The Beastie Boys - The Mix-Up

[Alexander]

I'm surprised there hasn't been any discussion of the new Beastie Boys album (especially since "To The 5 Boroughs" was discussed at length when it came out).

I picked it up when it came out a few weeks ago, and it hasn't left my CD player for more than a few days at a time. Great album. They've really come a long way as instrumentalists (I think I'm right in remembering that they didn't play any instruments when the recorded "Licenced to Ill," great as that album was). This is one funky, groovy album!

Any thoughts?

Great cover art too, btw...

[sal]

I'm a huge fan of the Beasties, but this one just isn't connecting with me.

[Noj]

I love The In Sound From Way Out, so I'll pick this one up for sure.

[WD45]

Beasties were playing garage punk before they did the hip-hop thing on Licensed to Ill. See their compilation of that material "Some Old Bullshit."

IMO, the stuff on The In Sound From Way Out was a much more consistent effort in this vein [albeit a compilation!]

That said, I thought Off the Grid was a nice tune from this new album!

[WD45]

I'm surprised there hasn't been any discussion of the new Beastie Boys album

uh... cuz it sucks & nobody w/o nostalgia gives a fuck about a bunch of poorly aging ex-jews, whatever their few past triumphs? oh, but they're an established "brand" & wow, look who bites, again... granted, not that there's a wealth of contemporary competition for acid funk & it can't be much more boring than new prince album but he had waaaaay further to fall too.

killah priest the offering

ugk undergound kingz

raekown presents icewater polluted water

boot camp clik casualties of war

keith murray rap-murr-phobia

sean price[/p] mixtape whose title i can't remember

public enemy how you sell soul to soulless people...

... other stuff i'm forgetting.

***

sal jumps in to say he digs PE too, Alfie screeches but admits he likes UGK also; WD is the wildcard.

***

Talib Kweli is a mediocre asswipe-- how many chances does he get?--& doublefuck Kanye's U2 (or something; Andrew Lloyd Weber?) aspirations before they even drop.

What, no Slim Thug on there?

[Alexander]

I'm surprised there hasn't been any discussion of the new Beastie Boys album

uh... cuz it sucks & nobody w/o nostalgia gives a fuck about a bunch of poorly aging ex-jews, whatever their few past triumphs? oh, but they're an established "brand" & wow, look who bites, again... granted, not that there's a wealth of contemporary competition for acid funk & it can't be much more boring than new prince album but he had waaaaay further to fall too.

killah priest the offering

ugk undergound kingz

raekown presents icewater polluted water

boot camp clik casualties of war

keith murray rap-murr-phobia

sean price[/p] mixtape whose title i can't remember

public enemy how you sell soul to soulless people...

... other stuff i'm forgetting.

***

sal jumps in to say he digs PE too, Alfie screeches but admits he likes UGK also; WD is the wildcard.

***

Talib Kweli is a mediocre asswipe-- how many chances does he get?--& doublefuck Kanye's U2 (or something; Andrew Lloyd Weber?) aspirations before they even drop.

Ahhhh, shut up, you boring old fuck. No one asked you.

[Alexander]

I'm surprised there hasn't been any discussion of the new Beastie Boys album

uh... cuz it sucks & nobody w/o nostalgia gives a fuck about a bunch of poorly aging ex-jews, whatever their few past triumphs? oh, but they're an established "brand" & wow, look who bites, again... granted, not that there's a wealth of contemporary competition for acid funk & it can't be much more boring than new prince album but he had waaaaay further to fall too.

killah priest the offering

ugk undergound kingz

raekown presents icewater polluted water

boot camp clik casualties of war

keith murray rap-murr-phobia

sean price[/p] mixtape whose title i can't remember

public enemy how you sell soul to soulless people...

... other stuff i'm forgetting.

***

sal jumps in to say he digs PE too, Alfie screeches but admits he likes UGK also; WD is the wildcard.

***

Talib Kweli is a mediocre asswipe-- how many chances does he get?--& doublefuck Kanye's U2 (or something; Andrew Lloyd Weber?) aspirations before they even drop.

What, no Slim Thug on there?

No doubt Clem has declared it unworthy. Don't you keep up on Clem's list of forbidden items?

[clifford_thornton]

I'm avoiding this like the fucking plague.

[Alexander]

I'm avoiding this like the fucking plague.

\

Good for you. Good luck with that plan!

[.:.impossible]

The only reason I even know that the beastie boys have a new album is because my sister in law went to see them at an opera house... what???

