The Beatnigs (album)

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The Beatnigs
Studio album by
The Beatnigs
Released1988
Recorded1988; Dancin' Dog Studio, Emeryville, California
GenreIndustrial hip hop, political hip hop, experimental rock, spoken word
LabelAlternative Tentacles[1]
ProducerThe Beatnigs
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Spin Alternative Record Guide7/10[3]

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]

Production[edit]

Michael 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[edit]

Spin 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[edit]

All songs written by The Beatnigs.

  1. "(Welcome) - Television"
  2. " C.I.A."
  3. "(Instructions) - When You Wake Up In The Morning"
  4. "(The Experience Of All Of Us) - Street Fulla Nigs"
  5. " (Re-Classification) - Control"
  6. "Malcolm X"
  7. "Nature"
  8. "Burritos"
  9. "Rooticus Sporaticus"
  10. "Who Is Doing This To All My People"
  11. "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

References[edit]

  1. ^ "s/t". May 21, 2018.
  2. ^ "Beatnigs - The Beatnigs | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  3. ^ a b Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 115.
  4. ^ "The Beatnigs | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  5. ^ "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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ a b Watrous, Peter (July 15, 1988). "POP/JAZZ; Rock by Any Other Name Is 'Alternative' (Published 1988)". The New York Times.
  8. ^ a b MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1065.
  9. ^ Sullivan, Denise (March 1, 2011). Keep on Pushing: Black Power Music from Blues to Hip-hop. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781569769065 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ "Louder Than Bombs: Death Grips and Killer Mike". Spin. June 23, 2012.
  11. ^ "Beatnigs". Trouser Press. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
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