The Mix-Up
Encyclopedia
The Mix-Up is the seventh studio album by the Beastie Boys
, released on June 26, 2007. It consists entirely of instrumental performances and won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album
.
sent to those on the Beastie Boys' mailing list revealed the album is all instrumental.
On June 21, 2007, a legal stream of the entire album was released on BrooklynVegan.com. Snippets of all the songs on the album can be found on BeastieBoys.Com along with the video for one of the songs, "Off the Grid". The video for "The Rat Cage" has also been released.
Drummer Mike D said that "even though The Mix-Up is a 'post-punk
instrumental' album, the Beasties have no plans to ditch vocals for good. In fact, they are currently planning another version of the album that will feature collaborations with 'a pretty wide array' of 'mostly newer' vocalists."
Two singers speculated to be featured on the vocal version were Jarvis Cocker
and M.I.A.
, with Mark Ronson
somehow also involved. The idea for this version of the album has since been abandoned.
In an interview with The Aquarian Weekly
, published in February 2008, the band was asked if they were making a statement about the status of hip-hop music by releasing an album strictly
of instrumentals. “In a way, the album was a reaction to our hip hop," said Ad-Rock "Our last record was an all rap record, so when we started recording [The Mix Up] we wanted to work with some instruments, and it just sounded cool, so we kept with it.”
Diamond expanded on Ad-Rock's response, adding, "“We get asked, ‘What do you think of the state of hip hop today?’ a lot. Maybe I’m being defensive, but it seems like people always look for us to come out and criticize hip hop. But hip hop is what we grew up on, and it continues to be one of the only forms of music left that strives on evolution and innovation. Yeah, we might be in a spell where we’re waiting for that next record to come out and change everything—but still, that’s what hip hop is and that’s what puts it in its unique place.”
, selling about 44,000 copies in its first week. As of April 27, 2008, the album sold 258,000 copies worldwide. In Australia, the album debuted at number 42. In the UK, the album debuted at number 79. It is by far their lowest charting album in the UK so far, the highest being Hello Nasty
, which debuted at number 1.
According to BallerStatus.com, The Mix-Up was the highest selling "hip hop album" of that week. On September 15, the Beastie Boys sent a newsletter listing the last of the shows associated with The Mix-Up; within the newsletter it was joked The Mix-Up was a platinum record.
Uncut
magazine gave it four stars out of five, saying "The Mix-Up is the best record collection ever thoroughly digested and re-imagined by a bunch of guys in love with sound."
The Mix-Up won a Grammy in the Best Pop Instrumental category.
as a part of the EP The Mix-Up Bonus Tracks. It was released on December 23, 2008.
Additional musicians
Technical personnel
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
, released on June 26, 2007. It consists entirely of instrumental performances and won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album
Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality instrumental albums in the pop music genre...
.
Background
On May 1, 2007, an e-mailE-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
sent to those on the Beastie Boys' mailing list revealed the album is all instrumental.
On June 21, 2007, a legal stream of the entire album was released on BrooklynVegan.com. Snippets of all the songs on the album can be found on BeastieBoys.Com along with the video for one of the songs, "Off the Grid". The video for "The Rat Cage" has also been released.
Drummer Mike D said that "even though The Mix-Up is a 'post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
instrumental' album, the Beasties have no plans to ditch vocals for good. In fact, they are currently planning another version of the album that will feature collaborations with 'a pretty wide array' of 'mostly newer' vocalists."
Two singers speculated to be featured on the vocal version were Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker is an English musician and frontman for the band Pulp. Through his work with the band, Cocker became a figurehead of the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s. Following Pulp's hiatus Cocker has led a successful solo career...
and M.I.A.
M.I.A. (artist)
Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam , better known by her stage name M.I.A. , is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of hip hop, electronica, dance, alternative and world music. M.I.A...
, with Mark Ronson
Mark Ronson
Mark Daniel Ronson is an English DJ, guitarist, music producer, artist and co-founder of Allido Records. He currently works with his band under the music alias of Mark Ronson & The Business Intl....
somehow also involved. The idea for this version of the album has since been abandoned.
In an interview with The Aquarian Weekly
The Aquarian Weekly
The Aquarian Weekly is a regional alternative weekly newspaper based in New Jersey. Founded in 1969, its focus is popular music. It is accompanied by a pull-out section, The East Coast Rocker, which is freely distributed throughout the New Jersey/New York City/Eastern Pennsylvania region.The paper...
, published in February 2008, the band was asked if they were making a statement about the status of hip-hop music by releasing an album strictly
of instrumentals. “In a way, the album was a reaction to our hip hop," said Ad-Rock "Our last record was an all rap record, so when we started recording [The Mix Up] we wanted to work with some instruments, and it just sounded cool, so we kept with it.”
