Customer Reviews

Turning Dragon

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

 

 

So, cool. Clark can make straight forward dance music. Despite this fact, it is in no way a stray from his style. If you take the simplest beats from his previous works, amp up the BPM, and repeat them continuously you have the backbone for Turning Dragon. The same weaved sampling and layered arrangement techniques are applied to create this fierce new sound. From the onset of the album, Clark slaps you in the face with the loud, grainy "New Years Storm", opening and introducing the album with hardly a moment to mislead. It's loud bass and grainy glitches pave the way for the intricate sampling of piano lines and melody that will weave a nice little web among all the noise and cheerful handclaps. Thank you Clark, what would a dance album be without handclaps?

Characteristic of Clark's music, the album flows without flaw. Stated in the Pitchfork review above, Clark is a bit of a perfectionist and it really shows when "New Years Storm" quiets down and evolves into "Volcan Veins", which is littered with chopped up vocal samples supporting the still-driving dance rhythms. Vocal sampling is a new element to Clark's recorded music but does not seem at all out of place. I'd be a little surprised if this didn't end up being the fan-favorite from the record. Vocals always give the human touch necessary for accessible techno to reach a wider audience.

Turning Dragon then subdues the volume and speed in the middle of the album. "For Wolves Crew" is the segway to this portion of the album and the musical force inherent in the beginning of the album begins to change. Although I'm not familiar with what Gaskarth or Cyrk is, the track "Gaskarth / Cyrk Dedication" reminds me of Plastikman's "Helikopter" and is composed of primarily clicks and minimal beats. The melodies of "Ache of the North" and "Mercy Sines" are closest to Body Riddle's beauty but still fight continuously throughout the tracks with his new styled-beats. This portion of the album leads nicely to the final, primarily melodic track, "Penultimate Persian" that brings out Clark's former style and character.

I didn't know how I felt about this album at first. I didn't think the grungy clicks were necessary elements of an album like this but without it, the music may not stand out in the crowds. After a few more listens I realized they are an integral component to Clark's beats. Turning Dragon is a pivotal point in Clark's career as a master of electronic music. The album art is, as always, great and the song titles are refreshingly original. He proves here that from the beauty and odd compositions from before, he can take, for example, "Ted" from Body Riddle and churn out a floor-stomper of a dance album that is fresh and original.

8.9/10

Clark's attention to rhythm and timbre is exquisite. Sure, it's a rough and gritty album, but it's a real joy to hear the unique sound world he creates, and tracks like "Violenl," which is like a Missy Elliott remix on acid, practically throw me out of the chair dancing. The only limitation of this album is a limitation that I notice in most techno artists, which is that Clark either hasn't mastered or doesn't care about harmonics. This may seem like a ridiculous thing to complain about, but one thing I've noticed upon repeated listening is that his ideas are sometimes trapped by his lack of any sort of harmonic progression, and so he's left with no choice but to fade out one idea and fade in another.

This such a great album. Everytime i listen to it, i always dance to it. Great album! I think this is clark's best!(except body riddle..)

Clark's music takes a highly aggressive and abrasive tone with his new CD Turning Dragon. The first half of the CD contains some deeply twisted takes on techno music, like the disjointed "Truncation Horn" and the dark funk of "Violenl". "For Wolves Crew" stretches out to be a multi-sectional masterpiece with peaks of building excitement. The second half is no less peaceful but rather allows for more atmospheric approaches to the techno beats that had gone before, allowing tracks like "Gaskarth/Cryk Dedication" (labeled here as "Radiation Clutch") and "Ache of North" to work in some twisted ambience into the mix.

The production on Turning Dragon is far from polished, although if the aim was to go low-fi or analogue it's to a fault. There's too many musical elements pushed into the gritty end and not enough "clean" sounds to balance it out. Beats and sound effects feel like sandpaper on the ears. This is definitely not a CD I would enjoy on headphones.

The music recalls some of Warp's past glories than any current electronic trend. (I'm thinking Squarepusher's Hard Normal Daddy and Aphex Twin's Richard D. James Album. Turning Dragon doesn't sound like either of those records, but has a certain aesthetic to it that would make it feel right at home in that time period. It's been a long time since a release on Warp had captured that excitement, when the possibilities of electronic music offered by those artists seemed so fresh and exciting. Turning Dragon does this and more.

Final Rating: 4 out of 5

Favorite tracks: "For Wolves Crew", "Ache of the North", "Penultimate Persian"

When I discover an electronica artist I fancy, I purchase all of their available work at one time. For an electronica artist, Christopher Steven Clark is extremely eclectic. This is the least assessable of his work, but essential if you wish to expose yourself to the linear development of this artist.

Chris Clark is growing on me. In 2001 we got introduced to Clark through Clarence Park. In 2003, we saw him evolve with Empty The Bones Of You. Body Riddle was the 2006 release when Christopher Stephen Clark simply went by his last name. But in 2008, Clark is Turning Dragon. This is a much harder, slamming, compressed thud, that keeps the heart pumping, and the brain tweaking. Five years in the making (guessing by the fact that previous LP was simply an archive of earlier and unreleased material), Clark is the front-runner of the experimental drive merging dark IDM and ferocious beats, where the genre thrives. The first half of the album employs a welcoming onslaught of pounding 4/4 beats. Turning up the volume, I'm reminded of the early warehouse events where the bass slapped off the cold walls. But does four-to-the-floor formula immediately categorize as techno? Slapping the latter term may understate the complexity of the production - it is very far from minimal or repetitive approach. The detail may surprise even the fans already familiar with Clark's perfectionism. Further into the album, Clark breaks up the rhythm, and keeps on grinding. To share in the brutal intensity that hurts so good, Clark has offered an Album Sampler [see direct links below]. If you enjoyed the ride, seek out the December '07 vinyl, Throttle Promoter, or hit bleep dot com for instant digital gratification. Recommended if you like the darker side of Autechre, Funckarma, and AFX.