About

A TAV Curator’s Pick.

Featured Laneway Festival Singapore 2017 Artist

Iconoclast hip-hop producer Clams Casino presents the long-awaited release of his debut album 32 Levels, out July 2016 on Columbia Records. The album includes 12 original tracks and features vocal appearances from an impressive crew of collaborators, including A$AP Rocky, Lil B, Vince Staples, and more. Instrumental versions of every track on the album are also presented here on the second LP.

With 32 Levels, Clams expands upon his distinctive musical vocabulary. He lends ballads an otherworldly, percussive sheen; confessional crooning a devastating sense of atmosphere; and trunk-rattling bangers a swaggering menace. It's a cinematic trip, with an expertly selected cast of characters that rise to the challenge of matching the emotional heft and sonic breadth of the production. Rolling Stone calls Clams a "visionary" and says his "richly textured, poignant sound stands entirely on its own," while The Guardian deemed him "most likely to change the face of hip-hop." SPIN calls his work "fascinating and ominously exhilarating."

Born and raised in New Jersey, Clams Casino aka Michael Volpe, began his career as a teenager, sending beats that he made in his mother's attic to rappers on MySpace. While studying to be a physical therapist, Clams released a free compilation of instrumental versions of his production, the now classic Instrumentals. Featuring Clams' signature hypnotic, kaleidoscopic beats, Instrumentals quickly earned acclaim and led to close collaborations with the likes of A$AP Rocky, Lil B, Mac Miller, and Vince Staples. His production work has also appeared on albums from The Weeknd, Schoolboy Q, FKA Twigs, A$AP Ferg, Foster The People and Jhene Aiko. – Press Release

“One of Clams’ best qualities is the restraint and room he leaves for featured artists. “Thanks To You” is sparse, yet the reversed synthesizer blurts create a powerful dynamic set against Dew’s filtered vocals. It’s an elegiac approach that builds into something beautiful. The same could be said for Zutrau on “Back To You” and Kelela on “A Breath Away”. Clams lets these artists reinvent themselves under his swooning rhythms. The production is unmistakable, yet the featured artists always come away sounding like the main attraction.

Clams doesn’t need this record to prove that he should be a household name; his back catalog already does that. Instead, it reinforces his talents with hints at how his influence might spread next. A great producer is also a master curator, and here Clams proves more than capable. Each level of this record reveals a new truth to the mysterious silhouette on the cover, even when he’s using others to speak for him. Much like his wistful beats, Clams still maintains a sense of mystery while opening himself up.” – Consequence of Sound

Item description: