Flickr Download DeviantArt
This image comprises of the original album cover art design at left and two reproductions of the store front which were compressed in order to fit an 18x10 resolution screen.
The resulting image was then posterized and the original and the reproduction of the store front at centre were recoloured. Finally, the whole image was twirled.
The image is reminiscent of the small shops lining the downtown streets of the small cities in the Visayas and Mindanao regions of the Philippines which I travelled for eight
years from 1978 as an internal auditor for a commercial bank. In my first assignment, in Cotabato City, traces of reinforcing concrete were visible on the sides of several
buildings that were damaged during the devastating 1976 Moro Gulf earthquake.
However, here's the real story.
The album cover folds out to show an (almost) 360-degree panoramic view as seen from the corner of the Ludlow and Rivington streets. As can be seen by the keen eye in the
cover and album sleeve art, the address that is supposed to be Paul's Boutique (but can clearly be identified as Lee's Sportswear by the top sign) is on 99 Rivington Street,
where Rivington intersects Ludlow Street in Manhattan's Lower East Side. The Paul's Boutique awning sign was hung on the building specifically for the cover photo
shoot. Until early 2007, the building contained an eatery inside named Paul's Boutique in honor of the album. It was renamed Three Monkeys, and a new bar
was opened across the street called Spitzer's Corner. The cover photo was credited to Nathanial Hörnblowér, the collective nom de plume of the
Beastie Boys but was executed by Jeremy Shatan. New York Minute
Photo from wikipedia.
Here's the original album cover art design.
No. 51, Rate Your Music, The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time; No. 72, Entertainment Weekly, 100 Greatest Albums Ever;
No. 101, The Virgin All-Time Album Top 1000; No. 156, Rolling Stone, The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Photo by Jeremy Shatan, album produced by Beastie Boys, Dust Brothers & Mario Caldato, Jr. Capitol 1989.
Paul's Boutique — named after a Brooklyn store whose radio ad is tossed in the mix and whose picture graces the cover — surprises from the get-go. Instead of opening,
as Licensed to Ill did, with wall-to-wall drum wallops, it creeps up on you like an alley cat: A quiet organ and snare fade up as a mellow DJ voice dedicates the
ensuing set to (who else?) the girls of the world. Then, of course, drums rat-a-tat, and we're back in naughty-boy land. "I rock a house party at the drop of
a hat/I beat a biter down with an aluminum bat," snarls Horovitz on the opener, "Shake Your Rump." But even in the midst of this obligatory strutting,
the Boys slyly acknowledge their tarnished public image: "I'm Mike D, and I'm back from the dead," brags Diamond.
"A puppet on a string, I'm paid to sing or rhyme," adds Yauch. Rolling Stone
(A) To All the Girls - Shake Your Rump - Johnny Ryall - Egg Man - High Plains Drifter - The Sounds of Science - Three-Minute Rule - Hey Ladies
(B) Five-Piece Chicken Dinner - Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun - Car Thief - What Comes Around - Shadrach - Ask for Janice - B-Boy Bouillabaisse
This image comprises of the original album cover art design at left and two reproductions of the store front which were compressed in order to fit an 18x10 resolution screen.
The resulting image was then posterized and the original and the reproduction of the store front at centre were recoloured. Finally, the whole image was twirled.
The image is reminiscent of the small shops lining the downtown streets of the small cities in the Visayas and Mindanao regions of the Philippines which I travelled for eight
years from 1978 as an internal auditor for a commercial bank. In my first assignment, in Cotabato City, traces of reinforcing concrete were visible on the sides of several
buildings that were damaged during the devastating 1976 Moro Gulf earthquake.
However, here's the real story.
The album cover folds out to show an (almost) 360-degree panoramic view as seen from the corner of the Ludlow and Rivington streets. As can be seen by the keen eye in the
cover and album sleeve art, the address that is supposed to be Paul's Boutique (but can clearly be identified as Lee's Sportswear by the top sign) is on 99 Rivington Street,
where Rivington intersects Ludlow Street in Manhattan's Lower East Side. The Paul's Boutique awning sign was hung on the building specifically for the cover photo
shoot. Until early 2007, the building contained an eatery inside named Paul's Boutique in honor of the album. It was renamed Three Monkeys, and a new bar
was opened across the street called Spitzer's Corner. The cover photo was credited to Nathanial Hörnblowér, the collective nom de plume of the
Beastie Boys but was executed by Jeremy Shatan. New York Minute
Here's the original album cover art design.
No. 51, Rate Your Music, The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time; No. 72, Entertainment Weekly, 100 Greatest Albums Ever;
No. 101, The Virgin All-Time Album Top 1000; No. 156, Rolling Stone, The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Photo by Jeremy Shatan, album produced by Beastie Boys, Dust Brothers & Mario Caldato, Jr. Capitol 1989.
Paul's Boutique — named after a Brooklyn store whose radio ad is tossed in the mix and whose picture graces the cover — surprises from the get-go. Instead of opening,
as Licensed to Ill did, with wall-to-wall drum wallops, it creeps up on you like an alley cat: A quiet organ and snare fade up as a mellow DJ voice dedicates the
ensuing set to (who else?) the girls of the world. Then, of course, drums rat-a-tat, and we're back in naughty-boy land. "I rock a house party at the drop of
a hat/I beat a biter down with an aluminum bat," snarls Horovitz on the opener, "Shake Your Rump." But even in the midst of this obligatory strutting,
the Boys slyly acknowledge their tarnished public image: "I'm Mike D, and I'm back from the dead," brags Diamond.
"A puppet on a string, I'm paid to sing or rhyme," adds Yauch. Rolling Stone
(A) To All the Girls - Shake Your Rump - Johnny Ryall - Egg Man - High Plains Drifter - The Sounds of Science - Three-Minute Rule - Hey Ladies
(B) Five-Piece Chicken Dinner - Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun - Car Thief - What Comes Around - Shadrach - Ask for Janice - B-Boy Bouillabaisse
