Here’s the first video from Max Tannone, who’s Jaydiohead project was featured here last year.

Jaydiohead Ignorant Swan Medley from SUBVOYANT on Vimeo.

In the wrong hands, a mash-up is a trite, unimaginative attempt to create poorly designed art. And then there’s Max Tannone. His work as the mastermind behind the acclaimed Jaydiohead project drew the attention of Jay-Z (!) and the Beastie Boys. He followed that up by working with the Beasties for the “Doublecheck Your Head” remix. Now he has released another great mash-up, combining the work of Mos Def with great Jamaican dub music. We interviewed Max in April of 2009 to discuss his work on Jaydiohead and thought this was a perfect time to touch base to have him explain his great new project. You must listen to this, to appreciate what a great concept this is. Listen, learn, enjoy…..

TDOA: Love the new project! Can you tell us what led/inspired you to mix Mos Def with dub music?

MT: First off, thank you. I’ve been a reggae fan for a long time, but only recently discovered dub specifically. For those that aren’t familiar, dub is essentially an instrumental genre of reggae, or remixes of reggae tunes created by reshaping and manipulating the recordings with editing, effects, new rhythms, etc. In other words, really dope and innovate remixes.I began listening to dub artists like Lee “Scratch” Perry, King Tubby, and Scientist (my favorite.) I learned about how they created the tracks, usually recording all of their mixing board edits live to tape…manipulating delay feedbacks and reverbs just by ear and by feeling, muting and unmuting tracks on the fly. I couldn’t really picture anything more awesome, and these guys are the originators of this.
While listening to these dub tunes, which are often heavily based on the drums and the bass, would also sound great if sampled for hip-hop tracks. Being a huge Mos Def fan (and Mos who sometimes breaks into a Jamaican patois himself), I knew he would fit well over the tracks. His lyrics are often socially poignant – a common theme with reggae music too. He is one of my favorite musicians and I hope he heard Mos Def and enjoyed it. Let me know Mos!

TDOA: Can you talk about your own musical taste? Some would say that your average Radiohead fan isn’t indulging in dub and hip hop. Are these different genres vehicles for your musical output or do you actually listen to this wide variety of music?

MT: I definitely listen to all these types of music. If they aren’t, Radiohead fans should be into dub music – I see a lot of parallels between the studio wizardry of Radiohead/Nigel Godrich and these classic dub legends like Scientist. In fact, I think anyone interested in modern electronic or experimental rock, or hip-hop for that matter, owes it to themselves to check out some dub tunes. Dub is the original remix. At any rate, I can’t do these projects unless I really love the sources – it would sound too forced.
Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Lennon’s solo stuff (I think his first solo record, Plastic Ono Band, is incredible.) Been listening to a lot of Beck. I just saw Rusko in concert and that was really fun. Listened to about 60, A Tribe Called Quest songs on shuffle the other day. Random stuff – thanks to the internet the amount of music is overwhelming. Its a blessing and a curse…mostly a blessing though.

TDOA: Have you heard from any of the artists involved in your projects (Mos Def, Radiohead, Jay-Z)?

MT: Jay-Z tweeted about it, yay internet!
I haven’t heard from Radiohead or Mos Def.

TDOA: Can you tell us the story of how you became involved in the Beastie Boys remix project and if there’s been any follow-up with them?

MT: Adrock from the Beastie Boys heard Jaydiohead and came up with an idea for me to do something similar with their Check Your Head album (as they were re-releasing that at the time.) But instead of mixing them with another artist, I would mix them with themselves, hence the name, “Doublecheck Your Head.” The Beasties are really great and supportive regarding remixes of their material – one of the reasons why they are iconic. They’ve always been pushing forward and figuring out ways to embrace changing times and technology rather than fight them.

TDOA: What’s next?! Any news on the Jaydiohead video that you were working on?

