Ben Shirken - H.D. Reliquary

Label: 29 Speedway – 29S07
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: Apr 11, 2025
Genre: Electronic
Style: Abstract, Ambient

Ben Shirken, also known by his alias Ex Wiish, is a New York-based artist, musician, and curator. He is the founder of the record label and performance series 29 Speedway and a founding member of the free jazz group Nu Jazz. 

His debut album, H.D. Reliquary, comprises 11 tracks featuring collaborations with artists like Pavel Milyakov, MIZU, Dorothy Carlos, Kevin Eichenberger, Muein, and others. It blends acoustic instruments—such as trumpet, violin, upright bass, and cello—with electronic elements like Max/MSP and modular synthesis. 

The title H.D. Reliquary refers to the hard drive as a sacred container for relics, exploring how digitally archived fragments of one's existence can persist after death. Shirken employed bespoke, resource-light machine listening techniques for some of the compositional process, using proprietary neural networks to generate MIDI information and audio that interacted with live improvisations. 

A1. Scattered Cipher
A2. Divagation
A3. Take It All
A4. Residue
A5. Greg's Thesis
B1. Chimera
B2. Surrender Your Will
B3. Quake
B4. Trace
B5. Image/Player
B6. Splinter