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MH-232 Daedelus - Exquisite Corpse  The new release from Daedelus, Exquisite Corpse is an ode to, and a lament for hip-hop culture. Featuring solo contributions and collaborative efforts with guests whose performances range from traditional (MF Doom, Sci from Scienz of Life) to poetic (Mike Ladd, Cyne, Laura Darling) to experimental (Prefuse 73, Hrishikesh Hirway of the One AM Radio, TTC, Jogger), Daedelus forms the seemingly disparate elements of sound found on the album with a single-minded vision. The album's title has a triple meaning: a reference to death, a grand body of work, and the Impressionist group drawing game of the same name. The guest MCs and vocalists contrast their own styles with Daedelus' sugar-laden undercoating proving that there are no limits to what can be included on a hip-hop album. |
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| Reviews Summary |
| Exciting - Pitchfork / Terrific proof of the underground’s vitality - Rockpile / Alive from beginning to end - Mean Street / A master mortician - CMJ / Full of humor, brains, passion and breathtaking sounds - All Music Guide / Mad and beautiful, beautiful and mad - Big Chill |
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| Daedelus' fourth album finds the Santa Monica-based producer at the peak of his considerable powers. Exquiste Corpse is a near perfect blend of the densely packed, sample heavy, nearly symphonic electronica and off-kilter hip-hop that the last three albums have featured. The main difference here is that for the first time a Daedelus record is loaded up with collaborations. While a few of them add some luster to the proceedings - MF Doom unspools a typically unhinged rap on the hilarious "Impending Doom," Mike Ladd drops a typically heavy rap into the melancholy and political ("Welcome Home") - for the most part the guests don't add or subtract much from the sound of the album. That sound is a clattering and sparkling blend of junk shop sampladelica, post-rock sound sculptures, fractured experimental techno and underground hip-hop that will have you clutching the arms of your chair as the record lurches and whirls from one song to the next. Just trying to wrap your head around a track like "Just Briefly" with its glitchy string samples, ghostly vocals piped in from some old opera record, mumbled bits of raps and a Can-like rhythmic drive is enough entertainment to justify the cost of the disc. That almost each track has the same exuberant feeling, brilliant construction and whacked-out sense of glee makes the record an unfettered joy to listen to. Daedelus is keeping experimental techno (or whatever you want to call it) alive with records like this, records full of humor, brains, passion and breathtaking sounds. Exquiste Corpse definitely lives up to half of its title and you would have to be the other half to pass up a chance to check it out. - All Music Guide |
1XLP/Out Of Print