Pages From the Music Journal 12

Ted Waldbillig – English

MF DOOM mm.. food [2004 LP]

Spring 2008 - Daniel Dumile - MF Doom - was, and still is, a favorite producer and rapper. He was one of the major forces in changing my mind on hip hop and entertains to no end. His raps are unique, clever, and surreal... and his productions are the only things better than his lyrics.

This was one of Dumile's first and only solo releases he put forth under one of his numerous monikers. What I love is how Doom is one of the few 'multiple personality disorder' rappers who have a reason for his many names. Each of Dumile’s incarnations is actually different. MF Doom is his 100% Dumile-made output. He produces and raps every track under MF Doom. Then, there's KMD, a much older collaboration Doom took part in, including obvious influences from other members of the young group. There's Zev Love X, his old stage-name when he worked with groups like KMD... There's also Super Villain, Metal Fingers, and Metal Fingered Villain, all of which he uses interchangeably with “MF Doom.” However, he releases breaks, or, productions sans raps, mostly as Metal Fingers.

...Oh yeah! then there's Viktor Vaughn, another, older Dumile mask that works with darker, creepier, post-apocalyptic productions and likewise lyricism. Monsta Island Czars, a.k.a. the MIC, is a recent collaboration between several underground rappers. When Dumile works with the MIC, he contracts the name King Geedorah. The first MIC album was released under the name King Geedorah, but includes a plethora of talents. I consider Monsta Island Czars to be a modern, rotating model of KMD.

Quite a few, hey? That's why it's amazing that Dumile manages to give us something different with each outlet. But now let's talk about MM.. Food.

Doom pulls up several breaks he released on early volumes of Special Herbs and puts raps over them, occasionally inviting guests – one among his few agreements with hip hop norm. Interspersed throughout the record are esoteric samples that sound like they were taken from kitschy old Americana-comic films. But, strangely enough, you hear that name... “Doom” mentioned in several excerpts. It leads me to wonder how in the world he finds some of it... or whether or not he customizes them in-studio to fit his villain’s theme. It's quite possible MM.. Food is a loose concept album, but his lyrics hardly give any hint. The mood is there – as well as the silly samples - but it doesn't necessarily mean anything. It might also be that Dumile simply switched a few letters of “MF Doom” to get “MM.. Food” and made an album based on that. Either way, it's pretty cool.

This record gets things bumping; but I feel as though some of those samples interfere with the overall flow. Despite the fact they are backed by breaks - a factor that sets them apart from the annoying, washed-up skits popular with others in the industry – I would rather be able to dance through an entire album of Doom without having to stop while the estranged villain explains his plans for world domination... or an awkward farmer serves up a dish of god-knows-what. From the last minute of track five until the middle of track nine, we hear nothing but these rap-less chunks. I suppose I don't mind them all that much, but it would be nice if they were separated from the actual songs so you wouldn't have to put up with them if you didn't want to.

18 May 2009 - Diggin' in the MF krates for esoteric food-obsessed folks. Get up on these MCs. Troopin' off.

DOOM born like this [2009 LP]

6 April 2009 - For your info, when he's not practicing... you won't find him in no gym: Half-cocked & half-baked.

30 October 2009 - Washed up phony most likely he'll go his way (deleted).

TAAKE nattestid ser porten vid… [1999 LP]

10 January 2010 - Translating roughly to "Fog," the album to "Night Sees the Wide Gate...", Taake is another among the swarms of Grieghallen-produced black metal bands. While there isn't any funny business or experimentalism going on - Nattestid ser porten vid is rather dead-on black metal - the record has quickly propelled Taake up to the forefront in my book above standard groups like Gorgoroth. The speedy melodicism and intense, groove-less drumming, combined with the wall-of-sound guitars serve the listener justly. Nattestid... keeps you returning to eventually know the majestic turns and relentless complexity.

Contrary to what some may believe, Nattestid... is not a classic tinny-sounding black metal record. The production is actually quite full and large. It's far from anything Burzum did (or now again does) in both fidelity and mood. Nattestid... is much more searing; there is hardly little brooding through the relatively short disc. A more appropriate comparison is probably Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk-era Emperor sans strings and a pinch more atmosphere.

17 January 2010 - We are immensely lucky to have had the Marquis de Sade. Not because he was a sadist (the term is an eponym; it exists because of his name) and desired to cause suffering on a massive scale, but because he was one of the few people throughout history to be completely out of his mind in a transgressive way, not some generic schizophrenic (NEXT!!!) or neutral way, and also a great writer. We are rarely cursed/blessed with that. Hopefully, this cuts to the heart of what people are thinking when they dare to read 120 Days of Sodom.

It is similarly rare in music. Sure, we get outsider rock, unstable singer-songwriters, sleep medication composition, and a cadre of suicidals... but how often is somebody so messed up that he takes an astray lifestyle as given - as right? And I suppose many black metal artists are sadists to a large degree, too. This is probably why the genre has so much holding power; most people never tire of art that truly misbehaves.

These are documents of the side of us we try to hide by building.