Madvillain?

Woebot

Well-known member
I know that people like this. I was a big fan of the first Quasimoto LP, the one with the Jeff Jank cover before they ruined it with the massive overlain typography. Yeah that was a great, very inventive record. Neither Ant-Con-ish (euch!) or slavishly DJ Premier influenced. And it wasnt Ludacris either but still managed to be a groovy record. Found itself a little niche....

But the Madvillain LP!?! Surely this is incredibly dull? The hooks are weak its just very conservative. Its kind of like a Tom Waits LP, but neither Rain Dogs or Swordfishtrombones. And thats if (like me) you sorta view Waits as a Van Vliet copyist.
 

martin

----
I can't understand the slating "Madvillainy"'s been getting, I think it's one of those albums that gets better with every listen. 'No Caps' has the best use of a ninja flute (oh you know what I mean) since "Paid In Full" I honestly think it trashed every other hip hop release in 2004
 

Diggedy Derek

Stray Dog
Although I thought Quasimoto was better, Madvillany is still absolutely fantastic. Like Martin says, it gets better with every listen. For some reason it starts really poorly though, it just begins in a very offhand, "errr is this recording?" manner. But as it goes on it gets tighter and funkier until it's undeniable.
 

hint

party record with a siren
I think most of madlib's projects are a bit bloated (I only like 5 or 6 tracks on the unseen for example), but most of them also have some incredible and unique content too. you could just buy all the madlib-related singles and end up with what I'd consider to be the lion's share of his essential output, but you'd still miss out on a few humdingers off various albums.

mf doom's vaudeville villain LP from last year is much stronger than madvillain in my opinion, but the collaboration has its moments.
 

robin

Well-known member
i don't really get it either
i haven't got it myself but a few of my mates are well into it so i've heard it a few times at this stage-it seems alright but nothing special...
it is very crate diggery/back to basics sounding,reminds me of dj shadow spinoffs from five years ago which even then sounded fairly conservative...
that was the first hip hop i ever got into,before i heard the wu tang,biggie,nas,etc...
i havent really listened to that mo wax/j5/etc type of stuff since,and while the madvillain thing is a bit more inventive than that,its still fairly mediocre,although it does have its moments (all caps,the track that sounds like it should be playing in a cheesy holiday resort)
i dont really think much of the rapping either.obviously listening to rap in a room full of people isn't ideal but even so it seems a bit lackluster
 

ryan17

Well-known member
A ton of american indie kids (who are not usually into Hip/Hop, Rap, whatever) latched onto it. This might be part of the reason for this 'certain' release to have gotten so much press last year.
 
if its not a half song its an interlude
not very memorable
a 'grower'
the toast of indietown, usa

if i still thought i liked guided by voices i'd probably like this too
 

LRJP!

(Between Blank & Boring)
I don’t think I do like Guided By voices but I really like Madvillainy. It definitely is a and a grower, it's flattened sound gradually ingraining itself in my head. I really like it’s bitty IntroHalfSongAludeCoda mixtape-y feel - the beat fragments and extra percussive detail buried in the mix the fuzzy low and mid range hum of it all. I guess it’s not revolutionary or anything but it really works for me.

I’m also big into MF Doom which is – I’m going to be harsh in my reckoning here – at least fifty percent to do with my adolescent and into the present day affection for comic books, not least the Fantastic Four. If somebody is wearing a Doctor Doom inspired mask and name-checking old Marvels and Godzilla films I’m probably going to listen… Yes, I consider myself a nerd… ;)

Vaudeville Villain would seem to be the best MF Doom album so far, but i'd put this and Take Me To Your Leader up there too...
 

DavidD

can't be stopped
I heart this album. I guess its "conservative" in the 'where's the acid squelches' way but I really like it; full of personality and inventiveness and quirky funk, hooks that creep in and out ... "Fancy Clown" has heart-rending production. The last track's subdued horn blasts sound like the end of a western where a cowboy rides into the sunset, and "Great Day Today" is like waking up saturday morning to the sunshine through your window...it starts out spacey and all comes together with these incredibly affecting samples that peak out from under the covers as enthusiastic and enjoyable moments rather than standard songs w/ hooks; i suppose this is a sort of classicist/rockist reason to like an album but i dont value it for rockist reasons; its simply enjoyable, relaxing yet engaging, full of quirky life stories and fun plays on language, pop culture and flipping the script on language. Plus he makes puns like my dad.
 

LRJP!

(Between Blank & Boring)
DavidD said:
...and all comes together with these incredibly affecting samples that peak out from under the covers as enthusiastic and enjoyable moments rather than standard songs w/ hooks...

exactly!
 

michael

Bring out the vacuum
Not being a huge fan of MF Doom or Madlib, it was no surprise to me I didn't particularly like this. Both are in the "I can see the appeal, but..." basket for me.

I actually thought the Jaylib album 'Champion Sounds' was a lot better. Jay-Dee's been putting out great beats since 'Plastic Dreams'... and while neither he nor Madlib totally thrill me as MCs it's a hip-hop album I can chuck on and leave on, which is a pretty rare thing.

Man, that doesn't sound like much of a recommendation, eh? I do reckon it's great, just wary of hyping things.

(Yes, before I get called on it, the 'Plastic Dreams' comment was a joke - although I heard Babu spin it in a hip-hop mix)
 

simon

dabbler
I took a while to really get into this album, but it grew on me. The whole kookie comic book chopped up short track style took a while to take hold, but once it did I really enjoyed Madvillian. But I don't think it is an album I'll keep coming back to. Doom's got a great flow but is better elsewhere and the production is too comic book - making the album a bit like the one gag movie (Maybe like Zoolander - loved it, enoyed it, will go back to it from time to time, but there is only so much enjoyment you can get out of a movie with one, albeit very good, joke).
 

DavidD

can't be stopped
Jesse D Serrins said:
My biggest complaint w/ the album is that Brain Melt doesn't go on for another five minutes.
I wish they'd ride the beat on Fancy Clown for another, oh, 5minutes.
 

Karl Kraft

Well-known member
This is the same guy as King Gidihra-Take me to your leader right? Really like that album. All those Godzilla, Fist of the North Star, Blacksploitation etc.. samples meld into a sort of Fear of a Black spacemonster, afrogodzilla apocalylipse.
 

mms

sometimes
don't get madvillany either or alot of madlibs stuff, but i heard some early self produced mf doom stuff and it was mental. jay dee any day over them tho.
speaking of mcs that put out too many records what's kool keith up to now days?
 
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