Jay-Z and Radiohead Get the Mixtape Treatment

I don't know how badly I missed the boat on this one, but from the looks of it, this isn't too moldy. Not too long ago Minty Fresh Beats dropped a new mixtape entitled Jaydiohead featuring mashups of, you guessed it, Jay-Z and Radiohead. Look, I get that the title makes it clear what they're doing, but would a little originality have killed 'em? How about Black Rainbows? Hell, Kid Jay! But I'm here to critique the music, nothing else.

The mixtape focuses mostly on the later works of both artists (The Black Album and American Gangster for Jay-Z, OK Computer through In Rainbows for Radiohead), but takes the best selections from both and creates some wonderfully ingenious mashes. "No Karma" takes "Karma Police", arguably Radiohead's most recognizable track not named "Creep" and "No Hook", an abstract filler cut from American Gangster and gives the latter, well, a hook. The most impressive thing here is just how seamlessly everything fits in. Jay's raps and Thom Yorke's vocals on "Optimistic Moment" fit so organically that Yorke must be sitting in a room somewhere wondering why he didn't come up with this first. Admit it; no one reading this would have considered the riff from "Paranoid Android" having any similarities to that of "Dirt Off Your Shoulder". And yet when you listen, it's like the whole thing was somehow divinely planned out years ago, and us along with Minty Fresh Beats are just late to the party.

Overall the mix is brilliant. Even the mashups featuring songs I didn't really know work really well. Best of all, unlike other mixtapes that are best heard start to finish, Jaydiohead works just as well as singles as it does elsewhere. Think the Jay-Z/Linkin Park Collision Course project, just a bit more natural and focused.

Jaydiohead - No Karma

Pick up Jaydiohead here. (Thanks to A Future In Noise for posting this first)

==TJ==

4 Quick-ish CD Reviews; That's Right, I Bought CDs...

I'm not doing an Under The Radar post today or tomorrow, because a) I'm holding till I can get in touch with another artist for my next one, and b) I just think it's time to mix it up a bit this week. So here's something new.

It's a safe bet that any time I go home, I'm going to come back to school with some new music. This time is no different. Over the last week I bought 4 CDs, 1 digital album, and played through some stuff that hasn't been spun in awhile. Since I haven't listened to the digital album yet (it's NIN's Ghosts I-IV, and I haven't had 2.5 hours to burn on listening to it yet) and I'm gonna save the older stuff for another entry, a look at the CDs I bought, in the order I bought them:

Sixx:A.M. - The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack
I've been trying to find myself a copy of this one since my first hearing (and unexpected enjoyment) of "Life is Beautiful". The concept behind the album is really cool; a soundtrack for a book. For the most part the music is pretty good, in spite of being a bit lacking in originality. A run of the mill nu-metal band could probably write and record this album and it would come out serviceable, but something about Nikki Sixx's connection to the material and lead singer Jason Michaels delivery, along with some ridiculous guitar work from DJ Ashba puts it a cut above the rest of the pack these days. Not that hard given what the pack looks like these days (Puddle of Mudd and Seether are both atop the Rock charts right now). Reports suggest that a second album from Sixx:A.M. are unlikely and this was just a one-shot, but it doesn't cheapen the good effort from the band. Probably not a classic for the ages, but worth some iPod space.
Ruling on the Field: 7.5/10
Highlight Reel: Life Is Beautiful [iTunes]
(sorry, haven't uploaded this album yet)

Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
The last album I needed to have the full Radiohead discography, I found this at a used CD shop for 5 bucks. I'm going to do a full review of Radiohead's stuff next week, but this album was more of a mixed bag for me than any of their other stuff. On one hand, when Radiohead does something truly ear-catching, as they do on songs like "There There" and "We Suck Young Blood", the result is bloody brilliant. The problem is moments like these tend to be few and far between, and you have to listen really hard to find why people like Radiohead so much. Hail to the Thief certainly isn't a bad album, it just takes work to listen to, and I'm not always up for trying that hard to enjoy music.
Ruling on the Field: 5.5/10
Highlight Reel: There There [AmazonMP3]

Counting Crows - August and Everything After
I already had most of this album thanks to Mike Newsham, but I felt as though it was one of those ones that I needed to own, simply because it showed off the era of music so well. The debut album from Counting Crows came out the same year as Nirvana's final studio LP In Utero, and ends up being a great set to tie the angsty, heavy sounds of the grunge era and the hooky, upbeat stylings of post-grunge (see also: The Goo Goo Dolls and Collective Soul). There's rarely a bad moment on this album (except maybe the dredgy "Raining in Baltimore"), and when it's good, it's among the best in the genre, and quite frankly, Counting Crows have been for most of their career. As debut albums go, August and Everything After is one for the books.
Ruling on the Field: 9.5/10
Highlight Reel: Mr. Jones [iTunes]
(so hard to pick just one, so I went with the best-known)

