i've been listening to this album a lot the past couple days, and i just can't believe how great it is. things i like about it:
1. the anti-cohesive cohesiveness, i came to really enjoy the abrupt track changes, there is definitely a flow to this album that isn't apparent at first 2. the different textures of the static in the background of the samples is a very pleasing sound to me, especially on the more relaxed tracks. that combined with off-kilter unusual melodies and sample choices, such an awesome sound. 3. the sentimental part of me hears it as a kind of nostalgic montage that was meaningful to dilla, like his life flashing before his eyes 4. the brevity of each track pulls me into listening to the whole album instead of skipping around. one track just makes me want to hear the next one because i can already hear the transition coming up, but at the same time i don't get bored of the transitions because they're still so suprising. it also just gives the album a really unique "shape" (i guess that ties into #1) 5. tracks: 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 (a good example of the static-y textures thing that i like), 15, 16... i guess listing tracks is kinda pointless, i pretty much love all of em
i've been listening to the shining and welcome 2 detroit, but neither have grabbed me as much as this one. any recommendations?
― later arpeggiator, Saturday, 9 February 2008 20:22 (sixteen years ago) link
i cant believe this thread. the avalanches? dilla sounding like madlib? what were you guys smoking? Donuts is the man's masterpiece, i like much of his shit but 2 years later that album still gets mad plays from everyone i know. that shit has enchanted people i know who arent even really hiphop fans.
only the post above mine has really hit the nail on the head, and it took 2 years. when i first listened to Donuts, it was the day it came out. i skipped through the tracks on vinyl, and i wasn't feeling it. i listened to it the next day on CD and realized that this was the obviously superior method for listening to it and i bought it immediately. it's now one of my top 10 albums of all time in any genre. the ebb and flow of emotions over the record is outstanding. it is so sad, beautiful, dark, happy, sexy, dirty, and deep, all at the same time.
for me, the guy was the greatest man to rock a sampler. but i've loved him forever, been rocking Welcome 2 Detroit since that shit came out, a total classic as well. between those two records and Fantastic Vol 1 alone, the guy is the greatest hiphop producer of all time. when you throw in other singles of his like "fuck the police" and shit he did for other cats, he just cant be topped.
also, i saw someone upthread ask if he had been listening to theo parrish records before making donuts. id assume it was quite the opposite, though im sure dilla heard theo as well. if you look on youtube, there is a video of Waajeed (who was dilla's boy) going record shopping in Melodies and Memories and he talks about the classic detroit records by Moodymann and Carl Craig. those cats know about detroit shit for real.
― pipecock, Sunday, 10 February 2008 03:52 (sixteen years ago) link
this is a good record
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Sunday, 10 February 2008 04:09 (sixteen years ago) link
the ever-emerging herbish newjackness of rap critics
-- ,,, Thursday, February 9, 2006 6:55 PM
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Sunday, 10 February 2008 04:10 (sixteen years ago) link
"someone"
― moonship journey to baja, Sunday, 10 February 2008 04:18 (sixteen years ago) link
those cats know about detroit shit for real.
there was a really old benji b radio broadcast w/the slum village cats talking about music and they said in detroit there wasn't really a differentiation between listening to techno and listening to hip hop. it was all just good music to them.
― jaxon, Sunday, 10 February 2008 06:22 (sixteen years ago) link
that shit has enchanted people i know who arent even really hiphop fans.
ahh yes the sign of a great hip hop producer
― deej, Sunday, 10 February 2008 17:23 (sixteen years ago) link
i prefer reading a forum where this album's perfection is in question because the obligation im supposed to feel to call this the 'a love supreme' of hip-hop when i read soulstrut or wherever else is real obnoxious to me, even tho i do like this record
― deej, Sunday, 10 February 2008 17:24 (sixteen years ago) link
here i was thinking that alex posting old fennessey columns on the graduation thread was a landmark event :(
― J0rdan S., Sunday, 10 February 2008 19:04 (sixteen years ago) link
how did he die? that's sad...
-- M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Sunday, 12 February 2006 15:41 (1 year ago) Bookmark Link
He had his heart broken by this thread, and just faded away.
-- Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 12 February 2006 16:44 (1 year ago) Bookmark Link
^^^Classic Passantino
― Dom Passantino, Sunday, 10 February 2008 19:13 (sixteen years ago) link
love love love this album
― sleep, Sunday, 10 February 2008 19:52 (sixteen years ago) link
deej - if dilla praise annoys you NEVER go to okayplayer - they literally worship him there
― The Brainwasher, Sunday, 10 February 2008 19:55 (sixteen years ago) link
"ahh yes the sign of a great hip hop producer"
it is the sign of making great music. when someone can do something that is within a genre but its appeal is far
"i prefer reading a forum where this album's perfection is in question because the obligation im supposed to feel to call this the 'a love supreme' of hip-hop when i read soulstrut or wherever else is real obnoxious to me, even tho i do like this record
-- deej"
i mean, if you want to question the greatness of an awesome record, that's up to you. you can think whatever you want about this album, but my guess is that this record is only going to be more revered as time goes on, and for good reason.
