| |
|
Picked this up the other day. Fucking dinner it is too.
I'll admit to some trepidation; worried I was gonna OD on Doom after the sporadically brilliant, but frustrating 'MMFood' album, wary that Dangermouse's presence might give it too slick a porduction sheen, and concerned that the 'Adult Swim' sections being recorded especially for the album would render it skit heavy. But, happily, WRONG.
It's a short but sweet collection with no duffers, tight production reminiscent of Premiere or Prince Paul but with a nice modern sensibility. DM keeps it in boom-bap territory, but the syncopation and sample work is great. Doom actually gives one of his strongest performances, eclipsed still by the introverted mania of 'Madvillain', but he's on point throughout and actually sounds like he's having fun. The skits are short, and often segue into the track quickly, and it's great to hear Mastershake, Meatwad, and the rest being as weird as they are in "Aqua Teen Hunger Force'. Fuck it's even got Space ghost on it. How can that be bad?
Guestwise, you've got Talib Kweli (reigned in thankfully), Cee-Lo turning in some amazing backing vocals, on the superb 'Benzie Box', and best of all (naturally) Ghostface ripping a fucking hole in 'the Mask'. Seriously this is one of Starks' best, flowing fast and tight over one of the albums best productions. The Doom/Ghostface collaboration will make the world shit itself hopefully.
So, definitely one of the hip-hop albums of the year for me. It's not 'Madvillainy', but then what is? DM's a safer, slicker producer than Madlib, but he's a fucking great beatmaker, with a sensitivity to his collaborator's strengths. It's a perfectly formed lighthearted bizarro collection that keeps you nodding throughout. People should own it. |
|
|
