Monolith Cocktail Blog

ALBUM REVIEW
ANDREW C. KIDD

ÉLIANE RADIGUE ‘Occam XXV’
(Organ Reframed, 2022)

I am writing this review in 2022. But to give it its full consideration, I have to transport myself back to October 2006 when I was relatively new to Warp’s output. I spent much of my spare cash on the label’s releases in the local music shop, and by the autumn of that year, my CD collection included the likes of Geogaddi by Boards of Canada (2002), Arrhythmia by Antipop Consortium (2002), One Word Extinguisher by Prefuse 73 (2003) and Untilted by Autechre (2005). I owned no Clark records at that time. Body Riddle was my first. I found the CD wedged somewhere between Basement Jaxx and Deep Dish in a dusty shelf of said local music shop.

Back to 2022. Body Riddle has been remastered and released alongside a LP titled 05-10, a collection of previously unreleased recordings. For the purposes of this review, I will critique Body Riddle as a record in its own right with no references to Clark’s other portfolio pieces. I have left any comparisons to his preceding and proceeding works in my write-up of 05-10.

*

Body Riddle sounds as chaotic now as it did back when it was first released. From the opening, hung-drawn-and-quartered live drumming of Herr Barr, to the steely bells and light analogue melodies that ascend to the heady-high treble of altered synths, its opening track spans all the frequency ranges. Shining out of this rhythmic roughhouse are glints of fragility on Frau Wav. The immersive string section is drawn and meditative. Bridging outros were in mode back in its day; less so nowadays. Brother Boards had already lain the concrete slabs within which skits and short between-pieces had become cemented in the electronica of the day. Springtime Epigram and the already-struck cymbals and strange analogue moments on Dew on the Mouth are examples of these on Body Riddle. What Clark masterfully constructed though were doorways and dark hatches of half-melodies and tones chipped into these slabs that would become part of later pieces. Clark reaches his live drumming zenith on Roulette Thrift Run. The snare rolls, playful claps and off-beat vocal cuts showcase his command of knotty rhythms. Clark’s track placement is also noteworthy. The progression from Herzog to Ted remains one of the best track transitions in electronic music. On Herzog there are counter melodies within melodies and clock hands that keep time and strangely held wind-whorling notes that appear and disappear. The synths crunch and grain and spit and shout and yell and yell louder. The chain-rattling outro that precedes Ted is a master stroke. Ted is a piece of brutalistic beauty that builds upon itself to eventually tower like a giant musical steel structure. Metallic sounds bounce around, sparking off molten beats and alloyed rhythms.

The syncopated rhythms of Vengeance Drools is Four-Tet-circa-Rounds. The everyday ambience is Shadow-esque. Its pulsatile beat denatures uncomfortably. It is grotesque, and beautiful. Now to Matthew Unburdened and its macabre, off-key, honky tonk sound that builds into a deeply emotive whorl of otherworldly pianos and deep-noted cello strings that pull the listener by the lapels towards Clark. We are so close to him that we can feel his breath. We are facing the man at this moment.The chiming fibrillation of Night Knuckles has always been hypnotic. The playful melody runs away on marimba- and kettle drum-like notes. The shuffling percussive elements add depth. The switch between syncopation and gentle horn-frequency swathes of sound would fill any empty space. Its claustrophobia is finally offset by the introspections of The Autumnal Crash. Tom- and crash cymbal-heavy drums circle around to uplift the listener before everything quietly disintegrates away.

*

05-10 is an offering for the fans who are treated to sounds and styles that nestle somewhere between late-90s IDM and mid-2000 ambience. Re-Scar is more of the former. It is acid-infused and cymbal-driven. Dead Shark Eyes and Roller the Wick would result in a similar tone of red on musical litmus paper. The unmistakable amen break of Urgent Jack Hell showcases his rhythmicity (was this a nod to label mate Squarepusher?). The energy on these tracks is reminiscent of Clark’s own phantasmagoric album, Turning Dragons (Warp, 2008). 05-10 is an imperfect release. It is not the gesamtkunstwerk of Body Riddle; rather, we are offered sketches and faint reflections that reference Clark’s other works, for example, Dusk Raid shades a little like Iradelphic (Warp 2012). There are passages of brilliance in each of its pieces. One such example is the modern-day landscape that Clark builds on Dusk Swells. We are in a land far removed from Body Riddle. Here we have Clark the composer. His signature strings build and layer to become polysymphonic. I am reminded of the eerily tonality of The Last Panthers (Warp, 2016).

05-10 is strongest as it approaches its ambient end. Dusk Raid is a deeply complex piece. The rhythm shuffles around the wheezes of a recorder and distorted guitar strums. Its faintly-definable chorus decays even further before illuminating the second half of the piece. There is progression of the previous rhythm. The plucks and faint horn sounds melt away again into quietude. The downtempo vibe is welcome catharsis. The sustained synths of Autumn Linn are held and played in free-form fashion. The watery change in timbre during its concluding minutes is life-giving. Sparrow Arc Tall is interludinal. It provides an inkling of hope, like a slit of light that steals through a closed curtain. The light piano notes and synth throbs are rays of illuminated dust. Clark also has an enduring ability to distort. Take the other-dimensional Herr Barr (Improv). The rhythm pulses like an incantation, and despite the departure from its source material, the original’s élan vital still flickers. Such transmutation continues on Observe Harvest which opens with an end-times-like pummel of minor key and splintered Rhodes notes. The white noise oscillates to crackle and pop as if this were the last vinyl being played. Dust has filled the grooves. The stylus scores its way into the record, edging slowly towards an inevitable end.

*

My anatomisation of Clark’s body of work could be essay-length. This review has already surpassed 1,000 words. To sum up, I regard Body Riddle as his most influential album. It remains one of the defining sounds of mid-noughties Warp. Despite it being a full sixteen years after the original release, its complex rhythms are as intricate as the milled timepiece it was back then, and its fresh metal sounds are as burnised as they were upon its formation. Body Riddle was composed in a gilded age of electronic music. It is still lustrous like gold.