The Witzard

CREDIT: Atiba Jefferson / Glen E. Friedman (Apple) BEASTIE BOYS BOOK is a phenomenal 571-page historical document and mixed-media hardcover book written by surviving Beasties Michael "Mike D" Diamond & Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz released on SPIEGEL & GRAU in 2018. It was, of course, written following the untimely death of founding Beastie Boy Adam "MCA" Yauch on May 4, 2012, now known world-wide as MCA Day, but is without a doubt, a well-written tribute to his life and career. Last year, following widespread critical/fan-acclaim of BEASTIE BOYS BOOK , Mike Diamond & Adam Horovitz went on tour in support of their book somewhat confusingly billed as, "BEASTIE BOYS STORY: A 2 PERSON 1 MAN SHOW ABOUT 3 KIDS WHO STARTED A BAND TOGETHER." It wad directed by long-time collaborator and friend Spike Jonze and appeared to be, by most accounts, something to the effect of a live audio book version of BEASTIE BOYS BOOK. Now, it has been announced t...

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...

"I did bring a couple bottles of wine to the studio and then, started writing my part and went from there," Beastie Boys founding member Mike "D" Diamond recently told Pitchfork during a brief yet informative interview surrounding French Electronic duo Cassius' frantic Mike D & Cat Power -featuring apparent as-yet-unannounced album single, "Action." "The song came with this world liberation theme and then, I came with a modern-day relationship theme, and somehow the two went together. It's kind of like toast and Vegemite go together only in Australia ," Diamond characteristically continued. Philippe Zdar & Boom Bass had only scheduled studio time with Cat Power frontwoman Chan Marshall during a recent visit to New York , although, after meeting up with Mike D for lunch, the "Action" -packed collaboration progressed from there like a snowball rolling downhill; "suddenly, we were having a coffee and we s...