#Clarence Clarity

[vyl3tpwny]

Studio Ghibli always makes food look delicious

[cannibal-nightmares]

re: analyzing Clarence Clarity's new album, "VANISHING ACT II: ULTIMATE REALITY"

...I realized what's so different about it. There is no wacky high-end. And by that, I mean there are no windchimes. All throughout "NO NOW" and "THINK: PEACE" there's a stuuuupppiiidd (/endearing) amount of windchimes, and where there aren't, the cymbals are brightly mixed, it's what makes "VANISHING ACT I: NO NOUNS" feel so different, too. In hindsight, it's interesting all what Clarity has done with editing and manipulating windchimes throughout his music, but once you hear them you can't not focus on them heh

[tri4ge]

Vapid feels

[daronmalakianofficial]

[cheerfuldisaster]

Clarence Clarity's third album VANISHING ACT II: ULTIMATE REALITY is set to release October 4th, 2024.

[timetravellingkitty]

No one gets this like I do

[doggerell]

Wonderfully Wonderful (All The Time) // Fold ‘Em

[kimiko24]

Clarence Clarity - False Positive

[punkgodzilla]

Loving the new Clarence Clarity!!!!!

[gagfadget]

Putting Clarence Clarity on your hip hop track is like adding tony chachere’s to your meal.

[kk1ttykat]

CC appreciation

[cannibal-nightmares]

!!! yes, please do (talk shop about it)!!

My internet crashed while writing this last night waahh!!! OK OK a preface: I am not always well-versed in who a musical artist is beyond their art (this has come up quite a bit recently hahaha), so if I miss something in that specific regard, that's most likely why: I don't know much about Clarence Clarity, himself.

Second preface: "NO NOW" is tied for my favourite album of all time. Now that that's out of the way…

I almost hate to consider using "NO NOW" as a basis of expectation, but it really is something unfathomably unique. "VANISHING ACT II: ULTIMATE REALITY" was a satiating in-between of "VANISHING ACT I: NO NOUNS" and his demo stuff on Bandcamp (such as "YOUR WRONG," "YOUR WRONG TO," and "YOUR3 WRONG"). "Vanishing Act I" has a similar (in comparison) taste of sound collage to that of "THINK: PEACE;" I could talk all day about Clarence's inclinations for obvious preferences in basslines, instrumentation*, etc… oooor I could simplify it down to an uncountable amount of layers, micro transitions, and hard entrances/exits. In the grand scheme of Clarity, "Vanishing Act II" and his demos are… Minimal! (shhh, we're going to pretend for a moment he doesn't quite literally have an ambient record hahaha).

So let's talk about avant garde. What he did with "NO NOW" is, to me, Beach Boys status. I'm talking The Wrecking Crew on "Pet Sounds," Brian Wilson doing "The Smile Sessions." (If anyone has not seen his producing livestreams... You will not believe what this guy hodge-podges together and how. I don't remember what video it is where he just manipulates the utter mess out of a collection of random public sound effects and samples) To my preferences, sadly, "Vanishing Act II" is not that, BUT, I do like that it has that familiar soul feel throughout it that Clarence loves to lean on, and it can allow newer listeners to get their feet wet in. (Cause let's be real. "NO NOW" is A LOT.) Too, if Spotify-seasoned fans have never heard his extra stuff spread around, it's a good segue between them (with the exception of "Once in the Styx…" which. heh. is my fav CC song. this is beside the point.).

I do like the little flavorings sprinkled throughout II that tie it together with I, but, unfortunately, listening to them back-to-back questions the relevance. Lyrically, they mesh together with a little imagination, stylistically…? For a second it made me think about Crywolf's "widow [OBLIVION Pt. I]" and "exuvium [OBLIVION Pt. II]" in terms of concept sequel and narrative, but then comes the discussion on what happened to the musical execution. Honestly honestly, I think I am just very much well-adjusted to the absolute chaotic calamity that is "NO NOW," to the point that the new record is a jalapeno pepper to the Carolina Reaper I am used to, heh.

It's a catchy album-that-feels-like-an-EP; I have yet to explore some of the lyrics in-depth, though the skewed sort of resentment throughout it didn't escape me: While his emotionality (fictional narrative or not) throughout his songs is often like a dagger pointed at something hyper-specific beyond the listener, this time it felt like there was veil intentionally blurring the message, like he spoke through tongues to snarl an anecdote he feels he can't say outright. ...This could be my own magic brain, though. This is all to say that some of the lyrics felt like that of Everything Everything's "Raw Data Feel" in which the prose was quite literally AI-generated to spit out what sounds like nonsense and might be just that.

If you liked it, listen to or review YOUR WRONG 1-3, if you felt it lacked luster, step back into Vanishing Act I or even "THINK: PEACE." If you think it's a lot as it is… Heh. Listen again until it grows on you. I don't have a favourite track yet, but the opener, "What Year Is This?!?! JFC" has everything I love about the demo tapes plus more; it's punchy just like that of Vanishing Act I's "False Positive," also to include the delayed vocals which I'm a suuucker for. Spooky. In that realm of unreality Clarence is so good at wielding, the ending of "Guinevere" starts to be subtly-"Tathāgatagarbha"-esque, like gently waking up from a nightmare... GOSH WAIT I HAVEN'T EVEN CONSIDERED THE ARG ANGLES.. WAIT. Damn! Maybe I need to get a Twitter account, I'm sure there's lore I'm missing... (//silly) "The Greatest Living Musician, Found Dead" reminded me of that sort of blade in Nolan Potter's "Music is Dead," I keep coming back to "juliano so cute lowkey" as an earworm, "Playing Our Parts" continues off of songs with a sort of "fuck it, just fake it" theme especially seen in Vanishing I. It's all still uniquely Clarence Clarity.

…You know. I wrote all this. And I'm listening to this record for what might be the 4th or 5th time. And all of a sudden I'm realizing it might partly be the mix. Is it a bit low? Anyways, If "NO NOW" is "Skiptracing," "VANISHING ACT II: ULTIMATE REALITY" is "Going Going Gone." Verstehst? Ultimately, I could say I am a bit underwhelmed, but what Clarence Clarity does in terms of music currently goes beyond the definition of hyper pop and PC, and has created his very own realm of avant garde sound collage. No one does it like Clarity, he's setting his own bar of expectation. I'm excited for the life of this album, I'm excited for what's next. :)

Thank you so much for the ask WAHHHH I love yammering about music and getting people into new stuff (shout out to my co-worker who let me play a bit of No Now after we discussed hyper pop and noise, only to then tell me that Arca was a bit much for his tastes LOL I'M SORRY) Since we're on the topic, I will conclude with an interjection: the poem on my pinned post is from "Vanishing Act I," "It's Happening Again"

Thank you, thank you, anon, this was fun :)

[tri4ge]

Oldish study (2023) in celebration of Clarence Clarity's new single/album

[daronmalakianofficial]

My Clarence Clarity 88x31's that I made for my Neocities that are F2U ♥️ I'm not sure what version of Think:Peace I prefer so have both, but I think they're kinda lame compared to my other buttons

[whyolent]

This is truly God-level pop(?) music. It is unfathomable to me how you can create something like this, something *this* good. It's a long one, but I implore you to spend the time to appreciate this. The grooves are perfect, the textures are perfect, the vocals are perfect, goddamnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!! Definitely one of my favorites of all time.