| My introduction to underground hip-hop was technically Buck 65 and Aesop Rock, I suppose, but it wasn't until I heard cLOUDDEAD last year that an album that would completely change the way I look at the genre. Arguably, cLOUDDEAD aren't hip-hop at all - a major appeal of the album lies in its production which is much more similar to artists like Boards of Canada and pre-Life is Full of Possibilities Dntel than Outkast or Blackalicious. There is an ethereal and pastoral dream-like quality to the album that makes it such a unique, enjoyable creature. Doseone and why?'s abstract poetry just work to compliment the ambient landscapes created. The poetry is excellent, to be sure ("I promise never to get paint on my glasses again (1)" and "apt. A (1)" especially), but not the central focus of the album. In fact, a large part of the album is completely devoid of voice (especially the third quarter of the album) and relies completely on the production. Compiled from six ten-inch singles they had released, the album stretches over seventy minutes and seems to go on for hours; each "song" fades in and out of sections instead of relying on any sort of predictable structure. Much like the Circulatory System (released the same year), the production and structure of the songs change the way the music is heard and completely fucks with any sense of time. It just goes further to create a sense of a separate and involving world you step into when you put this album on, one that works on completely different concepts of production and song structure than any record I'd heard before it. The consistently beautiful production, the lyrics, the intelligent and entertaining sampling ("JimmyBreeze" for instance) all combine to make a completely original and thrilling listen, even during its more monotonous moments. The way the music cuts out as why? says "Maybe Spain is the open-faced smile from some life I saw in a movie and always thought I'd live" in "apt. A" - the jazz bass and cartoon samples in "and all you can do is laugh" - the vocal layered in "Bike" and the gorgeous flourishes of "(cloud dead number five)" are only some of the seemingly infinite number of highlights throughout the album. Whether seen as one of the best underground hip-hop albums ever made or just a couple of white guys rapping over ambient music and abstract samples, the album is fiercely original and completely entertaining. - Coke Machine Glow |
3XLP/Out Of Print