Dave Clarkson - Beauty From Broken Technology

 Released: May 1

The concept behind Beauty From Broken Technology is rather self-explanatory with Clarkson taking the opportunity to coalesce a number of broken or malfunctioning items to weave the otherwise unpleasant tones and sounds into something quite captivating. Most of the rhythms here are actually built from the sounds of CDs skipping after being irreparably damaged, which is probably one of the more interesting uses of a broken piece of technology here as it creates some surprisingly coherent yet slightly “off” patterns. The first real example of these rhythms being quite deep and intricate comes on “The Age of Static.” It has that skipping quality to it but feels like something conventional and has quite a nice low-end as well. 

 “Drip Feed Fading” stands out as a rather unusual piece in it’s assembly, featuring a lot of very odd ping-y sounds along with a rather tired sounding piano soaked in a good deal of reverb. It feels kind of info in tone but also a bit whimsical as well, kind of taking itself seriously and not-so-seriously at the same time. “Slipped Discs (Displaced Distortion)” follows up as one of the most skippy tracks here with the earthen fully embodying that scratched up CD aesthetic with a vaguely vocaloid rhythm and airy but crackly syhtn textures running up along both sides of the rhythm. Just the variety of textures that are blended together here is worth the price of admission.

The album as a whole is one of the more creative approaches to utilizing old gear, taken a bit to the extreme. But even with the compositions being completely made from technological detritus, the execution of tying is all together is done so masterfully that you would immediately associated it with electronic junk. If Clarkson intended to bring real beauty out of this old junk, then he has very much hit his target.