Surprisingly, with the raps stripped away the tracks take on a life of their own, and hearing Clams' intricate productions with the space to breathe feels like a real privilege. After a genre-bending EP Rainforest on the esteemed Tri Angle label, his LP 'Instrumentals' compiles some of Clams' most crucial and sought after beats. Clams hasn't confined his songwriting to rap music alone, and listening to his productions you can hear a keen sense of harmony, a pop sensibility and a willingness to let sounds dissolve into an uncharacteristic dream-like haze. Edging into the limelight after passing tunes to Soulja Boy and Bay Area superstar Lil B, his originality has resonated with more than just rap fans.

You can’t help but feel Clams Casino will continue in his success and development, even if this instalment isn’t as groundbreaking as it might have been.Clams Casino is the pseudonym of New Jersey resident Mike Volpe, who has shot from relative obscurity to production sensation thanks to a handful of blistering tracks. These are completed songs, not merely beats for rappers to spit over, and with each of Clams’ tracks something is gained and something lost in the addition of the rapper’s contribution. The mixtape’s twin peaks are the epic beat and murmured vocals of Angels and the ambient birdsong and bells of The Fall. He has a knack of allowing a track to melt away from audibility momentarily, only to bring it back to the fore with powerfully restrained rhythms and melodies that are physi- cally elevating. But this is meant in the best possible sense.

Due to strong stylistic continuity and the ad- dition of only two previously unheard beats, Instrumental Mixtape 2 plays like the second part in a two-part album. This offering reconfirms Clams’ position as the most exciting producer pushing the genre in a new and incredibly rich direction. With his previous mixtape coasting into Crack’s Top 5 Albums of 2011, Clams Casino has set the bar high with his ghostly, uplifting brand of experimental hip hop. Instrumental Mixtape 2 (Self Released) 16/20

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