Clams Casino, source of last year’s Instrumentals mixtape, has gifted the world with a new selection of his instrumental tracks. He announced it and provided a download link on Twitter the other day – click here to download. It contains some of his remixes, plus instrumentals from A$AP Rocky’s LoveLoveA$AP tape and more.
The first volume was one of last year’s unexpected and critically acclaimed hits. It came from a most unexpected source, but one appropriate for the internet-assisted times we live in: a free tape of rap instrumentals given away by an (at the time) little known producer. Consisting of a series of tracks he’d produced in his bedroom that had gone on to be vocalled by the likes of Lil B, Main Attrakionz and Soulja Boy, it was a potent introduction to a distinct sound and one that’s become increasingly ubiquitous over the last twelve months or so (and has spawned a host of hastily cobbled names, with the nicest, ‘cloud rap’, neatly capturing the music’s weightless, body-caressing drift).
The tape was later issued on vinyl by Type, which we described in our review as follows: "Despite its colossal force, though, its physical impact is unexpectedly soothing, a balmy wash like standing waist-deep in tropical seawater. That’s largely to do with the way that every available frequency is packed with something, even if only a growling undertow of white noise. The usual sources of abrasive, barbed sound – worming synth leads, snare hits, vocal samples – are cushioned and contained within a protective bubble of sonic interference. The overall effect is somewhat akin to listening through thick, viscous fluid." It landed in our top albums of 2011, and like this new tape is well worth the effort to track down.
