Mike D and Andy Samberg interview
Samberg is well-known for his musical shorts on SNL--the most famous one being "Lazy Sunday."
(Shout-out to JT McCann!)
Beastie Boys Exit Festival interview
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, y'all! Enjoy this Beastie Boys interview!!
(Thanks to Ana!)
Dewey Cox covers the Beastie Boys
As a promotional event for his new film Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, actor John C. Reilly performed as Dewey Cox at a one-off show at the Knitting Factory in New York City this week. Among the songs he and his band, The Hard Walkers, performed was a cover of the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage."
The show was billed as the "final show of the Cox Across America tour," a tour name that the Beastie Boys might have considered at one point in their career -- with one word spelled differently.
Mix Master Mike performance dates
On a related note, Mix Master Mike is among the artists confirmed to perform at Festival Garorock, which takes place April 4-6, 2008, in Marmande, France.
It's Beastie Boys Radio day!
Today's show, with its theme of "childhood jams," will be their last radio show of 2007. Beastie Boys Radio will return after the new year. All of their 2007 radio shows can be downloaded HERE [DEAD LINK], courtesy of DJ Zap.
"Sabotage" is among best song of the 90s
Ad Rock: new book by Ari Marcopoulos
Beastie Boys have cameo in M.I.A. video
Beastie Boys get the shaft from the Rock Hall
Happy meal
There's more to that Beastie Boys-designed lunchbox for the Food Bank of NYC Lunchbox Auction than we originally thought. Check out the three other sides of the lunchbox!
Money Mark at the Troubadour
Mix Master Mike contributes to charity auction
Mix Master Mike is among the artists who have donated to the 2007 Virgin Unite Holiday Auction, in which 12 artists celebrate the 12 days of Christmas with signed memorabilia. The auction benefits Virgin Unite, a not-for-profit organization that focuses on social and environmental issues.
Bidding on the signed cymbal began on Monday, December 10, and ends on December 18 at Charityfolks.com.
Tune in and get freaked out
Where the magic happens...
Just another reminder that Beastie Boys are coming to you live once again on Little Radio [DEFUNCT SITE] with a brand new show on Wednesday, December 12 (that's tomorrow!) from 4 pm-6 pm EST (1 pm-3 pm PST), so don't miss it! They will be doing another show next Wednesday, December 19 (same time), so don't miss that one either!
Tomorrow's theme is going to be "freaky"! Oh, yeah!
P.S. Mike D. recommends gettin' the ear muffs ready, because the show may not be "family friendly listening." Hehe.
UPDATE: Props to DJ Zap for recording this week's (and last week's) show! You can download 'em HERE [DEFUNCT SITE].
Put your sando inside this
Here's a look at the lunchbox that the Beastie Boys designed for the Food Bank of New York City's annual "Lunchbox Auction." Bidding on the lunchbox [DEAD LINK] begins on Monday, December 10, and ends on December 21.
The auction benefits the Food Bank for New York City and The Lunchbox Fund of South Africa.
Is that a ham and cheese on rye?
Bboys Radio next week
Crazy white guys
Inquiringmind Magazine has published an interview with photographer Josh Cheuse about his book Rockers Galore, which contains old school photos of the Beastie Boys and other artists Cheuse has known during his 25-year career as a music photographer.
Speaking about the Beastie Boys, with whom he was good friends, Cheuse tells the magazine:
There was a great time when Mike had a semi loft in Chinatown and we would shoot rats in the hallway and the ceiling was dripping with water, it was kind of crazy and everyone would crash in his loft. There was a thing called "No intendes", it was a Cabaré, which happened once a month, which was started by this guy Howie Montoke. He was a seminal club figure in New York and he would pay us $20 to come up with ideas. Mike, Adam and I would come up with an idea for a different band each week like "5 piece Chicken Dinner" or another time we were "The 3 Bad Jewish Brothers"; I was "Funky Ishamael", Mike was "MC Burkowitz" and Horovitz was "Jam Master Jew". Those were great times; every night was kind of an adventure, going to Queens and just being the "crazy white guys".
Read the full interview and view some of Cheuse's photographs at Inquiringmind Magazine's web site.
