Not my bag, baby. But this was a long gestating pet project. In Dan Leroy’s awesome book about the making of Paul’s Boutique, Tim Carr, formerly of Capitol Records, says that Ad-Rock spoke to him about an instrumental album as early as 1994. Carr’s response: “Great, everyone’s so tired of those adenoidal, nasal voices anyway.”

Not me. I’ve heard The Mix-Up, and I missed my favorite MC’s.

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SPECIAL BONUS! A LOOK FORWARD AT THE BEASTIE BOYS: THE HOT SAUCE COMMITTEE PT. 1!

In 2009, The Beastie Boys debuted a new song at a Tennessee music festival. “Too Many Rappers,” featuring guest vocals by Nas, quickly leaked to the web, and it’s pretty damn good, an old school lament about the current state of rap music. In other words, something I can agree with them on. “Too Many Rappers” was nominated for a Grammy, Best Rap Duo or Group, but lost out to Jay-Z (who is also awesome). The band announced that they would be touring in late-2009, in support of a forthcoming album called “The Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1,” which was scheduled for release on September 15, 2009. My wife and I bought tickets to see them at The Hollywood Bowl, and we were planning to take our son, who has become quite the fan. (more…)

In 1998, the Beastie Boys announced the arrival of a new album with the release of “Intergalactic,” which in my opinion, is their biggest and best single to date. It’s certainly their most accessible single, mainstream but with a sound that’s undeniably Beastie. The accompanying video, masterfully directed by Nathaniel Hornblower, featured them battling giant robots in homage to Japanese monster flicks.

It. Was. Awesome.

Prior to the album’s release, they pulled another prank worthy of Andy Kaufman when they booked time on cheesy public access stations and ran a series of infomercials in which they hawked the album. Donning so-stupid-they-were-clever disguises, they marketed the album as a six-pack inducing exercise tool, a get-rich-quick money maker, and a juicer. Oh, they’re was also a psychic thrown in for good measure. It was an inspired bit, hardly well-advertised, which in concept and execution showcased their absolute strength as entertainers: they’re just fun. Good, stupid, irreverent, ridiculous fun. (more…)

“Paul’s Boutique.” I remember thinking, “That’s a weird name for an album.” Turns out, that wasn’t the only thing weird about the album. Masterfully produced by the Dust Brothers, “Paul’s Boutique” contains samples on top of samples, twisted into other samples. I know there are some that, at best, don’t consider this an art, and at worst consider it theft. 

 I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever heard. 

The Eagles, The Supremes, The Commodores – no one was safe from the Beastie Boys; Mike D. was ecstatic that the Beatles threatened to sue over the use of three of their songs in one Beastie Boys song, “Sounds of Science”  (Best. Song. Ever.). Lyrically, the album was, again, the height of hilarity. Mike D. rapped, “I’m Mike D. and I’m back from the dead. Chillin’ at the beach. Down at Club Med.” This in itself is not funny, but the line shows how in tune to the pop culture zeitgeist the Beastie Boys were. Again, this is pre-Internet, but a rumor had circulated in, oh, 1987 or 1988 that Mike D. had died. My first college roommate was from DC, and he refused to believe it was in fact Mike D. on “Paul’s Boutique”: “That dude’s dead, man.” Their pop culture references grew more varied. They are uniquely conscious of pop culture bits that the rest of us have forgotten about, as demonstrated with the line from “Hey Ladies”: “I’m not James at 15, or Chachi in Charge”. Who in their right mind had any recollection of “James at 15”, a 1970s dramedy about a boy who was, well, 15 years old (It was called “James at 16” once James had a birthday)? But the line that made me declare them to be hip hop geniuses was: “Make another record ‘cause the people they want more of this, suckers they be saying they can take out Adam Horovitz.” Dude rhymed Horovitz. Damn.  (more…)

LIBERALS LOVE TO LOSE. When liberals lose, it enables them to feel more superior than they naturally feel. It affords them the opportunity to bitch about injustice and unfairness.

When they win, hell, it was a fair fight. They never, while basking in the glow of a victory, say, “Whew. Thank God the unfairness worked out in our favor this time!” or “The voting machines finally worked!”

They also hedge their bets before a contest, positioning themselves as the enlightened open-minded ones and their opposition as gun and religion loving inbreds before the actual contest has gone down, so in the event of a defeat, they’re prepared to act like victims rather than losers.

I’m referring, of course, to the phenomenal “American Idol” finale, an event that capped off an unbelievably good season of TV. From “Fringe” and “Idol,” to “Friday Night Lights” and “The Office” — and finally to “Lost,” I’ve loved the stuff on the tube this winter/spring. I treated last night’s “Idol” fantastically cheesy finale as a season ending celebration of great TV. (more…)