David Axelrod Classic or Dud

congratulations on growing out of hip hop though

based on his instagram, seems to me that austin knows axelrod's music better than most people and would prefer axelrod to be remembered for what he did, instead of for who sampled him. that doesn't strike me as "arrogant".

ah but it is

"you're not appreciating this music correctly!"

also lol wtf @ "tarnished by sampling"

late great i don't want to put words in your mouth but it certainly looks like you've devoted the last half hour straight to being mad at austin's post

well it was a pretty shitty post

Someone disrespected hip-hop on ILM. THIS SHALL NOT STAND.

ur borderline racist views on hip hop are well documented sir

adjectives are for cowards, just go right out and call him a racist

nah

ok. are we done disgracing the memory of the late david axelrod yet?

i really liked the song "the truth" by pride which is also, as happens half the time i hear a cool song, on caribou's 1000 song playlist. not typical axelrod, but a good song.

that was thirteen years ago anyway

oh, jeez, another one of _those_ things. i can't even remember the names of the drugs i was addicted to thirteen years ago! how the hell do you remember this shit?

A few things. . .

I didn't think I would have to explain further about preferring songs that were "untarnished by sampling", but. . . well, I actually don't have to because, in my initial post, I said:

the entire package was so much better than any loop or drum break could have ever indicated.

Also, there is nothing to indicate I'm forcing any style of appreciation on anyone. I simply said I take issue with it. Of course I would love if people hear 'The Edge' and then go seek out more and end up getting freaked out and blown away by Earth Rot. But the whole narrative of "he is one of the foundations of hip hop" really does a lot to devalue how innovative his music was long before hip hop even became a possibility.

The Pride album is actually a lot more status-quo Axelrod than it first appears: all of the songs are originals and Carol Kaye, Earl Palmer and Don Randi are all in the band for the duration. It's one of his most introspective works and, on some days, I'd say it's my favorite.

And, finally, for anyone interested in some really long reads, several years ago on my blog I did some very in-depth write-ups on his first four albums:
Song(s) of Innocence
Songs of Experience
Earth Rot
David Axelrod's Rock Interpretation of Handel's Messiah

I had originally intended to work through his entire catalogue in such fashion, but it became a little too taxing on me, as my marriage and my drinking were simultaneously permuting into chaos. I do have some rough drafts still saved for a few of the follow ups. Maybe I'll revisit the idea. . .

Axelrod's music was around long before hip hop and I daresay it will endure long past its relevance.

uhhh. cmon. late great otm.

RIP btw.

Seriously Deep is one of my favorite headphone albums.

i didn't discover axelrod cos of hip hop but via an NME associated cassette, 'Whats Happening $tateside' that came out in '86, however, i would suggest that i was then able to buy all the cd reissues cos of hip hop.
very much doubt his catalogue would have been picked up and dusted down by $tateside etc if it weren't for the renewed interest.

and yeah, 'seriously' deep is a gorgeous listen, but the same could be said for all of his solo albums (apart from requiem : holocaust .. )

Austin otm, although I think the idea of hip-hop as something that's going to fade in the long run is pretty reductive. It should be relatively uncontroversial to say that Axelrod's music has a distinct, inherent value of its own and that there's no reason not to prefer it to the musicians who sampled him or to want to remember him entirely outside of that context.

agree w all that

putting down hip-hop to build up axelrod is bullshit and to the extent austin did that i disagree, but also axelrod does not = hip-hop.

Sorry. I managed to make it worse, somehow.

. My point is: the source material is pretty dynamic to yield such varying results. And I think that's wholly impressive.

I've always taken this (wrt Axelrod's music or any other that's been sampled to produce wide variety of results) as a credit to those sampling producers foremost.

I can't even wrap my head around that. Agree to disagree.

all that aside ..
personally, i would just love a proper anthology/boxset of the non-album/non-solo material.
all the odds and sods that he produced that were only released on 7" singles here and there.
suspect there is so much more that has not had the reissue treatment.
of course this would probably be a logistical nightmare re licences/masters etc,
but still, we can but hope.
if not that, then how about a proper reissue of 'the auction' ?
that would definitely keep me happy for a while.

You can't agree to disagree if you can't even wrap your head around it! I can understand not agreeing with the notion, but cmon man it's not some cryptowacko stance that just can't be grasped. Sample-based productions can reflect the talent and skill of the producer. The sample can be totally transformed, re-contextualized, etc. This is just basic shit. I have to assume you're just prejudiced against sampling as art.

why would you assume that all he said was that it sampling tarnishes the original work

whoops stray "it"

there is nothing to indicate I'm forcing any style of appreciation on anyone

doesn't square with

This is such a misguided and disappointing way for him to be remembered

journalists writing glowing obits about the death of a fairly esoteric musician making the fact that he was often sampled in hip hop - popular music that their readers are likely to have heard - a prominent feature of said obits

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

are 'critics'/people really calling david axelrod a foundation of hip hop or whatever, because that's hella stupid

has anybody ever sampled pink floyd's "atom heart mother", it has funky drums and an orchestra iirc

no and no

the 66-70 Capitol comp is one of my most treasured records. the david mccallum cuts are so majestic.

the rappcats remembrance is really good

http://www.rappcats.com/axelrod/

had no idea about this little number at all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu0jibUVvEM