Is it instrumental? Here are two instrumental recommendations:

Dr. Oh No's Oxperiment is not on the list? Have you not heard it yet?

I haven't heard the new Beatkonducta install yet, but imagine it has to be up there.

[catesta]

holy crap, is Kanye West ungodly, insipid, insufferable bombastic crap... like, i dunno, for rock analogy let's call it U2 + (worst) Moody Blues + Barbara Streisand, except Kanye has lousy mic skills.

Kanye did a spot on Entourage playing himself and couldn't even pull that off.

[clifford_thornton]

Kanye seems like a total douche, as does Fiddy but I'd probably trust Fiddy to come up with a few more decent tracks at the end of the day.

Anybody hear the new Britney tracks yet?

[Alexander]

Kanye seems like a total douche, as does Fiddy but I'd probably trust Fiddy to come up with a few more decent tracks at the end of the day.

Anybody hear the new Britney tracks yet?

Completely disagree. Fiddy is an ape with no mic skills at all (he doesn't even attempt to dance or at least mug somewhat rhythmically in his videos. The best he can manage is a vauge lurch). Kanye, at the very least, made the famous statement "George Bush doesn't care about black people." In addition, I've enjoyed both of his albums and look forward to the new one. And I really don't give a shit what Clem has to say about that, so he can just shut the fuck up.

[catesta]

Kanye seems like a total douche, as does Fiddy but I'd probably trust Fiddy to come up with a few more decent tracks at the end of the day.

Anybody hear the new Britney tracks yet?

Completely disagree. Fiddy is an ape with no mic skills at all (he doesn't even attempt to dance or at least mug somewhat rhythmically in his videos. The best he can manage is a vauge lurch). Kanye, at the very least, made the famous statement "George Bush doesn't care about black people." In addition, I've enjoyed both of his albums and look forward to the new one. And I really don't give a shit what Clem has to say about that, so he can just shut the fuck up.

I don't think dance moves and a half ass political statement are qualifiers for talent.

Chuck D never had to moonwalk or look like MC Hammer for credibility.

Both of them are full of shit, but Kanye is a bit more in the bubble gum camp.

[clifford_thornton]

Did somebody just use the word "ape?" Remember there's only a 1% genetic difference between apes and people!

[catesta]

Did somebody just use the word "ape?" Remember there's only a 1% genetic difference between apes and people!

Yeah, but can they dance?

[Alexander]

Fiddy is an ape

I must confess that I stole the "ape" bit from one of my students. One of my African-American students. The full quotation was "Fiddy is an ape with rabbit teeth," but I thought it was a bit low, especially to the rabbits.

Everyone here knows that I'm no bigot, so fuck Clem and the horse he rode in on.

[connoisseur series500]

Did somebody just use the word "ape?" Remember there's only a 1% genetic difference between apes and people!

Which makes the analogy more appropriate perhaps? I cannot say because I don't know these musicians being discussed.

[catesta]

Fiddy is an ape

I must confess that I stole the "ape" bit from one of my students. One of my African-American students. The full quotation was "Fiddy is an ape with rabbit teeth," but I thought it was a bit low, especially to the rabbits.

Everyone here knows that I'm no bigot, so fuck Clem and the horse he rode in on.

This does come across like an Imus explanation.

[catesta]

hearing G-Unit bumpin' in all five boroughs, the best of it is it's own kind of noir--

Should Alexander take a cruise down Jamaica Avenue with the new Kanye blasting from his deck?

[clifford_thornton]

As much of a pussy as Kanye is, his production on the new Common disc is not bad. My roommate has had it in heavy rotation, and I was impressed.

[Alexander]

shouldn't be too hard, CT... to save ya'll the trouble, edc, voice of the people , got his "preview" copies & ...

holy crap, is Kanye West ungodly, insipid, insufferable bombastic crap... like, i dunno, for rock analogy let's call it U2 + (worst) Moody Blues + Barbara Streisand, except Kanye has lousy mic skills.

50 Cent's Curtis, by comparison, is... like a good Ohio Players record, or P-Funk crossed w/Donald Goines-- a little slick maybe but gritty still & functional. douchebags will say otherwise but they're wrong.

Sal & WD-- might wanna "preview" Raekown Presents Icewater, it's all over the place so it pisses kids off but i'm surprised at its range. Clementine ain't heard Slim Thug & Devin The Dude only in passing.

UGK = ZZ Top ?!?!

Jackie Gleason > Kanye West too.

