94.
cLOUDDEAD
Ten
(2004)
Track Listing
1.) Pop Song
2.) The Keen Teen Skip
3.) Rhymer's Only Room
4.) The Velvet Ant
5.) Son Of a Gun
6.) Rifle Eyes
7.) Dead Dogs Two
8.) 3 Twenty
9.) Physics of a Unicycle
10.) Our Name
My favorite hip-hop is the variety that does something really interesting and unexpected. This album by underground hip-hop "super-group" cLOUDDEAD (Doseone, Why?, and Odd Nosdam) certainly fits the bill, as far as that is concerned.
Interesting and innovative lyrics and song structure make for a unique listening experience that can confound and completely blow minds simultaneously. The beats themselves are unique enough to warrant multiple listens, but the unparalleled lyricism is a reason to stay. It's strange, but it's very listenable, occasionally even danceable. What a wonderful album - seriously, I cannot say enough about how great this record is.
If you're just a casual hip-hop listener, however, this album will either completely alienate you or completely floor you. It doesn't aim to sugarcoat how its own thing it really is - if that makes any sense at all.
Standout tracks include "Pop Song", an interesting lyrical masterpiece which opens the album strong; "The Velvet Ant", a bizarre if somewhat catchy track which I can't stop listening to in my car; "Dead Dogs Two", which is one of the saddest songs you'll ever hear, if you really listen to the lyrics and stop thinking about how much Dose sounds like an alien on that particular track; and "Rifle Eyes", which is just a superb track in general.
If you're not familiar with cLOUDDEAD or any of the Anticon collective, definitely check this out, as it will be like nothing you've ever heard. For better or worse.
__________________
It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken
Perhaps they're better left unsung