YES/NO GUEST MIX 027 :: BANSHEEBEAT

It's the first of August. Time continues its onwards flow. Last month a musician-composer-producer called bansheebeat from Tucson, Arizona premiered his very nice track 'Shinsekai' here on YES/NO. The track was a dazzling odyssey of discovery, taken from the musicmaker's recently released, two-years-in-the-making album, Lumine; I'd recommend you check it out – the mix of styles, the beat-led foundations, the compositional style and allusions to VGM and chiptune, all of it resonates happily with anybody with even a remote interest in any of those things.

In celebration of the release of his album, bansheebeat decided to craft a tasty mix for YES/NO. It begins by paying dues to a host of net producers, web-based musicmakers including Mister Lies, Cashmere Cat, Koloto, Skylar Spence… In fact, the transition between 'Mr. Wonderful' by Skylar Spence (fka Saint Pepsi), Clams Casino classic 'I'm God' and the glitching 'Fox Tales' by Koloto, is a few minutes of fantastic, flawless atmosphere; it soon moves on to a second half characterised by more regulated beats than came before, and a more expansive yet still inward-facing atmosphere courtesy of music from Four Tet, Moderat and Monolake, finishing up with the floating, effusive 'Mythril Stone' by beat producer memory cards. Please enjoy this half-hour of music below.

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• 1. Mister Lies – “Ashore”
• 2. Cashmere Cat – “Wedding Bells”
• 3. Shlohmo – “The Way U Do”
• 4. Air Tycoon – “Young Athenian Lovers”
• 5. Skylar Spence – “Mr. Wonderful”
• 6. Clams Casino – “I’ m God”
• 7. Koloto – “Fox Tales”
• 8. kanon_kid – “Otani”
• 9. Monolake – “North”
• 10. Four Tet – “Parallel Jalebi”
• 11. Kingdom – “Hood By Air Theme”
• 12. Moderat – “Milk”
• 13. LCD Soundsystem – “Sound of Silver”
• 14. Sufjan Stevens – “Vesuvius”
• 15. memory cards – “Mythril Stone”

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☟ bansheebeat Social Media Presence ☟
Facebook • SoundCloud • Last.fm • Bandcamp • Twitter • Tumblr

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CLAMS CASINO FT DOOM BOOKFIEND

First wrote about Clams Casino like two years ago, in particular his two beautiful instrumental tracks 'I'm God' and 'Motivation'. That seems like a long time ago now. In music years, it is rather a long time. In internet years, it's ages and ages ago. I feel like a different person now. Mr Clams Casino himself, however, hasn't changed all that much; well, I don't know him, so I can't say that for sure. But what I can say is that his beats do not fail to impress.

That's unless you measure everything comparatively to what's gone on in the past - yes despite this being 'a good song' or 'a song that sounds good', people have damned it as 'no way as good as i'm god/motivation omg u sukkkk'. Pretty much that. Whining and whinging blah-blah-blah-ness of the fickle know-it-alls and unreflective want-more-and-mores - have an opinion, sure, but don't completely disregard a song cause it ain't up to scratch. The past cannot be surpassed? Whatever happened to live and learn? Empirical living? Bah, let's continue.

Here's 'Bookfiend' created by Clams Casino with vocals from Doom (officially MF Doom - Metal Face Doom). Didn't know who this guy was (lol?) so just looked him up. Interesting. Real name Daniel Dumile. The rhymes are surprising but then again I didn't know what to expect at all. They certainly fit in with the slowdown-sludge feel of Clams' sleepy-strong beats.

As soon as the bass kicks in it seems to granulate everything else that you're doing at the same time - that's the thing, the older stuff was the same: all-encompassing, lolling rhythms that become your world for however long the song lasts. The start of this one is tricky, begins as if it may continue playfully, but yeah that bass explodes and Doom begins... the synchronicity between the duration of the bass beams and Doom's deep-growl bars is pretty impressive I have to say. Good rhymes. I like picking up on little phrases in the rap that particularly jump out: like "Netflix to the head" - not sure what it's all about, but I like the words he uses and the way he uses them. An almost perfect harmony between rapper and producer here.

Will there be more from this dream team? Dunno.

