Mark Clifford / Simon Kealoha - Running Taper - Polyfusia - CD

For those of us that appreciated the more experimental end of the shoegazing phenomenon there's no doubt a very soft spot indeed for the work of Mark Clifford.

As the leading member of Seefeel and sometime collaborator with the Cocteau Twins, his work had, and still has, an uncanny depth and stark beauty to it that makes him pretty much unique in the world of electronic music.

After a hiatus of several years he re-emerged with the wonderful, but difficult, self-titled Disjecta EP which also came out on his own Polyfusia label.

As a statement of a new intent to be producing again it was bold, brave, engaging and surprisingly abrasive which no doubt put off some of the people who expected an exact re-run of the earlier Disjecta or later Seefeel material.

'Running Taper' is a collaboration, however, and the combination of the artists has brought a new depth and clarity to the sound that works on several levels - all of them appealing.

The over-arching theme is of an abstract yet warm Electronica sound - somewhere between the output of labels such as Plop and Spekk - that's intricate and delicate but with plenty of power behind it to keep it flowing throughout.

You can hear Seefeel in there (and I'm sure that's not going to be taken the wrong way) and you can hear the more fractured tones of Disjecta but there's also a more digital, minimalist sound lurking as well that gives it the feel of something that might be released on 12k. I'm not sure how much music Clifford and Kealoha are listening to at the moment but I suspect that it's entirely incidental that it sounds so current. I just can't imagine them pandering to anyone with their sound.

A happy accident then? Quite possibly. But listening to the lovely textural sounds and fragmented , experimental tones gave me just the right feeling of being caught between the past and the present. And that's why it works so well, in my opinion.

Then, you get halfway through the 8 tracks and suddenly you are assaulted by a massive (and I mean big) guitar chord with a huge fuzz effect on it that belts out in a steady, hypnotic way, filling your head and bringing to mind once again the shoegazing days of old. It's a long track that stays remarkably focused all the way through with minor changes in tone, but essentially is a classic drone piece.

The latter half of the CD is a tad more experimental in tone although there are moments of classic Clifford melody and an almost Aphex-like tone to some of the sounds, but again it all sounds very contemporary and if you're used to listening to Monolake or Shuttle358, for example, there's plenty for you to get your teeth stuck into here.

A massive return to form, then, and an exciting release in general for fans of Clifford. Props must go to both artists, though, lest we forget that this is, in fact, a collaboration.

Available from a small number of outlets including Smallfish, Warp and Polyfusia themselves, this is one to seek out and enjoy.