Clouddead (album)

Clouddead
Studio album by
Clouddead
ReleasedMay 1, 2001 (2001-05-01)[1]
Recorded1999–2000
Genre
Length73:35
Label
ProducerOdd Nosdam
Clouddead chronology
Clouddead
(2001) 		Ten
(2004)
Singles from Clouddead
  1. "Apt. A"
    Released: 2000
  2. "And All You Can Do Is Laugh."
    Released: 2000
  3. "I Promise Never to Get Paint on My Glasses Again."
    Released: 2001
  4. "JimmyBreeze"
    Released: 2001
  5. "(Cloud Dead Number Five)"
    Released: 2001
  6. "Bike"
    Released: 2001

Clouddead (stylized as cLOUDDEAD) is the debut album by American hip hop trio Clouddead. It was released on May 1, 2001 on Big Dada in the United Kingdom[1] and on May 8, 2001 on Mush Records in the United States.[2] It features guest appearances from Illogic, DJ Signify, Sole, the Wolf Bros., Mr. Dibbs, and the Bay Area Animals.[2]

Critical reception and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The Guardian[4]
NME8/10[5]
Pitchfork8.0/10[6]
Stylus MagazineA[7]
Tiny Mix Tapes5/5[8]

Stevie Chick of NME wrote, "This music takes the most abstract fallout of trip-hop as its starting point, working in white noise, telephone pranks and post-rock textures to create a disorientating mush you'll spend weeks getting lost in."[5] Thomas Quinlan of Exclaim! stated that "Clouddead follows more along the lines of Frank Zappa or Captain Beefheart than it does hip-hop, but it remains rooted at all times in beats and samples."[9]

Clay Jarvis of Stylus Magazine gave the album a grade of A, commenting that "No combination of adjectives could accurately portray what you'll hear and no second-hand gushing will prepare you for the immense pleasure that is sure to wash over you when you put this album on."[7] Mark Pytlik of AllMusic gave the album 4 stars out of 5, saying, "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 -- or anyone -- else."[3]

Frank Kogan of The Village Voice wrote: "Even though Clouddead's Odd Nosdam produced the title track on the Sole album, and the sounds on the Clouddead album sometimes fall into rhythm and the talking into meter, the record is probably too empty of rap and too full of static and clouds to meet most people's definition of hip-hop—except for Clouddead's own, of course. Intriguing, but you have to like clouds."[10]

In 2014, it was described by Arron Merat of Fact as "a key touchstone for the North American hip-hop underground."[11]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Apt. A (1)"6:25
2."Apt. A (2)"5:52
3."And All You Can Do Is Laugh. (1)"5:34
4."And All You Can Do Is Laugh. (2)"5:51
5."I Promise Never to Get Paint on My Glasses Again. (1)"5:45
6."I Promise Never to Get Paint on My Glasses Again. (2)"6:01
7."JimmyBreeze (1)"7:01
8."JimmyBreeze (2)"5:32
9."(Cloud Dead Number Five) (1)"5:24
10."(Cloud Dead Number Five) (2)"6:00
11."Bike (1)"7:12
12."Bike (2)"6:53
Total length:73:35

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.[12]

  • Yoni Wolf (Why?) – vocals
  • Adam Drucker (Doseone) – vocals
  • David Madson (Odd Nosdam) – production
  • Illogic – guest appearance (1)
  • DJ Signify – guest appearance (4)
  • Sole – guest appearance (5)
  • The Wolf Bros. – guest appearance (7)
  • Mr. Dibbs – guest appearance (9, 10)
  • The Bay Area Animals – guest appearance (11, 12)

References

  1. ^ a b "cLOUDDEAD – cLOUDDEAD". Big Dada. Archived from the original on January 17, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "MH-206: cLOUDDEAD – cLOUDDEAD". Mush Records. Archived from the original on May 20, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Pytlik, Mark. "cLOUDDEAD – cLOUDDEAD". AllMusic. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  4. ^ Wyse, Pascal (May 18, 2001). "cLOUDDEAD: cLOUDDEAD (Big Dada)". The Guardian.
  5. ^ a b Chick, Stevie (May 7, 2001). "cLOUDDEAD : cLOUDDEAD". NME. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  6. ^ Dare, Christopher (April 24, 2001). "cLOUDDEAD: cLOUDDEAD". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  7. ^ a b Jarvis, Clay (September 1, 2003). "cLOUDDEAD – cLOUDDEAD – Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  8. ^ Amneziak. "cLOUDDEAD – cLOUDDEAD". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  9. ^ Quinlan, Thomas (July 1, 2001). "CLOUDDEAD – CLOUDDEAD". Exclaim!. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  10. ^ Kogan, Frank (December 25–31, 2002). "The Onslaught". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on April 4, 2003. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  11. ^ Merat, Arron (November 7, 2014). "cLOUDDEAD: Dose One, Odd Nosdam and Why? look back at indie rap's defining moment". Fact. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  12. ^ Clouddead (2001). Clouddead (booklet). Big Dada. BDCD028.