Ben Wa (band)

Ben Wa was an American electronic band from Oakland, California comprising Anthony "House" Chaba (programming and bass guitar) and Eric Ware (programming and keyboards), who had worked together before in bands such as Limbomaniacs, Big Janitor, and MCM & the Monster.[1]

After releasing a four track EP 1 full of breaks and electro in 1998 they began recording their debut album Devil Dub featuring guest musicians such as guitarists Buckethead and M.I.R.V., drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia and turntablist DJ Disk, plus Scientist live on stage for the release party[1] in January 1999. Chaba and Ware had met Scientist when opening for Bill Laswell's Praxis in San Francisco.[2]

Reviews for Devil Dub were positive with URB calling it "one of the most crucial records of any genre released this year"[2] and Michelle Goldberg of Metro Silicon Valley stating: "The lazy pace is lulling, but like Tricky's music, it's more edgy and creepy than ethereal."[2] Rick Anderson of Allmusic gave 4,5 out of 5 stars, writing: "This is remarkably pleasant stuff."[3] Noah Wayne of online music magazine Splendid wrote: "It's campy, it's twisted, it's dub!"[4]

Two of their tracks, "Re-Dub" and "Ephedream", were included on Laswell's releases Reanimator: Black Market Science and Tetragrammaton - Submerge.[5][6] They also contributed tracks to a few other dub compilations.[7]

Another EP called Elektro-Krazy followed in 2000, again concentrating on breaks and electro and described on Epitonic as "the gap between Detroit techno and funky dance floor breaks in a most ingenious way".[8] Their next album Disciples Of Retro-Tech was released in 2001 as a double vinyl and single compact disc, featuring explorations of pure electro and synth-pop terrain. Stephen Cook of Allmusic wrote: "The hybrid mix is so inventive that suspect pastiche and old-school chic absolutely do not figure into it". He gave the album 4 out of 5 stars.[9] Daiv Whaley of music newspaper Hear/Say concluded his review: "This is cool, accessible music for every child of man and machine. File under 'electro-funk,' file under 'fantastic.'"[10]