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Contact Power Words for Better Living [Import]
The Best of Johann Strauss, Jr.
The Clarinet Quartet from the Belgian National Orchestra
Sibelius: Orchestral Works (Tempest; King Christian II; Kuolema; Scenes Historiques, etc.)
Anne Sofie von Otter - Schubert Lieder (Ave Maria, Im Abendrot, Ständchen, etc.)
Amazon.com essential recording
By 1994 the Beasties had settled into their cultural role as the grand arbiters of cool, and Ill Communication is pretty much a catalog of coolness: live funk, a bit of hardcore, ingenious samples of obscure records, keyboards by analogue master Money Mark, guest shots by Q-Tip and Biz Markie, MCA's cop-show metal number "Sabotage," and the inevitable cascade of witty old-school rhymes. But it's also a surprisingly mature record from a band that had, after all, been at it for 12 years already. The original jazz-funk instrumentals hold their own with the group's favorite sample sources. Their voices are modestly buried in the mix, and they've tempered their old snottiness with lyrical compassion: check out "Bodhisattva Vow," a salute to Buddhist spirituality. --Douglas Wolk