I've got Warp's prodigious wunderkid Clark's new album now, i'm sure I landed his last long playing thingy 'Turning Dragon' ya know. 'Totem's Flare' carries on from the largely excellent 'Growl's Garden' EP with some super heavyweight futuristic wonky techno shapes & grinding, disorientating electroid chuntering. I've always maintained a healthy distrust for people this talented, they are like that hyper intelligent kid at school who always slayed all the others at everything and outsmarted the teachers suggested Ant a while back. I think he's an alien. I can now happily admit his individual signature sound is beginning to come into its own, certain key production hallmarks becoming more apparent. It's a formidable sound he's got too, industrially fuzzy, elastic basslines suddenly kicking you in the face, blurred electro keys causing your neurons to fizz and some fantastic dirty drum rhythms and cheeky, cyber-synths to keep you lurching around like a crazed mutant raver. The occasional vocals on this album are quite amusing in a slightly quasi-gothic disembodied fashion and he still occasionally falls into Aphex pastiche territory but who can blame him if he feels the need to doff his cap to such a beloved peer? So Mr. C. Clark is steadily shaping up to be part of the modern electronic elite as predicted years back and this is the most satisfyingly coherent long player for my ears as yet. Now i'll go back to 'Turning Dragon' and try spot what I was missing as Brett thinks i'm some kinda wack eared fool for dissing it.....CD/2xLP on Wuuuuuurp.
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Sound clips for Totem's Flare by Clark (Chris Clark): on CD at Norman Records UK. CD, Warp, WARPCD185, £12.49.
