Minty Fresh Beats, a New York hip-hop/dance producer, has recently released Jaydiohead, a digital mash-up album of Jay-Z and Radiohead tracks. I initially checked this out not only because both Jay-Z and Radiohead interest me musically, but also to hear if it might be a formidable opponent to Danger Mouse’s Grey Album (a mash-up of Jay-Z’s Black Album a cappella, with tracks from the Beatles’ White Album). After a few listens, I can say that it definitely is!

The songs are culled from a variety of albums from both Jay-Z and Radiohead, as shown in the track breakdown below the links. The opener “Wrong Prayer” will have you hooked from the start and (quite possibly) dancing. “99 Anthems” and “Fall In Step” are just two of my picks for favourites, and they serve as great examples of Minty Fresh Beat’s fine attention to detail in choosing the tracks to compliment each other best, and often also the most unexpected. It took me a bit to think of what some of the Radiohead songs used were at first, since they are re-interpreted here as if they were made for Jay-Z’s rapping to accompany them! The perfect-fit vocals of both Jay-Z and Thom Yorke in “Change Order” and “Optimistic Moment” make for must-hear material. This one is going to be on repeat at my house for awhile…and, hey, now you know just the thing to play at your New Year’s festivities!

Jaydiohead - Official Download | Minty Fresh Beats at MySpace Music

Here is a full a breakdown of the tracks:
1. Wrong Prayer - “Pray” (Jay-Z, American Gangster) + “I Might Be Wrong” (Radiohead, Amnesiac)
2. 99 Anthems - “99 Problems” (Jay-Z, The Black Album) + The National Anthem (Radiohead, Kid A)
3. No Karma - “No Hook” (Jay-Z, American Gangster) + “Karma Police” (Radiohead, OK Computer)
4. Lucifer’s Jigsaw - “Lucifer” (Jay-Z, The Black Album) + “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” (Radiohead, In Rainbows)
5. Optimistic Moment - “Moment of Clarity” (Jay-Z, The Black Album) + “Optimistic” (Radiohead, Kid A)
6. Dirt Off Your Android - “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” (Jay-Z, The Black Album) + “Paranoid Android” (Radiohead, OK Computer)
7. Dreaming Up - “American Dreamin’” (Jay-Z, American Gangster) + “Up on the Ladder” (Radiohead, In Rainbows [Disc 2])
8. Change Order - “Never Change” (Jay-Z, The Blueprint) + “Gagging Order” (Radiohead, B-side of “Go to Sleep” from Hail to the Thief)
9. Fall In Step - “Fallin’” (Jay-Z, American Gangster) + “15 Step” (Radiohead, In Rainbows)
10. Ignorant Swan - “Ignorant S***” (Jay-Z, American Gangster) + Black Swan” (Thom Yorke, The Eraser)