Jay-Z - American Gangster
Been meaning to give this a listen since it found its way onto many (including my own) Best of '07 lists, and it helped that I saw the movie from which the album drew its inspiration. As a general rule I steer clear of rap albums, since they too often end up being the same old garbage, but Jay-Z has become one of few exceptions to that rule (his protege Kanye West is one of the others). American Gangster is a bit of an enigma as rap albums go. For starters it's a concept album, an idea usually reserved for rock music. It also simultaneously glorifies and warns against the "gangster life" that is so often the focus of rap music. Since Jay-Z seems to envision himself as a bit of a modern day Frank Lucas (minus the drug trafficking), he understands the allure of that life, but also finds it important to tell listeners that he rose above it and found success anyway. The music itself is across the board better than any rap I usually hear on the radio. "Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)..." deserved all the praise it got, and "Hello Brooklyn 2.0" is an example of Hova's ability to craft a track. Even the collaborations on the album match his skill. The album didn't sell me enough to become a fan of rap, but I certainly didn't feel bad shelling out 12 bucks for it.
Ruling on the Field: 8/10
Highlight Reel: Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)... [Amazon MP3]

And that pretty much does it for me. Back tomorrow with a Weekend WTF, and then next week it's back to business as usual.

==TJ==

Current Music: Finger Eleven - Paralyzer [iTunes]

Biggest Letdowns of 2007 (Some of them Anyway)

2007 had some great moments, which I talked about here. Sadly, there were some low points too. In no particular order, some of the things that sucked about the year that's nearly gone past.

Amy Lee becomes the female Axl Rose
The Evanescence frontwoman probably won't be getting Christmas presents from any of her original bandmates. Earlier this year she kicked out Rocky Gray and John LeCompt, the remaining original members of the band (Founding guitarist Ben Moody quit in 2003, more on him later). By most accounts, Amy Lee seems to kick out any member of the band that dares suggest she's wrong about what the band should be. Based on the war of words that went on after the fact (Lee more or less accused Gray and LeCompt of trying to destroy "her baby", and LeCompt joked about how he hoped we would become lyrical fodder for Lee), not much love lost here, except from the fans that miss what was once a good band becoming the Amy Lee show. As much as I love Lee, she can't carry that band on her back. The Open Door was a disappointment mostly because she released the shittiest songs as singles after "Call Me When You're Sober". At this point all we can do is hope the band quits while they're ahead, or that the band gets a backbone again.

Evanescence - Call Me When You're Sober [iTunes]

(As for Ben Moody, he's spent his time writing and producing for the likes of Lindsay Lohan and Avril Lavigne. A recent report also notes he collaborated with Celine Dion on her most recent album. On the Bill Simmons Vengeance Scale, I'd say this is about a 0.7 out of 10. )

Jay-Z pulls a fast one on iTunes, revokes American Gangster
It was the most the third most anticipated rap album of the year, and had racked up millions of pre-orders on iTunes by the time American Gangster, the new Jay-Z album inspired by the movie was due to be released. But then at the last minute, Hova pulls it from iTunes, citing his desire for the album to be heard as one unit, not song-by-song. As a result all the people who preordered the album got screwed. Smooth...reaalll smooth.

Having said that, I heard a couple tracks off the album, and am duly impressed.

Jay-Z - Roc Boys (And The Winner Is...) [AmazonMP3]

Matchbox 20's "New Album"
A 6-song EP and a greatest hits collection that even the most casual fans have does not an album make, guys. Get back in the studio and give me more.

Matchbox 20 - How Far We've Come [iTunes]

Live Earth
Huge dud. But then again, pretty much what you'd expect from a concert organized by Al Gore, no? Even the Foo Fighters sounded boring in this one. And that Police/Kanye/John Mayer performance? You wanna tell me that wasn't the most scripted thing ever? Points for effort and trying to be socially conscious, but no-good on the execution.

Buy the album on iTunes if you must (can't even give you an mp3 of Linkin Park's performance)

Legally Blonde on Broadway
OK, I'll admit, the movie didn't suck nearly as much as I thought it would. This is more a rant about Broadway's apparent decision to join Hollywood in not coming up with original ideas. Between this, Young Frankenstein, and the slew of Disney musicals, the theatre is almost as bad as TV and film at this point.

...and this is the industry I'm gonna go into...*sigh*

High School Musical 2
A sin against God, man, and everything I did for four years between September 2002 and May 2006.

50 Cent hasn't retired yet...
Despite his album Curtis getting soundly beaten by Kanye West. I guess a rapper's promise doesn't mean as much as it once did. Does anyone else miss the days when a rapper would promise to pop some caps, and then shortly thereafter the news would get out about another shooting?

50 Cent - Ayo Technology [iTunes]

Radiohead release In Rainbows, get verbal blowjob from the blogosphere
I'll admit, I was among those who praised Radiohead's ingenuity when they self-released their new album. I also think I was one of the first to dismiss the music itself as trippy, directionless and overrated. Meanwhile nearly every other blog has added In Rainbows to their Best of 07 list. Just 'cause you do something ballsy doesn't mean you're automatically the best.

I think that's all I've got. The Best Songs of 2007 list will be arriving shortly.

On a random note, I had the strangest urge to listen to the Red Hot Chili Peppers earlier today. There was no reason for it whatsoever, but I'm blasting the Greatest Hits CD now, and thought I'd share that fact.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Fortune Faded [iTunes]

==TJ==