Madvillain

Madvillain is a bicoastal team-up of two dizzyingly prolific hip-hop heads — Atlanta rapper MF Doom and Cali producer-beatsmith Madlib. Madvillainy does not match the sharp comic storytelling of last year’s Vaudeville Villain (released under Doom’s Viktor Vaughn moniker); it’s more of an indie rap blowing session by two guys near the top of their game. Sometimes it grabs you by your ear like Grandma (the squeeze-box braggadocio of ”Accordion”), sometimes it just unspools. But Madlib and Doom always tuck surprises into the corners.