A close look at the "Fight for Your Right" video
Fuse.tv's "Videos That Rocked the World," a series that examines some of the most memorable music videos ever made, will look at the "Fight for Your Right" video tomorrow evening (Dec. 7, 10 p.m.). The show features an interview with Adam Dubin, who co-directed the video with Ric Menello.
In the unlikely event that you have never the seen the "Fight for Your Right" video (durrrr!), watch it at Youtube.
Update: Video clips from the show are now available on Fuse.tv's web site.
Beastie Boys receive Grammy nominations
The Grammy Awards ceremony will be held on February 10, 2008, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and be broadcast live on CBS.
Beastie Boys radio shows available to download
Oh, and remember what Horovitz said! Beastie Boys Radio is coming on every week!
Grading the buffet
Can't...write...proper...post...Laughing...too...hard.
Adam Horovitz enjoys a good breakfast buffet (via Filter Magazine). [DEFUNCT SITE]
Tune in tomorrow!
Dinner with the Beastie Boys
Read A Soccer Mom in Denial's story of meeting the Beastie Boys in the early '90s. The story illustrates how special they are.
The night I had dinner with the Beastie Boys By soccer mom in denial
December 3, 2007
I was living in Louisiana in the early 1990's. It was during the height of "Operation Rescue" (snort) going into communities to shut down women's clinics with the intention of limiting women's access to needed health care services. . .
For their 1992 tour, The Beastie Boys offered to have all the proceeds from their New Orleans concert go towards defending women's health clinics for the upcoming summer blockades. Several groups were offered the chance to staff information tables in the lobby so we could promote women's reproductive rights.
While setting up the tables we could hear the band rehearse. I didn't think much of it. I wasn't a big fan of theirs. I only knew You Have To Fight for Your Right to Party which was a pretty irritating song in my book.
Then, two of the guys from the band showed up in the lobby. They went to each table (there were only a few) and chatted with each of us. Then we were invited to have dinner with them backstage.
I go to the back of this little theater and find myself in a small room with a catered dinner. This guy appears behind me and says "Hi Allison. I met you in the lobby.”
To which I reply, "Um, I'm sorry, what is your name?”
He gives me this big grin, as if saying that no one has said that to him in a long time "Adam Horovitz. I'm in the band.”
"Oh. Right. Sorry.”
We then get pasta and soda drinks. I don't remember much of what was said but recall they were all very kind, thoughtful people.
I returned to the theater lobby to staff the information table. Once the lobby cleared out we were alone at our tables. A roadie came out and invited me to stand backstage and watch the show.
There I was, standing backstage, watching the three guys in the band quietly meditate. Then, as if someone turned a key, they literally sprung onto the stage. I had never seen people jump so high as they did. They went from complete stillness to nothing but balls of energy in seconds.
Then I was offered a pass to the front of the stage. And I danced up a storm.
To this day I still don't own any Beastie Boys. Not even on the iPod.
I do have their signatures on a wall sign. Not sure where it is though…
Beastie Boys Radio is returning!
Beastie Boys return to Little Radio
Spread the word. Yauch, Mike and Adam are back!
Tuesday, Dec 1, from 4pm-6pm the Beastie Boys return Live on LITTLE RADIO for BBoys Radio on Little Radio. If you've heard their shows before, you know it's much foolery and a schooling in the best music.
Friday, Nov 30 from 8am-12pm we'll be rebroadcasting 2 of their shows. One from 2005 and the other from 2006. So TUNE IN
Following the rebroadcast, check Little Radio, because we'll be posting 5 podcasts of Beastie's Radio Shows from 2005 and 2006. Listen, Download, Enjoy.
We're fairly certain they mean for listeners to tune in on Tuesday, December 4 (not December 1).
Thanks to Xavier!
B-ball Bboys
Perhaps it's Adam Yauch's turn to use the courtside tickets they presumably share for tonight's game against the Bucks?
Happy to help
For Knees Up!, Hagopian called on a friend to do a remix of the song "Take it to Fantastic." That her friend was Adam Horovitz, aka Adrock of The Beastie Boys, should help bring extra attention to the EP.
