Originally Posted by Jack Pat Really? It's a pretty acclaimed album... Although, I've never really understood why people praise it so much. (Wasn't it influential on lo-fi/indie rock, or am I thinking of something else?) Anyways... in terms of the whole "crazy people who create a psychedelic album" category, I prefer Syd Barrett's solo debut.

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.

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Track Listing
1.) Liferaft
2.) Haywire
3.) Bedside Table
4.) The Unpredictable Landlord
5.) Crushing
6.) Unfinished
7.) Powder
8.) Foaming Love
9.) To the Ground
10.) Living Well
11.) Wind Down


The first time I listened to this album is a time I remember fondly. It was after one in the morning, and it was cold as hell. It was raining outside, and I'd just come home from a get-together with friends. I was stoned, a little buzzed, and sleepy, so I put on an album I'd not heard before, that I thought maybe I'd be able to sleep to.

Even though the album itself is a sound I could sleep to under most circumstances, I was completely blown away and stayed up to listen. I sat wrapped up in a blanket, window opened, chain smoking and watching the rain.

It's always been that sort of album for me.

Beautiful and restrained, melancholy and personal, this album is able to resonate with listeners without becoming too formulaic. It feels honest, veers towards depressing, but forges on with quietly drawled vocals and instrumentation.

Even at its guitar-fuzzed, cymbal-infused loudest, it feels subdued and almost mellow. This is not the album you're going to put on when you're getting pumped up for that party you're heading to on a Saturday night. In spite of its often depressing tone, it's not the album you're going to reach for when you're down in the dumps because that bitch just broke your heart. This is the album you're going to listen to when you want to listen to something special and extraordinary, and when you're feeling introspective.

The perfectly placed clean guitar melodies and almost-too-quiet vocals fit beautifully amidst the backdrop of fuzz and percussion frequently employed on the album. Although that is a commonly occurring motif, however, it does not, over the 11 tracks on this debut effort, become at all boring or redundant.

It feels complete, satisfying, and a little blue, but it never overstays its welcome. This is an album you're going to want to really listen to, taking time to absorb everything it has to offer. When played in the background, it's a good album; when played by yourself, with headphones and hunger for aural stimulation, it's a personal and wonderful experience.

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Track Listing
1.) Flight-Tyme
2.) Black Byrd
3.) Love's So Far Away
4.) Mr. Thomas
5.) Sky High
6.) Slop Jar Blues
7.) Where Are We Going?


Jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd was a true pioneer and explorer of the genre. Influenced heavily by his hero, Miles Davis, I'll have to say that this album is the point where Mr. Byrd finally stepped out of Davis' shadow and took off on his own way.

While Davis was getting dark, Byrd was getting jazzy and funky. On Black Byrd, he explored the conjunction of the two genres fully, making an interesting, head-bobbing and foot-tapping effort that wouldn't be out of place on an (really fucking cool) elevator.

His trumpet-playing is delightful, the piano fills are perfect, the percussion is absolutely on point, and when it gets funky, the music is at its best. The session band is fantastic, and in spite of the music's almost poppy nature, this is one of the most enjoyable albums in my collection.

Listen to it in the morning while getting ready for your day, in your car on your daily commute, while hanging with buddies, before going to bed, or when you can't sleep - it's going to bring a smile to your face no matter when you listen.

For something jazzy, the song lengths are quite short and manageable, only two songs clocking in at over seven minutes ("Flight Time"; "Black Byrd") and one a mere four and a half minutes ("Where Are We Going?") but the music itself is anything but lacking. By the second track, "Black Byrd", vocals come in, delightful and funky; you could put some of these tracks on a mix side by side with Sly and the Family Stone-type fare, and it would be perfect.

Personal favorites include the afore-mentioned "Black Byrd", a groovin', funky romp which can get asses shaking; the jazzy and funktastic instrumental track, "Mr. Thomas"; the lovely while still certainly grooving "Sky High", which is also my personal favorite; and the damn near perfect closer, "Where Are We Going". All songs on the album, however, have their own charm and I could make an argument for the greatness of all of them.

Technically sound without so much as a modicum of self-indulgence, Black Byrd is both accessible and enjoyable, choosing to accommodate and bring the listener in rather than alienating them. This is one of those albums I've recommended upon numerous occasions with enthusiasm, and will continue to recommend.

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Originally Posted by DoctorSoft Wow, that Two Dogs Dead aong was amazing, I'm definately going to get that album.

Originally Posted by RVCA I have another clouddead album, though I can't remember which. It's pretty good, I think I'll be looking into the one you recommended

Track Listing
1.) Rebirth
2.) Kobwebz
3.) Ancestors
4.) Sheep
5.) She Gone.
6.) Suzie Q
7.) Stardustin
8.) Kowboyz&Indians
9.) Change
10.) Duet
11.) Candylane
12.) Holidays
13.) Love of Reign
14.) Advice
15.) Klowds
16.) Ageing
17.)DedNd
18.) I've Given
19.) Made
20.) Dobermins


This brilliant and criminally overlooked album (while mostly critically well-received) was recommended to me by a close friend who had stumbled upon it quite by accident. They urged me to give it a listen, telling me it would be quite unlike anything I'd heard. Within five minutes, I knew I was in for an even bigger treat than previously anticipated - this stuff was masterful. The master behind this music is Gonjasufi, birth name Sumach Ecks, a rapper / singer / DJ / yoga instructor from California.

This album can be best described as a meeting - a meeting of East and West, a meeting of lo-fi and high production quality, a meeting of trip-hop and psych-rock - and it is likely to be one of the more unique offerings you will listen to released over the last couple of years.

Gonjasufi's vocal performance, somewhat gravelly and distinct, fits into the musical motif like a puzzle piece. He shines most effectively on the bleak, metaphor-laden "Sheep", a haunting piece with strangely euphoric moments. I personally enjoy his voice, although I have heard that others found it to be an element of the album they weren't such a fan of. Take your pick.

Western / Indian music is very heavily represented, and it's absolutely done in an interesting, appealing manner. The effective melding of tape hiss and lo-fi likewise adds charm and character to an album which is certainly of very high production quality: It was actually produced by Flying Lotus, The Gaslamp Killer, and Mainframe. One of the most exceptional aspects of this offering, however, is the sheer diversity within the piece. One moment, you're listening to trip-hop, the next something that sounds almost like psychedelic garage rock, and before you know it, you're listening to something distinctly Western-flavored. This is a delightful mating of genres, pulled off effectively and uniquely - something that earns a hearty round of applause from this girl.

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