Stream: Beastie Boys' Hot Sauce Committee Part Two Via Big Boombox

On Friday morning, people on the Beastie Boys' email list received

a cryptic email, the subject line read "MSN MSG" and the body of the email only

contained "This Sat, 10:35 am EST -- Just listen, listen, listen to the beat box"

with a link to their website. Did it mean that the Ad Rock, MCA and Mike D were

gonna perform live at Madison Square Garden on Saturday morning? No, not

really; it meant a boombox playing the Beasties' new album would sit at

halfcourt in the Garden with a mic blasting the entire new album over the PA

and a few cameras streaming it onto the web.

We made our way to their website to see the footage and

listen to entire album, only to find the video of the boombox had been replaced

by entire high-quality stream of the album and this statement:

Good people, unfortunately due to circumstances beyond

our control, the "clean" version of our new album, The Hot Sauce

Committee pt 2 has leaked. So as a hostile and retaliatory measure with great hubris

we are making the full explicit aka filthy dirty nasty version available for

streaming on our site. We hope this brings much happiness, hugs, and harmony.

Enjoy Kikoos for life!

Thank you, The Management

Here's the video of the boombox at the garden, followed by our initial

thoughts of the new album.

"Make Some Noise" starts it off with some Paul's Boutique

party vibe, with Check Your Head-style production. The immediate thought is, "The

Beasties are back." We never lost faith in their musical prowess. And even

though their last effort, 2007's The Mix

Up, was an accomplished instrumental work, the Beastie Boys don't need to

prove that they know how to play instruments anymore. We know they got jazz skills;

we want to hear them spit the skills that pay the bills.

"Non-Stop Disco Powerpack" is the Beasties turned down a

bit; the voices are lower and more relaxed; they dialed in just enough

echoplex so we can hear them clearly bragging and boasting about being the

best MCs, as all good MCs must do. MCA's voice has always been the most worn of

all the boys; his vocal cords sound a little shredded, but his delivery is

sharp and endearing. The man is fighting cancer and manages to rhyme at 140

beats per minute without losing his breath.

"OK" is full of new, futuristic sounds and vocoded hooks. We were so into this song and amazed by the layers of fun within it. They cheekily have Adrock build up into a signature, "mmmm... drrrrrrrop!"only to psyche us out, with an "mmmmmmmm... OK!"

"Say It" is a grimy head banger of a hip-hop song.

Everything is distorted and feeding back without diluting the rump-shaking rhythm.

This is what was missing from 2002's To the

5 Burroughs. Near the end of the

song, there's an eight-second, eight-bit breakdown that we wish would've gone on longer.

The opening buildup of "Long Burn the Fire" gives no

indication of where the song is going to go. It feels like it may be "Sabotage

Part 2: Cochese Under Siege," until half-time new jack swing takes over. Hearing

Adrock's classic nasal voice "The proof is in the pudding, and the pudding's in

my pants," reminds us that hip-hop can be fun, silly, and smart.

The little skits between the songs are fairly entertaining. "The

Larry Routine" is so hilarious and catchy that we had to start that little

ditty over four times to make sure it was as good as we thought. It was -- it

is.

Straight from the Rat Cage, "Lee Majors Come Again" is a

classic Beasties punk. This is not rap-rock. You know what we mean, right? This

isn't a clunky Korn song or a dorky Kid Rock song; that's what we mean. They

take hardcore and force it beautifully into a rap song. It's perfect for a

house party, perfect for a mosh pit. It's followed by "Multilateral Nuclear

Disarmament," a loungey instrumental, heavy on the organ, heavy on the upright

bass. OK, we are glad they reminded us they can shred and noodle.

As the album comes to a close, we sort of wish that part one

of this double album was already out. It's nice to see that after more or less

30 years in the game, the Beastie Boys always seem fresh and ahead of the

curve.