Quasimoto is yet another persona to emerge from the infinitely atomized mind of underground hip-hop producer Madlib. Like Madlib's previous albums - 2000's The Unseen and last year's celebrated Madvillainy - Lord Quas is the antithesis of pop music, which privileges preset structure and pin-point refinement. The tracks on Lord Quas are tossed together in 15-minute, 303-looped fever fits. And after an initial listen, the album sounds sonically disjointed and lyrically underdeveloped. But subsequent passes reveal an underlying logic, a skewered sense of cohesion that rests on certain structural motifs: Musical trap doors interrupt beams of deep grooves that condition the listener to expect the unexpected. Lyrics seem nonsensical, but when taken as a whole and supplemented by reoccurring vocal samples of Melvin Van Peebles, they suggest a central narrative that approximates Shaft as scripted by Japanese pomo novelist Haruki Murakami.
Make no mistake: This is an album, not a collection of singles, and should be experienced as such. But with a little patience and a whole lot of hydro, Madlib's universe is among the most nuanced and rewarding in all of hip-hop.
