The Beastles

So, like I said, the Mrs. and me were in the NYC for Christmas staying with, ahem, WHITE HEAT, and seeing old friends who made the move, one being Rogelio. After drinking the worst margaritas in the world at a so-called Mexican restaurant, we finally hooked up with him at this place in Brooklyn called Royale. Lots of black and red, strong drinks, nice. And before I was able to fully revive my tastebuds with my 2nd drink, my head started moving to the beat. A beat that was 35+ years old, but with words much newer. It was the Beatles with the Beastie Boys on top. Holy shit.

Mashed up by one dj BC, it's the kind of thing that you wonder why it hadn't already been done. (Maybe it was, but it never crossed my radar.) As a latecomer to the world of mash-ups and getting music via the interweb, I've only heard The Grey Album and another compilation a friend gave to me consisting mostly of 80s stuff. The Grey Album is, for me, much more of a remix album, as the only Beatles tracks instantly recognizable are While My Guitar Gently Sleeps and Rocky Raccoon. The rest are cut down to the bare essentials that DJ Danger Mouse needed. With the Beastles, BC lets the original music speak mostly for itself. Sure, there's some drum tracks added and the music is cut up here and there, but it's the Beatles coming thru loud and clear. It opens with Whatcha Want, Lady (So Whatcha Want over Lady Madonna) and the piano trips along with the flow laid down by the Boys, but I dig the 2nd track more. Here we find Triple Trouble over Day Tripper, whose killer opening chords are looped under the verses. I've also got to give props for Mad World Forever, which finds the BB's protest song In A World Gone Mad vs. Strawberry Fields Forever. It totally works.

Sitting there in Royale that night, I'll admit that the second half didn't grab me nearly as much as the first half, but now, the whole damn thing grabs me and slaps me around a little bit. Luckily, I'm into that kind of thing.