For the past few months, this one cat named Forety Fore on AIM has been bugging me and bugging me about this supposed hip-hop group named cLOUDDEAD. Ranging from "man, you need to check this out" to "check this out or you die", this kid has threatened to cut my throat if I don't review something from cLOUDDEAD. So in fear for my life, I said... what the hell? Ten is a rather confusing and bizarre follow-up to their debut album, which many considered to be completely unlistenable, while other's called it groundbreaking. Same thing here folks. Odd Nosdam, Doseone, Why? are three eclectic dudes (check out their name) who strive to be as unique as they can possibly be. Piecing together some abstract soundscapes from snippets from TV and music, a lot of the beats sound about as much hip-hop influenced as Toby Keith, yet still manage to sound beautifully creative. The album is oddly crafted to be shapeless and unpredictable, which in my opinion is refreshing... a little.... cLOUDDEAD provides enough strange sounds and emotions that I'm sure Pink Floyd would be proud...


Track List & Rating

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 (****)


I find it rather amusing that the title of the opening song is probably the 100% exact opposite of just what this song is. "Pop Song" will instantly make heads fear a possible collaboration with the half-brained Britney Spears, the pseudo-R&B pretty boy Usher, or one of the metrosexual boy bands. Luckily, this isn't the case. After the british-accented opening, we're given an El-Pish styled synthesized beat using powerful horns and barely an escalating drum loop to supply a sombre, albeit unique feel to the song which sort of sounds like something from a horror movie... where the monster is a blunt. When you actually hear the rapping, you get a bizarre eclectic verse which will take you a while to interpret, but is sadly completely outshadowed by the beat. But maybe that was the purpose... who knows. All that matters is that I like it.

"The Keen Teen Skip" is a scary, scary song. It's basically just a few sung words spat over a changing beat arrangement composed of samples and synthesizers, placed together to give the song a spacey, almost 1950s feel to it, sort of like a silent film. It is very difficult to describe or compare this due to the fact that there is virtually nothing like it... ever. Problem is, I'm just not feeling it. Granted this is as much like Pink Floyd as you could get, it's missing at least a FEW lyrics. This is definitely 2004's strangest album.

Honestly, I loved "Rhymer's Only Room". The pulsating drums and bass are almost other-worldly, and the melodic and haunting singing is almost tribal and religion. The song manages to stir emotions and thoughts, which is something that can rarely be found. It's sweet singing is something to marvel at on it's own merit, but the lyrics that they are speaking of are eye-opening. Seemingly ripped from an African or Native American Tribe, but with a hip-hop twist that I'm sure with definitely turn off both backpackers and commercial fans. The chainsaw sound effects and various samples proceed to be eerie. I don't mean eerie like The Undertaker or something like that. No I mean eerie like a Quentin Tarantino flashback. For some reason though, I'm honestly loving it. Must be the weird side in me.

"Dead Dogs Two" sounds like a mexican mariachi anthem, only with a huge twist. To be honest, after hearing all of the songs leading to this and on, I'm not sure that I'm too convinced that this is hip-hop. Good music is good music however, and this particular song is good music. The first half of the song just finds Why? and Doseone singing a story of what happened to a couple of dogs and their fate, supposedly. I'm sure that there is an underlining message underneath all of this, but I just can't seem to find it. The second of the two is just plain weird. In the middle of the song there is an interview where they actually attempt emceeing, and pull it off, but not without it's eerie moments. In this not-so-humble reviewers opinion, this song's hidden meaning is basically an extended metaphor detailing the tragedy of two dogs dying in comparison to the sadness of the decay of society. Of course, it's just a guess and I'm pretty sure you could come up with 100 different ideas here, which I suppose is a good thing. Talk about provoking thoughts.

The final song "Our Name" tracks in at almost 20 minutes. Well the better part of those is silence. After the song ends there is a huge silent interlude until you hear more of those weird sound effects to close the album. The song itself though, is a great end to the album. The psychotic beat works here effectively, as it's knawingly scratching and bass-accompanied sounds, along with an assortment of gritty drums and samples which are too low to hear, all provide that eclectic sound that they've given us thusfar on this album. The song is experimental, bizarre, and unique just like this album and I can't honestly explain it. It's pretty good musically though.

Okay, let me break this down really simple. It is very difficult to categorize cLOUDDEAD as hip-hop. There are no hip-hop-esque beats and pretty much NO rapping or emceeing whatsoever. All we have hear a huge jumble of noises and beats, with a little bit of rapping. As I said, these guys are like Pink Floyd. Granted, I'm nobody special and I'm not allowed to assign labels, but in all honesty this is a farcry from anything hip-hop related. Fans of traditional emceeing in hip-hop may find themselves completely bored here or most likely confused, but people who like EXTREMELY eclectic music might find something to enjoy here. Ten is an album for anybody who is a stoner, ever WANTS to be stoner, or has been a stoner. It is the most bizarre ride I have ever taken in uneasy listening probably in my entire life. This will probably never register as "rap music", and it's lyrics are too obtuse and unvivid to be considered socially-conscious rock, but it's definitely genre-bending and mental, but is WAY too ambiguous to be a rap record.

Hands down, Ten IS THE most eclectic piece of music that I have ever heard in my life. You have no clue what they are talking about half the time, and it does take time to solve their puzzles, if you even can. I mean, wow... words can't describe it. Just take my word for it, it is best that you LISTEN to this before dropping even a dime on it. This is one of those album that MUST be heard before purchase because you won't know what you're getting until you get it. Trust me here, find someway to hear some of it before buying or you may be sorely dissapointed. If not, then you'll be thrilled. I would say it's good for what it is... but problem is... I DON'T KNOW what the fuck it is...

2 Stars




Recommended: No