Clams Casino’s three Instrumental mixtapes - and the gauzy, slump-hop productions they advertised - have redrafted the outer limits of rap, while various versions of his syrupy, discombobulated sound seep into the charts. At best, Clams’s beats seem beaten, staggering in a space filled with distortion, as if someone’s trying to hoover up the song before it finishes. 32 Levels begins and ends strongly but sags in the middle like an old sofa, never bettering Casino classics such as A$AP Rocky’s LVLor FKA twigs’ flutteringly majestic Hours. However, indie-pop growler Samuel T Herring and a returning Rocky have the personality to make a success of their contributions, and a bundled vocal-free version hints at endless possibilities for Clams’s sleep paralysis symphonies.
