Clarence Park (album)
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| Clarence Park | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 2 April 2001 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 31:40 | |||
| Label | Warp Records | |||
| Producer | Chris Clark | |||
| Chris Clark chronology | ||||
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Clarence Park is the debut studio album by British electronic musician Clark (as Chris Clark), released on 2 April 2001 on Warp Records.[1] The album is named after Clarence Park, a public park in Clark's hometown of St Albans.[2] Comprising 14 tracks in just over 31 minutes, it was recorded while Clark was a university student in Bristol using minimal equipment.[3][4]
Clarence Park received mixed to positive reviews, with praise for Clark's melodic sensibility and sense of humour.[2][5]
Clark grew up in St Albans, Hertfordshire, and began making electronic music as a teenager with an EMU sampler and an Atari computer.[6] He sent cassette tape demos to Warp Records and was signed to the label,[6] and whilst still at university in Bristol, he impressed Warp staff performing under the name "Chris From St Albans" at their Nesh party in December 2000.[7]
Clark was approximately 21 years old when Clarence Park was released and was studying English literature at the University of Bristol.[2][8] His recording set-up at university was limited to a sampler and an Atari, which he used for about three years.[4] He could not save his work on the Atari, meaning every track had to be completed in a single session.[9] He also used MiniDiscs with spliced edits of beats, reprocessing material through samplers repeatedly.[4]
An expanded edition of Clarence Park was released digitally on 1 October 2012, adding eight tracks from the companion Throttle Clarence EP previously only available as a 3" CD and five bonus recordings from the same era.[10]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| NME | 7/10[2] |
| Release Magazine | 7/10[11] |
Clarence Park received mixed to positive reviews. NME's John Mulvey gave the album 7 out of 10, describing Clark as a "special, notably sweeter talent" on Warp Records and drawing comparisons to Boards of Canada and Aphex Twin.[2] Release Magazine awarded 7 out of 10, comparing the album's rapid stylistic shifts to "Aphex Twin and Max Tundra trying to use the same sampler".[11] PopMatters called it "a welcome debut" and noted Clark had "a good sense of humour and irony".[5] AllMusic gave the album three out of five stars.[1]
