Beastie Boys: The In Sound From Way Out! (1996) & The Mix-Up (2007)

Regular visitors to Bloggerhythms should be very aware by now that I've always considered most rap/hip-hop distasteful. Only a couple of exceptions come to mind: "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style" (1991) by Canada's Dream Warriors and much of Gil Scott-Heron's work that - to me - sounds like rap in an embryonic state.

Just because I'm featuring Beastie Boys today doesn't mean my tastes have changed. But, when an artist - any artist - creates work that I believe is worthwhile I like to spread the word.

The critically acclaimed trio released two instrumental albums during their career, and neither one is a rap record although you can hear elements of the genre in both of them. The older one, The In Sound From Way Out! (1996), is a compilation of previously released tracks. It contains five instrumentals from the Brooklyn outfit's Check Your Head LP, six from Ill Communication and two b-sides. You'll hear Stax and James Brown influences mixed with a little electronica and healthy doses of jazz organ. The late Hammond B-3 master, Groove Holmes, even has a track named after him.

The Mix-Up was released in 2007. It's also chock full of soul-funk-jazz originals and is the more put together of the two, probably because it was recorded as a cohesive whole unlike its predecessor. It won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album in 2008.

Both discs found chart success. Way Out reached #45 on the Billboard 200 album chart and the latter set made it all the way to #15.

Guest collaborator "Money Mark" Nishita's stylish clavinet, organ and Rhodes piano work supplements Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz's guitar, the late Adam "MCA" Yauch's electric and upright bass playing, and Michael "Mike D" Diamond's drum work. Nishita received a handful of composing credits on each record.

Neither album offers any clue concerning the group's virtuosity, but sometimes technical skills aren't what's most important. Often, musicians instinctively know what each specific piece of music needs, especially when they've played in the same band for a long time. That's what you'll find here.

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