Customer Reviews

Empty the Bones of You

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had the fortunate opertunity a few months ago to see Chris Clark live. Before then, I had no prior knowledge of what he sounded like but I become completely entoxicated with combination of harsh beats and beautiful, picture-esque soundscaping that rivals even some of the best moments of Boards of Canada. I was hooked and ran out and bought his Clarence Park, a mish-mash of gorgous textures, real emotions and a healthy dose of humor(Lord of the Dance). It was truly addictive but wholy satisfying. After ages of debate, I finally plunked down the cash to buy his Empty Bones of You.

Empty Bones of You, upon first listen reveals Clark still honing and tweaking his craft. The crunchy electronic beats and densely layed melodies are tightly woven together and create a lovelly tapesty that makes it an audiopleasure. However, as each listen revealed to me, the Empty Bones of You has a certain level of evocation to it. Its technicality can easily be stripped away to reveal a gentile, sad, cold landscape that is essentially a devestated human heart at its very core. Rarely has a electronic artist actually been able to create an album that is techincally sound in almost every aspect(with a few filler pieces near the end) that is so emotionally envolved at the same time. It moves through motions of rage, dispare, isolation, frustration, alienation, before finally ending on a brighter note, a sign of hope. Whatever inspired Clark to conceive such an album, he has certainly elevated himself as someone who can play with the big dogs. Other than two later tracks that seem like filler and throw the moment off of the album, it still largely remains the best album of last year with out a doubt in my mind. This one will be a real keeper and hopefully get Chris Clark some real recoginition. A talent like his shouldn't be kept underwraps.

P.S. Durring Luke Vibert's set, Chris began to dance right in front of me. I tapped him on the shoulder to shake his hand but I think he thought that I couldn't see(he did sort of eclipse me). Chris man, I'm sorry!

P.P.S. Two albums in and Chris is already saying this will be his last melodic venture. Who knows what he's got going next.

This guy is amazing. I keep playing this for people and they love it and tell me they have never heard anything like it. I even got a huge discount at the auto shop for just having this CD. After the mechanic took my car from the parking lot and listened to one minute of this, he came in and said
"that sounds crazy! you have to let me copy this"
After getting a nice chunk of cash taken off my bill, this cd already paid for itself and never collects dust.

I know everyone compares Clark to Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, and Autechre, but for good intentions. He is already that good, after just a few releases.

That is the only way I can describe this disc. Chris Clark's 'empty the bones' of you is the first disc I have bought in a long time that I have listened to nonstop. EVERY track blows me away. It's like a combination of BoC's 'geogaddi' and aphex twin's 'drukqs' so if you're a fan of either of those discs then you'll love this CD as much as I do. 'tycan' sounds the most like BoC, especially when those bass heavy beats kick in. 'gob coitus' (my favorite) sounds the most like aphex twin with it's wildly distorted drill n bass beats, chunky feedback and beautiful melody. Everything else falls in between these two styles. Some tracks are stronger than others (my least favorite is 'gavel') but overall this comes across as a densely focused well thought out disc.

Tracks I like the most and why:
indigo optimus: I love the dub honks in this track and how, at intervals, the dub honks take over and momentarily transform this otherwise aggressive track into trance.

holiday as brutality: I like the BoC beats, fuzzed out melodies and eerie keyboards. I can imagine this appearing on BoC's geogaddi.

wolf: takes a ghostly piano melody and warps it in as many different ways as possible accompanied by big beats, buzzing percussion and beautifully inspired breaks.

early moss: I love the distorted bass and metallic percussion joined with ethereal piano. This is a pure uninfluenced Chris Clark track although it does have an art of noise 'moments in love' feel to it.

slow spines: high voltage fuzzed out beats, warped harps, glitchy melodies and whistling. Better than the 'ceramics is the bomb' version.

umbilical hut: reminds me of an aphex twin ambient piece. Beautiful.

This is an incredible disc. Each track envelops you in its sound. I highly recommend it to fans of aphex, boards, squarepusher or any other glitchy drill n bass artist. Listen on headphones. Listen very loud.

there are fourteen tracks, not eleven. the last three tracks (along with the cover art) was left out. here they are:

12. gavel: (obliterated)
13. gob coitus
14. betty

My intial take on 'empty the bones of you' is a dark hybrid of boards of canada and aphex twin (in the IDM world you have to compare EVERY new artist to the holy trinity: aphex twin, autechre and boards of canada). 'gob coitus' is downright brutal. When you reach the breaking point, when you think you can't grit your teeth anymore, when you've bitten your fingernails down to bloody stumps and are about to push the skip button it does a 180 on you and turns incredibly beautiful. Put this on repeat and you'll find yourself anticipating that breaking point each time. by far the most impressive track, brutal but beautiful. chris clark is giving the electronic holy trinity a run for their money. I've only had this for three days now and I'm still processing. There are moments of stark beauty that are mind-boggling. I will write a proper review later.

