Friday, June 5, 2015

In case you've been wondering if there would ever be another update... here it is. This was actually supposed to come about two weeks ago, but life conveniently gets in the way of everything.

With massive thanks to Michael Gregoire of blocSonic for giving his time and energy to Build Your Own Boutique, I present artwork for BYOB which you can now download and print to make your own packaging!




Michael has created four different versions of the artwork/packaging, all of which are available to download as PDFs, EPSs, TIFs or JPEGs, along with a booklet containing details on the complete project. He is awesome and so is the art, so if you already have a link to the downloadable archive, just follow it there to download the art. Otherwise, to anyone that has requested a link, you will receive one shortly.

This now completes the Build Your Own Boutique project, at least on my end. Drop me a line if you have any questions or would like a link to download. Better yet, just contact me on Twitter where my user name is @unheard78 And if you're looking to burn off a data disc with everything on it, the contents will fit wonderfully on a BD-Rom or, as I did it, on two DVD-Rs, one a single-layer and the other a dual-layer, though you can do it however you like.

Thank you to everyone and anyone that has contributed anything to this project or wanted to know about it, I so appreciate it! I'd list everyone but it would take a year to write all the names, so let me say, you know who you are and so do I! And if you're wondering what comes next, I'm working on the launch (re-launch? kinda?) of The Unheard Music Podcast. That will hopefully go live in July. It will be a lot different from the one episode I shared, which in retrospect was pretty lame. This will be much more interesting and I'll be sharing more about it on my Twitter account.

Enjoy!



Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Not much longer!

Only a few days to go. Write me at the following e-mail address to get a link for Build Your Own Boutique! Remember to take out the spaces and breaks.

byobpb2014 @ gmail . com

Friday, August 22, 2014

The Update, Volume Two: How to get BYOB

We're nearing the finishing line, though I've still got some work to do. As of right now, I have 10.6 gigabytes of content to share, and that's about 2.6 gigs more than I wanted to deal with, so I have to figure out what to do about that. After that, I'm going to begin uploading, probably to a Mega account, and you can download from there. I considered doing a torrent, but I can't stay online 24/7. If anyone has thoughts on this, or a seedbox they could donate for a while, that would be awesome, just let me know.

I will begin sending out links on September 1st, though after the first batch of e-mails it may be a week or so before I send more out, so if you want BYOB asap, you'll want to get on the list early. Just send an e-mail to the following address, albeit without the spaces:

byobpb2014 @ gmail . com

After that, I'll probably be using this site as where I post updates about whatever I'm doing, including the book and other projects. Also, please share BYOB with anyone that wants a copy. If you want to add things to it, go for it, but please note your work with it. This will be the last version of BYOB I assemble.

Sorry for this update being about a week late, I've just been so busy. I'm starting a new job soon, I'm watching some friend's dog, I'm planning this book and who I need to interview, I'm communicating with the mothership, and I'm dreaming of Chipotle, so yeah, I've been quite busy. Everything should be more on time from here out. So everyone take care, get on the list, and I'll talk to you all soon!


Dave3

Friday, August 15, 2014

The Update, Volume One

As we're closing in on September 1st, I figured a little update was in order. So, starting Monday, the 18th of August, I'll begin the final polish of the package. I've got a friend who has hooked me up with a very talented artist to create packaging in case you'd like to print if off, stick it in a case and store it alongside your Beasties' CDs, and I'm asking around about the last six sample sources I need in lossless. Is case you can help out with that, those tracks are:

Paul Humphrey - Super Mellow
Fancy - Feel Good
Fab 5 Freddy - Change Le Beat (Dub)
Love Bug Starski - Starski, Live At The Disco Fever
Disco Dave & The Force Of The 5 MCs - High Powered Rap
The Treacherous Three - New Rap Language

After that, I'm recompiling the video as MP4s, I've grabbed a few interesting curios to include with them (the version of Shadrach from the licence holder for Soul Train on YouTube) and there are a few other little things to do. I'm also considering adding a third hi-rez vinyl rip of the album from the 2009 reissue, though I'm not sure it's necessary. In all seriousness, how much better can it get than the original vinyl pressing, which sounds incredible, and a PBthal rip of the 96 reissue? Not that there is anything wrong with the 2009 vinyl pressing, but it's simply a lot easier to find than an 89 or 96 pressing.

As for the demos and instrumentals, I did all the work on them myself, mostly in iZotope RX2 and working with it's denoising software. I couldn't fix what sounds like DAT tape glitches, but the hiss has been significantly cleaned up, making these the best versions of the demos outside of an original copy from the Beasties', Dust Brothers or Matt Dike himself. The instrumentals haven't had any hiss removal, but I did declick the extra pops that shouldn't have been there (also done in iZotope RX2) and patched any skips or other issues with the best available sources. They're much better sounding than the 128kbps instrumentals that have been making the rounds for years, and more complete than the still rather excellent show vinyl. The instrumentals are actually sourced primarily from the show vinyl, but they've been edited so as to follow the flow of the actual album, as in there will be no gaps between songs, just like the regular versions of Paul's Boutique.

I'll also be setting up a specific e-mail account for anyone with questions about Build Your Own Boutique. I'll be posting that next week, as that will be where you contact me to request your link.

