The Beastie Boys are off the hook with Off the Grid (playing now). Click the  button to hear Suco de Tangerina. Both are on their latest, The Mix-Up. |
This week, however, no perspective expansion is necessary. One of my very favorite groups, the Beastie Boys, released a new album!
The Beastie Boys have come a long way with me. Early on, I found their work to be banal and boring. The raw, juvenile, arrested developmental Beasties of 1986’s Licensed to Ill appealed to a very low musical common denominator. Although Brass Monkey and She’s Crafty are among favorites of hard-core B-Boy fans, they are way too strong in the adolescent testosterone department for me.
Let’s face it, do you really have to Fight For Your Right to party?
This anti-Beastie bias didn't last long. The 1989 release, Paul’s Boutique, features the now-legendary Beastie Boys combination of intricate rhymes backed by '70s inspired funk and soul. In Paul’s Boutique, I found hip-hop that had depth and musical complexity.
In 1996, the Beastie Boys demonstrated their range as they dropped their microphones and picked up their instruments on The In Sounds From Way Out. This all-instrumental album is truly funky, with grooves that would make George Clinton proud. It’s a tribute to the funk roots of hip-hop by emcees who can actually play the instruments quite well. Last week’s release, The Mix-Up, is a continuation of that theme.
Just as they did 11 years ago, Mike D sits at the drum kit, MCA plays bass, Adrock plays guitar and Mixmaster Mike gets the day off.
Mike D refers to this effort as “post-punk instrumental,” but that sounds like he is trying to label something that you can't quite put a label on. There are definitely elements of bossa nova, jazz and funk involved in this masterfully played and emotionally stylish album.
The Beastie Boys have not dismissed the genre that got them where they are. In a May message to fans, Mike D announced that The Mix-Up will be followed by a version with lyrics.
Lyrics? I've never thought of Beastie Boys rhymes as mere lyrics. They are attitude, they are honest and they are amazingly clever.
I can't wait to hear what words the boys think are appropriate for their soulful instrumental.
beastieboys.com
