RJD2 has had quite the curious career. The Eugene, Ore., native lives in West Philly, has transitioned from dirty, jazzy hip hop to wonky electropop, leapt from El-P’s Def Jux label in 2004 after several critically acclaimed albums to his own RJ’s Electrical Connections in 2010 (with his The Third Hand LP at the XL label in between). Though he doesn’t think of himself as a film composer, he has one of the most recognizable theme songs ever: AMC’s Mad Men. Now, he’s changed his sound around completely with one of the most compelling albums of 2013 in More Is Than Isn’t. RJD2 will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.
RJD2: I kinda fucked up and slept on Bill Evans for a long time. I listened to Miles’ Kind Of Blue possibly 100-plus times in the last 18 months, and there’s this one passage in the piano solo of “All Blues” that still, every single time I listen to it, just drops my jaw. It sounds exactly like someone falling down a huge flight of stairs and at the last minute catching their footing, and walking away like nothing happened. I normally decide things like, “I should maybe check so-and-so out.” I picked up the sleeve to Kind Of Blue one day and said, “I’m gonna buy every single Bill Evans record I can find.” This album, Moon Beams, is a personal favorite. He has a style that evokes so much wonder and curiosity and mystery. It feels like a sofa or a rock is saying the most poignant shit I’ve ever heard; at least it does to me.
