11.

cLOUDDEAD
cLOUDDEAD
(Mush, 2001)

Man, what a dream team we had with cLOUDEAD. In retrospect, I probably should have cherished it more. But the splitting of the group hasn’t been all bad. I mean, Subtle and Why? are both super amazing on their own, but it was the teaming of emcees Doseone and Why? together with the brilliant Odd Nosdam which started it all. Their debut reeks of the most inventive, forward thinking “hip/hop” music that has ever been created. Honestly, I don’t consider the misty, tentacled sprawl of cLOUDDEAD to be a hip hop album. It is a cLOUDDEAD album, and as such, a landmark for music as a whole.

-Thistle

4 Bonjour Parties - Pigments Drift Down to the Brook

4 Bonjour’s Parties
Pigments Drift Down to the Brook
(12.2007, Mush)
Verdict = Cutsy, Experimental Japanese Pop

Ever since Al Gore invented the Internet, the tiny sub genres of the world have grown increasingly deeper. It is hard not to laugh at the fact that “cutesy, experimental Japanese pop” seems as viable and deep a genre label as the now all encompassing (thanks to the oft hilarious iTunes labeling system) alternative/punk label was fifteen years ago. Similarly, in a musical landscape that formerly would have found a band like 4 Bonjour’s Parties as an exciting crème de la crème import, the band is now relegated to a tooth and nail barrel for any recognition whatsoever, recognition I believe they’ve earned. They can quickly be cross-referenced between Efterklang, Mum, Shugo Tokumaru and Miki Odagiri, who are all undoubtedly worthwhile listens. The production is full. The alternating female and male Japanese vocals are always cute and never irritating and the instrumentation is lush and detailed. The question is whether anyone is willing to sift through the rest of the cute little sad, puppied-eyed albums that Pigments Drift Down to the Brook sits among in order to find them. I’d urge you to take a chance, they’re worth it.

-Mr. Thistle

4 Bonjour Parties - "Satelite"

Boom Bip & Doseone - Circle

Retrospective

Boom Bip & Doseone

Circle

(2002, Mush)

8.5/10

Boom Bip and Doseone explored uncharted territory in one of the most abstract collaborations to ever grace the world of music when they created Circle. 29 tracks of stream-of-conscious lyrical madness provided by Dose is laid over incredibly varied and loosely moving obscure beats (if you can call them that) from Boom Bip. This is one of the most bizarre albums I have ever heard. No one knows quite what genre this falls under. I've seen it placed under such labels as futurism and hip-not, honestly I don't think a genre label is necessary cause there is nothing like this album, and probably never will be. That is the genius behind this album. It's so experimental that it is incredibly unique. It feels like a poetry reading crossed with a nightmare of epic proportions. Reviewers debate whether the lyrics are a social commentary or just complete absurdity. Whatever they are, the speed and quality of Doseone's lyrical amazement is sure to interest anyone with literary leanings. Each song is constantly varied so that listening to the album all the way through feels very similar to watching a movie. As much as I think this album is incredibly important, genius in its progressiveness and very daring, its just not something you could listen to everyday. It will leave you baffled and amazed, confused and slightly scared- you will listen to it a few times out of curiosity, but there is absolutely nothing catchy about this album and unless you are an avante-garde junkie, you'll quietly catalog it with the rest of your music as a prize jewel intended for safe keeping.

-Sassigrass

Boom Bip & Doseone - "The Bird Catcher's Return"