by Madlib the Beat KonductaI've never really been able to make up my mind about this album. I think that it is somehow much less than the sum of its parts, as it has many fantastic tracks and songs on it, but when played straight through, I found myself either not listening to long stretches, or just getting a little bored.
There are some truly brilliant parts to this album. The Liberation joint with Talib Kweli is incredible - Kweli hasn't sounded this good in a while and the beat is perfect for him. I also like the track with Karriem Riggins (where is that Supreme Team album?), and the tracks credited to Madlib as 'the Beat Konducta' are all amazing.
I think the problem is that this album can't decide if it's an experimental, new sort of thing, or if it's Madlib producing some classic-sounding hip-hop (with people like Defari, Guilty Simpson, Prince Po, and Roc C). There's nothing wrong with either approach - Madlib is brilliant at them both - but I find that it disrupts the cohesiveness of the album as a whole.
It's all good though, as I imagine that most of these tracks will sound fantastic on my ipod when it's in shuffle mode - especially after I edit out the annoying interludes and distractions that litter this album.
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