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Learn about Doom on Wikipedia

MIKKY EKKO PULL ME DOWN PROD. BY CLAMS CASINO [FREE DOWNLOAD]

One of my favourite moments of 2011 was discovering Clams Casino - hip-hop producer and producer in his own right; his big, dramatic beats, complete with a wonderful, earth shattering bass, were certainly an interesting discovery. Previously he's produced tracks for a number of artists, including Lil B and Soulja Boy, without, however, much recognition. Now, however, he's been credited, along with the creator of the track, as a producer on Mikky Ekko's new track 'Pull Me Down'.

The vocal stylings, although sounding a little as if they would be more suited to a down-'n'-dirty Jack White-style guitar explosion, are not greatly nor instantly recognisable do still find a place here amidst the slow-jams of the beat and its synthy blanket.

It's the music that is the overriding positive in this song, but that's not to say anything terrible against Mikky Ekko, not in the slightest; he has, along with Clams Casino, produced this track - to what extent we don't know - showing that his taste in wonderfully crisp ambient sounds and strong, ear-popping beats with a hip-hop slant is well-received. The vocals cover too much ground over the top of all the great music, sounding almost too distinct.

However, the track - with all its chillwave vibe - still deserves a listen and it surely deserves a download. Looking forward to hearing more from Mikky Ekko.

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CLAMS CASINO - I'M GOD / MOTIVATION

Two absolute gems from Clams Casino today. Clams casino is a dish originating from Rhode Island, US, consisting of clams served on the halfshell with breadcrumbs and bacon (thanks Wikipedia), an example of which can be seen to the right.

Clams Casino, aka Mike Volpe, is also a producer from the US. Just 23, and still a student, he's been making beats for over a decade - and doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. He has made beats for Lil B and Soulja Boy, to name a few, but I wouldn't peg him just yet, not until you've listened to couple of the instrumentals he's crafted. And hearing that he makes these unearthly beats from his mother's attic, whilst sending them to artists via MySpace (he said in an interview) based on nothing but who might be interested, well, he sounds a lot more interesting.


An instrumental used as a backing track by Lil B, 'I'm God' works absolutely perfectly on its own. The weird video above (taken from footage of 'Lost in New York', by Jean Rollin) suits the ambient vibes of the song totally. The sample in the song is Imogen Heap's 'Just For Now' and is used with such skill and genius that it turns into a different song. It's why this song just doesn't fit the moniker of remix, it's completely different. Everything that's done in this song is perfection. And the hard slap of the snare and that almost empty kick give it attitude enough to make it seem attractive to rappers, but minus Lil B, this track is a masterpiece.

What's interesting to note is the amount of space. As with a lot of modern hip-hop, where every space is occupied by a trembling electronic note or some ever-expanding synth, Clams Casino seems to worship the space he is given, making sure that what he builds over the top is well-thought out. After all, we need space to breathe. The minimalist speaks again with 'Motivation', another Lil B backer - and much better effort from B than his vocals on 'I'm God' if you ask me.


Clams Casino really utilises space in this song for some awesome dynamism; even the smallest things give the track a huge push towards perfection - for example, a tiny spot of clever production lies in the song at 1:59. Just a millisecond of nothing before those crashing cymbals and determined drums come back in. It's a gorgeous song overall, helped very much by the slow tempo sample. Where's it from?

"Well, the sample in "Motivation" is based on a 30-second clip of a voice and some noise in the background that I found online. I just search for free sounds-- that's how I get all my drum sounds," he said in an interview for Pitchfork. Everything about his songs is chopped up, he says. He makes anything, from Adele's 'Hometown Glory' (used on 'Realist Alive') to Imogen Heap, sound like his and his alone. And in all the chopped up, cut up, sampled slow downs and quick snap drums, there's nothing like that sounds like anything I've ever heard.

And this is handy, as now Clams (@clammyclams on Twitter) wants to focus on putting out instrumentals and instrumentals only, thinking that rappers ask for tracks they don't use. He's put out his mixtape for all to hear - download that here. Failing that, enjoy these two songs and have a look for more on YouTube. He is active on the site (see his comment above), which means that we might start to see his account putting out a ton of new stuff soon. For now, you can revel in what he has put out already and enjoy the ambient hip-hop of a truly 21st Century producer.

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