"My business sense did kick in," she said with a chuckle when asked about having Horovitz's name attached to her Cannonball Jane project. "But he was more than happy to do it.
"He has helped a lot of other bands by helping produce and doing remixes and so I simply asked him if he'd like to do a remix for me. And he really liked the song 'Take it to Fantastic,' so I thought that would be a good match."
Rock for Kids auction
Rock for Kids is a Chicago-based organization that provides free music lessons for underprivileged children in the area. The 19th Annual Rock for Kids Charity Auction will take place tomorrow (Friday, November 30) at Chicago's Park West venue. This is a live and silent auction featuring loads of autographed memorabilia from your favorite bands and artists! Included is a signed microphone from the Beastie Boys, very nicely framed! Check out photos of some of the other items for the auction HERE.
Visit the organization's website to purchase tickets, or if you are unable to attend tomorrow's event, you can register online now (before 6:00 pm CST) in order to bid by proxy. And feel free to make a donation too!
Live Earth CD/DVD release date changed
Mikey likey
Earlier this month, we posted a story about Mike Diamond checking out the Black Kids's set at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York. Today, music site Grooveshark.com [DEFUNCT SITE] published an interview with Black Kids vocalist/guitarist Reggie Youngblood in which they ask him about having a Beastie Boy as a fan.
Grooveshark: I've read that Mike D from Beastie Boys is a big fan of yours. Do you have any idea how that developed?
Reggie: We don't actually know if he's a fan or not. He came to one of our shows, but I don't know. He traveled to come check us out, he was there–that's a mindfuck, that he came to see us play.
Mike is not alone in his fandom of the Black Kids. The band from Jacksonville, Florida, has been receiving immense attention and accolades from the music media and indie music fan scene. You can download the Black Kids's free EP, titled Wizard of Ahhhs, at their official website.
Instrumental chaos
The images above are scans from the June 2007 issue of Howl, a French music magazine. This magazine was distributed for free outside Le Bataclan in Paris the day of the Beastie Boys Gala Event there.
The magazine contains an interview with Adam Yauch, conducted just before the release of The Mix-Up. In the interview, Yauch describes how the band wanted to make an "organic" album with instruments after making To the Five Boroughs with computers. When asked if he thinks fans expect something other than instrumental songs from the Beastie Boys, Yauch replies that he believes fans expect them to make music that interests the band. (Tis true.) Yauch also jokes that he believes most fans respond to the news of the band working on new music by thinking, "What are those fools screwing with now?"
One of the most interesting questions Yauch is asked is about the band's placing political statements in their songs. Yauch says that he likes seeing fans react to the political and social comments in the songs. He believes it is important to get people thinking and discussing the topics even if their opinions are contrary to the band's opinions. (Very noice!)
Yauch also talks about the meaning of the title of The Mix-Up, what influences their work, and what they learned from running Grand Royal.
(A big shout-out to B-grrrlie, who spied the magazine outside the venue and picked up a copy for me!)
Mixing with Adrock
The Hartford Courant has published an interview with Sharon Hagopian, aka Cannonball Jane, in which she comments on how she enlisted Adam Horovitz to remix a song on her new EP.
Hagopian tells the Courant:
"I was at his place, and he's always producing and remixing. So he was playing a remix he did for another one of our friends who was in a band called Measles Mumps Rubella and I was like, 'Hey, why don't you do a mix for me?' He's always been really supportive."
"Take It To Fantastic (Smallstars Remix by Adrock)" appears on Cannonball Jane's seven-track EP titled Knees Up! (Gaddycat Records), which is available to purchase at her Myspace page.
A side story...Measles Mumps Rubella, the band Hagopian mentions in the Courant interview, broke up before the EP on which Horovitz' remix was to appear was released; however, members of the band are still marketing their material. Earlier this week, one of the band announced on the band's Myspace page that the Dynamic Disasters EP with Horovitz' remix on it will be available on iTunes in the future.
Playing with sound
Adam Horovitz has contributed to the December issue of Visionaire, a conceptual art publication. Visionaire Issue 53, titled "SOUND," is comprised of five 12-inch vinyl picture discs containing unreleased songs, audio experiments, samples, spoken word, and other material by a number of contributing artists.
