Reader Review/For Promotional Use Only: Tom Caruana Presents Wu-Tang Vs. The Beatles - Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers (2010)

(In keeping with my Wu streak as of late, today's Reader Review is presented by Jason, who wants to discuss the Wu-Tang Clan / Beatles mashup project Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers from British deejay Tom Caruana. I've held on to this contribution long enough, so we'll get right to it. Be sure to leave some comments for Jason below.)

The concept of the mashup became popular within the genre of hip hop after Danger Mouse combined Jay-Z’s The Black Album with The Beatles’ The White Album to create The Grey Album. While some of the juxtapositions didn’t work at all (I don’t care how talented Danger Mouse is, even he cannot put a 6/8 rap over a 4/4 beat and expect it to sound good), some of the songs were an epiphany. (I especially liked the combination of “99 Problems” and “Helter Skelter.”)

Since The Grey Album’s success, deejays have blended dissimilar artists, hoping to discover unexpected matches. Some examples of this sub-genre include Frank Sinatra and The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z and Weezer, Jay-Z and Prince (wow, deejays sure love fucking with Jay-Z's songs, don't they?), and there are plenty more to be found. Most of these mixes have one or two songs that work and a recycling bin full of those that simply do not.

Consequently, I approached Tom Caruana’s project, Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers, which combines the best traits of both the Wu-Tang Clan with those of The Beatles, keeping the Wu song titles while switching up their entire molecular structure, with middling expectations. I like The Beatles. I like the Wu-Tang Clan. But would this album change how I view either seminal group?

1. WU VS. BEATLES (INTRO)

The first voice you hear on Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers is that of Ol’ Dirty Bastard, who talks a bit about The Beatles. Which is fitting. While rap album intros tend to be worthless affairs, this one evokes a mood that prepares listeners for what is in store on the album-slash-mixtape: it uses sound bites to quickly introduce each group, as if you don't know who either crew is at this point. It isn't bad, but you probably won’t bother loading it onto your iPod.

2. C.R.E.A.M.

I am so grateful that Caruana listed his samples on the back cover. Otherwise, I would never know the songs he chopped to create the beats. On Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers, Caruana uses Beatles songs (as well as some cover versions) to create his soundscapes. That’s good for two reasons: it gives Caruana more options to play with, and it helps the listener appreciate just how malleable these Beatles songs are. Caruana samples an instrumental calypso version of “And I Love Her” to create the backdrop for one of the Wu’s best known songs. It’s surprising enough that a McCartney/Lennon-penned tune works so well as a calypso jam: the fact that the same calypso jam also works as the backdrop for Rae and Deck to spit their timeless crime tales is pretty masterful.

3. GOT YOUR MONEY

How thorough is Caruana? For whatever reason, Caruana used the censored version of ODB’s vocals. (Perhaps that was the only acappella he could find.) But to avoid awkward silences during ODB’s swearing fits, Caruana samples ODB profanity from other songs to fill in the blanks. Caruana does such a careful job that I didn’t notice this until my third time listening to the song. This time, Caruana samples The Beatles proper, using a sped-up version of “You Never Give Me Your Money” from Abbey Road. (Get it? The “money” thing is a motif.) The sample itself is dope, but it occasionally slips out of tune with Kelis’s chorus.

4. FORGET ME NOT

For whatever reason, Caruana loves Inspectah Deck. He reworks four Deck solo cuts on Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers, more than any other Clan member. Caruana samples the steel drums and jazz guitar from a reggae reworking of “You Won’t See Me.” Deck’s sweet nothings sound better here than they did on Uncontrolled Substance. Caruana even goes the extra mile by dropping in excerpts from Beatles interviews where they talk about dating.

5. BACK IN THE GAME

Caruana chops tremolando violins, a quiet harp, plucked bass and what I suspect is a bassoon over a breakbeat. He even sprinkles Ronald Isley’s ad-libs (from the original Wu song) throughout, so it sounds like he actually had the singer in the studio. It’s not just that the Clan’s verses still sound good: it’s that you have never heard them like this before. This had me rethinking my opinion of Iron Flag.

