Mouse & The Mask: 10th Anniversary Edition

時代が今、ようやく彼らに追い付いた?! DANGER MOUSE&MF DOOM=DANGERDOOMによる伝説的コラボレーション・アルバム『MOUSE & THE MASK』の10周年記念アニヴァーサリー・エディションがUK盤のオリジナル・パッケージを可能な限り再現した形で登場!

Rolling Stone (No. 984, p.154) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...It's a fun ride..." Spin (p.62) - Ranked #25 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2005" - "Together, these two dudes are more animated than the cartoon characters who pop up on this disc." Spin (pp.133-135) - "DangerDoom is a white-hot flame of anticipation fated to sizzle your rap-lovin' heart to a bitter char." - Grade:B Entertainment Weekly (No. 844, p.152) - "...[A] hip-hop tour-de-farce...." - Grade: A- Magnet (pp.89-93) - "Wading deep into hip hop's rich history, they deliver a record that conjures the classics without sounding willfully retro." The Wire (pp.55-56) - "[A] frenetic comedy both above and of a kind with its fratboy origins, admirably absurdist in some respects and coolly demented in others." Vibe (p.152) - "[A] headphone-friendly soundtrack...[of] deliciously demented narratives." Mojo (Publisher) (p.120) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he stoned, late-night hilarity is grounded by some deft soundtrack-funk production from Dangermouse..."

Rapping with cartoon characters was artistic suicide until Gorillaz dropped a bomb in 2001 with a platinum album and what turned out to be a surprisingly long shelf life. Next out of the box is Danger Doom, the stunning and welcome collaboration of two of hip-hop's most innovative artists, both of whom already have close ties to the world of animation -- Danger Mouse not only named himself after a cartoon but is also a part-time Gorillaz beatmaker, and the rapper MF Doom has imagined himself variously as a comic-book character and fire-breathing monster-movie hero (not to mention, he's rarely photographed without wearing an iron mask that makes him look like an early version of the Marvel supervillain Doctor Doom). Their partners for The Mouse and the Mask are the characters of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block, a cast whose creators share with Danger Mouse and MF Doom the same influences (obscure '70s superheroes, some making a resurgence on Adult Swim) and motivations (a parade of surrealist fantasies intersecting with real life, like the crusading happy meal that airs on Cartoon Network as Aqua Teen Hunger Force). Granted, none of these cartoon characters are rappers, and they're wisely given only backgrounds, transitions, or samples (all of them hilarious). No, it's the experts who handle nearly all of this record, and they're at the top of their game. Doom's dense flow and ciphered allusions have much in common with Adult Swim; both presuppose a large body of cultural knowledge to appreciate what's going on and both rely on a series of bankable eccentricities presented at light speed with high artistry and innumerable subtleties for later parsing by fans. Danger Mouse's productions have the same punch and catchy flair as on Gorillaz's Demon Days, but they're even more impressive here with the absence of Damon Albarn's interference and need to court a pop audience. He calls on the same type of rollerskating pianos, brassy fanfares, flutes, vibraphones, and cavernous drum loops that anyone of a certain age will recall from Fat Albert or Electric Company. It all adds up to the best album of the year in the hip-hop underground, and perhaps the best with any degree of popularity. ~ John Bush

『The Grey Album』やゴリラズのプロデュースで一躍名を上げたデンジャー・マウスと、われらがアングラ・ヒーロー鉄仮面＝MFドゥームのコラボ・アルバムがついに完成。危険鼠のユーモアとクールネスを兼ね備えたトラックに、鉄仮面のボソボソ低音フロウが文句ナシの好相性!　最近キレ具合が異常なゴーストフェイス、新作間近のタリブ・クウェリ、怪人シー・ローも客演……とシーンの今後を予言するかのような要注意盤です!
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