The records come packaged in a curved case with a "Vinyl Killer," a miniature battery-operated toy car equipped with a needle and loudspeakers. The case and car act as a portable record player. Also included with the collection are two CDs that contain all the content found on the five records and a booklet with credits and instructions on how to use the portable record player.
The collection is limited to 4,000 numbered copies and costs $250.
Other contributors to "SOUND" include David Byrne, U2, Fergie, Michael Stipe, Courtney Love, Laurie Anderson, Cat Power, Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, Antony & the Johnsons, Malcolm McLaren, Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Sylvian, Andrew WK, Danger Mouse, Nigo and Teriyaki Boyz, Lou Doillon, Liza Minelli, Mario Testino, Yoko Ono, Cerith Wyn Evans, Christian Marclay, Doug Aitken, Robert Wilson, Gary Hill, Sylvie Fleury, Vito Acconci, Mariko Mori, Carl Michael Von Hausswolff, Milla Jovovich, Linda Evangelista, The Knife, Littl'ans, Unkle, Animal Collective, Gang Gang Dance, DJ Spooky, Miss Kittin, Trevor Jackson, Towa Tei, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Karl Lagerfeld, Alexander McQueen, and Helmut Lang, among others.
Visionaire is currently not revealing the record tracklists; however, it's safe to assume that Horovitz has contributed a song.
Visionaire Issue 53 is available for pre-order at Amazon.com and a number of art web sites. It may be ordered directly from Visionaire's web site beginning in December.
Backstage at the Budokan
This unusual video was filmed backstage at the Budokan in Tokyo, Japan, on January 14, 2005, during the Pageant tour. I have no information on the original source of the video. It came to me in the form of an extra on a bootleg dvd of the Budokan show.
The video offers a peek at the Beastie Boys before the show. The 10-minute video shows tour manager Jerome Crooks fighting with Alfredo Ortiz (and going a little too far), cameraman Jamie Billet filming the video introduction of the show in which Mix Master Mike "scratches" dishes in the kitchen with Money Mark and Ortiz, and the band in the moments before going on stage.
Money Mark on new live compilation CD
The CD, which was released last week, is available to purchase at independent music stores in the United States, at both the Bonnaroo and Vegoose music festivals web sites, and the participating artists' web sites.
Tracklist
1. Take You There - G. Love and Special Sauce (Live from Bonnaroo 2006)
2. Wasting Time - ALO (Live from Bonnaroo 2005)
3. Staple It Together - Jack Johnson (Live from Bonnaroo 2005)
4. Songs We Sing - Matt Costa (Live from Vegoose 2006)
5. Color of Your Blue - Money Mark (Live from Vegoose 2006)
6. Constellations - Jack Johnson featuring Dan Lebowitz (Live from Vegoose 2006)
7. Hot Cookin' - G. Love and Special Sauce (Live from Bonnaroo 2006)
8. Barbeque - ALO (Live from Vegoose 2006)
9. These Arms - Matt Costa (Live from Vegoose 2006)
10. Island Style - John Cruz featuring Jack Johnson (Live from Bonnaroo 2005)
Cey Adams to launch book in Fall 2008
Another day at the office
"Sure Shot" at Bestival 2007
Watch the Beastie Boys perform "Sabotage" and "Sure Shot" at Bestival 2007 as broadcast on British television. You may download high-quality divx of the above videos at ylow.blogspot.com. (Note that there is a password associated with the download.)
Public Enemy documentary premieres at AFI Fest
Welcome to the Terrordome trailer
Welcome to the Terrordome, a documentary about hip-hop legends Public Enemy, premiered last week at the 2007 AFI Fest in Los Angeles. The film, by Robert Patton-Spruill, features interviews with the Beastie Boys, Henry Rollins, Talib Kweli and Tom Morello, among others. Plans for a general release of the film are unknown at this time.
Money Mark makes beautiful music
From the film Beautiful Losers
Money Mark has been getting rave reviews for his work on the soundtrack for Beautiful Losers, a documentary about underground artists. The film has been shown at several film festivals and in theaters in the United States in limited release this year.
