Happy Birthday!



Today is a special day in the Beastie Boys fan community. Beastiemania.com, the most comprehensive Beastie Boys fan site on the internets, is celebrating its 4th birthday. An incredible amount of work goes into editing and maintaining this site by a dedicated team. If you appreciate their work, holla at the staff via email and tell them so with a birthday wish. They need love.

Also celebrating a birthday today is Pootytang, Beastie Boys überfan and Pageant Tour shout-out video star [Austin video / Dallas video]. Pootytang (pictured with a bottle of Brass Monkey) is a superdooper guy -- the kind of person who helps and thinks of others. Not too many guys would drag their Beastie Boys dolls 500 miles just so a goofy girl can play with them. Happy birthday, my friend.

In honor of these special birthdays, I have a vintage Beastie Boys show to share. The show, which was a double bill with Run-DMC, took place on May 21, 1987, at De Edenhal in Amsterdam. Dutch radio VPRO edited and broadcasted the Beastie Boys' performance. This recording is VPRO's broadcast (cassette source).

Setlist
The New Style [mp3]
Banter [mp3]
She's Crafty [mp3]
Time to Get Ill [mp3]
Rhymin' and Stealin' [mp3]
Posse in Effect [mp3]
Fight for Your Right [mp3]

The mp3s will available to download for one week.

Over exposed

"Did you know Mike did softcore porn in the '80s?" asks Ad Rock.

Regina, Saskatchewan. Softcore porn. Children of fans being fans. Chart magazine has published an interview with the Beastie Boys, talking nonsense as usual.

Reggae pirates



CBS 13/UPN 31 TV in Sacramento has posted video of an interview with the Beastie Boys, conducted earlier this week.

Can't do video on your stupid computer? Download an mp3 of the interview.

Shout-out to M'dizzy

Home videos

Some video of the Beastie Boys in Toronto, shot by a local fan, has been posted to the Beastie Boys Youtube.com group. Watch video of the band's arrival to 102.1 The Edge studio:



Watch video of the band signing autographs at HMV:

Beastie Boys on MuchMusic

MuchMusic.com: Why does everyone have to be so gangster about their posing these days?
Mike D: We're gangster!
MuchMusic.com: Yeah, but you're like, old school gangster. Everyone these days just flips their teeth.
Mike: Well, we don't have the fronts for it, that's true.
MCA: I got shot 32 times in my leg. My left leg.
Adrock: His left leg is gross.
MCA: That's why I walk down the street with a cart. [motions like he's using a walker]
Although MuchMusic hasn't posted video of its interview with the Beastie Boys on its web site, it has posted a partial transcript of the interview and the following photos:







Photos from Toronto








Photo credit: AP/CP

Beastie Boys promote their concert dvd

The Beastie Boys are out and about promoting the release of their concert dvd Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!

On Monday (July 25), the band were interviewed on KCRA TV Sacramento. Watch video of the interview or download an mp3 of the interview.


On KCRA TV

On Tuesday (July 26), the band were interviewed on 91X radio in San Diego. An mp3 of the interview [alt link] is available to download at 91X.com.

On Wednesday (July 27), the band appeared on the show "MTV Overdrive" on MTV Canada. Watch video of the interview at MTV.ca or download an mp3 of the interview.


On MTV Overdrive

Today, the Beastie Boys stopped by 102.1 The Edge radio in Toronto. Download an mp3 of the interview. (Note: I missed the first few minutes. If someone has a complete file, please send it to me to share.)


At 102.1 The Edge studio

During the last week, the Beastie Boys also made television appearances on "Great Day SA" on 5 KENS San Antonio, "11am Atlanta & Co" on WXIA Atlanta, WGN Morning News in Chicago (they talked about playing b-ball with Billy "Tall Cat" Corgan during Lollapalooza), and WBFS Miami (Horovitz talked about his introduction to Brass Monkey).

Beastie Boys on Conan



Watch the Beastie Boys' performance of "Root Down," complete with The Weave, on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

Win some "Awesome" stuff

If you don't have the cash to purchase Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That! on DVD or Awesome merchandise on eBay, you can try your luck with a few contests.

efilmcritic.com has a contest to win the dvd, and all you have to do is post comments in any five movies at the site and send them an email indicating you wish to enter in the contest. The contest deadline is July 28.

ThinkFilm is hosting a contest at the film's Myspace page. The grand prize is a skateboard signed by the band, an Awesome t-shirt, and copy of the dvd. To enter, you must send the Beastie Boys "a message about why you're the biggest BB fan."

