Hi, everyone. Propthoiny Cliptano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of this new clipping. album, Dead Channel Sky.

Here we have the newest full-length LP from well-known and respected experimental hip hop outfit, clipping., consisting of Daveed Diggs, William Hudson, and Jonathan Snipes, as always. They are a California trio who I think have made some of the most unique and groundbreaking hip hop music of the past 10 years. The way their sound has evolved over that course of time has been really incredible to watch, too.

There was their breakout mixtape, which built an internet buzz off of a very unlikely combination of harsh noise and also classic shades of West Coast hip hop. And nearly everything clipping. has released since then has been challenging and conceptual in its own way, be it their varied and fantastic commercial debut for Sub Pop Records or 2016's Splendor and Misery, which was the story of a lone survivor on a lost space age slave ship.

It's been a while since the group's last proper album release, and I can't really blame them for taking their time, as they were pretty generous with their last two album cycles in 2019 and 2020, respectively. With these very dense sister albums that were separated at birth and then spaced out into their own formal releases. Of course, I'm talking about Visions of Bodies Being Burned as well as There Existed an Addiction to Blood, which lyrically and instrumentally were deeply influenced by horror films of numerous types and stripes. And these records featured crazy crossovers from the likes of horror as well as La Chat, Benny the Butcher, even their own interpretation of an avant-garde Yoko Ono performance piece, too.

And I even went over Visions of Bodies Being Burned again, as I mentioned in a recent video, naming it as one of my favorite albums of the 2020 so far. Because, yeah, these records are ambitious and creative hallmarks, not just for clipping., but I think modern music in general. And it just speaks to how thorough and creative clipping. is as a group, that they got two full gratifying albums out of this concept and pushed their own boundaries artistically in the process as the production was so fitting and unique for these records because Jonathan and William's respective backgrounds in noise music and soundtrack music and electronic music certainly gives them a very unique angle to work with when crafting hip hop beats for Daveed to rap on top of.

In terms of flow, delivery, writing, Daveed Diggs continues to prove himself as a one-of-a-kind emcee with each new clipping. album. You can really hear how his experiences in acting give him the ability to tell stories and speak from a wide variety of perspectives in clipping.'s music.

Now, considering all of this, I had every reason to be so excited about this record, especially since it seemed like the group was going to be switching things up significantly on this one because the initial singles off of this thing saw them embracing techno grooves, break beats, a bit more singing on Daveed's end, too. I didn't think we were going to get a total departure from their rap roots, but Dead Channel Sky is most definitely different from anything clipping. has done up until this point, which for a group that is typically as adventurous as they are, I think that's a welcome thing.

However, after digesting it, while I think this record does provide a change of pace of some sort, conceptually and musically, the execution on this thing I think is a little surface level for clipping.'s usual standards, even if I do enjoy some tracks off of it.

This may be difficult for some listeners to put their finger on, might be a huge point of contention, but I'll say past releases, I think, were way more immersive when it came to the worlds they were building in their production and in Daveed's lyricism. I feel like Dead Channel Sky doesn't quite know what it wants to do on that front. I mean, there are a lot of recurring themes throughout this record for sure in regards to technology and authoritarianism and futurism. But the focus is split sometimes between a grim depiction of the now and also a somewhat dystopian vision of a future that feels pretty parallel to the present. And while I think the sentiments and views expressed by the many verses on this album are on point and valid, very few of them culminate in super-layered or detailed storytelling.

I mean, for sure, the group does come close on a handful of tracks like "Dodger", which again is a track that explores dystopia through modern day tech. Soundtracked by jittery techno beats. We have lots of mentions of war, the hunting of "dodgers", or essentially those who refuse to give into this brand of internet authoritarianism the song is about.

There's also "Polaroids", which I think is a pretty interesting meditation on history and the past, memory, and lost media. Also the death of context, too, as the ethos of the track in a very sarcastic and knowing way is about living ignorantly in the moment where you're just free of context or greater understandings of where we are and how we got here, which might make this track the most apt one on the album.

