cLOUDDEAD – cLOUDDEAD (CD) (2001) (FLAC + 320 kbps)

Culled from a series of limited 10″ releases, Clouddead’s eponymous debut isn’t so much a fully formed album as it is a well-executed exercise in seasick, proggist psychedelia. With background textures that rival Boards of Canada in pastoral, tree-lined opacity and an obvious predilection for boggy atmospherics, Clouddead handily distances themselves from the rest of their hip-hop brethren. Indeed, this is something more considered and sinister — less about wayward braggadocio than it is about keeping your doors deadbolted at all hours of the night. Even their less-is-more approach to vocalism eventually starts playing tricks on your mind; when lyricists Dose and Why? emerge, it’s usually to puncture the pleasant fog of some dulcet, wavering sample. The whole album reads like that; the sonic equivalent of your first legitimate drug trip as narrated by two jittery but triumphant kids who can’t bear to keep their choice hiding place a secret any longer. While it’s perhaps a tad overlong, Clouddead doesn’t suffer from any shortage of great ideas. 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

Tracklist:

1 Apt. A (1)
2 Apt. A (2)
3 And All You Can Do Is Laugh (1)
4 And All You Can Do Is Laugh (2)
5 I Promise Never To Get Paint On My Glasses Again (1)
6 I Promise Never To Get Paint On My Glasses Again (2)
7 JimmyBreeze (1)
8 JimmyBreeze (2)
9 (Cloud Dead Number Five) (1)
10 (Cloud Dead Number Five) (2)
11 Bike (1)
12 Bike (2)

Download:

FLAC – Wayshare

320 kbps – Wayshare