Clinic, "Walking With Thee"

Clinic, here with their second proper album release on Domino, are oneof those bands everyone should hear. Why, you say? Because uponlistening, one can easily hear their influences and how they'veextrapolated them to their absolute extremes, but also what influencethey've had on other bands of recent memory. Their music is a flavorfulblend of instruments, live and synthetic, as well as programmed beatsand samples.Clinic's members are notoriously shy, not identifyingthemselves in the liner notes here, and wearing doctor's masks inrecent press photos. But with this release, they are stretching out interms of exposure, even appearing on Craig Kilborn last week. And theyshould promote the hell out of this record: "Walking With Thee" is anamazing sophomore album release, showing the true potential of Clinicas innovators of modern music. 'Harmony' kicks off the album with animpressive start, part 'Tubular Bells', part harmonica-based bluesproject. Elsewhere, their sound reflects a more diverse musicalbackground, allowing the band to produce truly original mood music ofthe highest quality. Ade Blackburn, Clinic's vocalist, is the real starof "Walking," as on each track, he puts his vocal frailties anddynamics on display for all to hear, though it is hardly a detriment totheir sound. It's a hypnotic bouillabaisse, a recipe for disaster forsome bands, but Clinic make it all sound so easy. Overall, a slightdeparture for the band vice previous releases as this one is a littlemore consumer friendly (read: marketable and stomach-able for themasses), and it's a little lazier than their more avant-garde fair, butstill just as brilliant as their back catalogue. Highly recommended. - 

samples:

• Harmony
• The Equaliser
• The Vulture

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