Beastie Boys – Def & Dumb Interview Disc (Remastered) (CD 1996)

I’ve been rediscovering the Beastie Boys recently in anticipation of reading Beastie Boys Book, the memoir written by the two surviving members, Ad-Rock and Mike D. I noticed that the unofficial interview disc Def & Dumb (1996) was not available online so thought I’d upload it. After giving it a quick listen, however, I found that the sound quality was laughably poor; there’s a lot of tape hiss and at times the conversation is barely audible. Thank goodness for Audacity; I opened the .wav, removed most of the tape hiss and applied compression to the track in order to balance it out. The result is that you should be able to listen to it without having to adjust the volume every 30 seconds.

Not that you probably will want to listen, unless you’re a hardcore B-Boys fan. Recorded on their 1987 tour of the UK, it’s not a particularly interesting interview. They mostly talk about things unrelated to their seminal debut, License To Ill, and there’s some pretty unfortunate homophobic slurs thrown around (something the group would apologise for in later years). That said, there are a few amusing stories to be heard and the 30 minute running time goes by pretty fast.

Download (320 kbs mp3)

Crazyhead – Chemical Lunch (E.P. – 1998)

After releasing their debut Desert Orchid on Food in 1988, Crazyhead switched labels and released Some Kind Of Fever in 1990 on Revolver Records. After the departure of bassist Alex ‘Porkbeast’ Peach, the band re-grouped and recorded a covers album entitled Live From Memphis which remains unreleased.

Eventually, after recruiting bassist Christina Wigmore and guitarist Peter Creed, the band recorded the covers E.P. Chemical Lunch in 1998. The pharmaceutical-themed E.P. features covers of songs by The Fugs, Bo Diddley, Julian Cope and Gene Vincent. The band recorded it in Kev Reverb’s ‘Memphis Studios’ and burned the album to CD-Rs which were then sold at their gigs. Many thanks to Adrian Manning for forwarding the album to me.

Track list

01-I Couldn’t Get High (The Fugs cover)
02-Pills (Bo Diddley cover)
03-Out Of My Mind On Dope And Speed (Julian Cope cover)
04-Bird Doggin’ (Gene Vincent cover)

Download here (.wma format)

Big Buddha – Be Here Now (CD Single 1997)

Formed by Karl Leiker (Bugblot, Hyperhead) and Richard Norris (The Grid), Big Buddha released one single in 1997 named Be Here Now. The track mixes drum n’ bass along with psychadelic Hammond organ riffs and guitar riffs. Great track and it’s a shame they never released anything else!

1. Be Here Now (Radio Edit)
2. Be Here Now (Motorbooty Mix)
3. Suspicious Dub
4. Gizmo

Download here http://ul.to/1hofosok

Here’s a low quality video on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8PzMsUMajw

Scat Opera – About Time (CD album – 1991)

Formed in the UK during the late 80s by Ernie Brennan (vocals), Steve Yates (guitar), John O’Reilly (bass) and Mark Diment (drums), Scat Opera recorded several well-received demos before picking up prestigious support slots with Faith No More in the autumn of 1989. Though comparisons to that band followed, in truth Scat Opera played at greater velocity and with more precise musical definition. The pieces, however, were not entirely in place until they signed a contract with Music For Nations in the spring of 1990. They made their debut a year later with About Time, recorded at Slaughterhouse Studios and produced by Colin Richardson. A UK tour as support to Gaye Bykers On Acid ensued, before returning to the studio (this time Windings Studio in Wales) with Richardson for a second set, Four Gone Confusion, to be released in October 1992. Again the music incorporated elements drawn from funk (particularly apparent in bass player O’Reilly’s slapping technique), jazz and metal.

(Bio from Allmusic.com)

Fun debut album from this British funk metal group. I got to know this band through their support gigs with Gaye Bykers On Acid during their 1990 tour after hearing Mary Byker reference them in a live bootleg. The album opens with ‘Preminition’ and ‘B.G.V.’ which set the tone with O’Reilly’s slap funk bass leading the charge, but its ‘About Time’ which steals the show with its fantastic wonky, storming riff. I guarantee you’ll have it stuck in your head all day, and as a guitarist I would I could figure out how the hell he plays it. Other highlights include ‘Family Man’, ‘Pig Head’ and ‘On Your Own’. Well worth a listen if you’re into Faith No More and early Red Hot Chili Peppers and like your music played at 200 bpm.

Included in this download is the full album taken from the CD (the vinyl release missed two tracks) plus an ace b-side taken from the ‘About Time’ single. Personally I think they should have included ‘Miss Cosmopolitan’ on the album and have ‘Overture’ as a b-side
1. Premonition
2. B.G.V.
3. About Time
4. Family Man
5. Tarred With The Same Brush
6. Filo
7. Pighead
8. Be Mine
9. On Your Own
10. Flex
11. Overture
12. Miss Cosmopolitan (Bonus beefy B-side)

Download here!

As always, if there’s any problem with the downloads leave a comments and I’ll fix it!