He just does a lot of things right: Vocal samples, which are treated to sound sort of ghostly and haunting, are picked at their most expressive moments, and his sense of build-and-release gives the tracks a momentum that never lets them become too drifty. These aren't groundbreaking techniques (this production style owes something to West Coast instrumental hip-hop as well as guys like Four Tet and Burial), but Clams' detailed, musical approach makes them feel like his own. For example, a track like opener 'Natural' explores the tension between a tattered, grainy arrangement and float-y, angelic vocal samples- you can feel it pulling you in both directions. Put out by the well-curated boutique imprint Tri Angle, the Rainforest EP is centered loosely on a terrestrial theme (song titles 'Waterfalls' and 'Treetop' not-so-subtly reference nature) and carefully balances some very earthy, textural sounds with more airy, celestial ones.
So it's no surprise that his latest release steps away from for-hire beatmaking to showcase original material, five tracks that 'have always existed purely as instrumentals,' according to a press statement.
