SHORT SONGS

 If you've developed a short attention span since summer is currently showering us with its shine, take a breather and listen to a sharply short song. Sample an early self-titled Beastie Boys morsel or get pumped up with Battles' Dominican Fade, a breviloquent blast of audio excellence. These selections are all under two minutes in length.

 Our first entry holds the world record for the shortest song ever, lasting under two seconds; 1.316 seconds to be exact. You Suffer by English grindcore band Naplam Death was released in 1987 and Justin Broadrick has said the band never intended to set a Guinness record. 


"You Suffer was largely a comedy thing, one-second song. Utterly retarded. It's ridiculous, but it was hilarious. We played that song in front of 30 local kids, like, every weekend. We played that song 30 times. It was a laugh," Broadrick is quoted as saying in Albert Mudrian's book Precious Metals: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces.

Scroll on down and you will see short songs don't have to suck.


You Suffer
Naplam Death



Dominican Fade
Battles



Shifty
Flying Lotus



Norgaard
The Vaccines



Bad Time
The Vibrators



Dirty Needles
Screeching Weasel



Brookfield
Silverstein



Abra Cadaver
The Hives



New Radio
Bikini Kill



Little Room
White Stripes



Koka Cola
The Clash



Reno Dakota
Magnetic Fields



The Three Shadows Part III
Bauhaus



A Struggle Like No Other
Epoxies



#1 Is Number Two
The Soviettes



One Chance
Dananananakroyd



Water Boy
Imperial Teen



Pull Out
Death From Above 1979



Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys



Team
Bon Iver



Short Attention Span
Fizzy Bangers

RIP MCA

 If you were to scroll through my iPod, you would see the artist or group I have the most songs by are the Beastie Boys with 68 tracks total. I was very saddened to receive a text from my friend detailing MCA's passing. Adam Yauch and the boys provided an essential soundtrack for my teenage years. To this day Beastie Boys songs never fail to brighten up my mood when I'm feeling dark and dreary. If the seas of society are pulling you under, the Beastie's music can be the buoyancy you need. The group's output spans seven albums over 20 years. Along side Ad Rock and Mike D, MCA meandered from punk to hip hop. There were massive hits and overshot misses, yet the BBs never failed to electrify my ears like a live wire.

 I'm thinking about putting the super sized Beastie Boys poster I took down from my bedroom wall back up. Years ago I deemed it too immature and removed it. But now in MCA's honour, I may have to locate some thumb-tacks.

Photo version of my pubescent poster

 Of course there are Beastie Boys classics no one can deny. Sabotage, Slow and Low and Intergalactic, to name a few. I personally tended to gravitate towards the more obscure tracks. Aside from Hello Nasty, their recent releases found the trio at peak performance level. To The Five Burroughs and Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2 are funky and magically modern respectively. In addition, if you haven't heard their Grammy-winning instrumental album The Mix Up, give it a listen. I can't count how many articles I hammered out with that lyric-less masterpiece encouraging my keystrokes.

 MCA will live on forever in the ears of appreciative music fans. He delighted us with his rapid fire rhymes and made the outcasts feel welcome thanks to Beastie Boys' non-judgemental philosophy. For the decades of artful entertainment; I feel gratitude.

Twenty Questions


I Want Some


Here's A Little Something For Ya


Dub The Mic


3 MCs and 1 DJ (Live video take)


Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win (Extended video)