The Witzard

BB PB EP O | Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique Extended Play Outtakes by Beastie Boys Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique was released in Summer 1989 as the follow-up to their massively successful debut, Licensed to Ill , and although, it was essentially, a commercial failure upon its release, has gained a cult status in the years since. Paul's Boutique , to me, personally, has always been one of my favorite albums, since I first discovered it around the age of 15-16; it completely shattered my concept of what Hip-Hop "could" or "should" be and even broke the barriers of what a Hip-Hop group "could" do. "Looking Down The Barrel of a Gun" was reminiscent of The Beasties' earliest aughts as a New York City -based Punk/Hardcore band, initially, called B.E.A.S.T.I.E. Boys: Boys Entering Anarchic States Towards Internal Excellence . Unfortunately, Adam "MCA" Yauch passed away in 2012 following a years-long bout with cance...

Posse In Effect 1 by POSSE IN EFFECT Not entirely unlike Peanut Butter Wolf, Madlib, Egon & John Doe , dj BC, Jeremiah Jae , and TT5BR before him, Awkward has unleashed a 10-track collection of Beastie Boys remixes fittingly called POSSE IN EFFECT 1 . Awkward is a UK -based producer/emcee/artist/DJ with affiliation to Los Angeles crew The Cloaks and Bristol 's Ghost.Locust Music . He has previously worked with clipping. The Kleenrz, Nocando , Open Mike Eagle, Self Jupiter (Freestyle Fellowship,) Third Sight, Zackey Force Funk , and Malakai's Stepchild AKA Stepasaur. We, here at The Witzard , actually, first heard about Awkward after he mastered Roughneck Jihad 's recent compilation album, The Red Herring Mixtape . In conjunction with Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz & Michael "Mike D" Diamond 's newly-released memoir, BEASTIE BOYS BOOK , Awkward has collected 10 choice cuts from throughout The Beasties' storied three decades-long caree...

"Paul's Boutique was and continues to be a mysterious object, definitely, more than a just record. By now, everyone knows that when it came out in 1989, it wasn't the follow-up people expected, after Licensed to Ill; an opportunity for the Beastie Boys to weed out the real fans from the rest. To this day, Paul's Boutique is the Beasties' album we know [the least] about. At the time, they did only a handful of interviews, between television and magazines. Even the photographs from that period—mostly, shot by Ricky Powell—are not that many. Still, the record was light-years ahead of it's time and even if the whole sampling approach is similar to De La Soul's contemporary 3 Feet High & Rising. , it's success and reputation has only gown over time. Now, it is (rightly so) considered a unique masterpiece that could not be made today or probably, ever again. Maybe, it's because of the whole concept the Beasties put into the record—the cover, the ton...

"I'm available to edit all sorts of videos and create all sorts of content. I'm also available for interviews, shenanigans, or if you just need a friend - Adam@hiddentracktv.com ," reads part of the YouTube description for OutKast | "Ms. Jackson" | Muppets Version . Needless to say, after witnessing the sheer greatness that is Beastie Boys | "Sabotage" | Sesame Street Mashup on both Stereogum and NPR Music late last week, I quickly reached out to Mylo The Cat AKA isthishowyougoviral AKA Adam Schleichkorn just for sh*ts and giggles, thinking he most likely, wouldn't write back... but before day's end, Adam had already responded back to my email thanking me for contacting him and adding that "most websites just crank out articles" and generally, don't bother to reach out. From what I can piece together from the shattered shards scattered across The Internet , Adam Schleichkorn 's storied history with "going viral...

Just a few days ahead of the one year anniversary of Adam "MCA" Yauch 's untimely death, Blank on Blank have released a newly unearthed 1985 Beastie Boys interview. While it only lasts about six minutes, animator Patrick Smith has created some great black-and-white animation to go along with it; He's really managed to capture The Beasties' pre- License to Ill righteous Punk Rock attitude(s) and even animated ABC News Radio interviewer Rocci Fisch and topic-appropriate graphics to go along with it. The cassette-taped audio itself originates from Washington, DC and covers everything from Madonna 's "Like a Virgin" Tour to what MCA dubs " Soul Hardcore B-Boy music." Ad-Rock, Mike D & MCA were only about 18-19 years old, at the time, and were barely even making Hip-Hop yet, having only released Polly Wog Stew EP , "Cooky Puss," "Rock Hard," and "She's On It/Slow and Low." The city of Br...

