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David Axelrod: Royal Festival Hall, London

Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 19 March 2004

THE SNOWY-HAIRED, bespectacled 67-year-old on stage makes an unlikely hip-hop hero — but David Axelrod's funky, filmic back catalogue has provided rich pickings for producers from DJ Shadow to Dr Dre. Tonight, over the jerky keyboard motif of 'The Edge' (instantly recognisable from Dre's 2000 hit 'The Next Episode'), he explains how that sample alone allowed him to assemble tonight's 26-piece orchestra. "I'm such a hypocrite," he rasps. "I hate sampling because it takes jobs away from musicians, but it allows me to have fun. It's screw-you money." He cracks an ornery smile and shakes a screw-you fist.

Total word count of piece: 286

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