Winter in July can be a strange combination. Released in May of 2001, but seeing hype and sales in June and July, Chris Clark’s Clarence Park is a frostingly cold glimpse at what winter feels like — even if one’s listening to it during the dog days of relentless sun. Big reverberated beats transform into a crisp sound experiment, synth washes cut and skate alongside and in between breakbeat scientology, and sound sculpture paints imagery of glacier-like masses floating along in the sea minding their own business. Albeit not sounding especially original, and having an immense amount of pressure to do so, Clark turns in a fine debut of sensitive and cerebrally brash material that sits comfortably alongside some of the better records of 2001. – Sam Samuelson