MT: I’m not sure. I really enjoyed working with dub music so I may do something further with that. I have some other ideas for another “mash-up” album. I’d like to start working with some artists…I love concept albums – or at least albums with a running theme that don’t come corny (that’s still possible right?)
I love the whole producer/artist team in hip-hop like DJ Hi-Tek and Talib Kweli when they made Reflection Eternal, or Gang Starr’s albums, or the Beastie Boys working with the Dust Brothers on Paul’s Boutique. I’d like to be part of a team like that…
Finally, thanks to the readers and to The Dumbing of America for the continued support and interest in what I’ve been up to. I definitely appreciate it.

Check out the Jaydiohead Facebook page which has a lot of information regarding Jaydiohead, Mos Dub, and anything Max is working on. You can follow him on Twitter, here.

and for those of you who haven’t heard Jaydiohead….

1. Alberta Cross- Broken Side of Time

2. The Boxer Rebellion- Union

3. Heat-Ray- Love All Over

4. Lovvers- OCD Go Go Go Girls

5. Fruit Bats- The Ruminant Band

6. Royal Treatment Plant- Hope Is Not Enough

7. Boat Beam- Puzzle Shapes

8. The Mountain Goats- The Life of the World to Come

9. The XX- S/T

10. The Big Pink- A Brief History of Love

11. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart- S/T

12. Julian Plenti- …Is Skyscraper

13. Jason Lytle- Yours Truly, The Commander

14. The Joy Formidable- A Ballon Called Morning

15. Gliss- Devotion/Implosion

16. Grand Analog- Metropolis Is Burning

17. The Black Box Revelation- Set Your Head On Fire

18. Ten City Nation- At The Still Point

19. Jaydiohead- S/T

Jaydiohead – 99 Anthems from Max Tannone on Vimeo.

20. It Hugs Back- Inside Your Guitar

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Charlotte Hatherley (Bats For Lashes, Ash, solo)
1. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
2. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion
3. Squarepusher – Just A Souvenir
4. Bat For Lashes – Two Suns
5. Fever Ray – Fever Ray

Petter Ericson Stakee (Alberta Cross)
Phosphorescent – To Willie
PJ Harvey and John Parish – A Woman a Man Walked By
Dead Confederate ‘Wrecking Ball’ (We are aware it’s from last year but still think it should be on there as it didn’t receive enough credit in 2008.)
John Alexander Ericson- Songs from the White sea
Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears- Tell Em What Your Name Is
Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Bat For Lashes – Two Suns
Dan Auerbach – Keep It Hid

Darker My Love
1. Thee Oh Sees- HELP
2. Cass McCombs- Catacombs
3. King Tuff- Was Dead
4. Strange Boys- …and Girls Club
5. A Place To Bury Strangers- Exploding Head
6. Tim Hecker- An Imaginary Country
7. Kurt Vile- Childish Prodigy
8. Pearl Harbor- Something About Chaparrals
9. Mocky- Saskamodie
10. Girls / Album

Brad Laner (Medicine/Solo)
1. Beatles Remasters / Beatles Rock Band
2. Neil Young – Archive Vol. 1
3. Baby Champ – Faya/Maya
4. Shits and Giggles – Trick or Treat
5. Helado Negro – Awe Owe
6. Where The Action Is! (Los Angeles Nuggets 1965-1968)
7. Bell Gardens – A Series Of Farewells
8. Slaraffenland – We’re on Your Side
9. Baths – http://www.myspace.com/bathsmusic
10. The Silent League -But You’ve Always Been the Caretaker

Milo (The Big Pink)
1. Comanechi – Crime of Love
2. A Grave With No Name – Mountain Debris
3. Pre – Hope Freaks
4. Cold Cave – Love Comes Close
5. The Horrors – Primary Colours
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Its Blitz

Max Tannone (Jaydiohead)
1. Mos Def – The Ecstatic
2. Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon
3. Peter Bjorn and John – Living Thing
4. La Roux – La Roux
5. Boys Noize – Power

