Sound Ancestors
| Madlib
Sound Ancestors
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
On his collaborative album with Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden, the producer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, and archivist remains masterful by simply turning what he hears into something new and revelatory.
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The Guardian
Arranged by Four Tet, the producer’s stunning album is poignant and sincere, combining beats, jazz, reggae toasts and vocal snippets into a kind of folklore.
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Treblezine
The Madlib discography, even with this LP, implies that the man’s going to run out of time on this planet long before he runs out of ideas. Four Tet laying hands on Sound Ancestors clumsily proves the theorem that ‘Lib’s probably the best person to manage his productions. It’s easily the first real clunker of each of their careers.
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The Wall Street Journal
The producer teams with Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet, on an album that merges borrowed musical snippets into a satisfying whole.
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Magnetic Magazine
Despite the shifting sonic sands of Sound Ancestors, it fits incredibly well together. The musical fragments probably were hard to understand at first, but now that they are pieced together, it all sounds delightful. It is both an ode to those who have come before us, but also keeps the path well worn for those heading into the future.
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The Line of Best Fit
Sound Ancestors sounds like it could come straight out of Madlib’s record collection; a mix of jazz, African rhythms, soul, hip-hop drums, and more jazz.
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Backseat Mafia
It’s a breaks great that’s also gonna be a real grower, you can tell, revealing the whole of itself over many deep listens. I’m looking forward to that.
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Niner Times
The prolific producer finds beauty and freedom in the eclectic.
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Sungenre
As it is, having these two producer titans – one specialising in hip-hop, one in electronic music but both interested in the other’s boundaries – is its own reward.
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Vinyl Chapters
Expert sampling and wild mysteria are constant as dreamy sounds take you away in Madlib and Four Tet’s new record, Sound Ancestors.
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afterglow
Sound Ancestors, as the name suggests, is a tribute to those that came before. Madlib and Hebden weave the sounds of old school underground hip-hop, classic house, and pioneering electronica into a new era, proving just how timeless those genres are. Each individual track’s sonic ideas are succinct and never overstay their welcome, but the variation from one song to the next keeps the whole album fresh, inviting repeat listens.
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The Mic Magazine
For a man that has had multiple aliases throughout his career, Sound Ancestors is a big statement from Madlib. The record truly encapsulates both Madlib and Four Tet’s reluctance to be boxed into one genre, creating a record unafraid to play with any sound.
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Mr. Hipster
It’s chill, yes. But it’s also a bit scattered and not definitive in any sense. Perhaps this is just my lack of experience with this type of music. Or perhaps it just is what it is. A fine mashup of stuff that belongs in the background.
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The Courier Online
If you’re expecting a bombastic, attention-demanding experience akin to Piñata or Madvillainy you may be left wanting, but if you can appreciate purely instrumental hip-hop then look no further than Sound Ancestors. As Madlib approaches his fourth decade in the industry, he has well and truly perfected the craft of imperfection.
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All Music
Still, it sounds recognizably like both Madlib and Four Tet while taking their music into directions where neither artist has ventured before, and its highlights are life-affirming.
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Panorama of the Mountains
Hip artist and producer Madlib collaborates with electronic music artists Four Tet on this collection that draws on both of their loves for music and record collecting. The music samples from a catalog of soul and R&B, Jazz, Latin, folk, and reggae to create a tribute to ancestral music and something new at the same time.
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Legends Will Never Die
Dude is one of my all-time favorite producers & he does not disappoint on this new album whatsoever. It’s amalgoration of all the sounds he’s dabbled with in the past from experimental hip hop & jazz to Indian & Brazilian music. If you’re a true fan of Madlib’s production, then this is a must listen in my eyes.
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Giglist
for many listeners it will no doubt serve as a unique record in the Madlib canon that further demonstrates the versatility and eclecticism of an enduring musical force. For those that don’t like it so much, fear not. If there’s one thing we know about Madlib it’s that you won’t have to wait too long for another new project to get your teeth stuck into.
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Beats Per Minute
Sound Ancestors is a realisation of what the Madlib and Hebden are capable of in tandem. It’s bold, different, and takes the genre of instrumental hip hop to the next level. “An album designed to be listened to start to finish,” is what Hebden envisaged this record to be, and it is an astounding one at that.
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Finest of EDM
Despite the shifting sonic sands of Sound Ancestors, it fits incredibly well together. The musical fragments probably were hard to understand at first, but now that they are pieced together, it all sounds delightful. It is both an ode to those who have come before us, but also keeps the path well worn for those heading into the future.
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The Student Playlist
Produced in league with Four Tet, hip-hop producer extraordinaire Madlib delivers a reliably compelling album in ‘Sound Ancestors’.
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Rolling Stone
The wildly inventive rapper-producer teams up with electronic musician Four Tet to create an album that lives in the space between the past and the future.
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Spectrum Culture
Sound Ancestors amounts to cool sonics that fail to leave a lasting impression.
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Exclaim
Madlib's 'Sound Ancestors' Is a Well-Assorted Bag of Aural Treats.
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Crave the Sound
Sound Ancestors is a musical family tree of one of the great minds still working in hip hop today, and is the kind of record that most likely needs to be listened to on vinyl to be fully appreciated, but until then - it hits record stores in early March - the album exists digitally and is one of the early highlights of 2021.
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