Danderdooom
The Mouse and the Mask
(Epitaph)
3 out of 5 stars
Walking the line between a gimmick and an alienating inside joke results in an bad aftertaste from Dangerdoom. The otherwise solid album has underground hip-hop fans salivating, with the matching of producer Danger Mouse and MF Doom, no stranger to gimmicks himself. Doom models his alter-ego after comic book villain Dr. Doom. The guest spots from Talib Kweli and Ghostface are promising. The cast of the Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" also stops by. The references might be funny for regular viewers, but the appearances don't add much. We get it, you're a cartoon character, you're bad at rhyming and it's ironic when you try to act thuggish. The Mouse and the Mask features great beats and rhyming bogged down in annoying interruptions with no contribution to the flow of the album.
-- by benjamin.horowitz@asu.edu
