AS Beats
If you're a fan of either Adult Swim or hip-hop music, you really need to listen to Danger Doom's new album, "The Mouse and the Mask". Now, if you're a fan of both Adult Swim and hip-hop music, then the album becomes a must-buy for you, because it's such a great collaboration between Danger Mouse and MF Doom. As rabid as many of Adult Swim's fans are, you could simply stamp "Adult Swim" on just about any crappy CD, and people would buy it. But I was glad to hear that the folks at Adult Swim actually put a lot of thought and care into the album and the artists they picked to make it. The songs are all tied to Adult Swim to some degree, with many of the tracks featuring samples from characters like Brak, Space Ghost, Master Shake, Meatwad, Harvey Birdman and others. The beats by Danger Mouse are fantastic, and MF Doom has a really peculiar but catchy lyrical flow that suits the subject matter perfectly. But even if you don't care about the subject matter, this is still one of the best underground hip-hop records of the year. Also, the commercials for the album feature Matthew Lesko, the only guy in a question mark suit who's more insane than the Riddler, so you know the CD's got to be good.