Jaydiohead is the mashup project of the music of Jay-Z and Radiohead that was mixed and produced by New York producer Minty Fresh Beats (Max Tannone). Tannone premiered the album Jaydiohead on his Myspace page on 30 December 2008,Goodman, William (2009-01-05). "Free Download: Radiohead and Jay-Z Mash-Up, 'Jaydiohead'." Spin magazine online. Retrieved 2010-08-04 which was officially released to download 1 January 2009. The first album was followed by the 12 July 2009 release of Jaydiohead: The Encore, which featured five new mixes. The album Jaydiohead has been called an internet sensation.
Production Tannone began work on Jaydiohead about a year prior to the album's completion, beginning with the tracks "Wrong Prayer" and "Ignorant Swan".Miyamoto, Justin (2010). "Jaydiohead: Our interview with the head behind the head, Max Tannone." Proxart Magazine. Retrieved 2010-08-04 The remainder of the tracks, which incorporate Jay-Z's a capella releases and samples from Radiohead songs, were mixed and produced beginning in August 2008.Montgomery, James (2009-01-06). Mtv.com Retrieved 2010-08-04 Over the course of six weeks, Tannone had completed the album from his laptop.Touré (2009-01-15). "Introducing Jaydiohead." The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2010-08-04 In an interview with The Daily Beast writer Touré, he explained that producing a song is a lengthy process that could take several weeks to complete. Using Jay-Z's a cappella songs as the master tempo, he searched through Radiohead songs that he believed would complement Jay's lyrics. He also stated that cohesion between the songs was one of the most difficult tasks in mixing. But by splitting up Radiohead songs into smaller pieces, he was able to layer Jay-Z's vocal tracks on top of them, sometimes placing additional melodies, adding drums or percussive instrumentation, or other effects into the track. Due to copyright infringement issues, similar to the release of most mashups, the songs were offered free of charge from the official website,(2009-01-06). "Jay-Z follows Oasis Glastonbury tangle with Radiohead mash-up." NME. Retrieved 2010-08-04 and no legal action has been taken against Tannone. Jaydiohead was also bootlegged on vinyl.(2009-01). "Jaydiohead Vinyl Bootleg." "Discogs." Retrieved 2010-08-16
In addition, a video called "Ignorant Swan Medley" was made, and featured several clips from songs on the album."Staff Pick." Vimeo via Twitter. Retrieved 2010-08-04
Style The distinct sound of Jay-Z's vocal tracks with Radiohead's samples by Tannone have been described as fluid,(2009-05-07) JUSTPRESSPLAY. Retrieved 2010-08-04 uniting the sounds of two legendary artists and complementing one with the other. This fusion of the two artists has been described as not sounding forced,Robinson, Iann (2009-04-28). "JAY-Z/RADIOHEAD: JAYDIOHEAD." Crave Online. Retrieved 2010-08-03 coming from artists with music that is considered to be polar opposites of each other. The songs' cohesion gives the impression that the two distinctly different genres have not been merged, but could pass as an original release by either one of the original artists.(2009-02-07). "Jaydiohead mashup : Amazing bloody mashup…no other way to say it." Key of Grey. Retrieved 2010-08-04 Aside from Radiohead and Jay-Z samples being alternative rock and hip hop respectively, the music has been described as funky.
Reception
Overall, most critics viewed the album generally as positive,Devlin, Mike (2009-01-09). "CD Reviews: Jaydiohead scores." The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2010-08-04(2009-04-21). "Jay-Z vs. Radiohead." Boing Boing. Retrieved 2010-08-17 and David James Young of Sputnik praised that "Jaydiohead throughout the album bring(s) out sides of both artists in a subtle yet highly effective way." Also, fans of both respective artists typically received the album well,Montgomery, James (2009-01-05). MTV.com. Retrieved 2010-08-04 as did fellow mashup DJs.Mick Boogie (2009-02-12). "ur shit is Ill. That's one of my fave remixes of the last couple years." Twitter. Retrieved 2010-08-05 Several critics have compared Jaydiohead to Danger Mouse's Grey Album, also a mashup album, which features samples taken from the Beatles' The White Album and Jay-Z's The Black Album.French, Colin (2009-01-27). "Minty Fresh Beats; Jaydiohead." The Music Fix. Retrieved 2010-08-03 Others have mentioned the similarity between Jaydiohead with that of Girl Talk's track "Set It Off", which mixes Jay's "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)..." with Radiohead's "Paranoid Android", albeit for a very short amount of time in comparison with the full album Tannone has made.Amrit (2009-01-05). "Jay-Z + Radiohead = Jaydiohead." Stereogum. Retrieved 2010-08-05 It even garnered attention by Jay-Z himself, hailing several of the tracks as "gems" in one of his own Twitter posts.Mr. Carter (2009-04-29). "There are 3 or 4 REAL gems on jaydiohead.." Twitter. Retrieved 2010-08-03 Notable celebrities that have mentioned the album, or a particular song, include Gwyneth Paltrow on her blogPaltrow, Gwyneth (2009). "Gwyneth's Picks". GOOP. Retrieved 2010-08-04 and Carson Daly on his TV show Last Call with Carson Daly,Daly, Carson (2009-01-07). "Carson plays Jaydiohead." Last Call with Carson Daly. Retrieved 2010-08-04 as well as a few others that it caught the attention of.Decker, Brooklyn (2009-05-14). "it's pretty cool... Jay-Z & Radiohead mashup." Twitter. Retrieved 2010-08-05Powell, Austin (2009-10-30). "Heart Gently Weeps." The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-08-05Lewis, Leona (2010-09-01). "Got some new music...jaydiohead." Twitter. Retrieved 2010-09-01 It has made several "Top of 2009" lists,(2009-01-06). "Retro! A Jay-Z-and-Radiohead Mash-up Album." New York Mag. Retrieved 2010-08-04(2009) "Top 100 Albums, Compilations, Reissues & Mixes of 2009." Phonica Records. Retrieved 2010-08-04 and the video for "Ignorant Swan Melody" was a Vimeo feature staff pick."Vimeo Staff Picks." Vimeo. Retrieved 2010-08-04 In 2010, Jaydiohead was included in a piece by NPR entitled The Mechanics of Mashups.Leahy, Kevin (2010-08-11) "NPR - The Mechanics of Mashups." National Public Radio. Retrieved 2010-08-13
However, not all reviews were positive.Dombal, Ryan (2009-01-05). "The Jay-Z/Radiohead Mashup to End All Mashups (Please?)." Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2010-08-04 Vice magazine called the album "supremely lame and tame",(2010-05). "In the magazine - Music Reviews - The Catholic Guilt Issue." Vice Magazine. Retrieved 2010-08-04 and some have joked that the track names leave little room for surprise.(2009-01-06). "Radiohead and Jay-Z collaboration?." Mtv.com: UK Retrieved 2010-08-03
Although both have performed, but not appeared in the same year at the Glastonbury Festival, critics have also played with the idea that this shared attribute would spark a "Collision Course" and subsequent tour.
Tracks
References
External links Official website of Jaydiohead