John Bender - I Don't Remember Now / I Don't Want To Talk About It FLAC download

Maybe it is the fact that John Bender moved around so much as a kid, living in Germany, America and Japan before finally settling in Cincinnati, that his music features such a strong sense of longing. Bender’s music was something of a revelation when I first heard it in the mid-80s because, whereas Bender might now be recognized as one of the godfathers of minimal wave electronics, he was a total unknown at the time. Finding one of the thousand copies of this album took me a long correspondence with an American seller of obscure music using the cross-Atlantic postal system. Coming from a Lutheran home, Bender had embraced the late 60s alternative music scene with gusto spending his teenage days listening to the Velvets debut as well as albums by luminaries such as Captain Beefheart, Robert Wyatt, Robert Ashley and Can. The purchase of an ARP synthesizer and TEAC four track recorder led to Bender recording his own songs. His three groundbreaking albums I Don’t Remember Now (1980), Plaster Falling (1981) and Pop Surgery (1983) were released privately on his label Record Sluts, with the first two featuring handmade covers, each one being unique. Between 1981 and 1983 Bender also produced four full length cassette albums, proving himself to be a voracious musician. Bender’s musical blueprint feature low fi keyboard sequences, fractured melodies and rhythm patterns combined with his monotone voice at a low level in the mix. Many of the lyrics on I Don’t Remember Now were written by Jack Gorski who had previously been Bender’s musical partner in the duo Barbi and Cen. A unique method for naming his songs feature a cassette number, the tape side and track number. Hence, the cover of Faust’s It’s A Rainy Day Sunshine Girl becomes 27B4 on the album. Both official and unofficial re-issues have made Bender’s intimate and warm music available to a wider audience. These releases however, did not bring Bender himself back into the open: a very private person, he disappeared from the music scene in 1985 only to reappear this year playing his first live show in over 30 years. Playing I Don’t Remember Now always puts me in a reflective mood, longing for that something that may no longer be there.

Original copies of this LP came with an insert. My original copy misses the insert. Anyone out there willing to scan their insert and send it to a fellow Bender-lover? Thanks!