Album Review: Clams Casino - Instrumental Mixtape 2

Clams Casino
Instrumental Mixtape 2
Rating: Grrrr

Clams Casino's first Instrumental Mixtape came out of nowhere last year to be one of my favorite releases. His work was astonishingly full-formed, and instantly distinctive and recognizable. Creating beats for rappers Lil' B, A$AP Rocky, and Mac Miller among others, his spacey, shoegazey vibe was unique to the hip-hop world, and oddly enough translated even better when heard separate from the vocal tracks. He's returned with a second installment, that can be downloaded for free here. The question remains, do the tracks still work outside the vocal contributions? His style has not really changed much over the course of the year; he still has a slowed down, ambient vibe, sludgy beats, and a penchant for an odd sample here and there. His tracks, for the most part, don't follow the regular hip-hop pattern of laying down a strong foundation and then letting it endlessly loop in the background. Clams Casino uses a lot of breaks, divergent paths, ambient interludes, and an almost endless supply of electronic textures to fill out the spaces.

Clams Casino appears to be on his game the most with his collaborations with A$AP Rocky, finding new and interesting ways to subvert his usual patterns. Opener "Palace," is a strikingly ornate track, layered with chorus vocals and a cavernous pound of slowed down Dirty South beats.



"Wassup" is a underwater treasure of murky synths, beats, and disembodied vocal snippets.



And one of the standouts from A$AP Rocky's debut album, "Bass" sounds even more menacing and brutal without Rocky's raps.



Of course, the brilliant soundscapes are not limited solely to A$AP Rocky; Instrumental Mixtape 2 collects some of his best work with Mac Miller as well. From the lush, downtempo tropicalia of "One Last Thing,"



to the chorus of murky, back masked vocals on "Angels," Clams Casino demonstrates how he is a master of mood and atmosphere.



Instrumental Mixtape 2 falters only when the tracks are a locked groove with little to no changes; obviously where the rapper or artist didn't want focus taken away from their vocals. "Kissing On My Syrup" for Squadda B is a clanking, proto-industrial track that never really rises above its clamorous beat.



Or his remix of the Lana Del Rey track "Born to Die," is merely a haunted house of effects and little melody.



But these slight annoyances do nothing to deny the brilliance of the other tracks. "Swervin" is a stunning tour de force of shoegaze ambiance and texture.



"The Fall," in its original mix for The Weeknd, is a lurking slow-jam, a drugged out haze in the morning after.



And ends with one of his best tracks, the instrumental version of Lil' B's "I'm God," featuring a brilliant Imogen Heap sample from "Just For Now."



Instrumental Mixtape 2 is another feather in the cap for Clams Casino, showcasing his trademarked style, but also indicating that he knows how to manipulate and play with it, so that it is always fresh. I'm really jonesing for him to release a full album of his own material to see what he can really do. But for now, I am completely content with these releases.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.