Madvillain
Album: Madvillainy
Release Date: March 23, 2004
Label: Stones Throw

Customer Review:
I’ve got pretty minimal familiarity with the two guys involved in this album. Madlib I know only via his Quasimoto project, MF Doom is one of thsoe guys who I’ve read about but haven’t gotten around to checking out. So I came to this not knowing much about what to expect, just that a whole mess of people
have been using phrases like ’best hip-hop album of the year’ when describing it. Don’t know that I’d go that far (though, admittedly, I don’t listen to a vast amount of hip-hop) but it’s certainly one of the best I’ve personally heard.

I was expecting, for whatever reason, something pretty revolutionary. It’s not, exactly. I mean, it didn’t hit me like, say, Dr. Octagon or the first Sensational album - making me look up and say ’What the f*** was that?’ Yeah, the tracks are short, mostly flow and beat without a lot of hooks per se. Which I suppose, given the state of commercial hip-hop these days, can pass for being revolutionary. Then again, labels like that tend to raise expectations way high and obscure the reality - which is that this is a very, very, very good album indeed.

The beats are near perfect - lazy, scratchy, lots of old jazz loops. I knew, from Quasimoto, that Madlib was a fine producer -his work here made me realize how fine that was. Check out the tasty little flute bit on ’All Caps,’ or the tease he gives us on the too-short ’Supervillain Theme.’ He’s also restrained - he keeps things fairly simple, injecting variety by changing
things up pretty often. A little ADD perhaps, but always entertaining.

As for the rhyming, I’m not completely blown away by MF Doom, but that may be because I’ve only given this a few careful listens. He’s got a good voice, pleasantly rough, a flow that’s not too fast - it works perfectly with Madlib’s beats. I get the impression that he’ll grow on me with subsequent listens.

I guess what I like most about this album is how well the two pieces come together. Madlib’s beats perfectly suit MF Doom’s flow. And vice versa. It’s good listening and I give it a hearty recommendation. Michael Pemulis

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