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If Paul's Boutique was the Beasties mindblowing, Dust Brothers-dusted psychedelic hip hop Sgt Peppers, then Check Your Head is their down and dirty back to basics raw funk run at something like Never Mind The Bollocks. Their first outing without the guidance of an outside producer, though the trio did bring in ringers like Money Mark and Mario Caldato Jr, this set's a ride into a whole other mindset, still fueled by sunny So Cal vibes and the Beasties own take on rhyme science. It's hard to imagine an album that would produce so many anthems for true heads and the Lollapalooza crowd alike, but this is it. 20 tracks in all, including "Jimmy James", "Pass The Mic", "Gratitude", "Finger Lickin' Good", "So Whatcha Want", "Time For Livin'", "Something's Got To Give", "Groove Holmes" and "Professor Booty".

What can we say? The Beasties continue their manic trio hip hop style mixed with the live jazz/funk/garage (as in rock, not house) sound and keyboards by Money Mark – featuring a bunch of their classic material, and underappreciated album cuts. The Beasties could really do no wrong at this point in their unlikely long career. Includes the great cut "Get It Together" featuring a very sharp Q-Tip stealing the show And you can't go wrong with any LP that samples Ramelzee and K-Rob's "Beat Bop." Other tracks include the unstoppable "Sure Shot" and "Sabotage", plus "Futterman's Rule", "Shambala", "The Scoop", "Do It", "Heart Attack Man", "Bodhisattva Wow", and "Root Down".

A pretty wonderful album by Michel Legrand – way better than you'd guess from the title! Sure, the tunes are mostly numbers by Richard Rodgers, but Legrand handles them here with the best of his soundtrack skills – really opening them up with some amazingly deft arrangements, and working with a stellar set of American jazz players to give the tunes a sound that's as jazzy as possible – and swinging them with the inherent lyricism that always makes us love his music! Players are a great lineup – with Clark Terry and Ernie Royal on trumpets, Urbie Green and Bob Brookmeyer on trombones, Paul Gonsalves on tenor, Jerry Dodgion and Phil Woods on alto, Julious Watkins on French horn, Gary Burton on vibes, and Tommy Flanagan and Hank Jones on piano. Titles include "This Can't Be Love", "Falling In Love With Love", "Bali Hai", "Have You Met Miss Jones", "There's A Small Hotel", and "The Lady Is A Tramp".