Aurelio Valle (Calla)
1. Yeah Yeah Yeah’s-It’s Blitz
2. Fever Ray-S/T
3. Kid Cudi-Man on the Moon:End of the Day
4. Flaming Lips-Embryonic
5. Animal Collective-Merriweather Post Pavilion
6. Raekwon-Only Built for Cuban Linx pt.2
7. Antony and the Johnsons-The Crying Light
8. Jay-Z-The Blueprint
9. U2-The Unforgettable Fire Re-issue
10. Bat for Lashes-Two Suns

Simon Reynolds (author/music critic)
1. Micachu and the Shapes, Jewellry (Rough Trade)
2. The Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca (Domino)
3. Moon Wiring Club — Striped Paint for the Last Post (Gecophonic)
4. Dolphins Into The Future, On Sea Faring Isolation (No Not Fun)
5. Oneohtrix Point Never, Rifts (No Fun)
6. Belbury Poly, From An Ancient Star (Ghost Box)
7. Roj, The Transactional Dharma of Roj (Ghost Box)
8. Broadcast & The Focus Group, Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age (Warp)
9. Woebot, East Central One (Hollow Earth)
10. Mordant Music, SyMptoMs (Mordant Music)

Matty (The Soft Pack)
Kurt Vile- Constant Hitmaker
Women- Self Titled
Cold Cave- Love Comes Close
Pearl Harbor- Something about the Chapparals EP
So Cow- So Cow
Obits- I Blame You
Bill Callahan- Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
Abe Vigoda- Reviver EP
Friendly Fires- Self Titled
Micachu and the Shapes- Jewellery

Adam (Apteka)
1. The Horrors-Primary Colours
2. Nirvana-Live at Redding
3. Girls-Album
4. Washed Out-Life of Leisure
5. Sonic Youth-The Eternal
6. The Warlocks-The Mirror Explodes
7. Wooden Shjips-Dos
8. The Big Pink-A Brief History of Love
9. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart- The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
10. A Place to Bury Strangers-Exploding Head

Home Video
1. Bat for Lashes – Two Suns
2. School of Seven Bells – Alpinisms
3. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
4. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
5. The Horrors – Primary Colours
6. Fever Ray – Fever Ray
7. Wave Machines – Wave If You’re Really There
8. Julian Plenti – Julian Plenti Is…Skyscraper
9. JJ- no 2
10. Silk Lung – Just a Thread

Living Things
(in no particular order)
Jay Z- Blueprint 3
The XX – The XX
Girls – Album
Crocodiles – Summer of Hate
Band of Skulls – Baby Darling Doll Face Honey
Fever Ray – Fever Ray
Phoenix – 1901
Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures
The Big Pink – A Breif History of Love
Living Things – Habeas Corpus !!!!

LR Rockets
Golden Silvers- True Romance
The Horrors- Primary Colours
The Maccabees- Wall of Arms
Florence and the Machine- Lungs
Julian Plenti- Julian Plenti Is… Skyscraper

Odario Williams (Grand Analog)
1. Mos Def- The Ecstatic
2. Jay-Z- Blueprint 3
3. Little Dragon- Machine Dreams
4. Blakroc- Blakroc
5. Maiko Watson- Sweet Vibration
6. Raekwon- Only Built For Cuban Linx II
7. Phoenix- Wolfgang Amadeus
8. Maxwell- Blacksummer’s Night
9. Nestor Wynrush- Trinnipeg!78
10. Easy Star All-Stars- Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band

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You can download it for free at Max’s website here.

Here’s the list I published on January 1 of this year.

1) The Duke Spirit- Neptune (Both of their albums have been my number 1 for their respective year.  Clearly, the most under-rated band on the planet)

2) The Virgins- Self-Titled (Still a good pop record, but fading fast in my memory)

3) Darker My Love- 2 (Despite mailing it in when they were interviewed by me, this album still packs a wallop.)

4) Steve Malkmus- Real Emotional Trash (As with many Pavement records, it continues to grow on me.  Such a great songwriter.)

