The combination of two good things isn’t always guaranteed to deliver reliable results. Just look at terducken, or the Lou Reed/Metallica collaborative album Lulu. It really is possible to overload on quality, and smashing together two joys often does little more than creating an ungainly mess.
And yet, every now and again a confluence of greatness creates something equal to the sum of its parts. Need convincing? Just check out Daft Science, a Beastie Boys/Daft Punk mashup album that really, really works.
It’s not even like the two bands share that much in common, aside from a unified desire to buck the status quo. After all, Beastie Boys’ messy, renegade blending of rap and punk stylings sits in direct opposition to Daft Punk’s glitchy and processed electro beats.
And yet, when A meets B, something truly beautiful happens. There’s a lot to love on Daft Science, from the maniacal, ever-fluctuating Root Down to the surprisingly soulful and bangin’ Pass The Mic.
In that way, Daft Science follows in the lineage of great mashups, a worthy successor to Totom’s Kanye Of The Stone Age, which, for the record, you should also totally check out.
It’s all very pertinent as well, given that only this week the Beastie Boys have once again re-entered the news cycle following the desecration of Adam Yauch’s park with anti-Semitic graffiti, and Ad-Rock’s ensuing and inspiring speech.
Check out the mashup record in full below.
Listen: Coins – ‘Daft Science’ (Daft Punk/Beastie Boys Mashup)
