Day 0644 - Paul’s Boutique

Beastie Boys "Paul's Boutique" (1989)

The Beasties had parted company with Rick Rubin and Def Jam records, and were being written off in some corners as a bit of a one-hit wonder.

Rather than just repeat their 'bratty frat-rap over rock' approach, the Beasties enlisted the help of sampling and sonic-weaving extraordinaires: the Dust Brothers.  A good deal of the music for the album had already been completed by the DBs with the intention of it being released to clubs as an instrumental album.  The Beasties convinced them to make it the basis for their album.  The Dust Bros suggested that they could strip it back to just the beats, but the Beasties wanted the density of the sound.

There is still a bit of the smartass party rap present but the Beasties do branch out.  The interesting production acts as an a bridge to their later more serious work.  Apart from the vocals, the rest of the album is almost entirely composed of samples, and is viewed by some as one of the last big 'sample albums' before the copyright laws really started to clamp down (though the claim that the samples were never cleared has been contradicted by one of the album's engineers).

Day 0635 - It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back

Public Enemy "It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back" (1988)

I love so many of these early rap records.   Intelligent, socially conscious lyrics, and a magpie-like approach to assembling their sounds.  The tracks feature everything from James Brown to Slayer.  As well as the music, spoken word and 'found-sound' samples are used.   There's an odd high-pitched noise that runs throughout the different tracks that would have seemed odd at the time, but came to be used by a few 90s rap artists.  Chuck D proclaimed that if Phil Spector invented the 'wall of sound' production approach, Public Enemy's Hank Shockley invented the 'Wall of Noise'.

It's a sign of how influential the album has been that other artists have likewise pilfered sounds and lines from this record, with artists ranging from Jurassic 5 to Weezer taking bits and pieces from them. The track "Prophets of Rage" would go on to give the name to the group that Chuck D would form with ex-members of Rage Against the Machine.  That collaboration also prompted by the influence this group had on that band.

There's hardcore rap, rock/metal-rap and the brilliant subversion of the Beastie Boys hit with "Party for your right to fight".   The mix of MCs works too, with Flava Flav adding a touch of levity to the otherwise intense verbal onslaught.  

Day 0543 - Double Nickels on the Dime

Minutemen "Double Nickels on the Dime" (1984)

This album is all kinds of brilliant!  I had already listened to it a number of times in past years, and I can't remember if I found it through the 1001 Albums book or if it was recommended to me by a friend.  Whatever the case, while ostensibly a 'punk' album, it covers elements of post-punk, a whole lotta funk, sonically experimental 'alt rock', blues, flamenco guitar, and various other styles.  The tracks are largely under two-minutes, so if you're not entirely sold on what you're listening to... don't worry, it'll change in a moment.

Just the sheer scope of effortless musical exploration and the "throwing it at the wall and seeing what sticks" approach is admirable.  I could see a number of later bands (including the early music from the Red Hot Chili Peppers) being heavily influenced by this band and this album.

Minutemen made an impressive amount of sound for just 3 people.  The precise and funky bass of Mike Watt is brilliant.  Sadly, singer/guitarist D Boon died a year later, and the Minutemen died with him.  Mike Watt went on to have a varied and interesting musical career off and on over the following decades.