THE CD: Let it Beast
PERFORMER: The Beastles
WEBSITE: here

YOU’LL LIKE IT IF YOU LIKE: Jay-Zeezer, Mash-up Radio
SELECT TRACKS: “Ladies Do Love Me”; “Let it Beast”; “Building My Life”
SOUNDS LIKE: Either the Beatles or the Beastie Boys invented a time machine and met up at Abbey Road.

Every once in a while an album comes around that makes you say “I wish I would have thought of that,” and The Beastles “Let It Beast” is just one of those albums. Part Beastie Boys, part Beatles and all of Boston’s DJ BC, make this one of the best mash-up albums ever.

The first track, “Ladies Do Love Me” is an extremely tight mixed version of “Love Me Do” and the Beastie Boys “Hey Ladies” which works amazingly well together. As the Fab Four sing “so please…love me do,” the Beasties interject “Hey Ladies!” just in time to make these two tracks seem like they were each made with the other in mind. Throw in the fact that “Love Me Do” is sped up with a new beat added and you can kind of imagine where this thing is going. Doesn’t sound great to read, sure, but just check, check, check ch, check it out (OK, that was cheesy).

By far one of the most interesting tracks is “Belly Movin,” a song that seems if it is about to fall apart before the Beasties kick in some versus from their 1998 track “Body Movin.” I’m not for sure which Beatles track this is but I suspect it’s from sometime around the White Album from the sitar. The effect of these two songs together is interesting to say the least but somehow works.

The song that will definitely find its way to my IPod before this week ends though has got to be “Buildin My Life.” Whether you agree with the Beasties 2004 take on the state of the union track, “It Takes Time to Build,” or not, you have to think that John Lennon would crack a smile at hearing it over “In My Life” (Even though Paul wrote it, I think…anyways, I could be wrong). Either way it’s an interesting social commentary all the same and a good song to boot.

There isn’t too much else I can say about the Beastles Let it Beast besides its great. There are a few tracks like “Anna’s MCs” and “Electrified Kite” that won’t get much play but the rest is all good if remixes are your thing. If anyone is interested they can download this internet only release yourself here. Better yet have a look at the Beastie Boys official home page here, which offers acappella versions of some of their songs for people to use in their own remixes. It doesn’t get much better than that.

~ By Mark Totten

THE CD: “The Orange Album” (Wind-up Records)
PERFORMER: Stefy
WEBSITE: Click here.
SUGGESTED TRACKS: “Chelsea,” “Lucky Girl,” “Nothing Really”
YOU’LL LIKE IT IF…: you lack a soundtrack for your Young Molly Ringwald look.

What does it say about a band when the first sentence of their promotional material hails them for having a hot lead singer? That’s not to say neo-New Wavers Stefy invented banking on sex appeal. But more often than not, sex is a perk, a secondary emphasis (sometimes barely) to the music even when our throats are jammed near bursting with libido.

But Stefy (cobblers of the top-50 single “Chelsea”) says: “Listen to us because our singer is a scorcher.” Heck, the band’s even named after her. The music just tags along.

So, is singer Stefy Rae fly? Well, yeah, in a Zooey Deschanel is Chantal Claret as Tiffany kind of way. Still, she’s a few puddles shy of the Drool-o-meter Hall of Fame.

So sad for the band because they bring little else to the table. Rae channels a lesser version of Gwen Stefani as she squeaks sun-drenched California melodramas over fuzzed guitars and dizzying synths. (Hear the ridiculous “Orange County.”)

“Chelsea” — a catchy little Eurythmics knock-off about a euponymous girl who steals men — about taps the Orange Album’s wheat (hear it on the band’s Web site). The song earned a spot in the recent film “John Tucker Must Die,” but as the reviews for the movie roll in, it seems Barnes and Barnes’ “Fish Heads” could have snagged a track in that dreck.

The album’s other ten songs waver between over-worked, refried Tubeway Army songs and just palatable electro-pop.

Sorry, Stefy baby. It takes more than a pretty face — even when you have one.

– by Morgan Kelly

THE DVD: “Pulse” (Sony)
PERFORMER: Pink Floyd
WEBSITE: here

Get the last Floyd fix you’ll ever need with the recently released “Pulse” 2-Disc DVD set. If you had the 1994 concert CD set of the same name, filmed at Earls Court in London, you thought that blinking light on the case would never burn out. (The same way you had felt about the idealism of your youth, or the feeling that there was some benevolent force in rock music that could truly unite millions.) Well, after Pulse (released 7/11) had one of the top three opening sales weeks of any music DVD in history, opening at No. 1 on both sides of the pond, at least the latter sentiment still seems true.

