By the mid 90s the Dust Brothers found themselves back in hipster success producing Beck's seminal album Odelay, White Zombie's Supersexy Swingin' Sounds and a couple of tracks for the Rolling Stones. Not too shabby for a few years work... By the end of the millennium they had also produced Hansen's annoying but amazingly effective MMMBop, the soundtrack to Fight Club, and Beck's follow-up Midnite Vultures -- another great album that perfectly marries the excess and sun-burnt feel of 90s LA with Beck's quirky lyrics and inimitable delivery.

Moving past the history lesson, let's get to the music -- specifically the musical connections between the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique and Beck's Midnite Vultures. Sure, both clearly feature the Dust Brothers' signature bangin' acoustic beats, dramatic song structure and thoughtful sequencing, but what is so striking is how well they propelled these quirky underground stars into the limelight. Is it because their productions are so strong we don't notice the silly off-the-wall lyrics (check out Beck's lyrics to Mixed Business for a good example)? Are the grooves so deep we can't help but be pulled into the world of Beck and the Boys? A bit of both perhaps?

Without a doubt the Dust Brothers' production style set the stage for artists like the Chemical Brothers, Moby, and the whole world of big beat and funky breakbeat with their gritty sampled drums, funky bass/guitar lines, freakish analog synth stabs, and soulful hooks. But perhaps it's something a bit larger than the musical elements alone. Maybe it's how their productions married the disparate personalities of these artists into a cohesive whole.

Perhaps it's because both of these albums have a ridiculous amount of Soul; yes that's Soul with a capitol S. I think so. Similar to when a cook puts that extra bit of love in the gravy the Dust Brothers put a whole lot of Soul in these two albums, and it shows.

--- Chris
Senior Music Analyst

Thank you, Pandora, for being so great! :)

The Beats on Stone Cold Rhymin' by Young MC are some of the cleanest ever. And of course Paul's Boutique is a visionary album. Wonder what these guys are getting into nowadays.

Hi,
The soundtrack of Fight-Club is really impressive and perfect for the story and characters.I think Dust Brothers are innovative enough to provide great music at regular intervals in 1990s.

The dust brothers are a damn good combination, I always thought they were the chemical bros under a diff guise though..

@ Suzie
The Chemical brothers originally named themselves the Dust Brothers - after the original Dust Brothers mentioned in this post. However, the Dust Brothers sued them and they changed their name to the Chemical Brothers. Crazy!

Didn't the Dust Brothers work on Beck's most recent album, the one with Gamma Ray on it? Exactly how much did they do on Midnite Vultures is what I've been wondering. Beck is in my opinion one of the great musicians and song writers of our time, and I'm particularly impressed by his ability to swing from something like Odelay to something like Midnite Vultures, but is the only reason he didn't get stuck in a grungy folky rut because of people like the Dust Brothers?

I would say that the dust brothers are a really great combination, they sound absolutely awesome! I wish I could be that good at music!

@ Jon
Becks latest album - Modern Guilt - was produced by Danger Mouse. It is a nice progression for Beck - a lil darker and heavier than Guero - which was mostly produced by the Dust Brothers. Are you enjoying the new album?

Without being in the studio I can't say how much the Dust brothers Beck did on Midnite Vultures -- apparently they only finished 2 of the track on the album -- however their sampling techniques, rap aesthetic, and overall sound is important to that record. I'm sure Beck wrote the lyrics and melodies - but as to who came up with instrumentation, arrangement, etc - I'm not really sure. Here's a really great article in Sound on Sound that goes into more details about their production style, history and studio:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may05/articles/dust.htm

These musicians are incredible, lots of spirit. Beck always does shine.

I have never heard of the Dust Brothers until now. THey are really awesome, thanks Pandora for bringing this to my mind.

Hi

Thanks and that great job pandora.

Keep it up.

Man, I love the Dust Brothers! They were great back in the 90's!!

I wish u could skip more than just 6 songs it would be a ton better if u could skip more than just 6!!! Otherwise pandora is awesome

just joined, love it!!!!