Switch Up

Most unexpected and very welcome news came last Friday with the sudden appearance of a solo single by Mike D, the first Beastie Boy to release any music since the death of MCA (Adam Yauch) fourteen years ago. Mike and Ad- Rock said at the time that the Beastie Boys could not go on without MCA, so the band ended there and then. 

Mike D's single Switch Up is a rush of prime musical fun, the sheer joy Mike gets from making music evident in the track- a squiggle of guitar, some chords and then the drums kick in, a rapid fire drum 'n' bass breakbeat, bouncing bassline and Mike's whiny NY drawl (not a criticism, I love the Beastie Boys whiny NY voices). The guitars are squally, the synths and noises ricochet about and there's some proper hip hop energy going on, Mike coming back time again to the song's title, 'Switch up!' among other phrases welcoming change. It slows down for the end, the rhythm and tempo cut in half and some strings swoop in. Good fun. 

The track was recorded with his two sons, Skylar and Davis, who play in a band called Very Nice Person. Mike popped up with Very Nice Person and his own group 5D in person last week at L.A.'s Plaza Nightclub and they did Beastie Boys track So What'cha Want, a song from 1992's Check Your Head, with explosive drums, organ, screechy guitars and three way vocal wordplay galore. 

So What'cha Want

Mike D's country album- Country Mike's Greatest Hits- was never officially released. Mike D recorded it as a joke for friends and gave it them for Christmas. Maybe a hundred copies exist, some on black vinyl and some on red. It has been bootlegged too but the quality is variable apparently. The YouTube upload below is from one of the genuine copies, the best faux- country album recorded by any of the Beastie Boys. 

Diamond

Another post cobbled together under difficult technological circumstances (a new definition of blogging modernism after Kit Lambert's description of mod as clean living under difficult circumstances for you there). This is Mike D, Beastie Boy, remixing Warpaint. The new Warpaint album is pretty good but I don't feel like it's got under my skin yet in the way the previous ones did. For his remix Mike D slows it right down, strips away the instruments, lets the vocals carry the melody and adds a Kangol hatful of 80s hip hop influences. Whatchuwaitinfor? Ch-ch-ch-ch-check it out.

I finish work today for a week off and it cannot come soon enough. 

Select Shun

I was rumaging through a box of covermount cds from music magazines when I found five that came glued to the front of Select, the late and not especially lamented Britpop bible. Select started during the glory days of Madchester but found it's niche with the arrival of Suede, along with St Etienne, Pulp and Denim. It went on to feature Oasis, Blur and Menswear on a monthly basis but at least had the benefit of some good writers, a nice monthly feature with a suggested cover and tracklist for a mixtape and occasional forays into (usually British) dance music. The free cds (The Deep End, and then Revolutions One through to Five) had some tracks I'd forgotten about, with quite a few goodies. Here's one of them.

Moby's Play album sold several gazillion copies and every track on it was licensed to sell some product or other. It had it's moments but familiarity bred contempt, round these parts anyway. Select got hold of this track and gave it away in May 2000- Moby's Natural Blues remixed by Beastie Boy Mike D (centre in picture, as I'm sure you know). I'm pretty sure I remember reading that this isn't an actual remix, and that Mike D and others recreated the track live instead. Which explains the busy, clattering drums, messy instruments, jumbled production and chanted vox. It's actually very good, and sounds nothing like the rest of the Play album. More Select Shun's to follow.

01 Natural Blues (Mike D remix).wma