The impressive DVD set features the entire 22-song set from the “Pulse” CDs, including the first ever audiovisual performance of The Dark Side of The Moon, in its entirety, remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, and re-edited for 2006. The inside sleeve and artwork is done by longtime Floyd filmer Storm Thorgerson, so it keeps with traditional surrealist Floyd themes. The DVD menu selection chart in the sleeve, swamped with Floyd footage options, looks more like a FEMA funchart than something you were meant to enjoy. Suffice it to say, this fix is worth $20.

With a live Floyd show, you get to see the light show, and of course, hear the music. With this DVD set, you also get over 20 videos, original screen films from the ’70s (which predate the MTV era), and alternate versions not yet seen by your eyeballs. Check out the high-minded and haunting video made for “High Hopes” to have your noodle sent reeling. The one made for “Us and Them” is cool, too. These videos do for the songs what Michael Stipe (of R.E.M., known for ambitious concept videos) said they should: add to what the songs mean to the fans, not take away.

“Say Goodbye To Life As We Know It” is a tour documentary from the 1994 Division Bell Tour, complete with beer drinkin’ hotel room trashin’ (a lamp is sacrificed), bathroom-to-bathroom footage, and general time killin’ fun. Ever wonder what it would look like to get hit in the eye with one of their lasers? Check it out, it’s scary. They shoot one directly into a camera.

The “Bootlegging the Bootleggers” footage isn’t about our country’s 20th Century heroes. No, it’s live footage of the “Pulse” show shot from the crowd’s perspective. This is right up the alley of all fans of raw concert recordings, like your humble narrator. There’s also a cover art section, so you can check on those old records, too.

One of the cooler parts of the set is footage of Billy Corgan (of Smashing Pumpkins fame) inducting Pink Floyd into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Corgan gives heartfelt reflections on the band’s influence on him growing up, and on the (now) late Syd Barrett. Then, Corgan joins David Gilmour and Richard Wright for a version of “Wish You Were Here.” Goosebumps ensue.

For those of you who will never see Pink Floyd live, or can never seem to get that perfect Floyd fix, this should do you. To see Pink Floyd’s video for “High Hopes,” click here. To see the live version of one of my favorite Floyd songs, “Coming Back to Life,” click here.

— Nick2

THE CD: “Christ Illusion”
PERFORMER: Slayer
WEBSITE: http://www.slayer.net/
LABEL: American
CHOICE TRACKS: Flesh Storm; Eyes Of The Insane; Jihad; Supremacist
YOU’LL LIKE IT IF YOU LIKE: Some anti-dogmatic attitude in your hardcore thrash…

Ahhh, good ‘ol Slayer. With so many things in the world going to hell right now, it’s good to know they haven’t…yet. The Los Angeles-based four-piece is back with Christ Illusion to let you know, 20 years after Reign In Blood put them on the map, their version of hardcore thrash still rocks.

The band (Tom Araya: vox/bass; Kerry King: lead guitar; Jeff Hanneman: guitar; Dave Lombardo: drums) delivers a short, sweet, 10-song encapsulation of their sound (and of the self-fulfulling influence of deviant organized religion in all our lives). Sometimes punk-tinged thrash, sometimes slogging hardcore metal… always rockin’.

The CD picks up where God Hates Us All (release date: 9/11/2001…maybe it WAS God!) left off. Slayer still has Araya howling at the altar, and King’s force-of-nature riffage to grab your attention. Not to mention the breakneck speed, which is what drew me in at first, when I heard “War Ensemble” on 1990’s Seasons In The Abyss. And then, the devil seduced me. (Haha, just playing. I slapped that b—- up!)

“Jihad” starts with one of the more quirky guitar intros you’ll hear on a Slayer song, and finds Araya stating what by now should be obvious: religious fundamentalism leads to death. Take these towers from the world…slit the throat of heathens…war of holy principles…this is God’s war!

On “Cult,” you don’t have to listen too hard to get the jist of Araya’s message: Religion is hate/religion is fear/religion is war. Religion is rape/religion is obscene/religion’s a whore. Roger that, good buddy!

If you’ve heard one or more Slayer CDs, you will not be surprised with Illusion. Araya’s tortured lyrics (which carry on the proud American tradition of moral freedom); King’s wind-up solo parts; and the machine gun march that defines their sound are all here. So, you get what you expect out of a Slayer CD. I support that. Now, bring on the Millerites!

~ By Nick Harrah

THE CD: The Black & Blue Album
PERFORMER: Jay-Zeezer
SOUNDS LIKE: Jay-Z raps with Weezer
YOU’LL LIKE IT IF: You know where to draw the line with sampling…and Jay-Z or Weezer of course

OK, so it’s not technically a new album, or for that matter even a real album. Yet here it is, in all of its black-and-blue glory for the world to see. What else could I be talking about except Jay-Zeezer’s “The Black and Blue Album” of course?

It’s been said that once MTV gets ahold of an idea, it’s pretty much old news. But mashup music is definitely alive and well on the Internet. In fact, some of the most interesting stuff out there is just begging to be found by people with too much time on their hands. That’s how I came across it anyways.

