TEAM RNS PRESENTS

ARTIST: Chris Clark

TITLE: Empty The Bones Of You

LABEL: Warp records

RIPPER: Team RNS

0hr 48min total- 70.6mb

RELEASE DATE: 2003-09-08

RIP DATE: 2003-08-14

02 Holiday As Brutality           3:24

03 Empty The Bones Of You         2:39

10 Farewell Track                 3:06

11 The Sun Too SLow               0:56

Some people dont just appear on the

music scene, they crash the party in the

most spectacular style. Chris Clarks first

album, Clarence Park, released over two

years ago, saw him instantaneously

compared to Aphex Twin. The music

press need their little boxes did he

declare to us recently. The comparison,

if easy, is entirely appropriate though.

Far from just simply rehashing a formula

used by many before him, Clark showed a

very strong musical personality combined

with intense creativity, making Clarence

Park something rather unique and clever.

Split between beautiful ambient

compositions and heavy techno moments,

Chris Clark seemed to refuse to make a

choice. There is however one major

difference between Clark and Richard D.

James. When James started distributing

tapes in his native Cornwall, the IDM

scene was in its in infancy. Today, over

ten years later, many have experimented in

multiple directions, leaving the

movement extremely fragmented. And

Chris Clark has definitely secured his

own little bit of space.

The long awaited second album from Chris

Clark, Empty The Bones Of You, shows no

sign of the man settling down. The

recent EP, Ceramics Is The Bomb, was

already far more focused than Clarence

Park. If his performance during his recent

tour with Mira Calix provided some

insight into the new album, his set was

mostly geared toward the dancefloor,

with heavy rhythmic structures and

aggressive soundscapes being fired at

the crowd at deafening level. Here, the

schizophrenic nature of Clarence Park is

still present in some ways, but Clark

combines both ambiences in a far more

mature way. This results in Empty The

Bones Of You feeling far more structured

and fluid. Unlike Ceramics Is The Bomb,

which sometimes failed to retain the

attention of the listener entirely, the

album captivates from start to finish.

Clark throws the first punch straight in

with Indigo Optimus and its dark

rumbling melody and uncompromising

beat, and the more fractured and

abrasive Holiday As Brutality, setting up

the tone for pretty much the rest of the

album. Both reminiscent of early Black

Dog in sonority, these tracks work

brilliantly together as Clark seems to

explore the same soundscapes from two

different angles. The post-industrial

funk of Slow Spines and Gavel, already

featured on Ceramics Is The Bomb,

further reinforces the dense atmospheric

set up of this album, conveying an

increasingly mature approach to sonic

structures. When things calm down

slightly, on the beautiful title

track, Tyre, Wolf or Betty, Chris Clark

reveals a more melodic side of his

personality through some stunning

soundscapes and sound arrangements.

If, for most, the second album is often

a difficult affair, in Clarks case, it

is quite the opposite. Where Clarence Park

appeared disjointed, Empty The Bones Of

You is consistent, mature and bloody

captivating. Already hailed by some as

one of the albums of the year, this

second album is not so much a

consecration of the mans talent as a

consecration of the man himself.

RNS in this HOT summer of 2k3....