At the turn of the century, around the same time as the rise of the Shibuya-kei movement, Japanese producer Nobukazu Takemura was spearheading the development of a style that writer and musician Nick Currie (Momus) would later dub “cute formalism:” an aesthetic that adheres to the prescribed notions of a subgenre while imbuing it with a sense of lightness and playfulness. Clam Day, the debut album from Brooklyn native Otto Benson a.k.a. OTTO, fits neatly into this lineage, offering a chipper take on electronica that is exhilarating and disquieting all at once.
Clam Day’s palette is well-defined: Digital filters garble voices while vintage drum machines push up against bright squiggles and chirps to provide a pulse. There’s a distinct “island of misfit toys” approach to the way Benson flings around samples. The cheekily titled “Sprained My Ankle in Gristedes Juice Aisle” feels like Aphex Twin’s manic “Afx237 v.7” on mood stabilizers, while early highlight “Crystal Hole” imagines Animal Collective’s Sung Tongs as digested by a lo-fi house producer.
In addition to Benson, two friends—credited only as Max B and Ronnie P—sang and co-wrote songs for the album. Each of the vocal tracks were inspired by “corporate sprites,” Benson’s term for the colorful cartoon mascots deployed by big brands to interface with consumers. As he brings their world to life, he imbues his songs with a subtle unease. “Waiting to pay all the medical bills for you and me and everyone we know,” Max B sings on the chorus of “Guess My Crush,” his voice made child-like with pitch-shifting. The result is something akin to the wickedly funny web series Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared, with its brightly colored cloth puppets pondering the myriad horrors of existence under the guise of children’s television programming.
Benson’s arrangements flip back and forth between minimalism and maximalism—simple pads and shuffling drums in one moment, blown-out percussion sequences the next. By the end of the record, he’s dreaming up music for fictional characters (“Kwop Kwop Theme”) and dabbling with murky ambient synth textures (“Microplastics In My Bloodstream”). Still, some of the tracks run out of ideas after establishing an initial vibe; the aptly named “Forest Ritual” would make great incidental music for a video game, but quickly becomes set dressing in an album context.
The most memorable songs on Clam Day take advantage of genre tropes to subvert your expectations and laugh in your face. “Valentino Couture Crusty Crayon” turns indie rock jangles and Boards of Canada synths into a cacophony of tape distortion. It’s immediately followed by “Wash Your Hands,” which is both a public health announcement and a heartfelt song about being peed on. This punch-drunk atmosphere is the most endearing charm of OTTO’s debut; it evokes an uncanny other world, where simple melodies and unrefined sounds can collide with the intricacy of IDM with reckless abandon.
Buy: Rough Trade
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