<a href="http://thelazymks.bandcamp.com/track/sabotage">Sabotage by The Lazy MKs featuring The Pile O'Bones Brass Band</a> While it just might have substantially more cultural bearing now than say 3 months ago, The Lazy MK's originally released their "Sabotage" cover on Bandcamp way back in Jan. 2012. It's an interesting Bluegrass/Jazz take on a song that I really know and love; I think "Sabotage" was the first Beastie Boys track that I latched onto @ 10-12, partly due to it's Spike Jonze -directed action-packed , explosion-filled music video! When I was in grade school oh so many years ago (1990's), I first discovered Hip-Hop , Classic Rock , and Hardcore Punk ... a couple of my "cooler" older cousins first introduced me to Beastie Boys' shit and now I own [damn-near] their whole discography. Shouts to my cuz Josh for send...

I think I'd have to honestly say that Black Flag, Misfits, Minor Threat (Fugazi) , and Beastie Boys were the first 3-4 1980's Hardcore bands that I really got into @ the tender [aggressive] age of like 15-16. Always having a few "cool" older cousins, Hardcore Punk was the first type of music that I really discovered on my own! While they're all pretty great in the own ways, Black Flag still remains one of my favoutite bands, all these years later... particularly Rollins era Black Flag , of course. They were so much more than just another Punk band - Seamlessly mixing in bits & pieces of spoken word poetry, Blues-Jazz , Sludge/Doom Metal , Rhythm & Blues , Prog. Rock, Breakbeat , Contemporary Classical (1970's), and intricate guitar solos. Vice Records' music channel, noisey recently too a trip "across the pond" to play some tunes for a few young critics. My best guess is that most of these kids are roughly 6-12, all of whom have ...

I Admit by Aaron Livingston Philly Reggae-Soul singer Aaron Livingston has laid down some vocal tracks for 2 separate Roots albums, The Tipping Point (2004) and their latest effort, undun . Therefore making Livingston an "Honorary Roots Member" and putting him amongst the [fine] company of John Legend , Mos Def, Blu , Dice Raw, Sugar Tongue Slim , and Peedi Crakk. Aaron Livingston 's most recent full-length project, an RJD2 -produced album titled The Abandoned Lullaby was released back in Fall 2011. While Livingston's solo discography may appear to be pretty "scattered," he's also recorded tracks with Hot Sugar , The Mean, Young Vipers , and Hezekiah... as well as Greatest Hits, Vol. -1 . That aforementioned "Odds & Sods" compilation album is available for $5.00 (FREE) download over at Bandcamp , along with a slew of slightly-dated, yet fleshed out loosies. "I Admit" was unveiled on Thurs. May 3rd , but kind of cast a...

I was pretty bummed out yesterday afternoon when I first heard about the sudden passing of Adam "MCA" Yauch , after three years of fighting cancer. Growing up with four older cousins (I was born in 1987), I've been a huge Beastie Boys fan since I was 10-12... enjoying their music for as long as I can remember! They were the first to do a lot of things: NYC Punk , massive sampling on Paul's Boutique , being the first white Jewish rappers, intricate Pop Culture -referencing rhyme schemes, making music for both frat dudes and Punks , etc. Those of you who just know "Brass Monkey" and "Fight for Your Right" —now, come on, let's get real; The Beastie Boys were so much more than that and those radio hits are merely just the tip of the iceberg! All the teenage debauchery aside, gruff-voiced MCA really seemed to grow into a fine young man, post- License to Ill . Earnestly standing up for what his heart believed in: women's rights, Tibetan ...