The second effort from the Beastie Boys,
Paul's Boutique, is another LP which is semi criminal not to
review, to not own - locked up - no trial.
Paul's Boutique is the business - Geek Rock, Trip Hop, Cut'n'Paste etc, etc - this LP is to mid 90's nerd culture as the Stooges were to punk or the Jam were to Brit Pop; all of this and recorded in 1989.
By 1989 the Boys from Brooklyn were in a dilemma - more MTV-happy fodder like "Fight For Your Right," or the crazyness offered by the Dust Brothers (their new amigos).
True to form the Beasties opted for the latter. Think Pepperland and Yellow Submarine, when trying to establish a groundwork to first experience Paul's Boutique (which incidently is named after a genuine shop in Brooklyn, New York). Between them, the Beasties and the Dust Brothers created a new Brooklyn, a psychedelic Brooklyn - spliced and intercut with one of the most sample happy LPs in existence.
Samples are endless and everywhere - Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd, Hendrix '67, Curtis Mayfield's Superfly, the Ramones, Sly and the Family Stone's deep funk period and Sgt Pepper Beatles themselves (how they got permission for that I'll never know). Lyrically its typical Beasties; sample "I stay up all night I go to sleep watching Dragnet / Never sleep alone because Jimmy is the magnet". Paul's Boutique was reviewed well, but met with commercial failure.
By 1994 with the first Mo'Wax excursions from DJ Shodow - In-Flux - and Lavelle's obsession with all things remotely "Soundtrack", to Beck and Hollywood's Sukia (and their current classic 45 "The Dream Machine") Paul's Boutique had its revenge and today remains a triumph of the imagination in music world of easy options and minimal risk taking.
Please pleasure your senses.