What’s indisputable is his deficient acumen at all aspects of rapping except self-mythology. The degree to which the infamous Bay Area rap personage and self-declared Kevin Durant tormentor is in on his own joke remains unclear -if he’s in on it, or if it’s a joke, etc. He’s the main attraction on two of these songs and a notable presence on two others. Your mileage may also vary depending on your tolerance of Lil B. Whether it’s important that it does or does not represent a ton of growth for Volpe as a musician and producer is up to you. The active experience of listening to the album is an enjoyable one. The haunting loops and dense buzzing keys on “Be Somebody,” for example, or the addictive five-note hook on “Witness,” or the Eastern strings, piano melody and minimalist pulse that ground “Back To You,” a beautiful showcase for guest vocalist Kelly Zutrau…I could go on. Once you’ve acknowledged that Volpe is mostly sticking to his very appealing formula-hey, it doesn’t seem to bug many music critics when indie buzz bands do it-you can appreciate the craft involved throughout 32 Levels. That’s the conundrum-you may think, “Well, this sure does sound like Clams Casino and he’s basically doing the same shit…but it happens to be really good shit.” If you’ve checked out any of the Instrumentals mixtapes that collect his production work or the Rainforest EP, not much on 32 Levels will surprise you. When listening to 32 Levels, the beats themselves sound like nothing you’ve heard before. Unless you’ve listened to Clams Casino before, that is.

The distinct blend of heavily layered synth lines, ambient noise, distorted/pitch-adjusted vocal samples and hard drums bears the influence of syrupy Houston trap beats and has precursors in electronic music ranging from Brian Eno to Portishead, but this in no way makes his work predictable. Volpe’s style of production and arrangement immediately arrested listeners’ ears when it first popped up on songs by Lil B, Main Attraktionz and A$AP Rocky in 20. On 32 Levels, it’s clear that he made the record he wanted to with little interference from Columbia-there are no cheap crossover moves to be found here. Then again, Mike Volpe hasn’t often taken the expected road in his time operating under the Clams Casino moniker. It’s not often that artists who have an established place in the hip-hop universe release their debut album six years into their careers.

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