Living Records releases available for purchase

S & H $2 U.S.A. --- U.K., etc: $4

Contact Ben Miller at info@benmiller.info

Ben Miller / degeneration: Sirens of Phobos (CDR)

Available on Living Records. Aug., 2007

LISTEN: Sirens of Phobos   

Ben Miller; prepared stereo guitar, radio, electronics. $8

"Sirens of Phobos" features resonating soundscapes devised primarily by radio, string vibration and electronics. There are also collaborative voice and noise efforts by SPIN 17's Motoko Shimizu and Ed Chang.
"...This warped, questing music is sometimes like a game of blind man's bluff in a rotting warehouse: you feel that Miller has set things up so that he too doesn't quite know what's going on. A genuine experiment, then. Miller's guitar is heavily detuned and intonations are random...Miller doesn't use guitar technique as such, he stays firmly in touch with the instrument's sound, so if spokes are being forced through strings, that's what you hear. The result is down and dirty with very little electronic trumpery. Miller expands his palette by releasing bursts of free sax, like unleashing a dog to tear around the park. Motoko Shimizu contributes clear-voiced singing, while Ed Chang tosses in skittish sampled loops. These two are members of New York pranksters Spin 17, and offer a playful foil to Miller's sombre preoccupations. Ten minutes into the album, there's a growing sense that Miller is settling in and raising the temperature. The central tracks "Interstellar Still Life" and "Ancestral Communications" have plenty of character. Their dense, clangorous racket is Miller's strong suit, and he should play it more often."
— Clive Bell / WIRE Magazine March 2008

Ben Miller / degeneration: Layer (CDR)

Available on Living Records. Nov, 2005

LISTEN: 10/11/04; Pordenone, Italy   

Ben Miller; Prepared Stereo Guitar, electronics. $8

"Layer" features Picture Music; sound collage composed according to visual art. In this case there are eight pieces written for eight of Roger Miller's Frottage Drawings.

Roger's drawings can be seen here

Ben Miller / degeneration:
Over and Out (CDR)

Available on Living Records. July, 2004.

LISTEN: Catacombing.mp3

Ben Miller; Prepared Stereo Guitar, electronics. $8

" Ben Miller does just about everything to his guitar, except to play it conventionally...he coaxes out a wide range of wavering, droning tones and textures...more actively inventive than many more revered players. — Dream Magazine 2006

Ben Miller / degeneration: Intercom (CDR)

Available on Living Records. Jan., 2001

LISTEN: FromTheGreatMileu.mp3   

"Intercom" features stereo arch top guitar and electronics; multi-track sound collage. $8

"If new expressionists closed their eyes and painted what they saw then Ben Miller must be taping shut his ears and playing what he hears…blood thrashing through arteries, nerves popping, synapses burning,..doors knocking, feet bounding up echoed stairways... Formerly a part of the "anti-rock band" Destroy All Monsters, Miller takes the "anti" idea a step further." — Detroit Metro Times 2001

"...a genre-defying album...no chord progressions or standard picking techniques are displayed here... a mesmerizing effort from one of the most progressive guitarists around. " — Reckless Records, Chicago 2001

other releases
available for purchase

S & H $2 U.S.A. --- U.K., etc: $4

Contact Ben Miller at info@benmiller.info

Third Border: Return Return (CD)

release date Feb, 2010

Ben Miller; Guitar, Vocal. Gerard Smith; Bass. Jarrod Ruby; Drums. (also Megan Leach; Viola and Chris Welcome; cello)

Produced by Wharton Tiers $10

RETURN RETURN includes a unique arrangement of Laurie Anderson's "O-Superman!" ...now awaiting reviews...

Third Border: Sun of Water, Sea of Light (CD)

Available on Radial Records. Sept. 2006

Ben Miller; Guitar, Vocal. Pinky Weitzman; Viola and Stroh Violin. Lisa Donald; Cello. Gerard Smith; Bass. Jarrod Ruby; Drum Kit

Produced by Roger Miller and Laurence Miller $10

NOTE: "Sun of Water, Sea of Light" was chosen with only 47 other candidates for possible Grammy nomination in the 2006 'Alternative Album of the year' category.

Ben Miller played alto sax for Ann Arbor legends Destroy All Monsters during the group's second incarnation with Niagara and Ron Asheton at the helm. As the driving force behind Third Border, however, Miller's talent as a writer and performer becomes clear, and what leaps out is not without its own quirky charm. Rather than simply replay Miller's art punk past, Third Border mix Prog with 60s UK psychedelic pop. Their timely version of Syd Barrett's "Jugband Blues" is a fine example of the latter, an eccentrically orchestrated tribute which goes out in fine style with a mad marching band of saxophones and kazoos.
WIRE magazine Oct. 2006

Third Border: Third Border(CDR)

Available on Living Records. April, 2004

LISTEN: Invitation   

Ben Miller; Guitar, Vocal.
Jena H. Kim. ; Violin.
a five-song release; Third Border's first effort as a duet $5

Destroy All Monsters: Broken Mirrors, rehearsals and shows 1977-1978 (CDR)

Available on Farfetched Records.
May, 2003.

Features songs written by Ben and Larry Miller. Also includes versions of Little Doll and These Boots Are Made For Walking. Line-up: Niagara, Ron Ashton, Michael Davis, Larry Miller, Ben Miller, Rob King.
Recorded on quarter-inch 2-track. $8

"While not as well known as the Stooges or the MC5, Destroy All Monsters were another Ann Arbor band whose influence far outstretched its life as an active band. Combining art punk, free jazz, garge rock and lead singer Niagara's histrionics, Destroy All Monsters were the hidden link between the Velvet Underground and no-wave bands like Sonic Youth."
Josh Steichmann ANN ARBOR CURRENT Sept. 2004

(Ben's Destroy All Monsters interview Apr. 2004)

Twice Removed: One Full Turn (CDR)

Available on Farfetched Records. November, 2002

LISTEN: TheBoilerRoomXcerpt.mp3   

Features twin brothers Benjamin and Laurence on guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, saxophone, vocal and found sound. $8

Twice Removed covers a wide spectrum in the Art genre, creating a moving, dark, sometimes comedic realm of songwriting and improvisation.

M3: Unearthing (CDR)

Available on Sublingual Records.
Oct., 2001 (recorded Dec. 1998)

LISTEN: BatiqueSpaceXcerpt.mp3   

Features Benjamin Miller: prepared arch-top guitar, guitar and drums, Laurence Miller: drums, guitar and keyboards, Roger Miller: prepared bass w/loops, electronics and drums. $10

Psychedelic open improvisation with an occasional backbeat. Considered to be akin to Syd Barrett playing with AMM.

"…operating in the realm where silence plays as much of a role as sound, M3 builds soundscapes based on abstract scratching guitars, ripples of electronic effects, and intermittent punchy drums....It's clear from early on that very few rules govern the situation...M3 aims to break stereotypes, and this the trio does with abandon." All About Jazz 2001

Xanadu: Blackout In The City (7")

Black Hole Records, recorded Jan. 1979
Out of Print / Art Punk Rock

Features X-Destroy All Monsters Cary Loren, Ben Miller, Larry Miller, Rob King. This was a recording-only project initiated shortly after Lar and Ben quit Destroy All Monsters. (this is the original vinyl with original cover) $25

Only 5 in stock.