Rainforest easily fits the mold of sample-based IDM, and it serves adequately in that context. Clams Casino succeeds in constructing effortlessly evocative textures and moments full of dramatic potential, but as songs in their own right, the tracks on the New Jersey producer’s first officially released EP need more happening to drive the story forward. No longer part of the arc of a rap album, the instrumentals must tell a story by themselves. The productions on Clams Casino’s Rainforest, however, have a different meaning. When listened to in the context of the entire album, the song serves as a moment of contemplation, and in this context, Clams Casino’s mood music is a necessary pause in the narrative. Considered on its own, Clams Casino’s production for Lil B’s “Motivation” is remarkable: a hiccuping, luminous swoon that casts the Based God’s delivery into hazy silhouette. Some listeners go so far as to loop intros to songs using Clams Casino beats in an effort to create endless, instrumental hymns. The usual “your gay” comments are rapidly shushed. Commenters on YouTube who know nothing about Clams Casino grow inexplicably reverent in the presence of these beats. Clams Casino’s productions seem to fill an almost spiritual need in the internet era of rap music.
