Pitchfork

Such a weird album to remix, right? For once Lib's half-baked duction served high purpose, and when he lounged lax at least he hammed it up so we knew we weren't getting ripped off again (cf. Shades Of Blue; Dudley Perkins' criminal album/abortion A Lil Light). Plus, more importantly, moreover, and most crucially: The Madvillainy collaboration was not one of those Egyptian siamese babies on CNN conveniently conjoined at the head (miracle surgery my ass, all you do is cut). No, the album was more Krang/Big Fat Bald Guy Robot symbiots like on TMNT or Quatto/Other Dude on Total Recall-- inextricably bound, kill one, kill both, no cartoon porn remakes or The Wire cover stories for either. (Doom is Quatto.)

Such a weird track to remix, right? As the album's last song "Rhinestone Cowboy" rolled like movie credits, Doom pulling back the chrome for cheeky post-product larfs ("Mask pump shotties somebody stop me/ Hardly come sloppy on a retarded hard copy") and bloody spit over the album's leaky history: "Speaks well of the hyper base/ Wasn't even tweaked and it leaked into cyberspace/ Couldn't wait for the snipes to place/ At least the tracklisting old print typeface." The track woozes in and out re: Madvillainy's press-inevitable, back-handed "good, safe underground rap" toast-- rhymes that only make sense in the context of Madvillainy. (Now if Apple wants to decontextualize Doom's "rare gear coppers" line to be some sort of implicit iPod endorsement, I'm fine with that, just send my G5 powerbook compensation asap kthx?)

Such a weird dude to remix, right? Who the fuck is Four Tet anyway? Oh right, he's the guy with albums that change my life first listen, then in about a week the only thing I remember about him is he looks like my friend Lionel and puts on really prissy laptop shows. Anyway I just heard this fantastic remix-- no more strings and sopor and soapy kitsch, all fake breaks and impossibly futuristic squelches running atop-- and Tet nails the year-out retro-rhyme thing here. If the original was angry, this is pure boast as is warranted. Your crew will go ape shit-- at least for a week.