''Clouddead'' (stylized as ''cLOUDDEAD'') is the debut album by American hip hop trio
Clouddead
Clouddead (styled as cLOUDDEAD) was an American experimental hip hop group, consisting of Doseone (Adam Drucker), Why? (Yoni Wolf) and Odd Nosdam (David Madson).
The group's name came from a nonsensical knock-knock joke Drucker's sister told h ...
. It was released on May 1, 2001 on
Big Dada
Big Dada is a British Record label#Imprint, independent record label imprint distributed by Ninja Tune. It was started by reputed hip hop journalist Will Ashon in 1997. It is best known for marketing of prominent British hip hop artist Roots Man ...
in the United Kingdom
and on May 8, 2001 on
Mush Records in the United States.
It features guest appearances from
Illogic
Jawhar Glass (born January 18, 1980), better known by his stage name Illogic, is an American indie hip hop artist from Columbus, Ohio.Mills, BradIllogic Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 2011-06-05 He has collaborated with many artists—particular ...
,
DJ Signify,
Sole, the Wolf Bros.,
Mr. Dibbs
Mr. Dibbs (born Bradley Duane Forste) is an American disc jockey, DJ and hip hop production, hip hop producer. He is the Founder of 1200 HOBOS j/graff collective He was also one of the founders of Scribble Jam.
Early life
Born in Cincinnati ...
, and the Bay Area Animals.
[
]
Critical reception and legacy
Stevie Chick of ''NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' wrote, "This music takes the most abstract fallout of trip-hop
Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...
as its starting point, working in white noise, telephone pranks and post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...
textures to create a disorientating mush you'll spend weeks getting lost in."[ Thomas Quinlan of '']Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...
'' stated that "Clouddead follows more along the lines of Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...
or Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet (; born 'Don Glen Vliet'; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the M ...
than it does hip-hop, but it remains rooted at all times in beats and samples."
Clay Jarvis of ''Stylus Magazine
''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog.
Addi ...
'' gave the album a grade A, commenting that "No combination of adjectives could accurately portray what you'll hear and no second-hand gushing will prepare you for the immense pleasure that is sure to wash over you when you put this album on."[ Mark Pytlik of ]AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
gave the album 4 stars out of 5, saying, "It's menacing, it's enthralling, and it's one of few modern-day records (hip-hop or otherwise) that honestly doesn't sound like anything -- or anyone -- else."[
Frank Kogan of '']The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' wrote: "Even though Clouddead's Odd Nosdam
David P. Madson (born 1976), better known by his stage name Odd Nosdam, is an American underground hip hop producer, DJ and visual artist. He is co-founder of the record label Anticon. He has remixed tracks by a variety of bands and artists in ...
produced the title track on the Sole album, and the sounds on the ''Clouddead'' album sometimes fall into rhythm and the talking into meter, the record is probably too empty of rap and too full of static and clouds to meet most people's definition of hip-hop—except for Clouddead's own, of course. Intriguing, but you have to like clouds."
In 2014, it was described by Arron Merat of ''Fact
A fact is a truth, true data, datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to Fact-checking, check facts. Science, Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by ...
'' as "a key touchstone for the North American hip-hop underground."
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.
* Yoni Wolf
Jonathan Avram "Yoni" Wolf (born April 30, 1979) is an American alternative hip hop and indie rock musician and co-founder of the record label Anticon.
From 1997 until 2004, Wolf released music under the stage name Why?. In 2004 he transferred ...
(Why?) – vocals
* Adam Drucker (Doseone
Adam Kidd Drucker (born April 21, 1977), better known by his stage name Doseone, is an American rapper, producer, poet and artist. He is a co-founder of the indie hip hop record label Anticon. He has also been a member of numerous groups in ...
) – vocals
* David Madson (Odd Nosdam
David P. Madson (born 1976), better known by his stage name Odd Nosdam, is an American underground hip hop producer, DJ and visual artist. He is co-founder of the record label Anticon. He has remixed tracks by a variety of bands and artists in ...
) – production
* Illogic
Jawhar Glass (born January 18, 1980), better known by his stage name Illogic, is an American indie hip hop artist from Columbus, Ohio.Mills, BradIllogic Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 2011-06-05 He has collaborated with many artists—particular ...
– guest appearance (1)
* DJ Signify – guest appearance (4)
* Sole – guest appearance (5)
* The Wolf Bros. – guest appearance (7)
* Mr. Dibbs
Mr. Dibbs (born Bradley Duane Forste) is an American disc jockey, DJ and hip hop production, hip hop producer. He is the Founder of 1200 HOBOS j/graff collective He was also one of the founders of Scribble Jam.
Early life
Born in Cincinnati ...
– guest appearance (9, 10)
* The Bay Area Animals – guest appearance (11, 12)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clouddead
2001 debut albums
Clouddead albums
Big Dada albums
Mush Records albums
Albums produced by Odd Nosdam