So, drop me a line, hit me up in Twitter (@unheard78), call me if you have my phone number, etc. etc. I always love a good chat! Until then, the update, volume two will occur next week. Eternal peace, love and gratitude, as always, to the Beastie Boys, the Dust Brothers, Matt Dike, DJ Moneyshot, DJ Cheeba, DJ Food, Dan LeRoy, Peter Relic, D.X. Ferris, 33 1/3, 6623 Press, Mario C, David "C-Doc" Snyder, Chuck D, and anyone else I didn't name because I couldn't think of them. Oh yeah, and YOU TOO!


Dave3

Thursday, August 7, 2014

THE (long) ANNOUNCEMENT

So... this has been a long time coming. For those following, back when The Unheard Music was a blog where I shared the stories of rare and unreleased music, along with download links whenever possible, I'd compiled the available Paul's Boutique demos, instrumentals and rarities and made them available for download as The Paul's Boutique Companion. The title wasn't supposed to be an ego trip, though in retrospect it feels a bit big headed, and as good as I think my work was, I kept finding more and improving on my prior work, to which I actually shared three different versions of the companion and a number of revised assemblies of the album in instrumental form, each more complete and better sounding than the last version. I'd kinda decided I was finished around the time I shared the third version of the companion, but after looking at all the things that had changed since, I decided I should do one more version, and after that, if anyone wanted to add or change anything, it was in their hands. And that brings us to...

A lot, and I really mean A LOT, has happened since the 1989 release of Paul's Boutique. For starters, the Beasties became bigger than ever, surviving what many thought was the end of their career. On the specific topic of Paul's Boutique, Dan LeRoy published his amazing contribution to the 33 1/3 book series, and just recently published a follow-up with Peter Relic, For Whom The Cowbell Tolls (via 6623 Press), both of which are essential reading and explain more than you ever imagined you'd know about the Beasties and Paul's Boutique, while DJ's Cheeba, Moneyshot & Food re-created the album in an amazing tribute, along with some enterprising geniuses who created an immensely entertaining visual tribute, The Paul's Boutique Visual Companion, both to the Beasties as well as the album, along with the original music videos. On top of all of that, lots of audio and visuals have leaked, giving us a chance to experience something we may not have gotten to the first time around. But sadly, we've lost a lot of beloved friends and family along the way, with Adam Yauch aka MCA at the top of that list. Basically, we've gotten a lot of good, and some really bad, but it's better to remember the good, and the good is mighty hard to forget when it comes to the Beasties and Paul's Boutique.

When the album was reissued in 2008, it was initially assumed it would be a huge, deluxe event with b-sides, remixes, rarities and other gems, just like the reissues that came after it. While it's never been completely explained, it's generally assumed that the legal issues surrounding the samples used to create the album kept those tracks from being reissued. As sad as that is, that's most of the reason why I thought The Paul's Boutique Companion was something that needed to exist. And with that, it's time to drop the final and, at least at this point, most complete collection of Paul's Boutique related ephemera to date. So, on September 1st, 2014, I will make Build Your Own Boutique: The Paul's Boutique Companion, available to anyone who wants it. As for what it will contain:


  • Demos & Rarities
  • Love American Style EP
  • An Exciting Evening At Home With Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego EP
  • The complete Paul's Boutique album in Instrumental form
  • High Resolution vinyl rips of the original 1989 US album and the 1999 Grand Royal reissue
  • rare videos of the Capitol Records release party, YO! MTV Raps and more
  • a complete collection of every sample used in the creation of the album


There may be a little more added, but right now we're going to leave the content listed as is. There is something very important that needs to be noted though...

While some of this material may have been officially available for purchase at one point or another, most of it is not readily available via current markets. Some may consider this bootlegging, though there is no profit being made whatsoever. At the very least, if you haven't purchased a copy of Paul's Boutique before, you should go and buy one now, because downloading this without doing so isn't supporting the Beasties or anyone else involved in the creation of Paul's Boutique in any way whatsoever. It doesn't matter if you buy it from iTunes or Amazon digitally, if you get the vinyl or CD reissues, or grab the super-deluxe digital package from the Beasties' site (sadly, I don't think it's available any longer), just make sure you buy a copy, because it simply isn't right otherwise.

One more time, to make this clear, DON'T DOWNLOAD THIS COLLECTION IF YOU HAVEN'T LEGITIMATELY PURCHASED PAUL'S BOUTIQUE AT LEAST ONCE! Okay? Yeah, if it was given to you as a gift or whatever, that's cool, but you should know what I mean. We live in an age where a lot of people never pay for the music they listen to. Don't be like that, support what you love. Some people may argue that they pay the artists by going to their shows or by linking to their sites and whatever, or some even like to say how the artists already have enough money. Well, that's not enough and I'm calling bullshit. Going to live shows holds some weight, but the Beasties aren't touring and most likely never will again. Links are not a legitimate payback. And even if you were super rich, wouldn't it piss you off if someone was constantly ripping off your work despite your continued efforts? People rip off works of art even when the artists aren't rich or well off, so if it isn't right there it isn't right ever. Anyway, we're talking about $10, and if you can't afford to pay that, you probably don't care that much about the music to begin with.

Despite that long paragraph, I'll openly admit that the legalities of something like this are questionable. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not making any money by doing this, and neither should anyone else, other than the Beasties themselves. If they could legally release all this content they probably would, but sadly they can't. So make sure you share this with your friends and fellow Beastie fans. This isn't about profit, this is about love, though if anyone deserves to profit here, it's the Beasties and anyone associated with the creation of Paul's Boutique.

So, finally, on September 1st, 2014, you will be able to access Build Your Own Boutique. More information will follow soon, including how you can get a download for yourself. Until then, just remember, one man's ceiling is another man's floor. Peace.