Four years, two solo albums and a handful of great singles since he joined Tru Thoughts in 2002, Benedic Lamdin's Nostalgia 77 project has progressed further than would be fair to expect from a new artist in a decade.
From his infamous cover of The White Stripes' hit 'Seven Nation Army' (a huge crossover success which recently resurfaced on TV coverage of the 2006 World Cup) to the breathtaking vinyl-only improvised jazz album 'The Impossible Equation', Ben's music has always resisted easy categorisation - blurring the boundaries between the underground and mainstream.
Initially intended as a live incarnation of his solo project, the success of The Nostalgia 77 Octet on the live circuit soon convinced Ben and his fellow band members to begin writing together. In February 2006, the band locked themselves away for a week in a cottage in the Welsh valleys to rehearse and record their first album of original material - 'Borderlands'. Inspired by the sounds of funk, soul, gospel and Afro as well as the classic jazz LPs of the 60s and 70s, 'Borderlands' captures the warmth and atmosphere of the golden age without compromising Ben's natural flair for tough rhythms and irresistible hooks.
Like the records which inspired it, 'Borderlands' is a document of the Octet's time in Wales - an impulsive and fiercely inventive album which bridges the divide between tradition and modernity.