Music Review: Minty Fresh Beats - Jaydiohead

So I've just acquired the Jay-Z and Radiohead mash-up, by Minty Fresh Beats, and against all of my nagging preconceptions, it's actually not bad at all.

I should start off by explaining that I'm not a fan of Jay-Z, nor Hip Hop in general. I've dabbled in the past, and become hooked on some great stuff from Kanye West and 2Pac, but aside from that, I tend to keep clear of the genre, not because of any vendetta, but basically because it's never appealed to me.

So when i heard that somebody had spliced together Jay-Z tracks with tracks from one of, undoubtedly the best bands of the last 20 years, Radiohead, my levels of skepticism were somewhere between outrageously high, and Brian Jones in a swimming pool full of meth-high. So to say i was completely won over by Jaydiohead is to say a lot.

Jaydiohead really works, and there are some gems on the album that not only provide something different to the originals, but also sometimes manage to better them. There are a few stand-out tracks, No Karma is a solid favourite, the use of Thoms vocals in addition to the fast rap licks from Jay-Z really blend together as if it had always meant to be. 99 Anthems will probably go down well with Jay-Z fans, although i'd argue that both original tracks are probably better on their own. Fall In Step works superbly, probably due to the overly electronic sound of 15 step from Radioheads most recent record In Rainbows. It's also nice to hear Ignorant Swan which blends Jay-Z's popular Ignorant Shit with a track from Thom Yorke's solo project, Black Swan.

I'd highly recommend this album to fans of Jay-Z and fans of Radiohead alike, it's always fun to hear a new take on classic songs, and Jaydiohead certinaly does not disappoint.
You can download the whole album, and clean or instrumental versions of the album, which are also very worth listening to, from Jaydiohead.com.