Madlib Album: “Beat Konducta Vol. 1-2”

And finding stories of stacks of old vinyls, dripping Yesterday and glowing Always. Cali's finest, Madlib, is definitely one of the heirs of DJ Premiere, Pete Rock, DJ Quik and other previous beat konductas that helped established the sound of true hip-hop as a platform where old school soul and new school technique are amalgamated. The latest Madlib Invasion is not for everybody; those of us who's butts were undeniably moved by Tribe's "Low End Theory" will definitely appreciate this endeavor. Those of you who are tired of what MTV and other corporate entities and pass off as hip hop, clean out your crazy Uncle Otis's attic check out the Beat Konducta. Then walk down the street to Mr. Yancey's house, go into his basement and check out J Dilla's "Donuts."

When it comes to producing tracks, Madlib is definitely known for having his own style and signature and Movie Scenes serves as a great roadmap for those of us who love him for this. The album took a couple of listens to grow on me, but when it did it was explosive. Throughout the course of over 30 relatively brief, mostly-instrumental tracks, Madlib lays down beat after beat and sample after sample of his dusty, heavily r&b and soul influenced songs. Old school fans of soul music will appreciate some of the samples used as well as wonder what the source material of the numerous others is. The tracks are the perfect length and are varied, yet cohesive enough to easily listen to in one sitting. Despite not being humorous in nature, the beats on here are definitely more reminiscent of his tracks under his Quasimoto monicker (source material-wise) moreso than under his co-produced Jaylib or Madvillain titles and, to a lesser extent, even his Yesterday's New Quintet alias. If you like a few of the songs on here, you'll definitely like it all.

I still haven't listened to Dilla Donuts yet, so I'm not sure how it compares to that album, but after listening to this CD for a few days I can definitley say this is a very dope instrumental album. These are some pretty straight forward beats, tight drum loops with memorable samples that flow together seamlessly. The last madlib album I bought was The Further Adventures of Lord Quas, and I was dissapointed with that CD, this one on the other hand exeeded my expectations. Perfect album to listen to during a smoke session.

Its funky slow hiphop soul at its best- well-produced without silly overindulgences- much better than many of the instrumental hiphop albums ala shadow. In fact i think this ranks right up there with endtroducing.

This is great for kicking back and headnodding- many classic soul samples some old school hiphop and a little funk- Great cd- has a lofi vibe thats perfect for the style- Madlib is certainly one of the best and stacked with old lps as is evidenced in the sound.

This record is different , but its dope too... Good buy and Good bye...