BUMMER

You've probable heard that Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys passed away today, after fighting cancer for three years.  How you reacted to the news might have depended on your age and your musical tastes.  Reactions I came across ranged from "Oh shit, really?" to "I hate rap,' and others that were harder to perceive.  Personally, it bummed me out because, despite the fact that I don't listen to the Beastie Boys all that much anymore, I have a huge amount of respect for them as independently minded ground breakers, because, as goofy as their image may have been at the times, they were serious artists with an encyclopedic knowledge of music.  Everything from hardcore, to funk, soul, Brazillian, reggae, jazz, rock 'n' roll; the whole shooting match.  They were creative, inventive and oblivious to trends.  Starting out as a hardcore band, they switched modes, becoming the "Fight For You Right" knuckleheads the network news seemed to focus on today (really, every report I saw showed a clip of that song, and only that song).  Their second LP, Paul's Boutique, took it up a notch, being something akin to a hip hop Sergeant Peppers.  After that, it was off to the races.



One reason why this, for me, was a gulp-worthy event is because when their first full length, Licensed to Ill, was released, I was living in NYC, and it was on my Walkman (remember those) constantly, on my treks to and from work, to the clubs, and on the subway (nothing like listening to "No Sleep 'til Brooklyn" late at night, while you're on your way to Brooklyn trying, yes, to stay awake).  It's still the one album I most associate with my short stay there.  After I moved back to the West coast, they too moved, working in L.A. with the Dust Brothers, who supplied many of the samples on Paul's Boutique (which back then was often in my crate when DJing).  Creative freedom clearly in their grasp, they continued meandering over musical styles, always with the gruff voice of Yauch holding things down, sounding more adult in contrast to the more nasal wisecrack sounding Mike Diamond and Adam Horowitz.

Sonic Reducer sampled.  I think you're starting to feel it.

Folks, Yauch did what all of us wish we could.  He taught himself to play bass, started a band, sold a fuck load of records, had a magazine and a record label, organized benefits, directed videos, and made a documentary; and he managed to do it without acting like a big shot, chasing after trends, or sweating the small stuff.  He was, in short, one of the good guys.

Here's just few odds and ends.  You real fiends should check out Beastie Mixes for a shitload of stuff that you probably didn't know existed.  Bootlegs, live show, remixes, interviews, mash ups, it would take days to sort through it all.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Beastie Boys - Believe Me mp3 at Sisters In Death Slow download, but worth it
Beastie Boys – Get It Together mp3 at Et Musique Pour Tous
Beastie Boys - Shake Your Rump mp3 at 365 Days of Music 
Beastie Boys & Santigold - Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win mp3 at Mixtape Riot
Beasie Boys - Rock Hard mp3 at The Lost Turntable 
Beastie Boys - Alive At Youch’s House mp3 at The Lost Turntable
EP Download:
Beastie Boys - Aglio E Olio (via Mediafire) at Brown Brown Bag 
Tons of stuff at Beastie Mixes:
Beastie Boys - Boots at BeastieMixes.com Demos, Japanese releases, sample sources, etc. 
Beastie Boys - Rare and Misc Mixes at BeastieMixes,com Just what it says, rare stuff, collaborations, covers (by and of), remixes (by, and of).  Over 150 selections. 
Beastie Boys - Live shows at BeastieMixes.com Live shows (1982 - 2009), TV and radio appearances. 
Visit: 
Beastie Boys Official site Yauch obituary/profile holding down their homepage