| cLOUDDEAD has confounded, dumb-founded, rebounded, and now, on Ten, produced something well-rounded. For a group both praised and derided for obscure lyrics, experimentation, and overall weirdness, their newest effort is actually kind of balanced. Everything fits together well, apart from the odd blunder, making Ten a robust little beast. Ten follows 2001's self-titled debut, a landmark for undie hip-hop, and by extension, the music world. A cut-up mishmash that somehow managed a level of cohesion, that record succeeded through layering obscure sound sources over even more obtuse lyrical passages. Doseone's nasal delivery, odd nosdam's atmospheric samples, and why?'s skater-kid poetry achieved some kind of nirvana of rhyme. Ten retains many of the best qualities of its predecessor, but lacks the surprising moments, which came out of an instinct for playful experimentation. "Rifle Eyes" one of the strongest cuts, unfolds a cloud of atmospheric and continues with probably the tightest rhymes to be found on the record. It is the perfect blend of Doseone's machine-gun squeaky delivery and why's slower, calculated rhyming. In places, cLOUDDEAD have attempted to push their sound, with mixed results. Lyrics such as "hum-diddle-diddle hum-diddlie-I" are a case in point. Furthermore, they have largely abandoned a grounding hip-hop, instead looking to other genres in search of inspiration. Some fans might miss Doseone's machine-gun delivery, so well employed on past releases. Nevertheless, I for one will keep looking for cLOUDDEAD. - Fake Jazz |
1XLP/Out Of Print