Sure, it's happened before ("In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel, "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" by Pavement, "Separation Sunday" by the Hold Steady, and "Is This It? (this an amazing video...Julian Casablancas walks off stage, comes back just in time -- or, why the Strokes were about to save rock and roll in 2001)" by the Strokes all come to mind), but more often than not, I'm just mildly impressed by what comes my way. It's not snobbery, just a high musical bar. Or narrow taste.
The Beastie Boys up 'till this point have always been a caricature of who they really are. This part of me still sees them as most people did after License to Ill (a great album just good enough to escape novelty) -- frat-rap jokesters somewhat like the 80's version of the Bloodhound Gang. Not a group to take seriously. I couldn't figure out why some of my friends held them in such high esteem. The song I most associated with them was "Intergalactic," a song that was included on one of those Grammy Nominees CDs I got every year in the mid-90's for my birthday. Next to Seal, Celine Dion, and Coolio, Beastie Boys seemed just too weird for my PBS-raised self. I didn't have MTV growing up, so I missed "Sabotage" playing on endless repeat. I didn't have self-awareness in 1989, so I missed Paul's Boutique. I missed a lot of things.
Well, I have both (MTV and self-awareness) now, so there's really no excuse not to give those crazy white guys from NYC a fresh look. My interest was piqued when I was scrounging around for Elvis Costello's appearance on Saturday Night Live in 1977. The back story: his label and NBC wanted him to play "Less than Zero," his single from his amazing (add this to the "albums that floored me" list) album, This Year's Model, but partway through the opening, he stopped his band and played, "Radio, Radio," which sends a decidedly anti-commercial message to listeners. NBC apparently does nothing but threaten litigation upon anyone who dares post the original performance online. I can't find it anywhere. But I did find this clip, from 25 years later, of another "sabotage" by Elvis...
Two artists who define their generations' "I just don't give a fuck" attitude (with Pavement following in the 90's and I would argue Lil' Wayne in the 00's), one a dapper Englishman, the other a group of slacker New Yorkers, both erudite, funny and cynical as hell, is an undeniably intriguing combination. My love of Elvis Costello is transferable to anyone who shares the stage with him, even if it is in a wholly corporate, contrived stunt on a late-night show. Welcome to the working week, I guess.
Next stop for me was their universally adored follow-up, Paul's Boutique. There are countless reviews out there in online-land, so I won't bore you with the details. I'll just say this: no album will ever be made quite like this one. This album literally changed the way music is made. It's sample-heavy production (by the Dust Brothers, of later Odelay fame (can't Beck do anything original?)) influenced other artists to sample in their songs. Another prolific sampler that preceded the Dust Brothers is Brian Eno. He's famous for his work with the Talking Heads, but he might be more famous in some circles for the work he did in 1981 with David Byrne, the lead singer of the Talking Heads. This strange collection of spiritual vocals (a exorcism, an apology, and other strange chanting frequent this album) played over looped samples is amazing, considering that it was recorded almost 30 years ago. You can definitely hear a lot of the Dust Brothers in Eno's album. The golden age of prolific samplers lasted only about a decade, although you could make the argument that it just got more subtle...
So these crate-digging musicians got other musicians angry (the ones whose snippets were being blatantly sampled) and they sued. Eventually, sampling became far too expensive and it was left somewhat dormant until the rise of the internet, where music samplers can get away with a lot more. Danger Mouse's (one half of Gnarls Barkley) brilliant mashup of Jay-Z's Black Album with the Beatle's White Album, aptly titled The Grey Album, comes to mind. Another recent example of this is Girl Talk. Or the Field. Or Madlib. But it will never have the organic appeal that Paul's Boutique has twenty years after its release.
Definitely a headphones album, the dense layers of sound shimmer nimbly around the sometimes shrill lyrics of Ad-Rock, MCA, and Mike D that exhibit an MF DOOM predilection for obscure pop culture references and crass proclamations. The whole album is a highlight, it's like a 53 minute love letter to funk, the 70's and NYC. These songs are standouts:
"Shake Your Rump" A nice way to kick off an album: drum roll into a funky 70's riff and the line, "My man MCA's got a beard like a billy goat" Apparently true (see the video).
"High Plains Drifter" My second-favorite use of the sound of a gun cocking (next to MIA's "Paper Planes"). This song is sinister, well, a smart-ass kind of sinister. But the wordplay among the three is completely overwhelming.
"Hey Ladies" This was the one single Capitol released. I would say that it's a grandaddy to Eminiem's "one blatant single per album," but that woudn't be doing this song justice. The Dust Brothers certainly didn't substitute innovation for commercial appeal. Listen to the new funk sample after each cowbell. By this point, they're just showing off. Wow.
"Shadrach" The last full song (more on this next) begins with a rollicking beat followed by a soulful female vocal loop followed by an apt lyric, "The music washes over and you're one with the sound..." The video is also a work of art -- each frame was hand painted.
And, as if the comparisons to to the Beatles weren't already forthcoming...the album ends with a 10 minute suite (a la Abbey Road) of song snippets. Both groups are working at such a high level in these albums. The Beatles knew they had nothing more to give when they recorded Abbey Road. The Beastie Boys knew the had nothing to lose when they recorded Paul's Boutique.
It shows.
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