Main Attrakionz – Chuch (prod. by Friendzone)
_
_
Tonight I’m seeing producer Clams Casino at a showcase for Tri Angle Records that also features creeper vibes like oOoOO, White Ring, Shlohmo, Babe Rainbow, and Water Borders. Tomorrow, Clammy Clams is playing a showcase for one of the Bay Area rap groups he’s made beats for, Main Attrakionz. Back in the 90s, there was a lot of talk “gravers,” an imaginary middle ground between goth and raver that some kids fell into. Not a lot of good music came of the notion, and even though I’ve got a deep love for the post-industrial beat blastscapes of Scorn/Gridlock/Hymen Records, that scene was always a bit insular.
Thank technology in part for latter-day genre fluidity. With Twitter, artists can contact one another and collaborate days later—Clams falls near the outside of the Tri Angle roster, known for collecting various strands of dark, bass-heavy music that flirts with the goth scene, but he’s better known for making rhythm tracks for guys like Lil B who position themselves outside the standard rap spectrum. (Nothing has convinced me more that we could get twisted in a genre-free, postgender paradise than B and his pal/video director Kreayshawn, a white bisexual rapper from Oakland whose Clowes crunk is all about making it okay to be a little quirky and weird again.)
Main Attrakionz are also doing their part. Their style got coined cloud rap a while back, and thematically it fits perfect—an abstract, blunted sound; the pastel dreams it produces. (Noz on hanging out with Lil B, who pointed to a castle floating in the clouds: “That’s the kind of music I want to make.”) But it’s also in the mode of production, farmed out online to anyone who can throw together a good backing track, opening up the field for ambitious producers with a knack for the drowsy nod. Looking back for fathers of this sound, aside from the obvious mainstream and indie choices, I hear hints of Bone Thugs and DJ Muggs’ more Nintendo excursions for Cypress Hill. Standout track “Chuch” is one of those rare moments when raw edge is cooled by audible velvet until it gives you a balance so fragile and sublime it almost hurts, reminding me of Roll Deep’s “Let It Out.”
_
Main Attrakionz – Chuch [download] [grab the free album]
_
