| M A D V I L L A I N |

Let’s Talk a Little Bit About Hip-Hop. Most of the time, a Hip-Hop duo is composed of the MC and the DJ - The Beat and the Soul of Hip-Hop itself. Most MCs create a persona with which to attack other MCs while in the cipher. In the cipher, the persona helps establish a mythology and signature appearance/sound for the MC, this being no different than an artist’s personal life and their artistic caricatures of themselves. With commercialization of Hip-Hop, these personae have become less differential - mostly the thuggish persona that builds reputation like that of a Classical Greek hero set upon the Negroid streets and ghettos opposed to a spear-bedded field outside of Troy. But this commercialization has proven itself a true Greek hero, an Achilles dragging the ravaged soul of Hip-Hop around the radios, thrice, disrespecting its origins and spirituality. Now, Hip-Hop is seen as party music, club bangers, etc, and not the artistic onus of putting witty lyrics to hardhitting and throbbing beats.

With this status of Hip-Hop [and black music overall I’d say], Madvillain comes through resurrecting the lost Hip-Hop scriptures, with an unorthodox and perhaps even sacrilegious appeal. MF DOOM and DJ Mablib come together to birth one of the most exciting Hip-Hop albums of the decade. Madvillainy evokes images of Marvel Comics, although, as the title implies, without the heroes. MF DOOM dons a mask much like that of the Supervillain Viktor Vaughn (Dr. Doom) and with this evocative persona established, MF DOOM and his villainous accomplice spin tales of Hip-Hop heads ripping rhymes with a stoned face and getting that money like curls.

There are a lot of tracks on this album and this blog is somewhat slow with the uploads, so I won't even list the tracks. I'll just tell you this, the album has superior production thanks to Madlib, so the beats are blunted [as in short and probably Mary Jane-inspired] and sweet. MF Doom is smooth like butter on these tracks and it's pretty awesome. Not much more I can say in words. Check it.

Madvillian - All Caps
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| B I T C H E S B R E W |

tracklisting

o1. pharaohsdance

o2. bitchesbrew

o3. spanishkey

o4. johnmclaughlin

o5. milesrunsthevoodoodown

o6.sanctuary

When it comes to Black music, I find the most interesting to be the sort with extraterrestrial or supernatural implications and themes. Whether Jimi Hendrix is singing the blues about how he's a "Voodoo Chile" or Sun Ra is eerily whispering (with an echoing chorus) that "There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of)," the psychedelic and metaphysical soundscapes involve me the most. Such is the sentiment when I listen to Miles Davis's most controversial and compelling album.

Miles Davis always has been considered one of the greatest within the jazz community, his name often uttered in the same breath as John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. Not only had he managed to posit himself in the forefront of nearly every major movement in jazz, yet in a number of cases, Miles Davis became the face of various movements with his cool persona. Cool Jazz, a slick, jazz-nocturne style genre was spearheaded by one of the first of Miles Davis's remarkable releases aptly titled, "Birth of the Cool". With "Birth of the Cool," Miles' prolific career was birthed, he becoming jazz in its various manifestations, perhaps fully recognized with the release of "Bitches Brew" decades later.

"Bitches Brew" - the title evoking the dark imagery of Shakespearean witches brewing malignity with their boiling kettle. The various song titles even hinting at the blackness of the album, beginning with "Pharoah's Dance". The opening track dances around the sound of congas - a frantic collage of horns and piano riffs played by Jazz kings, swooping in and out of the foreground. At times, "Pharoah's Dance" sounds like a disjointed, fractured and abstract reworking of a Fela Kuti song with his "Queens'" chants replaced by Miles Davis's trumpet. The titular track however sets the tone for the entire album - an eerie trumpet solo by Miles Davis weaves in-between the heavy piano riffs that come close to deep-groove of funk, yet never reaching that level of levity, brooding just low enough to possess the listener however. "Spanish Key" and "John McLaughlin" offer slight reprieve from the darker opening tracks, but if one were to go by song length alone, the two tracks combined don't even equal the aural journey that was Bitches Brew. The latter of the tracks is the shortest on the album and as a result, "John McLaughlin" is the tightest and grooviest of all the tracks, blues notes echoing throughout the entirety of the brief track.

"Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" is one of the highlights of the album, standing off with "Bitches Brew"as my favorite song. The track resembles Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" in the beginning, attempting to touch on the sonic blues with a loose-jazz influence. But as "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down", the title becomes more and more fitting, the song becoming more and more chaotic - Miles Davis' masterful trumpet playing being the only thing holding the song together. For a brief moment, the track boils down, the pace slows to a walk instead of a run and the rhythm is relaxed apart from Miles Davis' increasingly energetic solo. It's as though Miles Davis makes a frantic effort to shed his reputation as a "cool" jazz musician - his horn shouting aggressively and vigorously near the end of the song, nearing utter cacophony in his effort to "...Run the Voodoo Down".

"Sanctuary" sounds as the name implies [within the context of the album, mind you]. The soothing conclusion to "Bitches Brew" revealing a similar vibe to Herbie Hancock's magnum opus "Maiden Voyage". The last track, not even making the eleven minute mark, drifts along. Occasionally, the aggressive trumpet solos of Miles Davis push the track along, rousing the listener from their peaceful drifting, only for the vibe to calm again. The album as a whole tells a story that is best recognized upon repeated listens. Initially, the album was met with criticism for its loose, aggressive and disjointed sound. Only in later years was the album's relevance acknowledged and lauded.