6. UH HUH

I never cared for “Uh Huh,” Method Man’s contribution to the Def Jam Vendetta soundtrack. Everything about that particular track struck me as generic. It isn't a bad song; it's just average. But Caruana strips away the layers of noise and replaces it with the catchy (and, quite frankly, poppy) guitar chords borrowed from “You Know My Name.” The drums still snap but they don’t distract from Meth, and with less competition for my attention, I noticed his punchlines more. Before I heard this version, I didn’t realize Method Man makes references to H. Rap Brown and the legendary story in which a sucker MC broke his jaw trying to imitate Rakim. Listen to the very end of the song so you can hear one of Caruana’s flourishes. I don’t want to spoil the joke.

7. CRIMINOLOGY

“Criminology” is one of my favorite Wu-Tang Clan songs ever. Caruana couldn’t possibly top the RZA original, right? Well, no, he can’t. But he gets really fucking close. Caruana speeds up Bunny Sigler’s version of “Yesterday” and makes a beat so ill that it should be quarantined. This might oust “Breathe” as the best RZA beat that RZA never made. Caruana even incorporates the Wu's well-known “Where's My Killer Tape” skit, which was a nice touch.

8. DA MYSTERY OF CHESSBOXIN'

For the first four bars, U-God raps over a languid beat. I remember thinking, “This production is too subdued for such an aggressive delivery.” Then, the beat flips and matches the overall tone of the track, which leaves the introduction to be quickly forgotten and forgiven.

9. DAYTONA 500

I can’t call this a bad song: in fact, some of you may like the guitar licks and organ stabs (sampled from a Roy Redmond version of “Good Day Sunshine”) that replace The RZA’s original beat. But the subdued production doesn’t shine any light on Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, or Cappadonna’s verses. Hence, this falls into the common mixtape trap of being more interesting than good.

10. LABELS

Like “Daytona 500,” this beat doesn’t reveal anything new about GZA’s indictment of the industry, but it is dope enough that you wish GZA would have had more production of this caliber on Pro Tools. Caruana takes a Paul McCartney instrumental (“Momma Miss America”) from his first solo album, and doesn’t have to do much more than loop it because the source material is so good. I didn’t expect McCartney solo songs to feature break beats and fat bass lines, but here we are. (Caruana tags an orchestral version of George Harrison’s “I Me Mine” onto the outro, so as not to seem lazy.) Perhaps I was naive as to the potential of working with the music of The Beatles, but Caruana is making me appreciate it more with each new production.

11. SMITH BROS. 

Caruana loops a “Can’t Buy Me Love” cover that reminds me more of “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” than The Beatles. This song was quick and forgettable. (Kind of like the original!)

12. R.E.C. ROOM

Inspectah Deck’s solo career has never matched his Clan output. The guy wrecked shop on “Triumph,” “C.R.E.A.M.,” “Protect Ya Neck,” and “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nothing to Fuck Wit.” But what’s his solo hit? “R.E.C. Room?” “Show ‘N Prove?” Deck, do yourself a favor and call Caruana. He clearly appreciates your work and understands how to construct a beat around your vocals. Unlike Caruana’s version of “Forget Me Not,” this isn’t better than the original “R.E.C. Room;” but it’s better than anything found on The Resident Patient (either volume).

13. WU VS. BEATLES (SKIT)

Don’t be deterred by the “skit” in the title: on here, Ol' Dirty Bastard sings “Love Me Do.” It’s silly and strangely poignant.

14. MIGHTY HEALTHY

A lot of these deejay mashups fail because they sound unnatural. Biggie wouldn’t make an entire mixtape using Sinatra samples, for example. But Ghostface would most definitely chop and loop “She’s a Woman.” Hell, he’s probably working on that right now for No Pork on my Fork Vol. XII.

15. CLIENTELE KID

Caruana punches up this Raekwon/Fat Joe collaboration with a horn-laced version of “Live and Let Die.” This was good (better than the original, anyway), but I can’t shake the feeling that Wu has already rocked over “Live and Let Die” at some point in their career. Am I crazy? Somebody, please help me out in the comments section

16. CUTTING IT UP

I appreciate that Caruana dug into the Wu archives and didn’t just remix the singles. He's pulled two songs from Rae's oft-ignored The Lex Diamonds Story: the previous track, and this Ice Water posse cut that also features Raekwon and Ghostface. This is short and worthwhile. It won’t eclipse “Hollow Bones” or “Bring the Pain” for anybody, but it’s nice to be reminded of some forgotten freshness.

