[Download] Cut Chemist – Hip Hop lives

The 37th Chamber, the brainchild of Gerald Watson and DJ 2-Tone Jones, is a specialty mixtape project that has 2-Tone artfully blending the acapellas of rappers from the Wu-Tang Clan with hand picked jazz instrumentals.

Download it here.

I can’t exactly recall the first time I heard the Beastie Boys, but I do know that from the moment I heard them, I didn’t stop listening to them. Adam Yauch died today. I think I saw the band live two or three times – again, I don’t know exactly. I do know that we used to cover ’Gratitude’ in one of my old bands. That fuzz bassline being just one of Yauch’s many fine moments.

It’s pointless to have a debate over which is the ‘best’ Beasties album: we can choose all and any of them. For me, Ill Communication, Paul’s Boutique, Check Your Head, Hello Nasty, To The 5 Boroughs…they all have special places in my life. Licensed to Ill was always too juvenile a record for me – that’s just a personal preference and not a judgement.

One of the greatest strengths of the band was that they were a solid trio of musicians. Not only did they have an understanding of instrumentation, but also had a thorough grounding in music history as it applied to them and that is easily cited in their history of chosen samples. There was a fully downloadable anthology of tracks, but since Megaupload got taken down, that’s gone now. You can still see the sample list here. (I think I have it all somewhere – will see if I can upload it.)

Yauch and co were also responsible for making some of the most inventive and playful music videos made: Sabotage, Intergalactic, Alive, and of course – the nifty multiple camera work of 3 MCs and 1 DJ’s. That undoubtedly lead to the excellent ‘Awesome, I shot that!’

Anyone that saw a Beastie Boys show can attest to the quality poured into the performance. An incredibly talented trio that took their influences, tore them up, and put them together to form an original and fascinating series of pieces. It’s impossible to be bored by the Beastie Boys: inspirational, original, ethical.

Thank you, Adam.

First of a few UK Garage mixes from Jay whilst on DJ Luck’s LUSH FM around 1999. Also features some breakbeat shots.

Brought to my attention by Matt Poacher – full review over at P4k. Good, doomy sounds.