Sydney-based composer /.producer Wade Clarke (aka Aeriae) apparently first got into electronic production whilst operating amongst the surprisingly huge online community devoted to remixing video game soundtracks, before the bitchiness of that scene began to take its toll, driving Clarke to start exploring his own compositions. After a couple of his first tracks as Aeriae (‘Karpa’ and ‘Areola’, which both feature here) were picked up by JJJ’s ‘Unearthed’ during 2006, this debut independently released album Hold R1 represents Clarke’s first release proper, and shows him following an IDM/breakbeat trajectory that’s not dissimilar, by his own admission, to that of Autechre and Aphex Twin. While the global market is certainly saturated with producers attempting to follow in the footsteps of those two aforementioned artists however, in this case it’s the attention to detail and grasp of the bigger picture that lifts much of Hold R1 well above the rest of the flock trying to ape Warp Records’ roster. If opening track ‘Clique’s gliding fusion of glacial classically-informed synths and meticulously sculpted skittering breakbeats inevitably calls to mind comparisons with Richard D. James-era AFX, inspired offerings such as the Phillip Glass-meets Polygon Window-esque ‘Amay’ (particularly with its fantastically eerie, glitched-out outro section) and the percussion-filled ‘Murano’ show Clarke injecting a sense of personality and emotional depth that’s all his own. In addition to the above audio tracks, the CD release also contains Clarke’s Fantavision-animated video clip for ‘Amay’, which definitely adds to the sensory experience here.
Chris Downton
*
