can't wait

Wow, and I just heard the absolutely amazing Body Riddle and Empty The Bones Of You albums for the first time through a friend yesterday - something I'd regrettably put off for years after never really being able to get into Totem's Flare. Hopefully this is more in line with those two, but either way, I'm excited.

totem's flare is a killer.
the new song is amazing too.
it is lame that all the other artists in warp records that came over the last ten years are substandard to their old catalogue.

can't wait!!

I guess the writer didn't listen to the album more than two times.
yes, it is a downtempo record. so what?
it is a great experimental album in its own way, i think.

2 of 5? WTF?!

Ha ha.

Clearly it's a huge problem when an artist doesn't stay "in line" with his previous work ;]

2/5 is so much worth it.

that is cheesy ass shit

Yes, its a bit all over the shop and one the Martina tracks is a bit repetitive but overall I thinks its pretty good after repeated listens. Very summery vibe.

An amazing records that has to grow on you because it opens new paths, new directions in music.. A true masterpiece, as for the review a true true disappointment!

at last review which is not made by hype

First of all, is hyper-spastic IDM approaching irrelevancy? No. The only irrelevant thing in this case is a critic that considers his removed, schizoid, clinical approach to music and the feelings involved as being part of some sort of objective reality. Mate, write your shit as your opinion, and be aware that it is very different from the majority of music lovers. The only spastic thing here is Mr, Ryce.

Secondly, saying Clark´s last album is the most accessible one is quite a joke. The proof is that idiots like Andrew Ryce don´t get it. “Totems Flare was a mess”? Well, everything will be a mess if you´re expecting something, and that´s exactly what Clark does best: the unpredictable.

I won´t comment further on his pathetic description ‘cos he seems to be in some sort of spastic parallel universe, and I don´t want to feed the illusion he is actually a music critic. Stop reviewing electronic music, now.

Well he clearly made his opinion as a critic, you are trying to promote your 'objective reality' ^^

Clark has produced a good album, but it is still unclear in the direction, both album and artist. A score of 3/5 would do it. There are new interventions i haven't heard in a while, which does sound a bit nostalgic, but they last for very short period, thus not elaborated enough. I don't really see the Planet Mu and Hyperdub connection. Clark should be onto something right now and things might just become clearer after Iradelphic.
Cheers!

He was on to something with Totems Flare. But then he took an arrow to the knee.

I find Iradelphic rather repelling with its sepia-tinged atmosphere. But i think it should appeal to the fans of Caribou and other contemporary psych revivalists.

Yes, you are right, Pantera. I´m promoting my reality, and shouldn't even have posted this comment in the first place. The nature of music reviews itself is quite annoying to me. I prefer promoting the albums I like instead of slaggin off the ones I don´t. Cheers.

Reviewers shouldn't be able to write a review until they've listened to the record at least 30 times over the course of a month. That being said, people don't seem to be able to accept radical changes in direction for artists; it probably would have helped if he had just changed his name.

WRONG

not a very interesting album

Listened once. Listened twice. Listened just another time. Still lost.

Beautiful release.

Just discovered Mr. Ryce has written reviews about Beyonce and writes regularly about pop music at The Singles Jukebox. Now we know the reason for all this disconnection....

well the good thing is that bad notes gives the desire to go deeper into the album reviewed

I can't imagine forcing myself or anyone else to listen to this 30 times from start to finish. Sure it's not terrible, but I find most of everything on here completely forgettable. I agree with Mr. Ryce's evaluation and I have to ask why should I listen to this when it is derivative of a mostly worn out style of which there are much better examples? In addition people generally don't get upset simply because artists explore new directions or change their sound, its because they choose to do so in a way that just sucks or is not on par with their prior output.

For example nobody got mad when Radiohead realeased Kid A, but for every one of those there are dozens of failed attempts to cross over into new styles and markets. DJ Shadow - The Outsider or Skrillex jumping off the sinking EMO ship onto the Dub Step bandwagon come to mind. While those are dramatic examples, it is by this logic that I found Scuba's new album to be dissapointing to a degree.

It's not a particularly interesting album, but 2/5 is quite harsh. Clark's production values are pristine and clearly a lot of work went into this album. Can you really give less-than-half marks for simply failing to innovate? I think that's an unreal expectation: to hope that every new artistic release will be a new (or different) plateau.

