CD Reviews

Beastie Boys | Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

Capitol Records (2011)

By RYAN REED | May 6, 2011

3.5 Stars

"Back on the mic, it's the anti-depressor," flows King Ad-Rock over raunchy drums and speaker-busting clavinet in "Make Some Noise," the bravado launching pad of Beastie Boys' eighth studio album. It's tough to argue with his logic. In terms of straight-up free-spirited musical fun, the Beasties might as well be a fucking pharmacy of rap-funk escapism. In Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (evolved from a proposed Part One after delays, resequencing, and MCA's cancer scare), they've combined the live-band focus of 2007's all-instrumental The Mix-Up with the old-school hip-hop of 2004's The Five Burroughs — only put through a blender and sprayed against a back-alley wall. The production is tight and headphone worthy, but the Beasties haven't sounded this raw and punk since Ill Communication. As always, the dope shit is layered with geeky pop-culture references that run from old-school hip-hop to old-time TV, from Lee Majors to former NBA player/commentator John Salley. Being older means taking less-bad-ass lyrical stances — in the unreal, Herbie Hancock–style funk of "Funky Donkey," MCA boasts, "I don't wear Crocs, and I don't wear sandals." When Mike D brags he's going to "open up a restaurant with Ted Danson" in lead single "Make Some Noise," it's unclear whether he's alluding to Curb Your Enthusiasm or debating a legitimate middle-aged business proposition. But the music hasn't sounded this inspired in ages. The disorienting vocal effects and syncopated flows in "Nonstop Disco Powerpack" are borderline psychedelic. "Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament" is futuristic space funk with jazz bass percolating next to vocoder and thick percussion. At one point in this endlessly replayable thicket, Ad-Rock unleashes an "I don't give a fuck who the hell you are." Point taken. But a more representative lyric might be "The proof is in the pudding, and the pudding's in my pants." Thirty-some years in, the Beasties are as sharp, hilarious, funky, and escapist as they've ever been.

Pharoahe Monch | W.A.R.
If rap fans were willing to worship shit from this century, then W.A.R. would already be considered one of the greatest discs of all time.
Zion I & the Grouch | Heroes In the Healing of the Nation
The only category Bay Area MCs Zumbi (of Zion I) and the Grouch (of Living Legends) squeeze neatly into is "Decisively West Coast," what with their nonchalant pre-swagger and hella dope lingo.
Shabazz Palaces | Black Up
The musical reincarnation of Ishmael Butler, the elusive Seattle rapper who makes up one-third of the semi-popular '90s jazz-rap act Digable Planets under the name Butterfly, is a lot to unpack.
Pantha du Prince | XI Versions of Black Noise
Outright blandness is the worst sin in all of art.
Young Widows seek beauty and mortality in noise
It's not much of a leap to imagine Young Widows hanging out in a funeral home.
Greg Dulli keeps his peace in the Twilight Singers
One of the most widely circulated Afghan Whigs bootlegs, from our own Paradise in May 1994, has the iconic alt-rock foursome busting out a loose and rollicking version of New Order's "Regret."
Out: The Chris North Dream Quartet help christen the Haven in Jamaica Plain
With the Chris North Dream Quartet, singer/guitarist Chris North Alspach retains the sincere Celt-folk vocal inflection and distinctly New England–influenced lyrics of his other, Best Music Poll–nominated band, the Points North.
Julian Lynch | Terra
Although experimentation in music nowadays is certainly in vogue, there aren't many records that will straddle the line between commercial plausibility and healthy art-for-art's-sake like Julian Lynch's Terra.
From afar, Destry bring vintage allure to Boston
When Destry's Michelle DaRosa tells me she grew up watching musicals excessively, I find myself listening to her singing voice just to see what type of musical heroine she'd be.
Kode9 and the Spaceape | Black Sun
Kode9 is the most important electronic artist of the past five years.
Shinji Masuko | Woven Music
It's tempting to point to the recent tsunami in Japan as having a heavy cosmic connection with Shinji Masuko's first solo record, a full-immersion blackout of churning, oceanic drones and melodic eddies.
Less

Topics: CD Reviews , Music, Beastie Boys, Beastie Boys, More

| More

Most Popular

The Current Issue

Table of Contents

Cover Archive

Masthead | Authors | Contact us

Blogs

Where To Follow Me
Talking Politics | March 24, 2013 at 11:09 AM

Mo Takes His Turn
March 21, 2013 at 12:59 PM

[Q&A] KMFDM's Sascha Konietzko on art, Columbine and having balls
On The Download | March 18, 2013 at 3:22 PM

See this film series: The Belmont World Film Series @ Studio Cinema in Belmont
Outside The Frame | March 18, 2013 at 11:00 AM

See this film: This is Spinal Tap [with post-film talk by expert from Acoustical Society of America] @ the Coolidge
March 17, 2013 at 12:00 PM

ARTICLES BY RYAN REED

WAVVES | AFRAID OF HEIGHTS | March 18, 2013
"I Can't Dream," the closer on Wavves' fourth studio album, opens in a drunken lo-fi stupor — Nathan Williams warbling bratty, tone-deaf nonsense over hissy acoustic power chords.

THE VIRGINS | STRIKE GENTLY | March 06, 2013
After a half-decade of semi-obscurity, frontman Donald Cumming is redefining his band as the hipster sultans of swing.

ATOMS FOR PEACE | AMOK | February 26, 2013
Kid A , Radiohead's confounding electro-rock masterpiece, is officially hitting puberty.

ATLAS GENIUS | WHEN IT WAS NOW | February 20, 2013
Atlas Genius are schooled students of modern pop architecture, seamlessly bouncing from Coldplay-styled acoustic rock to fizzy Phoenix funkiness to deadpanned Strokes-ian guitar chug. But When It Was Now is more like an alt-pop NOW compilation than a joyous synthesis.