Since I first heard about this album over a month ago, each week has been a kind of anticipation for its release date. I revisited his older Lp's so as to create a spectrum of his musical career in the confines of my understanding. The way I might prepare myself for a concert I suppose, having one last appreciation of the past before subjugating it with the future works or the performance.
But getting back to my excitement, I've been feeling a lot of it concerning this Warp records minded professional, noisemaker of beatific qualities. Every rhythm seems to be crafted with such a focused and ordered chaos, as the tracks build themselves, briefly exist, are deconstructed and then sometimes Clark resurrects them, a bit altered and or distorted.
The Growls Garden single had an affair with my eardrums and though my mp3 player would always malfunction when it played, I listened through the problems and then came home and played the song on my computer headphones dully.
It was clear to me that this single was only a taste of Clark's new direction and since I see him to be the most competent man making music off a Mac these days I'll stick my neck out here and say that Clark is the leading man of letters for the 21st century electronica age. The comparisons between him and R.D. James were flirted withthrough his first two albums, even as the Aphex sound bears no obvious resemblances to Clark's distinct voice (heard on this album quite literally). Throughout his body of work he has consistently released shockingly innovative beats and has consistently succeeded in fascinating his listeners. His efforts have always been of superior quality; other IDM perfectionists like Modest Mouse don't even compare.
To cap this review off here, I cannot say enough about Chris Clark, my favorite album will always be Body Riddle but when I get out to a record store later this week I'll be reserving my double Lp copy of Totems Flare, and I think I know why Mr. James has been so hesitant to put out a new Aphex Twin release.