Wow, first his RA colleague re-tweets his Martyn slam in another review and then everyone gets on his case here for a negative opinion. Thankfully, critics are allowed to pan (and to write about more than one style of music...). Tough day at the office, Andrew. Keep it up!!

incredibly harsh review, this album deserves more than a 2 out of 10...

to be fair this album sucks ass

just because its clark and its on warp doesnt mean its good ppl just fyi

because beyond those two facts theres literally nothing going for this album lol

Awesome album! Great fresh new material! 2 out of 5 is just not right.
This is clearly a 4 close to a 5.

+ 1

How could you give this a 2???? retarded. Maybe get a beats guy to review it rather than david guetta fan.

Ouch!

NOW NOW, you can call me whatever names you want, and I may be many things, but I am *NOT* a David Guetta fan. (or a communist).

The reviewer didn't like it and said as much. Get over it.

good for sleeping!!!

Good afternoon, Andrew!!

I know your head is the wrong size for your body!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CylJGFh88zI&feature=relmfu

i was exaggerating of course about how many times you should listen to it...my point was that i think it's difficult to write a review after a short time, especially when an artist has chosen to change directions. this leads me to my other point in which i don't think it's really possible to compare this to something like totem flares. clark fans are expecting something rugged and harsh and, for the most part, it doesn't really exist on this album. he probably got bored of it for now and i can't really blame him for trying something new.

I'll conclude by saying though, i think numerical reviews are asinine in the first place. keep it to a written one and let us decide.

I enjoy the Clark take on downtempo. I was very worried at first he may have a go at a more dubstep oriented sound and I am very relieved. Clark works are still buy on sight for me.

Lol at everything, whatever really. I think some of the tracks here are very good though,,,

I haven't heard te record but I do like the metaphorsAndrew used. That being said I think Planet Mu is releasing some of the best stuff they've vever published in theor history so whatever that mysterious bug is, it's bite doesn't have any effect on Mike Paradinas and his roster

i like Planet Mu directions!

turning dragon was released in 2008, not 2006.

Nice words, I'm very intrigued to hear the 'aural Instagram filters' Clark uses on this album.

i agree with the score, basically.

at the same time i think the idea that idm is irrelevant is totally wrong.

idm is a breeding ground for innovation, or was, and actually as a term should really represent any 'abstract' or avant garde form of electronic music. "avant garde" is in fact not a pretentious term in the least. when Ambient Works 85-92 came out, it was avant garde. in the fullest sense of the word. nothing had ever in history been made that sounded like it. avant garde merely means new. this is laughable though at the same time has its place, as idm generally sticks to a "beat" format or is an offshoot of techno.

the fact is that techno follows a 4 4 pattern. this is a law of the term, it general has that repetitious style.

hyper spastic is not a label that should be applied to any style that deviates from a 4/4 beat before 10 minutes have passed. for me this album isn't as good as the burial, and i'll catch flak for that, to me burial is way overhyped and his music creates atmosphere which leads nowhere. it's really well produced. i sneak that dig in just to make myself clear

idm as a term does not refer to the 'generic' style it is associated with. for instance, confield is a great piece of music. claiming otherwise is wrong. if you don't listen to it, then you can't commentate on idm. if you don't like drukqs, i don't think you can commentate on idm.



IDM is not nerd music, it is not "anti-techno," it is, in my mind, simply any sort of abstract or experimental music that is electronic. for me this includes Coldcut, DJ Shadow, and so on. IDM is not "cold glitches" or "fast beats." IDM [which by now we don't need to keep feeling embarrased using the term] is about abstraction and experimentation. techno is good, but i don't think the constraint of the 4/4 beat totally leads to experimentation... though its also extremely experimental.

what we called IDM from 2005 onward was really not IDM because it was mostly just rehashes of what had been done before. Clark wasn't IDM because he used synths or was spastic, he was IDM because he was making a sound that had not been created before, just like PRefuse 73 was. they kept innovating to a certain extent, but i agree this album blows and I didn't really like totem's flare either. both have a few really good tracks though. i'm not a big clark fan anymore at least, instead of this fans of the idm should seek out Ghost Box.

Isn't IDM simply what we in Europe call electronica? It's a ridiculous term at that; as though all other dance music was't 'intelligent' in some way.

Highlight for me is Black Stone as i used to play piano once. And for all pianists this is catharsis for ears, spooky and bony freak who plays resembles Putin in one moment as well as cold winter day outside are relieving.......



www.clubbingunlimited.com

Hm, I don't know where in Europe you come from, but the IDM label has been (painfully) used a lot during the last decades. Mostly to put all the classic Warp releases into the same box.

great record imo