Album of the Week: Madlib - Sound Ancestors

We must admit we were a bit sceptical when we learned that this new release by one of our favourite producers was going to be 'edited, arranged and mastered' by Four Tet. We were never fans of Kieran Hebden's repetitive, bland and often quite boring take on electronic music, so we didn't know what to expect. 

Luckily, the British remixer's role in this project is limited to the selection and sequencing of some of the gems in Mr. Jackson's vast archive of unreleased music. And he did a fine job collecting tracks that could well be considered a summary of everything Madlib loves: there's some psychdelic rock ('The Call'), hints of dub ('Theme de Crabtree', 'Loose Goose'), beautiful funked-up soul ('Road of the Lonely Ones', 'Two for 2 / For Dilla'), slices of African ('Sound Ancestors') and latin music ('Latino Negro'), slick jazz-funk ('One for Quartabê / Right Now'), pretty straightfoward spinesnappers ('Dirtknock', 'Hopprock', 'Chino', 'The New Normal') and everything in between. It will surely please Madlib afficionados, but could just as well be considered as an introduction to the man's oeuvre for future fans. 'Sound Ancestors' manages to entice both young and old heads. No small feat if you ask us... 

For fans of: Madlib, J Dilla, Madlib, ...

'Sound Ancestors' is available at Madlib Invazion...