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MH-206 cLOUDDEAD - cLOUDDEAD  "It's all the same shit but they call it cLOUDDEAD." cLOUDDEAD is the avant-hip-hop grouping of Doseone, why?, and odd nosdam. Fusing abstract beats, ambient pads, and interweaving vocals, cLOUDDEAD has created a release that owes as much to the Beatles as it does to hip-hop. Like Doseone and why?'s Greenthink project, cLOUDDEAD renounces the traditional hip-hop song format in favor of music made in movements. Six such movements were created to be released as a limited edition ten-inch series. Each release features a guest (Illogic, Dj Signify, Sole, the Wolf Bros., Mr. Dibbs, and The Bay Area Animals) and focuses on a specific theme. All six are combined to create a full-length that nullifies any preconception of style and raises the artistic bar for future Mush releases. |
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| Reviews Summary |
| Genius. - Mixmag / Utterly Essential - NME / Enthralling - All Music Guide / Startlingly Original - Wax / Certainly Beautiful And Strange - Rock Sound / Fascinating And Addictive - Esquire / A Landmark Album - Seven / A never less than intriguing debut - Q / Unequivocally the finest space-rock-rap album of 2001 - Mojo |
| Culled from a series of limited ten-inch releases, cLOUDDEAD's eponymous debut isn't so much a fully formed album as it is a well-executed exercise in seasick, proggist psychedelia. With background textures that rival Boards of Canada in pastoral, tree-lined opacity and an obvious predilection for boggy atmospherics, cLOUDDEAD handily distances themselves from the rest of their hip-hop brethren. Indeed, this is something more considered and sinister - less about wayward braggadocio than it is about keeping your doors dead bolted at all hours of the night. Even their less-is-more approach to vocalism eventually starts playing tricks on your mind; when lyricists Doseone and why? emerge, it's usually to puncture the pleasant fog of some dulcet, wavering sample. The whole album reads like that; the sonic equivalent of your first legitimate drug trip as narrated by two jittery but triumphant kids who can't bear to keep their choice hiding place a secret any longer. While it's perhaps a tad overlong, cLOUDDEAD doesn't suffer from any shortage of great ideas. It's menacing, it's enthralling, and it's one of few modern-day records (hip-hop or otherwise) that honestly doesn't sound like anything - or anyone - else. - All Music Guide |
3XLP/Out Of Print