Ask For Janice
September 12, 2012 11:19 AM   Subscribe

The Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique reworked with original source samples

It's called "Caught in the Middle of A 3-Way Mix" [MP3] and was created by DJs Cheeba, MoneyShot and Food.

The nooks and crannies that the three DJs have discovered and connected are wonderfully revealing. They crack open tom tom beats swiped from Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up," blend sourced samples from Black Oak Arkansas, the Eagles and Tower of Power, swipe sounds from Led Zeppelin, the Meters and Johnny Cash, shock with the string screeches from Alfred Hitchcock's film composer Bernard Herrmann. And by mixing in commentary from recorded interviews with the Beasties themselves discussing the album's creation, the thing feels like some sort of sonic documentary.

It goes without saying that this is also a tribute to Adam Yauch and the legacy he left behind and we hope it will be embraced by Beastie fans around the globe.

Cover art.

Hear also MoneyShot's "Check Your Head" investigation.

Bonus: the Paul's Boutique Samples and References List.
posted by chavenet (32 comments total) 76 users marked this as a favorite
 
There goes the rest of my day...
posted by zombieflanders at 11:20 AM on September 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


I also have a beard like billy-goat, so thanks for this!
posted by Cosine at 11:39 AM on September 12, 2012


It's the joint.
posted by ShutterBun at 11:47 AM on September 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


Here's the Soundcloud page, with the ridiculous list of tracks involved here.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:48 AM on September 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


*jumps on Mardi Gras float*
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:20 PM on September 12, 2012


I'm listening to it right now. It's a trip.

I remember listening to Paul's Boutique for the first time when I was really young (my older brother owned it). I could tell it there was something great about it, but I hadn't learned about the concept of sampling yet, so I had no way to express it, and I didn't hear again for a long time. A few years later, I heard "Those Shoes" by The Eagles and I thought to myself "wait-a-minute... I know I've heard this before." I would finally make the connection a few years later (in high school about this point) when I heard Paul's Boutique again and there it was... High Plains Drifter. My head exploded, and my curiosity about different musical genres expanded with that explosion.

Paul's Boutique is one of the main reasons I love the music I do. Thanks for this chavenet. These are great guides to the album I owe so much to.
posted by Groundhog Week at 12:20 PM on September 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


The cover art is so horrible that Geocities called form the 90's and would not allow that image on a site full of scrolling texts with space background.
posted by vozworth at 12:25 PM on September 12, 2012


I remember when Paul's Boutique first came out, it was so highly anticipated (especially by me!) and was, for all intents and purposes, the Beastie's second album, following up the unbelievable success of Licensed to Ill.

I was...unprepared. The Roland 808, which constituted practically the entirety of the musical portion of Licensed, was nowhere to be heard. We got a lot more samples, drum loops, and "funk" than before. "Hey Ladies" and "Shake Your Rump" stood out as singles, but by and large, the album more or less fell flat, at least in my circles.

Then it fermented a while, funk samples & loops began to be increasingly used by musicians, and I acquired a taste for it. Went back to Boutique and it was like a revelation. Little did I realize at the time that this was no sophomore slump, but rather the boys maturing musically, which they continued to do for the rest of their careers. Never knew they had it in them, at the time.

Here's another take on annotating Paul's Boutique, this time in the form of a video featuring narration and explanation from a certified funkophile (who's clearly having more fun than any of us)

On a side note, I didn't see it mentioned on the samples page, but I'd always suspected that the gunshot sample (right after the bong rip in "Shake Your Rump") was taken from the end of The Real Roxanne's "Bang Zoom" record. (obviously, the original source is from an old Bugs Bunny cartoon)
posted by ShutterBun at 12:39 PM on September 12, 2012 [6 favorites]


I've been listening to this for a couple of days now. It's goddamn good.
posted by Bookhouse at 12:41 PM on September 12, 2012


I don't understand what this is.
posted by Outlawyr at 12:45 PM on September 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


Like you, Groundhog Week, I first listened to Paul's Boutique at a young age. Unlike you, however, young-me did not have a good ear for this kind of thing, and I dismissed it as a bunch of noise (back then my musical tastes consisted of 90's mainstream pop, oops).

Growing older, I began to get into hip-hop heavily, and curiosity about the samples used in my favourite tracks led me to appreciate genres like jazz, soul, and even reggae a lot more. Paul's Boutique now ranks in my favourite albums for being a gateway to so much fantastic music. There's so much variety in the album that I can listen to it from beginning to end, despite how ADD my brain is when it comes to music.
posted by Geektox at 12:47 PM on September 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


Paul's boutique was one of the few non-hair metal tapes I owned as a pimply-faced youth. So different to License to Ill. So strange. I loved it. Just bought it again thanks to this link.
posted by Foaf at 12:53 PM on September 12, 2012


Christ how dumb have I been not to pick up on the Abbey Road sample.
posted by Foaf at 12:54 PM on September 12, 2012


Time and money for girls covered with honey...

To this day, IMO the best hip-hop album of all time. And, given that it's one of the most sample-rich albums as well, prime candidate for a remix rework. I endorse this effort fully.