Diamond expanded on Ad-Rock's response, adding, "“We get asked, ‘What do you think of the state of hip hop today?’ a lot. Maybe I’m being defensive, but it seems like people always look for us to come out and criticize hip hop. But hip hop is what we grew up on, and it continues to be one of the only forms of music left that strives on evolution and innovation. Yeah, we might be in a spell where we’re waiting for that next record to come out and change everything—but still, that’s what hip hop is and that’s what puts it in its unique place.”
Reception
The album debuted at number 15 on the U.S. Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, selling about 44,000 copies in its first week. As of April 27, 2008, the album sold 258,000 copies worldwide. In Australia, the album debuted at number 42. In the UK, the album debuted at number 79. It is by far their lowest charting album in the UK so far, the highest being Hello Nasty
Hello Nasty
Hello Nasty is the fifth studio album by the Beastie Boys. It was released on July 14, 1998 via Capitol Records and sold 681,000 copies in its first week, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart...
, which debuted at number 1.
According to BallerStatus.com, The Mix-Up was the highest selling "hip hop album" of that week. On September 15, the Beastie Boys sent a newsletter listing the last of the shows associated with The Mix-Up; within the newsletter it was joked The Mix-Up was a platinum record.
Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
magazine gave it four stars out of five, saying "The Mix-Up is the best record collection ever thoroughly digested and re-imagined by a bunch of guys in love with sound."
The Mix-Up won a Grammy in the Best Pop Instrumental category.
Track listing
- "B for My Name" – 3:31
- "14th St. Break" – 3:34
- "Suco de Tangerina" – 3:17
- "The Gala Event" – 3:47
- "Electric WormThe Electric Worm"The Electric Worm" is a song by American hip hop group the Beastie Boys, released as the first single from their instrumental album The Mix-Up.The B-side of the single is "Suco de Tangerina", which is also on the album....
" – 3:15 - "Freaky Hijiki" – 3:05
- "Off the Grid" – 4:36
- "The Rat Cage" – 3:37
- "The Melee" – 3:10
- "Dramastically Different" – 3:57
- "The Cousin of Death" – 3:06
- "The Kangaroo Rat" – 3:28
- "Biscuits and Butter" (iTunes exclusive) – 4:19
The Mix-Up Bonus Tracks
A set of bonus tracks were offered as digital downloadsMusic download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
as a part of the EP The Mix-Up Bonus Tracks. It was released on December 23, 2008.
- "Politickin'" – 3:57
- "Beasley Is a Beast" – 3:49
- "LTD" – 3:12
- "The Panda Rat" – 3:40
- "The Mix-Up" – 3:34
- "Fibonacci Sequence" – 3:13
Personnel
Beastie Boys- Adrock – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, art direction - MCAAdam YauchAdam Nathaniel Yauch , , is a founding member of hip hop trio the Beastie Boys. He is frequently known by his stage name, MCA, and other pseudonyms such as Nathanial Hörnblowér.-Early life:...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and upright bassesDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, producer, engineer, art direction - Mike D – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, producer, engineer, art direction
Additional musicians
- Mark NishitaMoney MarkMark Ramos-Nishita aka Money Mark is a producer and musician who has collaborated with the Beastie Boys many times. He also appears on the first Banyan album in 1997 as the "Freeway Keyboardist".-Career:...
– ClavinetClavinetA Clavinet is an electrically amplified keyboard instrument manufactured by the Hohner company. It is essentially an electronically amplified clavichord, analogous to an electric guitar. Its distinctive bright staccato sound has appeared particularly in funk, disco, rock, and reggae songs.Various...
, RhodesRhodes pianoThe Rhodes piano is an electro-mechanical piano, invented by Harold Rhodes during the fifties and later manufactured in a number of models, first in collaboration with Fender and after 1965 by CBS....
, FarfisaFarfisaFarfisa is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy.The Farfisa brand name is commonly associated with a series of compact electronic organs, and later, a series of multi-timbral synthesizers. At the height of its production, Farfisa operated three factories to produce instruments, in... - Alfredo OrtizAlfredo OrtizAlfredo Ortiz is an American drummer, was the former drummer for New York group Morningwood and Los Angeles rockers Red Exiles. Previously Ortiz has toured with the Beastie Boys as a drummer and percussionist, and appeared in their film, Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That! In previous years, he has lent...
– percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
Technical personnel
- Jon Weiner – engineer
- Greg Calbi – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Bill McMullen – illustration, package design