| Here's a way to inject a virus into the robust but immune-deficient bodies of American indie-rock and hip-hop: convene a crew of illustrious art renegades from New York, Cincinnati and Berkeley, and have them assemble, deconstruct and rethink hip-hop by way of free-association lyrics, lo-fi electronics and musique concrete. Six ten-inch releases later and the cLOUDDEAD single series has not only arrived, but left a throng of b-boys scratching heads in its wake. cLOUDDEAD's force consists of emcees including Illogic, Doseone and why? with producers like odd nosdam, Mr. Dibbs and turntablist Dj Signify in various noxious concoctions. Together they summon the galactic powers of Sun Ra, Brian Eno and Tibetan monks, and transfer them through chanted poems and haunted sound fabrics. Indie kids beware - this will ensnare your lonely-pop-loving ass with ten-inch number six's lullabies, while single number five will move those who can understand what a collaboration between Zoviet France and Christian Marclay might sound like. On the aforementioned EP (no titles for songs on any of these) 1200 Hobos member Mr. Dibbs allows odd nosdam's sheaths of melodic drone to envelop his paranoid Technics chopping. The results do fall into the category of what Mobb Deeps' Prodigy would call "some of that space shit that don't make no sense." And that, dear friends, is very good. - XLR8R |
3XLP/Out Of Print