benson – Live Series: Volume One is available exclusively from dudleybenson.com.

To mark the release of his first live album, Benson is publishing Roots, a free-to-download e-book that documents the making of Forest and the 2010 tour through intimate photography and questions submitted by fans, colleagues and friends. Roots is available to download from November 14th at dudleybenson.com.

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