Raymond Scott is one of the more fascinating figures in 20th century music. He's so fresh that I blogged him in 2001:

As soon as I can find a copy, I plan to enthusiastically purchase Raymond Scott's Manhattan Research Boxset. Scott is best known for creating the zany jazz music in the 1930s that Carl Stalling eventually assimilated into the soundtrack for early Bugs-and-Daffy cartoons. I originally discovered him when a cover-band opened for They Might Be Giants, and was thrilled to have found, after literally years of (admittedly not-particularly-painstaking) searching, the author of 'Powerhouse'.

As if that wasn't cool enough: When jazz orchestras went out of style, Scott turned his attention to electronic synthesizers. He worked closely with awesome folks like Robert Moog and Jean-Jacques Perry, and pioneered some of the first electric noise generators, including (of particular interest to me) early implementations of algorithmic music composition. Eventually, he formed Manhattan Research Incorporated, which used synthesizers to create bizzare 1950s commercial jingles. The fruits of MRI-- comercials, demos, and other weird errata-- were released this year on a two-CD set, and they are astounding.

Did he anticipate contemporary ambient downtempo electronic music by half a century? Yes he did. Did he attempt to acoustically map the inside of Jim Henson's head? Yes he did.

ANYWAY, to bring things back to the present, the afforementioned boxset includes "Lightworks!", this shiny electro-mambo lauding the fun of of a new boardgame from The Tomorrow People At Bendix. It's bright and whimsical and maybe naive. Look!, it shouts, We have discovered The Synthesizer! And no, it need not be scary and cold electronic-- it can be whimsical and fun and silly! Be not afraid of technology, thou humbled and generical 1950s middle-class citizens!

Then welcome to 2006, JayDee's Donuts album flips Lightworks on its face. The whimsicality is tweaked into this menacing blunted breakbeat quirkiness, all sirens and chirping and shouting and banging. Dilla's uniquely nonsyncopated precision-mixed percussion makes Scott step lively.

This whole album is heartbreaking-- no track is longer than two minutes, but each has the seed of a killer four-minute hiphop gem from 2010. So I dunno, maybe the Raymond is secondary. Kweli says:

Recently on the Block Party Tour, Erykah talked about making Didnt Cha Know. As her keyboard player played the song she talked about being in the basement with Dilla in the D. He said pick a record, any record. She closes her eyes, grabs the one her hand leads her too. He said drop the needle, anywhere. She drops it, and the bass player plays the bassline that would come to be Didn't Cha Know. She says it's the most amazing thing she ever heard. Jay said gimme 10 minutes. That's classic...

So what I'm saying is the guy could flip a gimmicky 50s synth jingle or a random cheesey upright bass into equally classic and devastating tracks. And finding Scott on the album was like finding my mad-scientist grandfather at Wonderland on a Friday freaking out to Cee-Lo.

Raymond Scott: Lightworks - Download the Track / Buy the album

J-Dilla: Lightworks - Download the Track / Buy the album