Customer Reviews

Dust

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Many people complain about the state of music being boring. Yet when good music comes out they tend to compare and complain about the sound and how different it is. This album is great and it lift the soul, which is what good music is supposed to do. Muggs has truly developed his skills beyond his usuall Cypress hill sound. Good Job

Having already having been recognised as amongst the elite of Hip-Hop Producers/Dj's........as well as the Driving force behind "Cypress Hill". Dj Muggs takes time out from Cypress Hill to take another stab at the lucrative `Electronica' market. (After having co-produced on 1999's "Tricky's - Juxtapose" album. But although rather than merely retreading the Dark, menacing sound of their previous collaborative effort....Mugg's chooses to create an album that is equal parts "Portishead"/"Pink Floyd"/"Tricky" & "Dj Shadow" to jaw Dropping effect. Muggs never sticks to one style of music throughout the album, choosing instead to mix skilfully & seamlessly between all of the previously mentioned artists....yet always approaching from a fresh angle, as opposed to being an inferior imitation. By bringing in guest vocalist's ("Buckcherry's" - Josh Todd / the Afghan Whigs' - Greg Dulli & rapper "Everlast" plus several female vocalists), Muggs creates a woozy, nocturnal, seductive slow burner that has both its feet firmly entrenched in late-night consumption. Track two "Rain" shimmers & hypnotizes with it's bleak sonic soundscapes that are not too dissimilar to "Portishead", and track seven "Tears" is a brooding electronic highlight that pounds away with a eerie female vocal track combined to staggering effect. Muggs accomplishes a great deal with this album, and despite the fact that this album feels positively exclusive to late night listening, this is undoubtedly the best `Paranoia-inspired' Electronica album to be produced since "Tricky's" effort.

This CD is produced by cypress hill's legendary producer dj muggs, but it is not a hip-hop album. What muggs has created here is a down-tempo rock masterpiece. The vocals are mainly handled by amy trujillo and josh todd, but there are also apperances by greg dulli, who delivers the vocals on the excellant 'fat city' and muggs also collabs with his old pal everlast on the brilliant 'gone for good.' My other favourite track is 'rain.' But there are also many other great songs on the album. I seriously recommend this CD not only to cypress hill fans like myself, but to everyone who loves music, as this album has music from a variety of genres that will be enjoyed by everybody. Also, this CD shows that dj muggs is not only the best hip-hop producer around. But the best producer around. Period!

I might have greater love and respect for this CD if it had come out some time between 1993 and 1998. But its 2003. While listening to it I wanted to hear something innovative, unique. But all I could do while listening to it was say, "Wow this reminds me of a track from Maxinquaye" or "hmmm, this sounds like a track from Mezzanine," or wow this could have been on Becocming X." Dj Muggs seems to be obsessed with recreating mid-90s Trip hop. I normally might not have a problem with this, if the album is still in some way unique and interesting. But nothing on this album is at all original or unique. If you're going to borrow from a different era (and different artists) you better be writing some amazing and perfect songs. If this had come out in the mid nineties it would have been mediocre but memorable. It would be, by no means, a classic, but just a typical not so bad example of the genre. It would pale in comparison to its contemporaries. So listening to it now is kind of like listening to a score from a mid nineties B movie on the USA network. Just really generic.

But this is only true for about 60% of the tracks on this album, the instrumentals and the songs with Amy Trujillo. These tracks, while generic and trite, are not that bad. They are probably the most interesting and enjoyable.

The songs with the male vocalists, however, are frightening and revolting. The male vocalists are really annoying. They don't sound very genuine. It definitely seems like DJ Muggs is trying to appeal to an "indierock" crowd. With the exception of the track with Everlast, which is also not really that good, it sounds like a bad cross of Badly Drawn Boy, Stone Roses, with late nineties spiritual Moby. Only really really really GENERIC. All of those tracks should have been eliminated.

I feel really bad writing such a negative review because I really was a fan. The first 3 Cypress Hill albums are some of my favorites. I even thought the first Soul Assassins album and the tracks he did with Tricky were pretty good. It just seems like DJ muggs was trying really hard to appeal to a certain crowd (that may or may not even exist) rather than just being himself. This album may have been better if he just kept it instrumental or if he hopped on a time machine and dropped it in like 1993. That way it could have at least been kind of original.

this album is fresh as hell. very unexpected. dont let the music snob below over analyze this one on ya. its a sleeper for sure.

trust me. its more than worth the effort to at least listen to.

i really like how this whole album sounds.dj muggs was always great even with cypress.i wouldnt see why anyone would want to critize something and say its coming from 90s like sounds like snealer pimps or others.it doesnt matter what year it is.musicians/producers and so forth make ''MUSIC'' and if they wanna make music that has sounds from the dawn of time.that is INNOVATIVE!so open your mind and listen and explore and buy this cd if you can find it.you wont be disappointed.unless your just into one type of music or be close minded and just only listen to what is on the MTV charts only.DJ MUGGS GIVE US MORE OF THIS MANG!

Maybe Dust doesn't break a lot of new ground but why does it need to? In other reviews people have compared this record to Maxinquay or Mezzanine which I can understand, but at the same time, what a compliment for Muggs and the other artists involved with this project to have justified such a comparison. A new record that takes me back to a similar feel to a couple of the all-time best trip-hop albums can only be considered a good thing. Personally I feel that Tricky and Massive Attack, while absolutely the best in their day, lately haven't been putting out recordings of the same caliber as their earlier work. I hope that they do, I'm looking forward to hearing it. But right now, Dust is a solid release in it's own right, with it's own sound and feel. Recommended.

Overall this CD should not be missed!It is a change from DJ Muggs' norm but it still packs his dark punch. Although it lacks heavily in the hip hop feel the source is still there. Its an expansion or a progression as all artist's should do with time and seems somewhat inevitable with age, being that Cypress hit about a decade ago. All the songs flow nicely together with a eiry complexity that reminds me of the European underground such as Massive Attack or Tricky hint hint. You be the judge but this CD is tight and works well just let it play.

2 1/2

Muggs excels at grimy, beat-driven atmospherics, though struggles to fill up all the open space he creates with little more than airy, semi-formless vocalizations.

If you are expecting B-Real and his insane membrain to manifest on this record you are sadly and terribly mistaken - in other words - this is NOT a cypress hill album!!! It's not even a hip hop album. Rather it's a Massive attack meets Steve Roach meets Trikcy meets some country legend I still haven't heard of album, and that is also infact the problem "Dust" is suffering from. There is clearly "Mezzanine" and "Maxinquae" references present here, especially on the songs containing female vocals. Who can blame him though they were some of the most influetial and trendsetting albums of the nineties.

Nevertheless the entire album is so well produced and arranged that as a whole it survives with a band aid.......

Muggs is a shining example on how the hip hop and trip hop barriers slowly comes down. Unfortunatly he is one step behind Massive attack (for intance) and instead of trying to follow them he should have chosen a parallel route.

Ironically "Dust" contains plenty of nice tracks, but originallity went out the backdoor.
Some highlights include: "Tears", "Fat city" and "Believer"