before you even start to listen to this record, you cannot help but be drawn in by the cover.
the image wrapped around the cd is dark and unusual, consisting of a strange symmetrical machine-creature peering out at the person looking, that if you look long enough, you begin to feel your nerve ends tingling.
open the black cardboard cover, and on the inside is a snapshot of a man falling into the blackness.
not a welcoming package that’s for certain, and it has to be said for a large part of the album, neither is the music.
but please, don’t for one minute believe that this means the album is not worthy of your attention, because there are times when difficult, obtuse music is the most enjoyable, and therefore the most rewarding over repeated listenings.
turning dragon is of course, part of the ongoing love for machine made music that warp records seem to have become forever connected to, so it was only natural for chris clark to end up releasing records via the label.
i have no doubt that the followers of the warp catalogue, who like awkward electronic music, are going to love clarks latest release, espectially if they are prepared to give its darker corners some love and attention.
according to the press release, the tracks on the album are meant to be for the dancefloor following clark moving to berlin and rediscovering the pleasures of the techno groove that permeates the city.
“i’ve got to the point with the machines”, says clark, “where i flex out really layered, textured dance floor tunes without really thing about it at all, it’s instinctive”
well, damn, if i ever went to a club and there was music like this playing, i’d be very concerned about where i’d ended up, as quite often across the 11 tracks the music is indeed hard hitting distorted electronic music, with little in the way of a melody or beat that i could frug on down to.
the home made music (2 mpcs, some guitar pedals and a sampler all situated in clarks flat were the foundations for much of the digital noise) , like the cover, is often stark, edgy, and, in case you are begining to wonder, bloody brilliant.
some listeners may give up after a few tracks due to the relentless nature of the sounds, it should be pointed out that the album is very front loaded with the jack hammer beats being given their space early on in the 45 minute experience.
however, i urge you to dig in a little deeper, as the emotions are somewhat smoothed out with the appearance of warm ambience (album closer perultimate persian being a perfect example), some melodic bleeps supplementing the justice styled distortion riffs, and during the almost pop like, truncation horn, what sounds to be a guitar in amongst the cut up vocal snatches and glitchy beats.
all of which makes this a highly recommended album to start off the year with.
just make sure you have the paracetomal on standby.
more detail : warp records