Max Tannone
Jaydiohead: The Encore

2.0
poor

Review

by craigy2 USER (120 Reviews)
July 17th, 2009 | 22 replies

Release Date: 2009 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Basically ‘Jaydiohead: The Encore’ is pretty much the same as the original ‘Jaydiohead’ album – only a bit shit.

Jay-Z and Radiohead: one, an entrepreneurial/ platinum selling hip-hop artist; the other, an alternative rock band who have experimented with several genres over the course of the career yet always maintained their own identity. Apart from the fact that they have both headlined the Pyramid Stage at England’s prestigious Glastonbury festival they are seemingly worlds apart, right? Wrong. Last year Max Tannone, or Minty Fresh Beats created ‘Jaydiohead’ a mash-up album featuring Radiohead’s instrumentation with Jay-Z’s vocals layered on the top. Now, in 2009 he has released ‘Jaydiohead: The Encore’, an album following the same simple idea.

The first ‘Jaydiohead’ album divided opinion: many were able to enjoy it for what it was; though many could not. However, the simplicity of the project was undeniable; any idiot with a basic knowledge of computer technology in relation to music could have created the album, though that counts me out. Essentially, Minty Fresh Beats put in minimal effort. He simply picks one track by Radiohead, one by Jay-Z and thinks to himself: “they could work together” - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Unfortunately, more often than not on ‘Jaydiohead: The Encore’ this simple method does not work and is instead just irritating.

Often there is a change in pace from the originals, and this detracts from its quality. Radiohead’s ‘Reckoner’ is slightly sped up in ‘Reckoner’s Encore’ and so it loses its euphoric nature, while ‘Encore’, Jay-Z’s ‘contribution’ to the track loses its drama. There is a similar problem in ‘Air Roc’ (Airbag & Roc Boys...) Additionally there is too much continuity in Jay-Z’s vocals compared to Radiohead’s backing track and so there is a noticeable and trying clash.

The only track where Tannone seemingly does mash-up Radiohead and Jay-Z to good effect is where he mixes their tracks ‘High and Dry’ and ‘Song Cry’ respectively. This is because for the most part the music compliments the vocals. That is to say that when there is a chorus in ‘High and Dry’ the vocals from ‘Song Cry’ are removed, eliminating any awkward conflict between the two tracks. Also, the guitar solo in Radiohead’s track comes in at a suitable moment – whereas in other tracks such passages do not and they are often lost underneath the vocals.

While the first Minty Fresh Beats mash-up project divided opinion, ‘Jaydiohead: The Encore’ is probably going to do the same as one suspects it is a love-it-or-hate-it kind-of thing. On the first album Tannone, while being lazy and uncreative, was intelligent enough to allow the tracks to complement each other as marked changes in the vocal track coincided with similar changes in the backing track. However, with the exception of ‘Song and Cry’ on ‘Jaydiohead: The Encore’ he does not do this, or at least does not do this effectively. Basically ‘Jaydiohead: The Encore’ is pretty much the same as the original ‘Jaydiohead’ album – only a bit ***.

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