― pipecock, Sunday, 10 February 2008 20:10 (sixteen years ago) link
"there was a really old benji b radio broadcast w/the slum village cats talking about music and they said in detroit there wasn't really a differentiation between listening to techno and listening to hip hop. it was all just good music to them.
-- jaxon"
the detroit scene is insane. it really is something to experience. if you ever get a chance to hear it, Waajeed did a mix CD for 555 Soul that is all electro and non-hiphop. its a dope mix.
― pipecock, Sunday, 10 February 2008 20:12 (sixteen years ago) link
its not that i dont think its good, and i in fact think it is excellent - its that i think its a beat tape and getting all 'omg transcendent' about it is weird
and i love dilla
― deej, Sunday, 10 February 2008 20:18 (sixteen years ago) link
"its not that i dont think its good, and i in fact think it is excellent - its that i think its a beat tape and getting all 'omg transcendent' about it is weird
but it isnt just a beat tape. what i like about it is that it mines some similar emotional territory to DJ Shadow's Endtroducing, but in a completely different manner. Shadow's stuff is long, epic, and structured. Dilla did it short, loopy, and choppy. i think the tracks that were on Donuts that have also been released with people rapping over them show that the beats on Donuts are certainly not bettered by being made into a song instead of a part of the big collage that is Donuts. the way the little vocal snippets change the atmosphere, the way the tracks go together, it is very impressive.
― pipecock, Sunday, 10 February 2008 20:23 (sixteen years ago) link
beat tape my ass; his beat tapes are good but this has so much more going on
― winston, Sunday, 10 February 2008 20:55 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah, people love this record for a reason, and i don't think its just dilla's legacy
― later arpeggiator, Sunday, 10 February 2008 21:02 (sixteen years ago) link
like his life flashing before his eyes
this is pretty apt
― winston, Sunday, 10 February 2008 21:47 (sixteen years ago) link
Have folks heard this bit of awesomeness: http://www.wevegotthejazz.com/?p=10616
It's an awesome live performance of Donuts front to back.
― matt2, Thursday, 20 January 2011 20:29 (thirteen years ago) link
should i listen to the avalanches?
― team jaxon (jaxon), Sunday, February 12, 2006 12:17 AM (4 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
did u ever do this?
― *gets the power* (deej), Thursday, 20 January 2011 21:01 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qXm4nzyev8
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 20 January 2011 21:03 (thirteen years ago) link
amazing thread
― fruit of the goon (k3vin k.), Thursday, 20 January 2011 21:09 (thirteen years ago) link
lol @ pipecock's dilla changed my t-shirt essay upthread
― *gets the power* (deej), Thursday, 20 January 2011 21:17 (thirteen years ago) link
I would like to point out that deej was otm on this thread
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 20 January 2011 21:29 (thirteen years ago) link
Guys the main reason I listened to this album is it seemed to be about my mortal enemy, the donut.
― Stop Non-Erotic Cabaret (Abbbottt), Thursday, 20 January 2011 22:17 (thirteen years ago) link
should i listen to the avalanches?― team jaxon (jaxon), Sunday, February 12, 2006 12:17 AM (4 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
did u ever do this?― *gets the power* (deej), Thursday, January 20, 2011 9:01 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
this never happened
― jaxon, Thursday, 20 January 2011 23:49 (thirteen years ago) link
hatoo bad. i honestly dont know if you would like it or not
― *gets the power* (deej), Friday, 21 January 2011 01:05 (thirteen years ago) link
Does anyone have a (preferably unmixed) copy of the Okayplayer/DJ Soul "Assorted Donuts" that used to be up for free download? U will be my friend 4 life
― Pompoussin (admrl), Friday, 27 May 2011 16:38 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=assorted+donuts+rar+mediafire&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=
― just sayin, Friday, 27 May 2011 18:55 (twelve years ago) link
I love jamming this in the morning
― love, light, and walkabout-thinking (admrl), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 17:34 (twelve years ago) link
Steppin' to the a.m.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VgOvNkqFe8
― Andy K, Wednesday, 29 February 2012 18:45 (twelve years ago) link
happy bday JD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek_cufWYvjE
― flappy bird, Thursday, 7 February 2019 18:09 (five years ago) link
Best motherfucking ever.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Friday, 8 February 2019 00:12 (five years ago) link
lol ethan padgett was such a shithead
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Friday, 8 February 2019 18:02 (five years ago) link
nah, yung padgett was a god
― the late great, Friday, 8 February 2019 19:12 (five years ago) link
J Dilla’s classic Donuts track “Workinonit” is the subject of a new copyright infringement lawsuit https://t.co/RMz9QWvolp— Pitchfork (@pitchfork) September 1, 2020
boooooooooooo
― whiney on the moon (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 1 September 2020 23:37 (three years ago) link