MF Doom and Clams Casino

Here the lazily delivered drawl-raps of MF Doom are paired up with a great example of how Clams Casino uses vocals in his production. Unlike most other producers CC uses the voice as an utter material, a vocal putty to be molded, stretched and twisted. Rather than traditional pop clipped 'samples' of the voice that require framing, CC builds a soundscape from voices. Pretty much all of CC's tracks do this, and some examples are quite overt - but others are quite subtle, the more I listen to a Clams Casino track the more I notice that the sounds are voices - either wailing, croaking or or breathing. His production on Counting (the Robb Bank$ track) is an example of this, synthy soundscapes are actually a cacophony of re-pitched and chrono-dragged wails. Waterfalls (from Clams' Rainforest EP) is a great example of how the grain of the voice is quite resistant to burying, despite being re-pitched, tuned down and smothered in reverb the voiciness of the sound prevails. Natural (from the same EP) shows the same resistance of the grain but against a glitching and jittering digitalisation of the voice. I find it interesting how, despite the sonic of the voice being morphed and degraded out of any semblance to the original, there is still a corporeal grain, still a unique vocality about it. In all of Clams' trax the voice is never quite converted into a chromium synth, wooden timbre or metallic chime but always remains in some sense, regardless of the degrees of sonic manipulation, a very fleshy and erotic voice.

The Mimic

Came across The Mimic in More4 today. Looks to be worth a second watch. Lots of use of the mimicked/disguised voice in identity play - especially in relation the contexts of anxiety and insecurity.... Made me think of Freya Jarman-Ivens essay and talk. Is mimicking (successfully, e.i in situations where the audience does not know one is a mimic - first time encounters, acousmatix etc) running along the same lines as lip-synching identity playing?

Pontone - I Hear Voices mix

I Hear Voices Mix - amazing. Perhaps the best opening voice ever. Even more uncomfortable than the baby cry vocoder on Hype Williams' Rescue Dawn...