It's
taking me forever to collect all of the Medicine Show albums (it's
been over a year but I still have two or three to go – this one was
a Christmas gift), but each one so far has been worth it. “Raw”
is definitely the key word here, as this functions just like those
old mixtapes everybody used to make by recording off the radio onto
blank tapes, complete with Madlib's signature hisses, pops, vinyl
static, and the occasional B-movie style add thrown into the end of
songs. There are full songs, single verses, a ton of interludes, and
a couple of mashups in this 37 track set that still manages to be
only an hour long. The interlude in track 15 might be one of my
favorite spoken word skits. My only complaint is the problem I have
with the vast majority of Madlib's albums: the tracks are so short,
just when you happen across a really good beat (which happens often),
it's over and he's moved on to something completely different, often
within the same song. You never get the chance to really get into any
one section, as you are constantly being shifted left and right to
beat after beat. The longest track here runs 3:56 (and there are two
or three different songs within it), and the majority are under two
minutes. 'Cross Bronx Expressway' gets it right, maintaining a beat
for almost the entire length of the track and featuring multiple
verses. I suppose that, being a mixtape rather than a fully-fledged
album, it should be chopped up the way it is, but it can still be
frustrating at times, simply because there are so many good beats and
verses. Still, everything here is put together beautifully, and the
artists featured here run the gamut, from Royce the 5'9 to DOOM to
Q-Tip to Musiq Soulchild (!), and there are so many different styles
spread out that I can hardly keep track. I just wish it wasn't so
short.
No comments:
Post a Comment