Pitchfork

On several occasions last year, I was slighty thrown by the curious ambient intro to Madvillainy opener "Illest Villains". Before giving way to a Pink Panther-style bassline and some patently brilliant vocal sampling, the bubbling 10-second prelude to 2004's most accomplished hip-hop disc doesn't sound like hip-hop at all. The blippy pulse kind of sounds like static from some interplanetary radio station. It kind of sounds like Four Tet, who proves to be quite the unconventional rap producer on his tag team effort with that cagey masked marauder MF Doom.

Originally slated to drop last summer soon after the release of Madvillainy, these remix EPs were delayed at first due to creative feeling-out and nitpicking. Both Doom and Madlib wanted to tweak a couple of the remixes and-- thanks to their famously-hectic schedules-- the wait inevitably snowballed. After a botched test pressing, the songs finally broke free recently, albeit only on iTunes (due to contractual fine-print, these mixes will only get a physical release in Europe on wax). Still, the downtime has its benefits: With more distance between the originals and the new mixes, it's easier to consider these tracks on their own, and they'll inevitably have you going back to the source with a refreshed, slightly skewed perspective.

Four Tet mastermind Kieran Hebden may not be the most obvious choice to take on such classic material but, based on his six-song collection, he's an inspired pick. Although psych-scratching Stone Thrower Koushik would seem like a more suitable candidate on paper, it's Hebden's far-reaching reimaginings ("remix" doesn't quite do these painstaking tracks justice) that truly impress. Employing his trademark free-jazz-inspired, electro-acoustic patterns, the laptop guru amasses small armies of saxophone squawks and looping synths all marching to some of the hardest drums he's ever programmed. Ever the sonic neat-freak, Hebden somehow tames his cacophonies and makes everything bump like a batch of Interstellar Coltrane-approved boom-bap.

Though best known for his laid-back Volvo-ad-ready beat-suites, Hebden's always had traces of Shadow-esque hip-hop soaked into his background fabrics. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Hebden was a big Madvillain supporter early on. Nearly a year before Madvillainy's official release, he was praising retarded hard copies in a self-penned Pitchfork Artist List: "MF Doom also has a record coming out with Madlib soon," he wrote in May 2003, "[it's] so good I pretty much shit my pants every time I hear it."

The guy's Doom obsession obviously borders on near-stalker levels, and his familiarity with Madlib's original thunder proves invaluable. Hebden's focused instrumentals strip away any and all sonic traces of Lib's ashed-out, quick-fix soul, but they match the West Coast beatminer's unflappable adventurousness. Paired with Doom's jigsaw narratives, Hebden doesn't necessarily improve upon the original tracks as much as he offers a supplemental shade of depth to a much-loved masterwork.

Both physically and stylistically, Hebden and Doom make an odd couple ripe with "hilarious" buddy-cop potential. In the passenger seat sits a hunched-over laptop guru who's known to perform with a glowing Banzai tree next to his console, and driving the wheel (and chomping the donuts, of course) is Doom's most-blunted, beer-bellied dictionary-snob.

The free-form mood is set from the beginning as opener "Meat Grinder" twitches and spurts for a good 30 seconds of utter randomness. A lazy clarinet surfaces at one point. Cut up saxophones share their confusion with pulsating factory noises. Then Hebden cracks the beat and acts as pied piper to the aural odds and ends, which quickly fall in line and suddenly make total sense. It's like a Magic Eye poster for the ears. "Money Folder" gets the banger treatment, drums train-clacking across the speakers over a sinister synth line. And, of course, Hebden takes full advantage of Doom's "old jazz standard" break invitation, setting off an entire Ornette Coleman symphony. The most intriguing track is "Great Day," where the producer translates Madlib's lackadaisical stroll into a brooding patchwork of whizzing acoustic guitar effects that gently bend against the beat's downtempo grain. Lines like "It's easy as Pi, three point one four/ One more one false move and they done for," take on a new gloomy resonance as the track turns Doom's peculiar boasts into those of a sullen bully with a conscience.

Psychedelic mish-mash DJ Koushik's eight-track EP runs just under 10 minutes long, staying true to Madvillain's haphazard punk-rock pace. He goes lengths to emulate Madvillainy's canny blend of comic-book-inspired dialogue (Dr. Doom creator Stan Lee pops in, pontificating in his unmistakable growl, "You can not be arrested for wanting to conquer the world-and that's all that Doom wants.") and loose, soulful loops. Flutes float in and out of "Strange Ways" and cooing back-ups help "Curls" find a decent groove, but most tracks fly by at such a quick clip, they hardly leave an impression. More of a logical continuation than a total revamp, Koushik's EP is competent, but doesn't add anything new to Doom and Lib's wily formula, ultimately reading like an engaging-but-kinda-empty Cliff's Notes version.

Since he's working with everyone from Danger Mouse to Ghostface nowadays, is it too early to propose a full-fledged DoomTet long player? Then he can move onto a DualDisc collabo with Animal Collective and Will Oldham. Make it happen, Doom.