Beastie Boys
The Mix-Up

"We'll play more instruments and do less sampling, there will be more rock." Mike Diamond

In this bitter life, sòle (also known as "scammers" or "rip-offs") are the order of the day. There's no advertisement or word-of-mouth that, behind a thousand promises of excellence with true "recommendations not to miss this or that," don't hide, deep down, a bitter disappointment. This applies to the choice of a movie, the latest book to read, or the CD to buy. You always need to tread carefully and try to gather as much information as possible about the item you are going to purchase (so far, quite obvious!).

Let's take this "The Mix-Up" by the Beastie Boys released this year. Someone who is known as a connoisseur of the genre recently (right here) spoke very highly of it, even rating it with 5 stars (that is "the maximum," practically "a masterpiece," a rating I think should be given to no more than 150 CDs at all) and that's why, finding it at a used stall for a measly 8 euros, I couldn't resist the advice and bought it "blindly."

I confess I'm not a big fan of rap and hip-hop even though I have about 20 CDs (7 of which are Italian), but the fact that the album in question is free of sung parts makes me a bit liberated in daring a purely musical judgment on these 12 brand new pieces by Mike "D" Diamond, Adam "MCA" Yauch, and Adam "Adrock" Horovitz, official holders of the "Beastie Boys" brand since their stunning debut with "Licensed to Ill" (1986, more than 20 years ago - an album among those 20 I obviously have) in collaboration with Money Mark on keyboards and Alfredo Ortiz on drums.
An album that directly refers to that old "The In Sound from Way Out!" from 1996 (another of those albums I have, off the list) if only for not being sung and for a certain musical continuity, which is unsurprising given the almost identical lineup.

This Mix-Up album is not bad at all, mind you, at times thrilling with truly enjoyable tracks (listen to "Suco de Tangerina" with its reggae flow with the vintage keyboard counterpoint creating a truly irresistible contrast or "The Gala Event" with its almost trip-hop flow) but ultimately, it's a project that leaves a certain taste of irresolution which is very repetitive and offers few truly innovative ideas. Many songs have potential that could be well expressed if integrated with an adequate sung part, and without it, they have little reason to be.
Still, it's an album "entirely played" unlike the previous "To The 5 Boroughs" from 2004, sampled at 90%, which, on one hand, makes us appreciate the group's qualities as instrumentalists, but on the other, it highlights their limits with music that is too sparse and lacks imagination, excellent, I repeat, as a sound base for real rapped tracks, but really uninteresting for someone who expects something more from music itself. The mix of the rhythmic base (bass and drums always very tight) counterpointed by guitars and keyboards that hark back to the 60s works and keeps us company, but an entire album played like this, in the end, feels a bit lacking. In fact, I dare say: it bores.

Nice, yes, but certainly NOT that "5-star masterpiece" that some critics promised. An album that, once loaded on my iPod and listened to just those 3 or 4 times, will sneak back to the used CD market from where it was picked up. Unless someone expressly requests it from me, in which case for 8 tricky euros I'll ship it directly to their house by priority mail (at my expense, of course).

1. B For My Name
2. 14th St. Break
3. Suco De Tangerina
4. The Gala Event
5. Electric Worm
6. Freaky Hijiki
7. Off The Grid
8. The Rat Cage
9. The Melee
10. Dramastically Different
11. The Cousin Of Death
12. The Kangaroo Rat