Not a lot of information is available on the film; however, from what we understand, Mark actually scored the film. Unfortunately, there seems to be no plans to release the soundtrack on CD.
View the trailer for Beautiful Losers at Youtube.
Beastie Boys headlining Langerado 2008
Tickets will be on sale this Friday (Nov. 16).
Beastie Boys do lunch(box)
In 2005, Mike Diamond designed a lunchbox with his son Davis for the auction. Diamond and his wife, Tamra Davis, are big supporters of the Food Bank of NYC, often attending the organization's fundraising events.
Jay-Z samples Beastie Boys
Gimme Shelter benefit concert postponed
Beastie Boys in "Tougher Than Leather"
Recently a M2M reader inquired about Krush Groove, a 1985 film featuring the Beastie Boys. I was surprised to find no video clips of the Beastie Boys in the film posted at Youtube or other video sites. I had the idea of posting some clips from the film, but was unable to locate the film in my messy collection. I did, however, find Tougher Than Leather, the 1988 film written and directed by Rick Rubin and starring Run-DMC. Beastie Boys appear as themselves in several scenes in the film. I have posted all the scenes from Tougher Than Leather featuring the Beastie Boys to our DailyMotion account for fans to enjoy.
The scene most worth watching is one in which the Beastie Boys perform "Desperado," a song that they never officially released. Note that Hurricane does not appear as their DJ in the scene; the DJ role is played by producer Sam Sever.
Beastie Boys perform "Desperado" in Tougher Than Leather
Other scenes (in film order) featuring the Beastie Boys:
Adrock hits on the record company receptionist
The receptionist digs Run, not Adrock
Beastie Boys have no table manners
Jam Master Jay is not an Hasidic jew (scene features Horovitz and Yauch as Hasidic jews)
From the gang called Beastie Boys
Photo by TrafficEvents.com
On October 27, Mix Master Mike served as the house DJ for the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Halloween party in Los Angeles. Below are some photos of him at the party by TrafficEvents.com:
Photo 1 // Photo 2 // Photo 3 // Photo 4 // Photo 5 // Photo 6
The photos show him dressed as a gangsta "straight outta Compton."
A few days later, he donned the same outfit for another Halloween party at which he DJ'ed (and we didn't learn about until after-the-fact). On October 30, Mix Master Mike provided the entertainment at the Moon Nightclub's Sabotage Costume Party at the Palms in Las Vegas. Below are several photos of him at the party by NapkinNights.com:
Photo 1 // Photo 2 // Photo 3
Checkin' out the Black Kids
Idolator writes:
Mike D from the Beastie Boys...[was] wide-eyed and wizened and looking like a wrinkly hobbit, lost and frightened in Mordor, trying to escape before any of the hipster orcs noticed who he was.
Cey Adams discusses his new book
Cey Adams (Photo ©2006 Mike Shreiber)
"[The book is] called Definition: the Art and Design of Hip Hop. The idea is that over the last 20-25 years, basically since the birth of hip-hop, there's amazing talent emerging and a lot of these are people of color. A lot of them are Asian, or middle eastern -- basically, not white. There's all these amazing talent that are coming up, and nobody is really giving their work a voice. Everybody talks about graffiti and everything that happened in the 80's, but in my opinion that story has already been told over and over again. Nobody is telling the story of the young kid that was inspired by Fear of a Black Planet (Public Enemy) or Licensed to Ill (Beastie Boys) and decided that they wanted to become a graphic designer. So my concept was to try to incorporate graffiti and the evolution of graffiti and street art and show that people like Shephard Fairey or the disciples of Keith Haring, just basically to show the thread."
--Cey Adams
Graphic designer, Beastie Boys buddy, and all-around good guy Cey Adams is interviewed on his current book project, titled Definition: The Art and Design of Hip Hop (Collins Design), in Issue #28 (Nov. 4, 2007) of Format magazine. Read the interview at Format's web site.
Note that Adams' book will include "interviews by the Beastie Boys."
