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Clark, Body Riddle

by Meghan Jones
09/21/2006

Let's get this straight. I don't like "techno" music. I don't dance with glow sticks; I have always been deprived of the enviable ability to move my hands around as if they were holding a globe even though they're not; the thought of dancing for hours while neon lights swirl around makes me queasy. I wasn't even allowed to go to State Palace Theatre in New Orleans during high school. That is where "all the raves were," according to my momma, and therefore she prevented me even from going to see completely unrelated bands due to the fact that someone would undoubtedly slip me ecstasy and I'd wind up half-dead on the bathroom floor.

Nonetheless, Clark, full name Chris Clark, has here presented something even I can sort of enjoy. Body Riddle is definitely trance-y, as in, after you listen for a half an hour, you realize only a minute has passed. I don't necessarily like that quality, though people who like that sort of thing would probably really enjoy it as well as the rest of this album. That being said, I would not listen to Clark for fun; however, the different sounds and techniques he uses in his tracks appeal to me.

For instance... an element in "Herzog" seems to be emanating from a "Star Wars" light saber battle, and somewhere in the background of "Springtime Epigram," the clickity-clack of a ping pong ball being swatted back and forth across the net makes me smile. Just when you think you're getting tired of "Vengeance Drools" (approximately around 1 minute, 43 seconds), Clark totally switches what he was doing and turns it into this staticky melody, easily the soundtrack for the next Mario Brothers video game. That lasts until about 2 minutes 30 seconds, when the track again morphs into a creepy and haunting lilt. Immediately after, the sounds of "Dew On the Mouth" rival springtime; birds are chirping, and the synthesized sound he produces is what you would imagine woodland nymphs wake up to in the morning. Finally, the second-to-last "Night Knuckles" is my favorite, and it sounds a bit like a combo music box-typewriter.

Evidently he's done a few performances with Tortoise, so if you value their opinion, perhaps you should lend Body Riddle your ear. You're bound to find at least one song you can really groove to for what will seem like an eternity, but really only be about four minutes.