5 thru 10 were occupied by albums that I still like, but have quickly faded from my frequently played list: The Kooks (Konk), The Late Greats (Life Without Balloons), The Pigeon Detectives (Emergency), Fujiya & Miyagi (Lightbulbs), We Are Scientists (Brain Thrust Mastery), The Bronx (3)

So, with apologies to those I originally forgot, here’s the revised Best Albums of 2008…with a little perspective:

I’m efforting to post some videos that haven’t been shown here before.  With bands like TDS, it’s hard because we’ve written them up so many times.  But I’m pretty proud of these brand spankin new videos.

1) The Duke Spirit- Neptune

2) The Black Box Revelation- Set Your Head On Fire

3) The Black Keys- Attack and Release

4) Ida Maria- Fortress ‘Round My Heart

5) Darker My Love- 2

6) Jaydiohead- Jaydiohead: What?  I can’t put a mashup album on my list?  Well, this is the best mashup I’ve ever heard and deserves to be on this list.

7) Steve Malkmus- Real Emotional Trash

Division of Laura Lee- Violence Is Timeless

9) The Pigeon Detectives- Emergency

10) The Virgins- The Virgins

What do you think?  What albums did you miss the first time around in 2008, that you’re loving now?

As more tracks become available and with the Beasties permission, we’ll post more here…

Coldplay were a big disappointment because of their failure to get served for their pending plagiarism suit with Joe Satriani.  Satriani was cheering for Coldplay (via RollingStone.com) since he….well…wrote the main riff of the song!  They won too many awards.  They made even Paul McCartney uncomfortable by talking to him while they were onstage accepting awards.  They made the worst Beatles self-reference since every Noel Gallagher interview by claiming to look like the cover of Sgt. Peppers (nice job referencing the worst Beatles album guys).  The duet with Jay-Z was wretched and I couldn’t help but wonder why nobody from the Grammy’s thought to insist that Jay-Z recreate Jaydiohead by having him duet with Radiohead.  Not surprising that the Grammy’s organziers didn’t produce the one duet that would have made sense.

The only highlight of the entire ceremony was Adele making a joke at the Jonas Brothers expense (I’ll try and find the video of this later in the day.).  The Jonas Brothers dared to take the stage with the great Stevie Wonder and act like they belonged there.  Shameful.

Miley Cyrus and some other teenager sang a song together ( I won’t post the video of this.  Find it yourself if you’re in need a self-inflicted lobotomy).  Miley seems to think that the only requirement to sing is to expel every ounce of air from your lungs.  She really should consider singing in a punk rock band.  Nobody would care that hold a note and they’d love that she can sing loudly.  Just a thought…

Let’s recap Kid Rock for a minute.  If there aren’t headlines everywhere admonishing him for his “guilty of being white” line, shame on everyone.  This guy started his career saying bawwitabawwitachittychittybangbang (or something like that) which was supposed to be rock.  When people stopped buying that concept he went to Country (or whatever it that Sheryl Crow thing was).  Now he starts his first of three (??!!! Radiohead only gets to play one song, but Kid f-ing Rock gets three??!!) with what I guess I would call a gospel song.  With Bush out of office, we may need to put Kid Rock in our website description.

Radiohead clearly provided the only good performance of the evening.  That sound you heard, was the sound of Fleetwood Mac jumping off a cliff.  The rumored collaboration with the USC Marching Band really happened and it really was orignial, not forced, brilliant, powerful and beautiful.

One final word about this Robert Plant thing.  Those of you who didn’t understand why Plant isn’t on board for the Led Zepplin reunion should be a little clearer now.  He’s busy making crap records that win oodles of Grammy’s and don’t require him to raise his voice above a whisper.  By the way, how about Ian Astbury for that role so that he can say he sang for Led Zepplin and The Doors?  Really a shame given that he sounded great when Zepplin reformed a couple of years ago for a one-off show in London.

Bonus TDOA items!

Best goal celebration evah!

Piling on Jessica Simpson