Browse by Artist: CLARO INTELECTO

Artist:	CLARO INTELECTO
Title:	Metanarrative
Label:	MODERN LOVE (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	LOVE 038CD

This is Manchester-based Mark Stewart's second full-length release and first release for the Modern Love label as Claro Intelecto. Following the release of 2004's Neurofibro, Stewart decided to re-direct his attention away from the IDM and electro influences that shaped much of his early work. Mark made use of an astute line in reduction and a love of sonorous bass lines to develop the Warehouse Sessions, a series of EPs that carried the essence of Manchester's infamous club prototypes with a look towards the stripped aesthetic of Berlin and Cologne. With four years gone since the release of his debut, Mark has spent the last year piecing together Metanarrative, built around 8 tracks that provide the backbone and emotive arc for the grand narrative alluded to in the title. Gone are the uncompromising percussive arrangements of the Warehouse Sessions, instead the sound returns to a more melodic, quietly euphoric display of opposites: sweet melodies and heavily padded bass frequencies, introspective conceits and propulsive percussion, and populist arrangements built with a deviant sound palette. The opener "Operation" sums this process up perfectly, the arrangement building around a succession of chord progressions and shuffling percussion that develops sweet tension and momentum without ever breaking into the obvious. "Harsh Reality" tugs more openly at the heartstrings with an intro that gives you every reason to believe that what's to follow might be the most readily commercial material from this artist yet, but the eventual bass line inverts expectations and delivers something both moving and exhilarating. By the time the album ends with "Beautiful Death" a mere 40 minutes later, all that's left is a weathered bass pulse and long-forgotten memories that urge you to press "play" again. Short and perfectly formed, Metanarrative builds bridges between techno and pop, between minimalism and rich songwriting, between the memories of the past and the opening of new horizons.

Artist:	CLARO INTELECTO
Title:	Metanarrative
Label:	MODERN LOVE (UK)
Format:	2LP
Price:	$23.50
Catalog #:	LOVE 038LP

Double LP version. This is Manchester-based Mark Stewart's second full-length release and first release for the Modern Love label as Claro Intelecto. With four years gone since the release of his debut, Mark has spent the last year piecing together Metanarrative, built around 8 tracks that provide the backbone and emotive arc for the grand narrative alluded to in the title. Gone are the uncompromising percussive arrangements of the Warehouse Sessions, instead the sound returns to a more melodic, quietly euphoric display of opposites: sweet melodies and heavily padded bass frequencies, introspective conceits and propulsive percussion, and populist arrangements built with a deviant sound palette.

Artist:	CLARO INTELECTO
Title:	Warehouse Sessions Volume 5
Label:	MODERN LOVE (UK)
Format:	12"
Price:	$12.50
Catalog #:	LOVE 044EP

The fifth and final installment in Claro Intelecto's Warehouse Sessions. "Hunt You Down" is a shocking Maurizio-styled dub workout in 4/4 that's sharp and deep, with stretched chords and metallic shards. Play this loud and you will absolutely terrify yourself. "Momento" is a clanky jacker that embodies the Warehouse aesthetic perfectly -- like a classic Chicago warehouse track modified for added low-end pressure. This series has ruled our world, and it comes to an end showing its strongest hand.

Artist:	CLARO INTELECTO
Title:	Warehouse Sessions
Label:	MODERN LOVE (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	LOVE 052CD

Manchester-based Mark Stewart (aka Claro Intelecto) presents all five of his acclaimed Warehouse Sessions series 12"s compiled on CD, including a bonus track. Designed, honed and tweaked for the floor, the Warehouse Sessions began in 2006 and shifted focus to Claro's darker edge: minimally-constructed, full-bodied, deviant 4/4 variations with the headier end of the warehouse in mind. "Thieves" opened the series with a full-bodied assault on midnight -- a dark clunk of deep, padded techno underpinning impossibly widescreen emissions, a relentless attack formation guided by soulful machinery executed through the tightest production imaginable. "New Dawn" rotated on a heavy slug of post-industrial genius, taking the metallic clunk of Monolake slowed right down and married with the faint ghost of Rhythm & Sound. "Trial And Error" opened volume two with a filthy modification of house presets re-wired with a crushed square bass line turned into something positively sleazy. "Signals" applied the same contaminated aesthetic to a more robust techno pattern -- a rolling tumble of kickdrum and snare, mutilated by a metallic screen that squashed the track into a very dark corner, only to be illuminated by patient, distant keys. "X" dominated volume three and is perhaps the best-known track in the series -- a gargantuan blast through a barely-contained 4/4 spasm, underpinned by distorted stabs and thumping kick-drums. A live session of warbling dub stabs are fed through a widescreen echo-chamber, making for a low-end psychosis that's just devastating. "Only Yesterday" was written in homage to Mr Fingers, a slow, deep, pulsating house classic, utilizing a sick, padded bass progression, caressed by pristine hi-hats and very little else. "Instinct" opened volume four with a percussive spine so crisp and spacious, it astounded all who heard it upon first listen. Meanwhile, "Post" pushed it deeper with sparkling keys and an endlessly cavernous bass line, venturing into a classic breakdown that brought those keys back. The fifth and final installment opened with "Hunt You Down," a shocking Maurizio-style dub workout in 4/4 with a relentlessly sharp and deep signature, accompanied by stretched chords and metallic shards. "Momento" ended the series with metallic stabs and an impossibly weighty bass drum, like a classic Chicago warehouse track modified with added low-end pressure -- a slow, slinky, fitting end to the series. The final edit included on the compilation, "W6," is an excerpt from a longer track taken from the same sessions, available only on this format.

Artist:	CLARO INTELECTO
Title:	When The Time Is Right
Label:	MODERN LOVE (UK)
Format:	12"
Price:	$12.50
Catalog #:	LOVE 054EP

A killer 12" from Mark Stewart with "When The Time Is Right" -- all sumptuous pads and midnight chords capturing that intangible thread between narcotic house and Berlin dub. Over almost 9 minutes, the textures gradually shift until it ends with shimmering keys. "Round & Round" is a gargantuan square bass line jacker built on multi-layered percussion and a wall of chords that drop away, leaving nothing but a spacious arrangement of snares and bass to topple the dance.

Artist:	CLARO INTELECTO
Title:	Chadderton EP
Label:	MODERN LOVE (UK)
Format:	12"
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	LOVE 057EP

Mark Stewart aka Claro Intelecto presents three new tracks recorded in early 2009. "Chadderton" is an astonishing slice of deep and woozy midnight house, complete with sleazy chords and a frayed spine that's primed for peak-time narcosis. "Above" features relentless chords and a shuffling percussive line that never lets up, while "Great Day" closes the EP with a cathartic spell that ends almost as soon as it begins, letting in rays of sunshine through the dense thicket of sound.

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