The pioneers of rap
In the process of recycling the many, many magazines in my home, I've come across some press on the Beastie Boys, which I'm scanning and posting to my Flickr account. Yesterday, while paging through the April/May 2006 issue of Giant magazine -- which I purchased to read its article on Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That! -- I discovered that I had overlooked a very interesting article about the pioneers of rap and Chung King Studios.
The article is a nostalgic look at the work of Run-DMC, LL Cool J, and the Beastie Boys from 1985 to 1987, with commentary from and information on the people who contributed to making these artists the rap pioneers they are considered to be today. Among the people featured in the article are Rick Rubin and John King (producers of Licensed to Ill), Steve Ettinger (engineer on Licensed to Ill), and Russell Simmons (Beastie Boys' former manager).
For me, the most interesting information in the article is photographer Sunny Bak's comments. It's unusual to find press in which she is interviewed about the Beastie Boys. (Bak is still hanging out with and photographing them today. I saw her last at the Beastie Boys concert in Santa Barbara in August.)
Today you won't read anything more interesting than this article.
(Note: At Flickr, please choose the "All Sizes" link to read the article at a legible size. Giant magazine uses a ridiculously small point size. I enlarged the print with my scans.)
M.I.A. confirms collaboration with Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys fan Allan Baldwin spoke to Maya Arulpragasam (aka M.I.A.) before her concert in Atlanta, Georgia, this week. He asked her about the reports the she will be collaborating with the Beastie Boys. Maya revealed that the Beastie Boys have asked her to adds vocals to "Freaky Hijiki," but that she likes "The Rat Cage" instead. She also shared that she does not know yet what she will be doing with the song--just laying down vocals and/or remixing the song too.
Beastie Boys tour crew featured in Mix
Sean Sturge and sound team (Photo: Mix)
Our favorite person on the Beastie Boys tour crew, Sean Sturge, got a write-up about his work on the Beastie Boys tour in the October 1 issue of Mix magazine. At Mix's web site, you can view a gallery of photos of the tour crew and band in concert.
Sean has worked with an impressive number of hip-hop artists including Diddy, 50 Cent, and a bunch of other people we can't remember he bragged about. Sean likes talking about and looking at photos of his Lexus, shopping at Foot Locker, and eating spaghetti. He has a lovely singing voice.
Best of O Watch
Sometimes, watching the Beastie Boys in the studio was as exciting as watching paint dry on the wall. Other times, it was like watching monkeys man a spaceship. Exciting or not, the O-scope cam feed allowed fans to learn both professional and personal things about the band.
What We Learned from O Watch
1. Mike Diamond talks a lot. He spends an excessive amount of time on his mobile phone. If he isn't talking, he's texting someone. Obviously, he is a very popular guy.
2. Contrary to his boast, Mike Diamond is not the Beastie Boy who dances the most. Adam Horovitz is the lord of the dance at Oscilloscope Laboratories. He shakes his booty above and beyond any other Beastie Boy.
3. The Beastie Boys' muse has four legs and a tail.
4. The Beastie Boys work in seclusion and without "consultants." They are their own musical geniuses (or fools, if you're inclined to think that way). An engineer is their sole sidekick in the studio.
5. When the Beastie Boys say that they contribute equally to their work, they aren't being completely truthful. Adam Yauch serves as boss Beastie Boy and producer. He is the one who spends the most time in the studio, working in front of and behind the controls. Most days, he is the first to arrive and the last to leave the studio.
6. Adam Horovitz is a jack-of-all-instruments. He plays guitar, keyboards, and percussions. The multi-instrumentalist even toys with Yauch's bass on occasion. He may be the reason no instrumental credits appear on The Mix-Up. His contributions would put the others to shame.
7. They are proud of their families. Each of them paraded their loved ones in front of the camera without concern or hesitation. This indicates a comfort and trust with both their families and fans.
8. The Beastie Boys are goofy -- but we knew this before they put the cameras in the studio.
We're going to take this down time now in the band's schedule to feature some of the best screen captures from O Watch for those fans who didn't have the patience or time to watch the live feed or scroll through the screen caps. Check the Best of O Watch feature at this blog daily for special screen caps from the collection.