Mos Dub

Max Tannone did it again! The deliriously talented producer behind Jaydiohead has crafted another smash. This time he's serving up a hot slab of genius mashup awesome in the form of Mos Dub; classic dub/ska/reggae tracks backing up Mos Def's lyrical flow. After showing it to fans of Jamaican music, hip hop fans, rock'n'roll fans and well, people with a slight tendency to enjoy music, the consensus is clear; this project is 100% excellent.

He's once again managed to make two disparate, unrelated and seemingly irreconcilable sounds come together and merge into something greater than the sum of it's parts. This mashup is also something new; a unique statement using Mos Def's words and delivery and essentially, Jamaica's attitude and vibe to create a musical tapestry that is both instantly appealing to almost anyone, and deep and complex enough to satisfy over-analytical geeks and record store crate-divers. It definitely sounds as if it were recorded at one time by a combined, unified effort of like-minded artists and musicians and that is truly where the ultimate success of a good mashup lies; can the producer create and sustain something intentional and true out of what amounts to musical spare parts?

The answer is a resounding "Fuck Yeah." Enjoy the first track here and then go listen to AND download the rest!

Mos Dub - 01 - Johnny Too BeefbyMax Tannone

The beards interview with producer Max Tannone

After stumbling across the Jaydiohead project and thoroughly enjoying it, we knew we needed to hear more and know the full story.  Awesomely, the man behind it has been busy.  We were able to dig into Jaydiohead: The Encore and Doublecheck Your Head and even better; he was cool enough to answer some of our questions about his work, his process and what he might have in store for us down the road.

What inspired the Jaydiohead project? Jay Z and Radiohead are pretty far apart, musically. What was it that made them come together for you?

I first heard the track "I Might Be Wrong" by Radiohead, and thought that it would make a great hip-hop beat. So, I did it, and put Jay-Z vocals for "Pray" over it. Then I did another track with Thom Yorke's "Black Swan" and Jay-Z's "Ignorant Shit." I had these two tracks done for about a year before I decided to make it into a whole album. When I thought of the name "Jaydiohead", it spurred me to see the project through. It was a personal challenge, just to see if I could make it sound cool.

What are some of your most important musical influences? 

So many really, but lately I've been influenced by the Beastie Boys, productions from DJ Premier, Beck, and King Tubby.

Best burger in NYC? 

Cafe Orlin on 8th street btwn 1st and 2nd avenue. Its $10 with fries and a salad which is a pretty good deal around here.

What have you been listening to lately? 

Beck, Miike Snow, Breakbot, and dub music.

Hit the jump for the rest of the interview...