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Clark’s Body Riddle

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'Herr Bar' by Clark, from 'Body Riddle'

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Clark - Body Riddle (2006)

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93. Clark - Body Riddle (2006)

Body Riddle is an album that works on many levels. At first listen it appears to be an amalgamation of all the music released by Warp Records – there’s Aphex Twin’s amorphous synth lines, Squarepusher’s frantic jazz drums, and Boards of Canada’s frosty textures. Yet with deeper listening it becomes clear that this album is actually entirely singular. Clark harvests freely from his influences, yes, and he went on to create a more distinct and personal sound on later albums such as Death Peak and his excellent self-titled LP. But on Body Riddle, he combined all the elements of what was still referred to then as ‘Intelligent Dance Music’ (shudder) and created something unique. It’s best listened to as a whole piece rather than individual tracks, as it starts quietly with moody synths and jazzy drum breaks, and slowly progresses into something with a life all of its own – the blossoming cello in ‘Frau Wav’, the frantic, shuddering ticks of ‘Herzog’, the aggressive thump of ‘Ted’, and the free-falling chaos of ‘Roulette Thrift Run’ and ‘Vengeance Drools’ all slowly build up to a head. Each element feels like part of a moving whole, yet nothing here is robotic. The beats are messy and un-quantized, the synth sounds spasm and move erratically, and every track has some kind of human heart within it. Rich, warm cello tones, hyperactive, breathy scatting, weeping synthesizers, the whole album creates the image of some kind of hi-tech production line that puts together real, living organisms bit by bit - ‘Body Riddle’ is not a misnomer. No other electronic musician that I know of does this as well as Clark, and no other album of his does it as well as this. The thing that tips this over from being a good album to great one though, is the final track ‘The Autumnal Crush’. Combining all the previous elements together into one whole – frantic, slurring drums, and deep, warm synth sounds enveloping them – it starts out gently enough. The only identifiable words on the entire record appear out of the murk, as if the creature created during the previous 35 minutes has just learned to communicate and these are its first, stuttering words. The track then surges forward in a wave of thunderous percussion as the spinning textures rise around it to try and envelope it again. Just as it sounds like its approaching uncontrollable chaos, the drums surge forward again creating a massive rush of sound that is once again followed by the roaring synth pads, eventually boiling over into a tidal wave of white noise, before crashing down and slowly, mournfully dissolving away to nothing over the few remaining minutes. Without a doubt one of the most intense, moving and unique pieces of electronic music I’ve ever heard, and a perfect close to a fantastically produced and sequenced album. Clark may have gone on to create more fun records (his follow up LP Turning Dragon is huge), as well as more distinctive records that cemented him as one of Warp’s foremost musicians - but Body Riddle remains his masterpiece in my eyes.

Also listen to: Turning Dragon, Clark, Iradelphic

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