The Mix-Up

Performer: Beastie Boys
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: With six highly celebrated official hip-hop albums under their belts, Adam Horowitz, Adam Yauch, and Michael Diamond have little left to prove to rap fans, except perhaps that they can still rock their instruments like they once did. With this in mind, THE MIX-UP brings listeners a full-length, jazz-funk jam-band exercise in a similar vein to the 1996 release, THE IN-SOUND FROM WAY-OUT, or the instrumental cuts on ILL COMMUNICATION. None of the Beasties go anywhere near the mic on THE MIX-UP (except for the odd whistle), but thankfully, and as the thorough tracklist proves positive, all three can still hold their own in a jam session. Most cuts rely on a Hammond organ groove and funky wah-guitar, with "4th Street Break" and "The Rat Cage" proving especially tight. True students of the post-modern pilfer approach to music-making that they are, one can even hear traces of Lips Inc.'s "Funky Town" creeping into the Beastie's guitar riffs of "Freaky Hijiki."

Uncut (p.96) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "THE MIX-UP is the best record collection ever thoroughly digested and re-imagined by a bunch of guys in love with sound."

In the mid-1980s, the idea of white middle-class Jewish rappers may have provoked laughter or outright disdain, but the Beastie Boys' albums and singles have shown that they are anything but a joke. After hip-hop and rock fused into the music of choice for rebellious American youth, it became increasingly clear that the Beastie Boys deserved to be regarded as true musical innovators. The release of 1989's PAUL'S BOUTIQUE began the Beasties' transition from lewd, party-seeking prankers to sophisticated, party-throwing sonic pioneers, with band members ditching the six-packs and gold chains in favor of Buddhism and social activism. The trio's newfound maturity and good-natured vibe only enhanced their success, leading to a continued streak of hit albums. Not bad for three New York City weisenheimers.

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