A little shaken by the straight forward groove of "ceramics is the bomb", I was caught off guard by the shoking elegance of this album. Chris Clark has once again produced an album of brilliant space and poetry. Tracks like Tyre, Umbilical Hut and Betty exude a sincerity--it's like warm in your ears, while pieces like Gob Coitus and Slow Spines will have you gritting your teeth from under the couch. Not for easy listeners.

Recommended for everyone, though especially for those fans of the work of Richard D. James (aphex twin), Mum and Sigur Ros' instrumental work, and Thom Yorke's experimental stuff (kid a).

For those familiar with 'ceramics...' , gavel is entirely different on this release. Slow Spines is the same in the begining but shifts entirely in the end. click that cart button. Chris Clark is only getting started. This music WILL prove itself in time. really really excellent.

Chris Clark's second album, EMPTY THE BONES OF YOU, is a much more sonically dense, much more complex work than his debut CLARENCE PARK. The very first track, "Indigo Optimus," flows from dark and claustrophobic roots into an almost symphonic end. There's also the shrill and beautiful "Early Moss" which is sure to challenge even the most jaded of eardrums, or the quiet growling menace of "Wolf." "Slow Spines" glitches and toots along in an arctic tundra soundscape. Much of the album stays at an icy reserve, very cool and cerebral ("Umbilical Hut" is a perfect example of this as well). "Betty" ends the album with another symphony orchestra stranded on an ice floe, watching the aurora borealis. An excellent album.

When I first skimmed through this CD, I wasn't entirely impressed. But, as I said, like an idiot, I skimmed through it. This is not one of those flashy CD's that will slap you in the face upon first listen, then proceed to lose it's lustre over time. No, it builds it's way up, but never plateau's. It is so deep that you will love it forever.
I have been listening to this for some time now. I really wanted to let it marinate, rather than write an emotional review on it when I was excited (like I have done on countless other reviews).
In my opinion, by far, THIS IS THE BEST ELECTRONIC CD I HAVE EVER LAID MY EARS ON. This is the only CD PERIOD that I can listen from the very first promising note, to the heart-wrenching last second. This is not to say that everyone else will feel the same, but... it appears so, based the other reviews.
To me, Empty the Bones of You tells a story. However you want to interperate it is up to you. Now, I'm not trying to be all cool / intelligent / super artsy; it's just the feeling I get from it. It is the most cohesive CD I have ever heard. It flows together better than any soundtrack could ever hope to. In my opinion, (contrary to what someone else wrote), ETBOY starts out with some hope, but ends in complete heartache, and disaster.
Betty, the last track, is the most painful ambient track you could ever imagine. Every time I finish this track, I feel like I was kicked in the stomach with spiked, steel toe boots. I want to throw up, cry, and die. Then I want to listen to it again and again and, well, you get the idea. (That's the kind of massochistic guy I am, lol.) If any ambient track deserved the term "achingly beautiful", it most definitely is this one.
I am not going to list any standout tracks, because really, they ALL stand out in comparison with all other artists. I know Aphex, BOC, Autechre and Squarepusher are supposed to be at the pinnacle of this genre, but sorry, I completely disagree. I love them, and listen to them all, but ETBOY blows them all away. Sorry, blast me if you want, but none of their CD's can hold a candle..
Please give it a listen. Do yourself a favor!

This Chris Clark release I would have to say tops all others. I found myself on other releases becoming partial to certain tracks. I am sure you know what I mean by some tracks sticking out more then others. This disk makes that hard because every single track tops the technical standards of what I enjoyed about Chris in the past. I put this CD in and I am blown away by every piece of it. I would have to agree with it being WARPS best release in the last year for sure. I try to describe what kind of movie some disks would be a soundtrack for. For Empty the Bones of You I picture something crazy or tripped out with David Lynch type darkness. If you enjoy anything on WARP I recommend this disk. I managed to sample the album first on WARPS Bleep.

get this if you like warp but feel a little unsatisfied with what they have been releasing lately(i.e spokes).ive given it about two complete listenss and its getting better and better.excellent album.

I played this at thanksgiving and with every little crunch my grandmother let out little muffled "oh my" and would spill something in her lap or swallow real loud. I asked her what she thought when the album was done and all she could say was "well I think your pa has the squirts now, however the music is real interesting and is rather beautiful". My grandmother actually saw John cage perform in the early days and has told me if that if she wasn't dragged to the concert she wouldn't have had much interest for experimental music at all in the first place. Anyways, Chris Clark is brilliant. His music is sexy and filled with passion! It is genius, poetic and blessed with nostalgia! I give empty the bones of you, ceramics is the bomb and clarence park all 6 stars.