The Clearing

The path from punk and post-punk musician to electronic maven was one followed by many different artists worldwide over the eighties and beyond, with one example being the LA based Barry Craig. After early work in acts like Afterimage, Craig began a lengthy solo run as A Produce with his debut album The Clearing in 1988. With the participation of various guests, including F/i founder Richard Franecki on keyboards on the moodily ominous “October 1st” and former Afterimage compatriot Daniel Voznick adding bass as well as vocals to “Ashes of Love,” Craig wasn’t so much aiming for the incipient techno scene as an at-times meditative but still generally rhythmic series of mostly instrumental compositions, with roots in artier and sometimes more austere fare than generic and more easily marketable New Age bin fillers. Some compositions are more of their time than others, feeling like soundtrack music for a straight to VHS urban noir looking for a home, but given how much of that music eventually fed into vaporwave and beyond, there’s value to be had in pieces like “Owachomo” as a result.