VideoETA.com has a contest in which you must create your own 30-second Beastie Boys video. The grand prize is a digital camcorder, and runner-up prizes are Awesome t-shirts. So make a video, but make sure it's not too great. You want the shirt, not the camcorder. The contest is open to U.S. residents only and ends on July 25.

The Times (London) is giving out 10 copies of the dvd to those who can answer a simple Beastie Boys trivia question. The contest is open to UK residents only and ends on July 28.

Canadians, lock your doors!

The Beastie Boys will be making a few appearances in Toronto next week to promote the release of Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!

They will be appearing on MTV Canada on Wednesday, July 26. See image below for information on how you may attend the taping.



Also on Wednesday, July 26, the band will be appearing on "Much on Demand," which airs at 5 pm on MuchMusic.



On Thursday, July 27, the Beastie Boys will be speaking with Toronto radio station 102.1 The Edge. The radio station streams live from its web site.

Late night with the Beastie Boys

According to VH1's Rock on TV, the Beastie Boys will be the musical guests on Late Night with Conan O'Brien this Friday (July 21).

Public warning: No Adrockified songs

Contrary to media reports, Lady Sovereign's forthcoming album, Public Warning, does not include any songs produced by Adam Horovitz. Sovereign's publicist confirmed with me that the songs on which Horovitz and Sovereign collaborated do not appear on the album. The publicist could not say if the songs will be used on a future release or if the songs have been scrapped.

Yauch endorses friend's book

Adam Yauch has written a testimonial for The Evolution of a Cro-Magnon, the autobiography of John Joseph (Cro-Mags, Bloodclot). The testimonial reads:
This book kicked my ass. I have known Bloodclot (aka John Joseph) for many years. We know each other from around the NYC hardcore/punk scene. He was always cool with me but until I read this book, his autobiography, I had no idea about his background, about how he grew up. As I read the first few chapters, tears welled up in my eyes. A lot of people talk about coming from the streets, when Bloodclot says it, the shit is real. I have tremendous respect for John, all that he's endured, and who he has become and I would recommend this book to anyone in a heartbeat.

So if you want to remember what NYC was like in the 70's and 80's, if you are interested in selling fake acid at Madison Square Garden, or dressing up like Santa Clause in a wheelchair to hustle money for the Hari Krishnas, or for that matter, if you are just interested in some of the best of the 8 billion stories that NYC has to offer, put a read on this.

Adam Yauch
May 23, 2006 - NYC
The book is scheduled to be released in September.

The illingest b-boys



Miscreant Productions is offering a vintage Beastie Boys concert recording to download in mp3 format. The concert took place at the Palladium in Los Angeles on February 7, 1987. The recording features a short set from Run-DMC, who performed after the Beastie Boys drunken main set. 

Setlist:
Intro
Slow and Low
The New Style
She's Crafty
Time to Get Ill
She's on It
Paul Revere
Rhymin' & Stealin'
Posse in Effect
Brass Monkey
Hold It Now, Hit It
No Sleep Till Brooklyn
My Adidas (Run-DMC)
It's Tricky (Run-DMC)
Walk This Way (Run-DMC)
Rockbox (Run-DMC)
Fight for Your Right

Miscreant Productions is also offering Boogaloo to the Beastie Boys (a tribute recording) and Country Mike's Greatest Hits to download. Please note that these downloads are in .rar format and that you must use a password (kickme.to/miscreants) to extract the mp3s.

Being bad news is what they're all about



Mp3 blog Captain's Dead is offering a vintage Beastie Boys show to download in mp3 format. Although Captain's Dead claims the show's date was May 16, 1985, Beastiemania.com lists this show as being on March 23, 1987, at Cleveland's Public Hall. Believe Beastiemania.com's date. They know their stuff.

Setlist
Intro
Slow and Low
The New Style
She's Crafty
Time to Get Ill
She's on It
Paul Revere
Rhymin' & Stealin'
Posse in Effect
Slow Ride
Slow Ride (Continued) [not an instrumental as noted]
Hold It Now, Hit It
No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn

The highlight of the show is the sweet Aerosmith opening to a pumped version of "Slow and Low." The lowlight is Adam Yauch's complimenting a girl for her "beautiful pair of tits" before "Time to Get Ill."

T with Mark

Money Mark is among the artists performing at this year's T on the Fringe music festival in Scotland. Mark's performance will be at the Liquid Room in Edinburgh on August 25. Tickets may be purchased at Ticketmaster.co.uk.

(Shout-out to X-man)

Praise the remix



The Fatboy Slim "Praise You" remix by Mike D and Adrock, which premiered on Radio 1 in May, is now available in the United States on the "That Old Pair of Jeans" CD single and import CD single.

Time for reviewin'

The UK media continue to review Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!

