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Clark - Boris Hauf | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Clark, a 7 track CD released on Sijis by Boris Hauf, is aesthetically well-placed in Sijis territory. Fragments of techno juxtaposed with modernist contemporary experimentation make it liable to pique the interest of many an electronic music connoisseur. Hauf has been actively releasing music since 1995, and has over 20 releases listed on his biography. In fact, Hauf appears to be a very busy man indeed, working with bands Tvpow and Lozenge in Chicago, as well as touring around Europe and America. He's also had time to study saxophone, flute and cello. She Was A State Trooper begins with bursts of static, a repeated motif that is accompanied by flecks of sounds that sit between rhythm and melodic lines. Although the packaging of the disc does not seem consistent with the music, She Was A State Trooper feels very much like an introduction to something. And if you leave Clark playing on repeat, this indication becomes apparent as the other tracks blend together. Highly tactile sounds towards the end of the track give it a tangible quality that I hoped to see more of, but instead the track gives way to Hit Me With Your Pet Shark. At this point I felt the Sijis connection, since it brought to mind The Archduke of the Furrycats by J Torrance, one of the best Sijis releases. Despite being understated, Hit Me With Your Pet Sharkisn't really best described as minimal or lowercase—it's more a case of subtly. Judging by the title, Annie, Are You Puking On Elvis? is something of a less subtle affair. Hauf introduces some classic techno snares that get distorted until they bleed all over the entire track. If you listen carefully you can still hear some of the track's themes languishing in the background while they're assaulted by explosions. Le Chien returns to experimentation with tactile sounds—percussion is experimented with gradual phase shifts that made me feel as if I could reach out and touch the sound. The track reaches a climax towards the end, although Hauf decides not to detonate this one. Clark finishes with Your Aunt's Tripe, in which techno-inspired drums witness more destruction in the form of blistering distortion. At this point, the destruction is a little less extreme and I was left musing the Sijis tagline, “the home of music with a limited appeal.” Ironic, since this appealed to me from the outset. Review by Alex Young
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