Quasimoto - The Further Adventures Of Lord Quas (Album Review)

 

Quasimoto - The Further Adventures Of Lord Quas

(2005)


My copy: 2021 reissue on blue and yellow vinyl by Stones Throw Records.


Five years after his last appearance and just one year following the resounding success of the more collaborative Madvillainy, Otis “Madlib” Jackson, Jr. revives his alter-ego Quasimoto in further pursuit of odd samples, urban misadventures and as usual, good weed. While the drug references here are a bit more ham-fisted than usual, Madlib never disappoints in whipping up oddball grooves that are so adorned with clever sample-focused plots and quick-witted rhymes that you’d swear you were half-awake slumped on a couch as your friend channel-surfs aimlessly. 

“Bullyshit” kicks off showing Madlib’s further appreciation for samples of eastern music, creating tatters of psychedelia through which his spoken samples weave seamlessly. “Greenery” is one of a few obligatory odes to marijuana, serving as a sort of sister track to the Madvillain cut “America’s Most Blunted,” Madlib and Quas working hand in hand over the flow more frequently now. “Crime” frequently reinvents but sits comfortably in RnB before the slow synth splatter of “Hydrant Game” leads into more sample switching. “Don’t Blink” takes on a surprisingly satisfying ‘80s vibe with whizzing lasers and catchy hooks before the drunken soul karaoke of “Players Of The Game.”

The biggest detriment is just how whiplash-hungry the record is - sometimes grooves are eradicated before they can be situated and almost every trac fades out into a completely different beat within the last 30 seconds. Fortunately the humorous stories conjured within songs like “Bus Ride” (a triumphant jazz-adjacent jam all about avoiding a local beggar) help to alleviate some of the pacing issues. Doom appears on “Closer,” firing on all cylinders with euphoric melodic motifs atop a trepidatious bassline and lustful female vocals. The train-track thump of the “Maingirl” beat fits nicely with the lowkey flow, as stomping bass switches up to lighter jazz/funk repetition. 

The cartoonish charm of Quasimoto is never to be understated with several samples and instrumental passages reflecting on classic animation music as is the case in “1994” following the dreamy “Bartender Say.” “Another Demo Tape” chronicles Madlib’s tiring at being handed mixtapes while “Raw Deal” further obsesses over marijuana. MED joins again for the uncharacteristically smooth “The Exclusive” with soulful string samples and trickling synth that dives into darker bass before the comically titled “Fatbacks” (which is, of course, about liking big butts). The next highlight comes from the spiraling patchwork effects of “Shroom Music.” The samples continue across the final batch of songs with “Life Is…” engaging in some eerie dissonance. 

Lord Quas’s flow continues over a splatter-painting of foreign melodies and TV samples, almost overwhelmingly so for a hip-hop record that stretches over an hour. Madlib’s production remains stellar in the face of exorbitant length, and his style comfortably peaks over the waves made by Madvillainy. The Further Adventures Of Lord Quas is Madlib’s last (as of writing) Quasimoto record, maybe for the sheer expanse of samples that were exhausted to create this wild ride of an album.

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