The Daily Telegraph (London) decided one review of Awesome wasn't enough, so  it sent critic Mike McCahill to the cinema. In his review, McCahill calls the Beastie Boys' film a "neat idea" and smartly likens the film's chopping-and-dicing editing to the Beastie Boys' music sampling in their songs.

The Times (London) also felt one review of the film wasn't enough. Kevin Maher of The Times describes the band as a "tirelessly inventive hip-hop phenomenon" and says the film "captures the sense of raging communal release, and the freedom to be found in controlled anarchy." Maher gives thumbs up to the set list and awards the film three stars out of five.

Mark Kermode of The Observer (London) calls the film "indulgent fun" that gets its strength from enthusiastic fans -- both the audience and camera operators. Kermode says the film's rough edges help to retain the "raucous atmosphere of the concert."

Jason Solomons of the Mail on Sunday (London) says, "It's a decent gig, the sound is pretty good, but it looks just terrible."

Mark Adams of the Sunday Mirror (London) briefly summarizes the film as "fun at times, but mainly for fans." Adams awards the film three stars out of five.

Shooting the Beastie Boys



The reviews of Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That! are in from the UK film media and, unfortunately, they aren't very kind.

The Daily Record (Glasgow) says the film is "a great idea for a video single, but brain mush for an entire concert movie" and concludes that fans "may salvage something from the mess, but everyone else will be bored rigid." It awards the film two stars out of five.

The Sunday Mail (Glasgow) gives the film five stars, noting "some shots aren't quite Oscar-winning standard but it captures beautifully the mood of the gig."

The Daily Telegraph (London) uses three odd words to describe the film: curious, cute, and dated. The Telegraph's critic goes way off the mark with crazy suggestions that fans should have edited the film and that it should have been streamed for free on Youtube.com.

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian (London) is a little more on the mark with his review, describing the film as "a real-time patchwork quilt of the fans' experience and unapologetic fan enthusiasm, unmediated by a professional documentarian's cynicism or condescension." That's a mouthful, but at least it's accurate. Bradshaw amusingly suggests that the film is worthy of being shown at the Tate Modern as a piece of art. In conclusion, Bradshaw strangely makes the same crazy suggestion that The Telegraph makes -- that fans should have edited the film. Bradshaw awards the film three stars out of five.

Anthony Quinn of The Independent (London) has an answer to the Beastie Boys' question "What's the time?" Quinn says it is "time to make for the exit sign." Quinn awards the film one star out of five.

David Edwards of The Mirror (London) describes the film as a "hyperactive music documentary" that feels "gimmicky." Edwards awards the film three stars out of five.

Martin Hoyle of The Financial Times (London) says he was so bored by the film that he almost fell asleep. Hoyle says, "If you like pounding monotony and unintelligible words, this is for you. If not, not."

Ben Walters of Time Out London says the film is "unusually ambitious and frequently intriguing, but it'll still struggle to hold your attention if Mike D, MCA and Ad-Rock don't do much for you." Walters continues to say "it's a great fat happy-slap of a movie."

Derek Malcolm of The London Evening Standard says "only fans of the Beastie Boys will put up with the awful visuals and sound that make it impossible to hear the rapping or the songs." Malcolm concludes, "Awesome, this is not."

James Christopher of The Times (London) is perhaps the cruelest in his review, calling Adam Yauch "mad" (true but unnecessary to point out) for having an idea that "was utterly doomed from the moment the thought popped into his head." Christopher continues to say the film is "unwatchable" and the Beastie Boys' music is "appalling." He concludes with insulting the Beastie Boys as "tuneless white rappers." Christopher awards the film one star out of five.

"Awesome" to be screened at UK film fest



Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That! will be screened at the Cambridge Film Festival on July 6 at 11 pm at the Arts Picturehouse in Cambridge (UK). For more information, visit the festival's web site.

Video on film

Revolver Entertainment, the UK distributor of Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!, is offering a video clip of the band (4.2 MB download), inviting fans to attend the special screening of the film.

For the downloading-impaired:



Q Magazine is also getting in on the video action by hosting a video feature on the film (17 MB download). (Catch the host's pronunciation of "Yauch.")

Youtube it:

"Awesome" press

Press on Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That! is beginning to pick up in the UK and Australia. Earlier this week, The Scotsman (Glasgow) published a review of the film, calling it "a bold experiment that has produced some interesting results." The Herald (Edinburgh) described the film as having a good deal of "amusingly cheesy humour."

The London Evening Standard published a feature article on the film, describing how it was pieced together (50 fans, handheld cameras, yadda-yadda...).

And today's Sydney Morning Herald has an interview with Adam Yauch that includes some new quotes and material.