I think the band really could have done more to center things on this record around this concept because there are other instances of commentary on the record that I didn't find to be as hard-hitting.

There's "Scams", which I do think in many respects is one of the better tracks on the record, though it does feel like we've been here before. Like the instrumental, for example, is something that really could have been off of clipping.'s Sub Pop debut. I mean, even the song's story of a smart, resourceful woman who is essentially thriving off of her scam shit... It feels very familiar, too. Still, the track overall is a groovy and textured banger with a killer and slick feature from Tia Nomore.

And there's also "Code", which is a track where, again, I dig the groove. I like the fried percussion, the dramatic string sections toward the back end of the track, but the concept is a little obvious in that, obviously, we're talking about code in terms of slang and rules of the street and so on and so forth, but then also bringing in parallels of code in regards to tech and computers and coding, which is an idea that I think has potential, if not for so many of the bars feeling like just a glossary of references. Meanwhile, there's these spoken word breaks that feel like something lifted out of a bad movie trailer.

Meanwhile, "Ask What Happened" is the closing track of the record that really tries to round up the record's major themes – monopoly, war, cost of living, history, and the future being owned by the 1% – which, again, I agree with the sentiments of this track. But conceptually, clipping. doesn't really build on them outside of offhandedly mentioning them, especially with these sparse ambient tones and light break beats that make up the instrumental, not really bringing much of a musical finale for things either.

But yeah, sadly, despite having a lot of sounds and material to potentially work with between going in a more electronic and dance-centric direction, all of the themes with technology and futurism, so on and so forth, the tracks on this album just don't really feel greater than the sum of their parts.

An issue that I think is further exacerbated by a series of shorter songs on the album that I just wish had more progression and substance, namely "Go", as well as "Madcap" and "Mood Organ", whose bars very much read like the disorienting inner monologue of a character who can't really seem to make sense of his glitched-out existence.

Then beyond that, we have a bunch of interlude tracks on the record and musical sidequests that further contribute to the flow of the album being a little choppy, which... I can see how moments like these contribute to the record's themes of degradation and lost information. But still, it doesn't make the experience of listening to the album any more enjoyable.

I haven't even gotten into the production on this record all that much, which I think ranges in quality, because while, yeah, there are impressive highlights on this record that, like I said earlier, see clipping. dabbling more in electronics and dancing grooves, acid bass here and there, too. Some of the ideas, however, come off derivative and just showcase that while clipping. does have an appreciation of the genres, it may not run super duper deep, as tracks like "Change the Channel", for example, just feel like unadulterated Prodigy worship and not really anything else.

There's also "Mirrorshades pt. 2", whose production just runs like a very awkward, quirky club wallpaper. And beyond that, there's just too many beats on this thing that feel like they're lifted straight out of the soundtrack of a bad hacker movie from the late '90s, where the protagonist wears a lot of sunglasses and trench coats.

Even more perplexing is the track "Welcome Home Warrior", where Diggs pretty blatantly switches gears in terms of his lyricism and flows in a way that's clearly inspired by the work of alt hip hop legend Aesop Rock. And what's surprising about that is Aesop Rock is also featured on the song. So it's like hearing two different versions of him on the same track, and it's a bit distracting, especially considering the track sounds like it could have landed on one of his last three albums.

I mean, the track is fine, and I guess that's how I feel generally about Dead Channel Sky, too. The record is okay. It has its bright spots, and while I do think it does check some usual boxes for clipping. in terms of the noise influences and hip hop influences and industrial tinges, again, it doesn't feel like they dug as deep into the utopian futurism concept as they could have.

Instrumentally, I think they could have brought some more unique and challenging production to the table that really flipped these break beat and techno influences on their head. And I just didn't think the immersion aspect of this record was as gripping or as intense as it's been on past records, too, which is why I'm feeling a decent to strong 6 on this one.

Anthony Fantano, clipping., Forever.