So I got "Graduation" when I came out, and I have to admit that the first listening was a bit of a disappointment. I had very high hopes after his first two albums. However, I've listened to it several times since then and it has grown on me considerably. I've heard it said elsewhere on the board that Clem is full of shit, and that his whole persona is fictional (he apparently even fibs about his age). I would, therefore, take it as read that his claim to have heard both "Graduation" and "Curtis" in late August as a fabrication. This makes sense to me, since Kayne's albums has several DOPE tracks. "Stronger" is an awesome track, making excellent use of the Daft Punk sample. He also uses samples from Steely Dan, Elton John, and Laura Nyro to great effect. Is he a great MC? No, he's never claimed to be a great MC. In fact, I find his clumsy rhymes endearing. He makes great beats and has great taste in pop music. In fact, I'd go so far to say that Kanye is more of a great pop artist than a great hip hop artist. Call it "bubblegum" if you choose, but it works for him. And I cannot resist a good pop album.

Clem knows that I like U2, btw. That's why he chose to compare Kanye to U2. "Window in the Sky" is a fucking AMAZING track. Great video too!

[Alexander]

you keep baiting clementine. who can blame him for zinging you?

you aggresively announce to the world that you have the musical tastes of a suburban thirteen year old, and you defend the substance-free ephemeral music you listen to like a hashshashin defending alamut. have some humor about it. have a laugh. revel in the fact that you are the guy who listens to "whatever the record label shoves down your throat". it is ok to be proud of this, but take the lumps that go along with it with a smile. you will live longer.

Well, I certainly take exception to being characterized as having "the musical taste of a suburban thirteen year old," and I certainly don't think that I'm the only one who would. Nor do I think I'm being particularly agressive about it. My contention is, and always has been, that I like what I like and no one else has the right to judge me or tell me that I'm wrong to like it (which Clem does, time and time again). I certainly don't come around telling other people what they SHOULD or SHOULD NOT listen to/enjoy. I've never told anyone (to my knowledge) that they are foolish for liking what they like. I might say that they seem a bit closed-minded, but that doesn't seem (to me) to be the same thing at all. You might disagree.

I should note that for many, many years (pretty much from my early 20s until my late 20s), I was as much of a stick-in-the-mud as any purist jazz fan on this or any other board. I had abandoned the rock and roll of my youth (with a few exceptions, such as the Beatles, about whom I was an even BIGGER purist) and embraced jazz wholeheartedly. Circa 1997, I considered pop/rock music to be the immature ramblings of idiots. I certainly wouldn't consider rap or country music. Blues was important, but it was too simplistic for my taste.

Then, right around late 1997/early 1998, I began to rediscover much of the pop music I had loved as a young person. I began to realize that there was a lot more to it than I had given credit for. In fact, I credit this change to the jazz I'd been listening almost excluisively to for the past eight years or so. Jazz had opened my ears to instrumental details I had failed to notice before. I also began to explore hip hop, country, and blues. I began to realize that if I didn't like something, it was MY problem and not the music's. The music wasn't immature. I was immature for being so closed off to it.

Ever since then, I have been as big a fan of pop music as I am jazz (as well as folk, country, hip hop, etc). My ears are wide open to EVERYTHING, yes, including the stuff being churned out by the big media machine. Just because it's put out by greedheads who only care about money doesn't mean that the artists themselves share their priorities. Kayne happens to put out highly entertaining albums. What the hell is wrong with that? Isn't that the first duty of a popular musician? To entertain? Isn't that why we listen to jazz? Because it pleases us?

You don't know jack about my tastes. You don't know what I have among the 3,000 discs of my collection. Believe me, it's beyond the imagination of even the most precocious thirteen year old, suburban or otherwise. But I'm not here to prove my hipness quotient. Every CD in that collection pleases me. And that's all they need to do.

Edited October 1, 2007 by Alexander

[Noj]

I'm not concerned with being hip or cutting edge or anyone else's tastes or whether or not it's a hit record the record company is pushing or if it's something which barely made a ripple and should have made waves. If I like it, I like it. No one's telling me shit.

Incidentally this Beasties recording...meh.

[clifford_thornton]

you keep baiting clementine. who can blame him for zinging you?

you aggresively announce to the world that you have the musical tastes of a suburban thirteen year old, and you defend the substance-free ephemeral music you listen to like a hashshashin defending alamut. have some humor about it. have a laugh. revel in the fact that you are the guy who listens to "whatever the record label shoves down your throat". it is ok to be proud of this, but take the lumps that go along with it with a smile. you will live longer.