Mos Def's "World Premiere" has nothing to do with film or TV music, but it's effin' dope

(Photo source: Highsnobiety)

I loved Mos Def's last album The Ecstatic. He and Madlib are always a potent combination, especially on "Auditorium," Mos Def's collabo with Slick Rick on The Ecstatic. "World Premiere," a promising new track that Pretty Flaco performed last week on The Daily Habit on the extreme sports channel Fuel TV, was also produced by Madlib, and it's got me wondering, "Where did Madlib dig up that awesome sample?"



[Via Potholes in My Blog]

"Rock Box" Track of the Day: Madvillain, "Raid"

Song: "Raid" by Madvillain feat. M.E.D. a.k.a. Medaphoar
Released: 2004
Why's it part of the "Rock Box" playlist?: It's one of three Madvillain tracks featured in the 2006 Boondocks episode "Let's Nab Oprah."
Which moment in "Let's Nab Oprah" does it appear?: The sequence at the end of Act 1 where dumbass wiggers Ed Wuncler III (Charlie Murphy--hold up, isn't he black?) and Gin Rummy (Samuel L. Jackson--hold up, isn't he black too?) attack a Woodcrest bookstore to carry out the episode's title scheme, and Ed and Rummy's increasingly exasperated eight-year-old accomplice Riley Freeman (Regina King--hold up, isn't she a woman?) points out to the duo that they went to the wrong bookstore and kidnapped Maya Angelou by mistake.

The "Where's Oprah, punk?" clip from this sequence, which I tacked on to "Raid" as an intro for airplay during the "Rock Box" block, never fails to amuse me whenever I hear it. It's a hilarious sequence that also gives some nice exposure on TV to DOOM and Madlib and one of my favorite tracks off Madvillainy (because of couplets like "The metal fellow been rippin' flows/Since New York plates were ghetto yellow with broke blue writing"). The opening jazz-piano sample in "Raid" meshes well with the show's Vince Guaraldi-style original score.

Hear the Villain spit enough lightning to rock-shock the Boogie Down to Brighton at my SwiftFM site.

Sir John Dankworth (1927-2010)

Whenever I try to finish drawing an arc of The Palace, like during last week and this week, I avoid logging on to the Web for a few days because I find it to be such a distraction. When I did allow myself to log on earlier today, I learned about the Saturday death of British jazz artist John Dankworth, whom I know best for his theme from the rarely rebroadcast first few seasons of The Avengers (back when the show was shot on videotape and was more serious in tone--Dankworth's theme reflected that harder-edged tone--and Emma Peel wasn't around yet to sex up the joint) and his catchy Modesty Blaise theme...



... which I was first exposed to via the Gorillaz/Del tha Funkee Homosapien collab "Rock the House."



In England, Dankworth is better known for his theme from Tomorrow's World--the show that was spoofed by Peter Serafinowicz's Look Around You--and his jazz albums. A Guardian obit gives a good overview of the career of Dankworth, whose death was announced by his singer wife Cleo Laine onstage at the end of an all-star jazz concert that took place only a few hours after he passed.

One of the greatest compliments a musician can receive is being frequently sampled. Dankworth has been the source of many excellent samples (and what I'm sure are hours of giggles from stoners because of his last name).

Dankworth's 1974 cover of his own theme from the 1965 thriller Return from the Ashes is pretty gangster.



The 1974 re-recording was sampled by Madlib a.k.a. Quasimoto for his 2002 joint "Astronaut"...



... and DJ Premier for Cee-Lo's 2004 cut "Evening News."

UPDATE: Y Society's "Never Off (On & On)" is another track that sampled the '74 recording. (Good looking out, wutangfan85.)