PYB appreciation thread

[cj hood]

set the bag on fire for the fuck of it!!! one of the best trax out there!

[Rodie]

Best b-side since Skills to Pay the Bills. Yeah, I said it.

[WesleyOHSnaps!]

Originally Posted by Rodie

Best b-side since Skills to Pay the Bills. Yeah, I said it.

I don't know. "The Vibes" is pretty outstanding.

[Micodin]

Hot beats. I wish Zdar mastered it tho. It's kinda lacking sound quality wise compared to the rest of HSCP2.

I ran it through Protools and boosted it up a little.

[M|X|Y]

^ can you post up your boosted version?

ditto on Zdar mixing it

cosign on this being possibly the hottest track from the HSC period

mike shines like a mofo

[Guy Incognito]

good lyrics but although i like the beat it feels like they were trying to sound like some of the newer acts out there and it doesnt feel like one of their greats.

the sound man losing his soup is class though

[Jiberish]

Originally Posted by Micodin

Hot beats. I wish Zdar mastered it tho. It's kinda lacking sound quality wise compared to the rest of HSCP2.

I ran it through Protools and boosted it up a little.

I assumed he had tweaked it a bit, besides the obvious differences it sounds so much better and thicker than the NBA Live Version we were treated to in 2009.

This is sometimes my favorite track of off HSCPtwhatever besides maybe Say It and Long Burn The Fire

[M|X|Y]

there are 2 versions? i thought it was just this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pz4b_ZYKiY

i want to hear micodin's boosted version. killer track but agreed the production could use a bit of a tweak

[Brother McDuff]

Originally Posted by Micodin

Hot beats. I wish Zdar mastered it tho. It's kinda lacking sound quality wise compared to the rest of HSCP2.

agree 100%. i think the only thing that keeps it from being my fav HSC era track is the muddy mixdown. the original Too Many Rappers mixdown (the single version I believe) was very similar in that it was similarly dull and flat.

if i recall correctly, the bboys said in an interview that they'd originally intended (and tried) to mix the album down themselves, but eventually came to their senses and enlisted Zdar to take the helm. Pop Your Balloon of course surfaced long before Zdar got involved, so. i suppose the bboys were better suited to stay on the "other side of the glass" so-to-say in the studio.

on a side note, its typical for artists of their caliber and longevity to have poor ears. so many years of creating music and touring turns their ears to shit. very common in fact. i imagine this was a factor in their attempt to mix HSC on their own.

an interesting thought though, i think, is that if Yauch hadn't gotten sick they likely wouldn't have ever second-thought the mixdown and decided to seek out an outside engineer. the whole album's sonic identity would have sounded considerably more amateurish had Yauch's health not turned on him.

[Kid Presentable]

Pop Your Balloon and B-Boys in the Cut both got the Zdar treatment. Alongside the rest of the deluxe download they sound equally as spruced as any one of the album tracks- which is to say they don't compare in the least to the awful OG dull thump mix of Too Many Rapppers.

Maybe I'm wrong.

Pop Your Balloon is good. A little too much like a do-over of Shazam. But good.

It all just ends up making me wonder about the remaining Hot Sauce tracks.

[cj hood]

Rickity-rickity-rickity-rickity-wow!

[Jiberish]

Do your dance Mike/ Because I'm built for speed like a tour de France Bike

[Sir SkratchaLot]

If you look at the 7" it says "Produced [and written] by Beastie Boys". There's no mixing credit on there, which is what Zdar handled and "Produced" probably just means they put the raw track together so that pretty much tells us nothing.

[Brother McDuff]

Very interesting. I remember downloading PYB from itunes before the album dropped, when it was attached to a single (i thought) and hoping that it was a better mix, and i remember that i was ultimately disappointed. listening to the preview on itunes now from the deluxe version though, it is definitely improved.

this is so very exciting! always wanted a better mix on this and behold it was right under my nose the entire time! (what a dope i am)


p.s. was pop your balloon ever released along with TMR or MSN at any point? i really feel like i'd downloaded the earlier mix before from itunes... Am I nuts or something?

p.s.s. oh yeah, these deluxe versions of the b-sides are no doubt remixed. sweeeeeet. damn, realizing that i had never even heard the non-edited version of PYB until right now. what a treat.

[dave790]

I thought you (McDuff) must have somehow missed the spruced up version just from reading your post. In any case there really is no debate - those bonus tracks definitely were given the Zdar treatment, professional DJ-opinion or not... I can understand your excitement though!

I have no idea where you downloaded PYB from originally. I thought it was only knocking about before due to the game soundtrack it was on (some basketball game...NBA Street?) - that's where I downloaded the rip from (illegally), I think it must have been in place on the soundtrack before the album was delayed.

B-Boys acapella and Lee Majors were the only songs 'officially' released via the 7" which came with the Check Your head re-issue viny, and obviously the original TMR came out on itunes but as a one-track single. PYB definitely never made it to the UK itunes and I do not think it was made available aside from the game soundtrack. Either way, the difference between those versions is there for all to see...

One question I have - does anyone know if the original B-Boys in the Cut was actually released in full? I think the 2009 version I have was put together by a fan (I remember them sending out the instrumental in an e-mail). But I vaguely remember Zane Lowe playing it too, though I'm not sure if that was official or just a mix put together by a fan. I just remember the timing being slightly different, e.g. Adrocks last verse on my original version comes in slightly later. Sorry if this all sounds a bit confusing!

[MCScoobyT]

the sounds in the Money Mark song 'Dha Teen Ta' remind me of 'Pop Your Balloon'.

[Jiberish]

Originally Posted by MCScoobyT

the sounds in the Money Mark song 'Dha Teen Ta' remind me of 'Pop Your Balloon'.

Yes! I would not be surprised if they remembered this song when hey were making their drum beat.