The Beatnigs is the only album by the San Francisco band The Beatnigs, released in 1988.[4][5] It combined punk, industrial and hip hop influences.[6]
The Beatnigs | |
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Studio album by | |
Released | 1988 |
Recorded | 1988; Dancin' Dog Studio, Emeryville, California |
Genre | Industrial hip hop, political hip hop, experimental rock, spoken word |
Label | Alternative Tentacles[1] |
Producer | The Beatnigs |
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 7/10[3] |
Production
editMichael Franti wrote all of the lyrics to the songs; he also played bass.[7] The album was produced by the Beatnigs.[8] An enclosure explaining the origins of the band's name was included with the album.[9]
Critical reception
editSpin wrote that the album mixed "the Last Poets’ severe rhetoric with the horrific industrial grinding of Einstürzende Neubauten."[10] Trouser Press wrote that "this striking San Francisco quintet explodes in a tight and danceable riot of industrial percussion, vocals and tape manipulations."[11] The New York Times called the album "a powerful conglomeration of taped sounds - speeches by Malcolm X, for instance - industrial noise made with saws, sirens and oil drums, and a conventional rhythm section."[7] MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide called it "the most interesting and innovative album any of Franti's three groups has made, loaded with sonic twists and turns."[8] The Spin Alternative Record Guide deemed it "an angrier warm-up to De La Soul a year later: choppy beats mingled with inflammatory news items, goofy how-to spiels, exhortations from Malcolm X and others, and twisted loops of electro-industrial din."[3]
Track listing
editAll songs written by The Beatnigs.
- "(Welcome) - Television"
- " C.I.A."
- "(Instructions) - When You Wake Up In The Morning"
- "(The Experience Of All Of Us) - Street Fulla Nigs"
- " (Re-Classification) - Control"
- "Malcolm X"
- "Nature"
- "Burritos"
- "Rooticus Sporaticus"
- "Who Is Doing This To All My People"
- "Rules"
CD 'bonus tracks'
edit- "Jazzy Beats"
- "Pre-War America"
- "Television" (Radio Edit)
- "Television" (Remix)
Personnel
edit- The Beatnigs
- Henry Flood - congas, timbales, industrial percussion
- Andre Flores - keyboards, sampling, vocals, industrial percussion
- Michael Franti - vocals, bass, tape edits, industrial percussion
- Kevin Carnes- vocals, tape edits, industrial percussion
- Rono Tse - industrial percussion, circular saw, siren electric buzzer, tire rim, chains, whistle, oil drum, shakers, tambourines
- Also
- Robert Collins - piano
- Engineer
- David "Davy D" Bryson
- Remix
- "Television" (Remix) remixed by Adrian Sherwood, Gary Clail and Mark Stewart
References
edit- ^ "s/t". May 21, 2018.
- ^ "Beatnigs - The Beatnigs | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
- ^ a b Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 115.
- ^ "The Beatnigs | Biography & History". AllMusic.
- ^ "Pop Music : A Mellow Trip 'Home' : Michael Franti drops the aggression and evokes soul-R&B; traditions to celebrate community, family". Los Angeles Times. September 18, 1994.
- ^ Rabaka, Reiland (April 4, 2013). The Hip Hop Movement: From R&B and the Civil Rights Movement to Rap and the Hip Hop Generation. Lexington Books. ISBN 9780739181171 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b Watrous, Peter (July 15, 1988). "POP/JAZZ; Rock by Any Other Name Is 'Alternative' (Published 1988)". The New York Times.
- ^ a b MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1065.
- ^ Sullivan, Denise (March 1, 2011). Keep on Pushing: Black Power Music from Blues to Hip-hop. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781569769065 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Louder Than Bombs: Death Grips and Killer Mike". Spin. June 23, 2012.
- ^ "Beatnigs". Trouser Press. Retrieved 1 March 2021.