Exquisite corpse is a parlor game popular with the Surrealists in which a person writes a word or phrase on a piece of paper, folds it, passes it to the next person to do the same, and so on. The result is a collage of words that may or may not make sense, but is bound to be interesting. The approach-- named after one of its first notable results: translated, "the exquisite corpse shall drink the new wine"-- was also employed by painters, as well. The historically minded Daedelus has used that method to construct his latest album, bringing in a disparate group of artists-- rappers, singers, poets, and producers-- to contribute to his usual palette of whimsical field recordings and downtempo beats.
Working with both sonics and language, the LP highlights the power of collage art. On "Impending Doom", an appropriately titled collaboration with MF Doom, the emcee does well with Daedelus' irregular beat. Doom sounds comfortable in this setting, and the song's lo-fi sample of swooning strings could have easily slipped onto Madvillainy. Also right at home among Daedelus' vintage soundscapes are rap group CYNE on the slick jazz-rap throwback "Drops" and poet Mike Ladd on the coffeehouse thump of "Welcome Home" (reprised earlier by Prefuse 73).
But as it was with the old word game, the more vivid or unusual your contribution, the better the "corpse" collage. When Daedelus is given some linear acoustic guitar picking and vocals from One AM Radio's Hirshikesh Hirway in "Thanatopsis", he pulls out an unexpected, fresh vocal sample that blurs the line between scat and Prefuse-style manipulation. "Now and Sleep" veers from music-hall piano into harsh, industrial drones, but singer Laura Darling keeps it as soft as a lullaby. And the rappers in TTC would sound strange in any context, but the way they ride that light bell sample in "Cadavre Exquis" evokes an ominous, narrow, after-hours Parisian street.
For better or worse, Daedelus lets his guests walk all over him, tailoring his compositions around their contributions. Unfortunately, although Daedelus' work is often dynamic, his guest-first approach prevents him from moving away from his typical sonic style. The result is an album that's exciting solely because of its guest contributors, but exciting nonetheless.