In standard mashup fashion, not only have the songs been mixed together, but so have the titles. So if for some reason you have ever wondered to yourself what Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” would sound like mixed with Weezer’s “Buddy Holly,” just listen to, you guessed it, “99 Problems With Buddy Holly” by Jay-Zeezer.

Don’t let my joking around fool you, however. This album has reached cult status with hardcore Weezer and mashup fans alike. I seriously have “Encore for Wayne,” “Bonnie, Clyde and El Scorcho,” and “Say It Ain’t December 4th” rocking on my iPod daily. In fact, I’ve never recommended this album to someone who didn’t at least get a kick out of it.

Don’t take my word for it though, just check out the website for a free download of the whole album and be sure to sign the guestbook for DJ… uh… Mike. Besides, with reviews like “However many times this guy gets his a** kicked is not enough,” “I hope this dissuades people from ever naming their album after a color again.” And, my personal favorite: “White people have ruined Jay-Z for me” — you have to at least check it out.

Oh yeah, did I mention it was free? Stay tuned for more music you will wish I never told you about.

– MarkT

THE DVD: “Dub Side of the Moon Live”(EasyStar)
PERFORMER: Easy Star All-Stars
WEBSITE: www.easystar.com
YOU’LL LIKE IT IF YOU LIKE: Some rasta with your psychedelia
SELECT TRACKS: “Time,” “Us & Them,” “Money”
SOUNDS LIKE:“Dark Side of the Moon” meets “The Harder They Come”

It’s estimated that one in 20 people owns a copy of Pink Floyd’s 1973 masterpiece “Dark Side of the Moon” and the album still holds one of the longest stints on the Billboard album charts. In 2003, New York’s prominent (only?) Reggae label Easy Star Records observed the 30th anniversary of the landmark psychedelic album by re-envisioning it with the dub riddims most associate with Bob Marley.

The result was “Dub Side of the Moon,” a CD that topped the Billboard Reggae charts and created such a buzz that a touring group of the label’s All-Stars hit the road to perform the record live. While the studio effort featured guest appearances by Corey Harris and the sultry female singer Kristy Rock of Trumystic, the Dub Side LIVE DVD features a crack team of reggae enthusiasts. They put their fever behind fond reinterpretations along with wacky visuals to enhance the trip.

The performance seen here took place in Falls Church, Va., but the DVD begins with an animated sequence set in outer space. While the band warms up with “Speak to Me,” a space shuttle bearing the name Syd Barrett (the recently deceased original Pink Floyd front-man) orbits through the atmosphere carrying it’s lone Rastafarian astronaut into “The Dark Side.” When the monitor blinks “Now Entering Dub-Side,” the band comes to life with “Breathe” and we get our first glimpse at the 11-piece ensemble. The sound is unmistakably reggae and Pink Floyd, and the two are melded together so seamlessly, you get the impression that Roger Waters and David Gilmour may’ve had a subconscious dub track looping in their head while conceiving Dark Side.

The two most notable things about this performance are the surprisingly cohesive arrangements that pay great attention to the original melodies, and the galactic space jams that stretch into pure instrumental bliss — they are musically impressive but never grow overly jammy. Remarkably, they feel nicely drawn-out, the way a Phish jam, say, doesn’t.
Stellar vocalist Tamar Kali does a bluesy take on the vocal howling from “The Great Gig in the Sky,” a passage that I previously thought was impossible to recreate.

“Money” and “Time” both feature raps delivered with cultural conscience by Menny More. Although his interpretation is an artistically cool thing to do with the lyrics, they become completely unintelligible in his rapid-fire Jamaican accent.

More animated sequences with our Rasta-spaceman are interspersed between tracks. Instead of ripping bills and ringing cash registers, “Money” starts with our space man. He is in the midst of “Increasing Crew Awareness” with a deep inhale, a deeper cough, and immediately bloodshot eyes as the lilting, off-kilter and unmistakable bass line creeps in. You’ll be surprised at how natural this comes off with the dub back-beat.

Musical highlights include smooth vocals from guitarist Junior Jazz on “Us & Them” and some atmospheric sax and flute by Jenny Hill. Jeremy Mage brings his keyboards to the front for an outspoken solo during “Any Colour You Like.” Foghorns of reverb and wah-drenched trombone, provided by Buford O’Sullivan, complete “Brain Damage,” and the entire concert comes to a close with a basic dub jam between the bass and drums. With that, our rasta-naut leaves the dark side and goes back to orbiting in a less enchanted atmosphere.

The bonus features don’t offer much insight. There are a few studio shots of Corey Harris and Frankie Paul in a three-minute, sad excuse for a “Making of…” feature that only features small amounts of studio work and massive amounts of super-toking. The final interview with drummer Ivan Katz hints at the next Easy-Star project, a reggae re-take on Radiohead’s 1997 acclaimed concept album “OK Computer.”

~ By Adam Harris