NYC-based / LA-born producer Beshken has shared the video for Cursed, the latest single from the artist and the first taste of his forthcoming debut album ‘Aisle of Palm’. Inspired by Maya Deren’s ‘Meshes of the Afternoon’, the music video for Cursed explores the concept of living like we’re dead due to an obsession with personal progress. Can you live in the moment when dreaming about the future? Watch the video via YouTube below.
Directed by Nina Gofur, the Cursed music video depicts a character journeying through a surrealist landscape on the hunt for an ominous cloaked figure, representing the ways in which we live like we are dead and lust after desire. The mirror-faced figure is revealed to be the reflection of a reality that consists solely of true thoughts and desires, one where cyclical thought loops and baseless fears of death are compromised. Anxiety and dread emanate from the film site, the nearly-abandoned former Bombay Beach resort on California’s Salton Sea. Its “beaches”–a mixture of gaseous mud and bones of swept-up fish, are the remnants of a once prosperous vacation spot for Hollywood actors and executives in the 1950s and 60s. Taking light of anxietys irrationality and finding comfort in ones own fragility are central to Beshken’s latest self-release, ‘Aisle of Palm’. The record’s title is named after a street on Bombay Beach’s eastern flank.
Ben Shirken (a.k.a. Beshken) grew up in Los Angeles, where artists like Shlohmo, Teebs, Flying Lotus and iconic evenings like The Low End Theory created a musical foundation to which he was drawn. In L.A., Shirken was part of the group Partytime, remixing Corbin (Spooky Black) and Ryan Hemsworth. The duo performed with artists like Suicideyear, Karman, Girl Pool, and Groundislava at The Smell, Pehrspace, and other art spaces around the city.
In 2015, Shirken moved to New York and began performing in the city’s D.I.Y. scene, where his multi-instrumental and ever-evolving live shows brought him to hallowed venues like Palisades, Elsewhere, and the now-closed Cameo Gallery. While he shared bills with electronic musicians like Macintosh Plus and XXYYXX, Shirken also played with bands like Men I Trust, Crumb, and recently toured with Gus Dapperton. Additionally, Ben established himself as a DJ in New York, spinning eclectic sets of house and techno at The Lot Radio, Good Room and NTS Radio. ‘Aisle of Palm’ signifies an exciting stage in Beshkens career that underscores his versatility as a producer and honesty as a songwriter.
