One of the biggest losses to the music world this year was certainly the passing of Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch of the Beastie Boys, who tragically lost his ongoing battle with cancer at the age of 47 last May.
While it was recently revealed that Yauch had stipulated a clause in his will to prevent corporate gravediggers from using his music to shill out on advertising, entrusting his $US 6.4 million fortune to his wife, Dechen and 13-year-old daughter, Tenzin.
Somehow, we think the news of this latest Beastie Boys musical project would get his blessing, if not a wry smile from the fallen Beastie.
Consquence of Sound reports that thanks to the painstaking work of three DJs over just as many years, the landmark 1989 Beastie Boys album Paul’s Boutique has been remade from the labyrinthian mess of samples that the hip-hop trio and production crew The Dust Brothers used to create it.
Many producers and budding musicophiles have attempted to untangle and decode the album’s sample-heavy soundscape, and now thanks to the meticulous study and hard work of British turntablists DJ Food, Cheeba and Moneyshot; that task has finally been accomplished.
Entitled Caught In The Middle Of A 3-Way Mix, christened after a Paul’s Boutique B side, the mix was designed, as DJ Food puts it, as “our tribute to the classic Beastie Boys album Paul’s Boutique remixed and re-imagined from all the original samples.”
Food adds that the hour-long album was constructed from poring over “a cappellas, period interviews and the Beasties’ own audio commentary from the reissued release.” Created in association with UK radio show and Ninja Tune mix series Solid Steel, the mix was originally inspired by a 2009 mixtape by Moneyshot called Beastie Boys Beats.
DJ Food explains that he and his scratch masters were “over half way finished when we heard the tragic news of Adam Yauch‘s passing this May”, his death galvanised them to finish their ambitious project, which has subsequently been touted as tribute to the fallen MCA.
The final result is an alternate version of Paul’s Boutique that draws from a mind-boggling 150-plus tracks, and DJ Food has even listed an exhaustive track-by-track, sample-by-sample breakdown on his own website.
The turntablist also writes: “Big respect to Cheeba and Moneyshot for all their hard work and for the latter for inspiring the project with his classic mix of their [1992 album] Check Your Head three years ago. Obviously massive respect goes out to The Beasties, The Dust Brothers, Mario C. and all involved in the making of the original album.”
In related news, long-time Beastie Boys producer Mario Caldato Jr. revealed in June that there’s a wealth of material left over in the vault that could be released in the near future, but one thing’s for certain, the Caught In The Middle Of A 3-Way Mix is both a fascinating listen for fans and a fitting tribute to MCA.
You can stream/download the Paul’s Boutique re-creation below:
