Over the past month or so, I’ve been entranced by clipping.‘s 2020 release, “Visions of Bodies Being Burned”. Full of industrial energy, “Visions” is a headache-inducing, horror rap journey that I cannot get enough of. I truly do not believe there is another hip-hop group around right now with a similar style and sound as clipping.
A Blood Narrative
One of the most cohesive threads running through “Visions” is how well clipping. pieces together narratives like a detective novel. “Say the Name” sets this precedence with the story of a woman haunted by a DIY abortion of a nine-month pregnancy. The consistently violent imagery following her lust after a man keeps listeners in morbid curiosity of how her situation could have ended so poorly.
clipping. also seems to have done a decent bit of murder investigation as well. With how vividly the killings of three different cops are described, there’s so much dread that went through me listening to “Body for the Pile”. Even the horrifically grinding sound of overdriven static at the start of the track adds to its aesthetic. The three murders only get more violent and messy as the song progresses.
Three little pigs and they can’t do nothing, for the last time
You can’t run, you just a body for the pile
Lyrics from “Body for the Pile” by clipping.
It’s hard to miss, but the way the officers’ corpses are just “bodies for the pile” highlights their stance on police getting killed generally. The first is beaten to death, the second is shot, and the third is killed in a car crash, representing the most common atrocities committed by cops against civilians.
The Sound of Violence
Promotional photo of clipping. Courtesy of Edwina Hay at Sub Pop Records.
One of the most striking aspects of clipping.’s music is how overwhelmingly powerful the bass is on every track. Many songs start with either rumbling, deep bass or pure noise for the sake of noise. There’s very little in terms of percussion or any lighter sounds than this pounding that permeates the album. So, when the bass drops out, you know to pay extra attention to rapper Daveed Diggs’s lyrics.
His rapid-fire style and punchy flow are in themselves just as violent as the music he raps over. The use of an extensive range of metaphors and references only make his verses all the more dynamic. His voice isn’t particularly heavy though, so it can still cut through the rest of clipping.’s beats when it needs to. The result is an outburst of frustration at a wide variety of social ills from police violence to the destruction of Earth. As a response to the violence of the perpetrators, clipping. calls for an equally violent revolution.
Waiting patient for the signal when the time is right
To bring it down
Lyrics from “Something Underneath” by clipping.
Concluding Thoughts
When a group with this much talent comes along, they become hard to ignore. I believe that they will surpass other experimental hip-hop artists with future records powered by their toxic industrial production within the next few years. From this album, I especially enjoyed the songs mentioned above, as well as “She Bad” and “’96 Neve Campbell”.
A couple months ago, a friend of mine referred to me an album called “Well, I Should Have…*” by Jon Benjamin – Jazz Daredevil. The record was released in 2015 under Sub Pop Records, who have a track record of talented artists. I’m typically not much of a jazz listener, but I decided to give this a shot.
The Premise
H. Jon Benjamin is a comedian, writer, actor, and “musician” who decided to create a jazz album with some other professional musicians on drums, bass, and saxophone. Lacking any skill or practice on piano, Benjamin attempts to sell his soul to the devil and is turned down. The rest of the album is divided into 4 parts, each titled “I Can’t Play Piano”.
H. Jon Benjamin at the 2022 WonderCon in Anaheim, California. Photo Courtesy of Gage Skidmore, under Creative Commons.
The first part begins with a lively saxophone led section, and actually sounds quite good. The drums and bass play together wonderfully, and the sax solos are dynamic and fresh. And then Benjamin comes along.
With no sense of rhythm, melody, or how chords work, Benjamin’s piano sounds like a dying songbird with its vocal cords swapped around. When playing as backup for the lead saxophone, he actually doesn’t sound that bad, all things considered. But, since he has to improvise his solos, he is hopelessly out of tune with the rest of the band. In fact, they just play over him as if there is no piano to begin with.
This pattern continues throughout the rest of the album. The professional jazz players try their hardest to create a satisfying, cohesive set while the Jazz Daredevil tries his hardest to keep that from happening. And that makes this album so fun to listen to. This album is the music equivalent of “The Room” or “The VelociPastor”, which I consider to be high praise as a comedy special.
The Skits
As a comedian, Benjamin can’t help himself from putting a couple of jazz-inspired skits in his album. “Amy’s Song (The Bum Steer)” is a raunchy song too explicit to describe here, and it has to be the worst of his three skits, so I’ll skip over it. “Deal With the Devil” and “Soft Jazzercise” are spoken word interludes performed by Benjamin that fit in perfectly with the musical tone of the album.
The first of these tracks actually features Kristen Schaal and Aziz Ansari, both well-respected comedians in their own right. The dialogue between Benjamin and Schaal may remind listeners of a conversation from “Bob’s Burgers”, since they voice Bob and Louise Belcher, respectively. Benjamin’s timid insistence on selling his soul is honestly endearing, especially through Benjamin’s deadpan delivery that makes him sound uninterested in the intricacies of soul-selling.
Benjamin uses “Soft Jazzercise” to ease the mind of listeners, giving them a break from his lack of piano skills. His class is easy for any listener to try out for themselves. Personally, I found it refreshing and comforting to listen to his voice lead me on a journey of self-improvement.
Closing Thoughts
This album might not be the most meticulously crafted. It might not sound as good as Thelonious Monk or Dave Brubeck. But “Well, I Should Have…*” is an incredibly creative and irreplicable album that I highly recommend listening to for any fans of music. Although, perhaps regular jazz listeners might find it too rough on the ears.
Promotional video for “Well, I Should Have…*” released by Sub Pop Records.
Electronic artist LORN put out a track titled “ENTROPYYY” in November of 2022. It was originally only released on YouTube, and its video was created in collaboration with Sagans. Both the track and the video are surreal experiences of their own: when combined, they’re either a source of visceral fear or tortured comfort (depending on who’s watching).
LORN is an artist who has perfected the skill of creating unnerving soundscapes and appealing to just the right demographic. In “ENTROPYYY,” he strikes the seemingly impossible balance between organicity and futurism: the concept falls apart when it leans too far into either direction. The introduction is warm and ambient, and the noise is intentionally apparent from the beginning. The initial sweetness is soon interrupted by crackly, sour notes that guide the ear to abrupt vocal chops, and in the background, an oscillating synth bearing an inquisitive quality.
Each new chord and shifting beat is coupled with cuts to brilliant AI scenes of writhing robot bodies, crowded streets of smoggy cities, and a cautiously beating heart, all crafted by Sagans, a group I haven’t been able to find much about. Their “about” page on Spotify notes that they are a group “made up of music artists, graphic designers, and AI researchers who create music and visuals with the help of artificial intelligence.” Their obscurity, however, is certainly not a testament to their creative abilities: just as dreadfully poetic as LORN’s music is, Sagans’ video offers itself as the perfect existentialist complement.
Pieces like “ENTROPYYY” as a result of harmonious collaboration between off-the-wall artists are arguably what keep the underground music scene exciting. Beyond the appeal of a wealth of somewhat unexplored tracks is the thrill of constantly discovering new visions— now, LORN has been around for quite some time, with tracks like “Acid Rain” and “Tempered By Your Love,” but there is a constant evolution that manifests within his sound. Whether an abstract nightmare or an illustrious vision for the future, “ENTROPYYY” is, at the very least, a riveting experience.
As of January 4, LORN’s single “ENTROPYYY” is available for streaming on Spotify.
