Beastie Boys on cracking form at Wembley Arena, September 2004
The Hiatus is back off again
Last Wednesday when I posted the first of my three-part tribute to MCA and the Beastie Boys I said that parts two and three would follow by the end of the week. Clearly things haven't quite run to plan however rather than 'fess up I would prefer to believe I was subconsciously echoing the Beasties' unhurried approach to their career. Anyone who remembers the half decade+ between the release of Hello Nasty and To The 5 Boroughs will know where I'm coming from.
Back to the programme, I'd like to use this last post to say thanks to MCA and the Beastie Boys for providing me with my favourite gig memory ever and to reflect on how, even after that highpoint in my fandom, the Beasties have continued to give me the confidence to approach music and life in a way that is true to me. For those of you who read the last post I promise I will try harder this time not to write so much.
Welcome back to the second part of my three-part tribute to
MCA and the Beastie Boys.
Yesterday I tried to express my gratitude to MCA and the
Beastie Boys for rescuing me from Indie rock and introducing me to a whole new
world of music through their 1998 opus, Hello Nasty. Today I would like to
explain how Hello Nasty led me not only to other music from the Beasties’ back
catalogue but to have the confidence to go out and figure what music I really
loved, irrespective of the vagaries of taste, fashion or musical boundaries.
Last Friday I was deeply saddened to discover that Adam
Yauch had died, aged 47, after a three-year battle with cancer. Readers in
their 20s and 30s might know him better as MCA, founding member of
groundbreaking hip-hop group the Beastie Boys.
The Beastie Boys’ music and their approach to life in general had a profound
effect on me.
I’d like to pay my respects to MCA and to express my gratitude to him and his
band for making the world a better place. As I began to write this post I quickly realised I had more things I wanted to say than would fit in a regular post. To make things more digestible I have broken this post into three parts (which is kinda fitting), with
parts two and three to follow later this week.
The New Style
King of Indie and gatekeeper and my one-time musical guide, Steve Lamacq. Photo: Guardian
I first became aware of the Beasties Boys in early 1999. These were the days
before broadband and Radio 1’s Steve Lamacq was the (not all that) Cool Ruler of the
post-Britpop Indie music scene.
The song which hooked me was Remote Control, off of the Beasties’ chart-topping 1998 album,
Hello Nasty. Listening to the song again following the news of MCA’s death I
can see now that it is a quintessential Beastie Boys song. Shouty delivery? Check.
Obscure pop culture references? Check. Funky instrumentation, including fuzzed
out basslines courtesy of MCA? Yes indeed, this song has it all. While I would
go on to discover other Beastie Boys songs that I am fonder of today, Remote
Control showed me that you could be true to yourself musically and still have
fun. In short, the Beastie Boys led me to realise there was more to life than
Indie music and its all-too-often musical conservatism.
After hearing Remote Control on the radio I made my way to
my local Our Price to pick up Hello Nasty. After stumping up paying nearly £20
for an import copy of the album, I set about getting my money’s worth by familiarising
myself in all 22 of the album’s tracks.
At the risk of sounding cheesy, Hello Nasty was a revelation. Even before
listening to the album I was drawn into the Beastie Boys world by the album’s
sleeve. On the front cover there’s a picture of the three Beastie Boys in a
sardine can, seemingly hurtling towards the sun. But it was the reverse and
inner artwork which really drew me in, with the retro design representing each
of the album’s 22 songs as studio sound channels and school textbook-style
illustrations of the Beastie Boys’ studio/space station helping create a
self-contained universe for the band.
The future of retro-inspired design, circa 1998. Photo: hhv
Out of this world music. The Beastie Boys at work/play recording Hello Nasty. Photo: Snurfer
The music didn’t disappoint either. Opening track Super
Disco Breakin’ sets the template, with lyrics chiefly focused on the importance
of rocking the party and dense, multi layered sounds in support. You’ve
probably heard of and danced to the hit singles off the album such as Body
Movin’ and Intergalactic but over the space of 67 minutes the Beasties also do
a nice job of instrumental jazz, Brazilian grooves and reggae (Dr Lee, PhD featuring
the legendary Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry). Re-visiting the album over the weekend, I
was especially struck by the Bossa Nova homage of I don’t know, which tenderly sung by Yauch.
There’s so much more I could say about Hello Nasty and the
world it opened up to me but I think I’ll take Ice Cube’s evergreen advice and check myself before I wreck
myself. I would like to end by once again thanking Yauch and the Beastie
Boys for opening my ears to a whole new world of music and helping me keep my
teenage angst in check. MCA, you will be sorely missed.
For more information about Adam Yauch and the Beastie Boys, visit the official Beastie Boys website.
There is also a thoughtful obituary and archive materials on The Guardian.