The Sounds of Science.
posted by mcstayinskool at 1:55 PM on September 12, 2012




Holy shit. Thanks, chavenet.
posted by mintcake! at 2:05 PM on September 12, 2012


Goddammit, it sucks without Yauch around.
posted by mintcake! at 2:07 PM on September 12, 2012 [9 favorites]


bah, sorry didn't see that the Samples and Reference list was already on the FPP. Oh well, deserves a second mention...
posted by mcstayinskool at 2:35 PM on September 12, 2012


Paul's Boutique is great. This is a mess.
posted by chronkite at 3:06 PM on September 12, 2012


The cover art is so horrible that Geocities called form the 90's and would not allow that image on a site full of scrolling texts with space background.

That art is by Jim Mahfood and you are wrong.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 6:23 PM on September 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


...by and large, the album more or less fell flat, at least in my circles.

Right there with you, ShutterBun. I would have been about 13 when License To Ill came out, and me & my friends could not get enough of it. Right in the wheelhouse of our snotty white suburban experience. I remember my friend bringing Paul's Boutique home a couple of years later and being completely underwhelmed. Yeah, some of the tracks were good, but on the whole it sounded like a jumbled mess.

Right around the Paul's Boutique era, I got heavily into De La Soul, enough that in 1991 I thought De La Soul Is Dead was the greatest album I'd ever heard, and that album is not so far off the Paul's Boutique style - jam packed with samples and jokes and downright weirdness, practically requiring repeated listening. I don't remember revisiting Paul's Boutique at all during that era, but for whatever reason I was still dialed into the Beasties enough to roll a joint specifically for my trip to the record store the day Check Your Head dropped. It was after Check Your Head blew my mind that I revisited Paul's Boutique and understood it for the brilliant album it was.

And now I've solved my own mystery - what happened between 1989 and 1992 that made Paul's Boutique sound so much better? I started smoking weed.
posted by Banky_Edwards at 7:15 PM on September 12, 2012


Like the B52's real-life Love Shack, the real-life Paul's Boutique once caught on fire.
posted by Stoatfarm at 7:40 PM on September 12, 2012


Loved it. Standing on the shoulders of giants.
posted by sourwookie at 8:21 PM on September 12, 2012


YAY! 50 Favorites!
I loved this immediately and thought it was a brilliant remix and wanted to give kudos, but sometimes I cannot come up with a comment clever enough to post! The pressures of MeFi ...
*sigh*
Favorited early on knowing the thread would pick up and we would receive a few cool follow up links.

FYI: Post title is Ask For Janice. If you visit the linked Reference List and clicked on Ask For Janice ... TRIVIA

ALSO: Full Original Album here
posted by TangerineGurl at 9:55 PM on September 12, 2012


'There were a few years when I contended Paul's Boutique was the greatest album of all time. I blame my commute.

We love the hot butter, say what? THE POPCORN.

I coached a junior varsity basketball team in Kentucky and made them enter the gym to Shake Your Rump. They were mostly mortified. Good times.

If I couldn't teach them a 2-3 zone, at least I could teach them that "oo oo" is indeed the disco call.

Christ how dumb have I been not to pick up on the Abbey Road sample.

Ha. I'm the other way around. I'm married to a Beatles fan. Every time I hear that song, my brain goes "Oh? ... oh."
posted by mrgrimm at 10:38 PM on September 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


Also, "what's cooler than getting sued by The Beatles?"
posted by mrgrimm at 10:43 PM on September 12, 2012


mrgrimm: I have a solution you may not be aware exists: THE BEASTLES
Two full albums of pristine mashups of the Beatles and The Beastie Boys. A win-win situation!
posted by TangerineGurl at 11:24 PM on September 12, 2012


Licensed to Ill blew my semi-rural 13-year-old mind. Paul's Boutique confused the hell out of 15-year-old me, but I kind of understood that there was too much going on there to dismiss it. I had kind of forgotten about the Beasties until I was 18 and my friend wouldn't shut up about Check Your Head, so I finally listened and it totally caught me by surprise. That made me go back and listen to Paul's Boutique, and by that time I was able to appreciate how amazing it was.

It's really fun to dissect Paul's by listening to this. Thanks for posting.
posted by Rykey at 4:45 AM on September 13, 2012


mrgrimm: I have a solution you may not be aware exists: THE BEASTLES
Two full albums of pristine mashups of the Beatles and The Beastie Boys. A win-win situation!


Heh, no, I prefer my Beatles at the sample or occasional pop-culture inclusion level (I usually prefer Beatle covers). Paul's Boutique (Sounds of Science) is more than enough Beatles for me for a year or so. ;P

To be honest, I have listened to the Beastles a few times, and I didn't enjoy it much. And I like mashups!
posted by mrgrimm at 8:01 AM on September 13, 2012


One of the weird things about the connected world we live in: I actually chat with DJ Food on Twitter every so often about comics. He has excellent taste in 1970's fanzines.
posted by Artw at 2:23 PM on September 13, 2012


Also I badly want a full recording of this.
posted by Artw at 2:23 PM on September 13, 2012


I love this. Thank you.
posted by small_ruminant at 5:11 PM on September 13, 2012


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