Chris Clark has released a new EP “Growls Garden”; it consists of 6 tracks and is exclusively available through Bleep.com from the 23rd March.
Here are a few facts you should know about this Warp prodigy. He’s born and bread in England, he burst onto the music scene in 2001 with “Clarence Park”, he’s signed to Warp records and in 2006 he released “Throttle Clarence”. He then shortened his name to ‘Clark’ and spent three years making “Throttle Clarence” & “Body Riddle”, in which Clark mastered live drum manipulation. He was also a student at Bristol University.
His three meticulous years of refining his OCD tendencies in music production has done wonders to Clark’s method of composing his songs. As a listener, you can’t predict what’s going to happen next, pianos, drums, static crackling, no matter what elements he seems to throw in they result in a lucid sound wave of juxtaposing sounds.
Clark’s previous release “Turning Dragon” (2008) was a collection of hard hitting industrial electronica, techno to a new level, rugged beats and disturbing cracks, but if you found yourself repeatedly listening to ‘For Wolves Crew’, I’m sure “Growls Garden” will not disappoint. It’s almost as if this is an addition to “Turning Dragon” it’s final panache, these six tracks are all stunning in their own right, all growling, dirty, gritty and ultimately Clark.
The title track “Growls Garden” is already a favourite, according to The Milk Factory this track is the first to carry Clark’s own voice, ‘albeit heavily twisted and processed…. written in a matter of days.’ This track is classic Clark, mangled yet razor sharp, intricate drums’ excelling to harder electronic beats. The whole track is fastened together by a all too familiar synth.
The third track ‘Seaweed’ brings with it an up-tempo, techno approach; it rifts between static breaks and heavy-footed pounding bass. The final track ‘Farewell Mining Town’ is far from ‘Seaweed’, it’s the only beat less track on the EP, its dense atmosphere conjures up an eerie, cold, unnerving, almost ethereal sound, which brings this growling EP to a brilliant end, as if it was levelling your heart beat back to normal.
“Growls Garden” is unquestionably a great addition to Clarks legacy, In my opinion some of the best work he’s ever produced. Lets just hope this a taster to a full album later in 2009.