What you get is gritty-smooth Saturday morning cartoon anti-heros weaving pulpy tales where cash is king and the rhymes are on time. Madlib cuts up jazz records and sci-fi flicks in a basement lit by a single greasy lightbulb while Doom dishes lyrics from behind a Mr. Roboto mask. Most tracks are laid back, short form, heavily if obscurely sampled and offer plenty of typical though slightly more sophisticated hip-hop braggadocio.
The albums insistent jazz sampling is the primary reason I stop short of real praise. I'm simply not a fan of the form and I fear no amount of education or exposure will change that. Madvillain manage to be inventive and unique without jaring the senses like so much avante-art can do, and that's really my other hesitation. I was expecting a bigger bomb to drop from this dynamic duo or maybe I was starting to believe the hype (I gotta remember my P.E.). Couching the project in a retro-feeling comic book - and sticking with it straightfaced throughout - does provide an effective means of cutting to the chase in front of an easily understood backdrop of good and evil, making the artists themselves the richly conflicted gray area. Check out album highlights "America's Most Blunted" and "Money Folder."
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