17. RELEASE YO'DELF

Caruana combines the grimiest Beatles song (“Come Together,” as played by the Phoenix Authority) with one of Meth’s grungiest moments. Sadly, it doesn’t work as well as you would think. It would have been easier to just loop “Come Together’s” trademark drums (that probably would have sounded better, too). However, I appreciated the allusions to “P.L.O. Style”, “Shadowboxin’”, and “Clan In Da Front.”

18. CITY HIGH

Deck, not unlike Big Daddy Kane and Eminem, uses an internal rhyme scheme within most of his lines. “You a professional with records sold, let it go / I reply, this is the only life I’ll ever know.” The original beat for “City High” highlighted these internal rhymes. This beat (which uses a Bobby Bryant cover of “Happiness Is A Warm Gun”) does not. That doesn’t mean the beat is wack, though: it just misses the point.

19. RUN

Max will be happy to hear that Caruana includes the lost Comp verse on this mix. (“I can’t get caught, my mom’s cooking chicken for dinner.”) He loops a demo version of “I Am the Walrus”, which is whimsical and contrasts with the subject matter, but it still manages to work.

20. CROSS MY HEART

For the third song in a row, Caruana provides a beat that isn’t terrible, but conflicts with the overall tone. “Cross my Heart” is Killah Priest, Deck and GZA at their hardest, so Caruana, of course, decides to contrast that with carnival-esque arpeggios over major chords. I wanted grime, but I received whimsy once again. But you’ll still want to listen to this for the outro, on which Ol' Dirty Bastard (who apparently was a ginormous Beatles fan) wishes a crowd goodnight over “Yesterday.” I can’t call it subtle: nothing that uses “Yesterday” can be called subtle. But it is effective.

21. UZI (PINKY RING)

Caruana changes the production for each verse. Switch-the-beat posse cuts tend to suffer from a lack of continuity and uneven quality, and “Uzi (Pinky Ring)” isn’t immune to that, but the good points outweigh the bad. I especially like the production that accompanies Meth, GZA and Masta Killa.

22. BIZARRE

U-God sounds like a natural over this beat, which uses a jazz version of The White Album’s “Sexy Sadie.” U-God can easily sound awkward because he’ll often shift his cadence mid-verse, so Caruana deserves a lot of credit for finding a drum pattern that accommodates him.

23. SLANG EDITORIAL

Cappadonna’s verse lacks the charisma for this slow, bluesy production (crafted from the Dionne Warwick version of “A Hard Day’s Night”) and the music lacks the energy to support Cappa. Caruana seems to realize that this is one of his weaker efforts and keeps it short.

24. SAVE ME DEAR

Am I missing something? This song samples She & Him's version of “You Really Got a Hold on Me.” Smokey Robinson wrote that, not anyone from The Beatles. Does Zooey have some Beatles connection that I’m missing? Don’t get me wrong, this is hot, but it ignores the entire theme of the project. (Actually I can help here. Technically, a version of “You Really Got A Hold On Me” was recorded by The Beatles for their With The Beatles, their second album in the UK. It's a stretch, but it still sort of works. Besides, I like She & Him, so I'll let it slide.)

25. THE MOVEMENT

Seven songs earlier, I complained that Caruana didn’t utilize Deck’s internal rhymes. But he gets it right on his version of “The Movement.” Caruana provides a jaunty beat, sampled from a cover of George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord.” It might sound awkward on a Deck CD (most things do), but it feels right within context of the mashup.

26. WU-TANG CREAM TEAM LINE-UP

This song was originally an afterthought, donated to Funkmaster Flex for one of his 60-minute mixtape albums, but Caruana samples a jazz version of “Michelle” and turns this into something memorable.

27. WU VS. BEATLES (OUTRO)

The jazz version of “Hey Jude” playing in the background is nice, but this outro is inessential.

SHOULD YOU TRACK IT DOWN?: Yes. Tom Caruana's Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers succeeds on all levels. This project will make you want to listen to more Beatles songs, Wu-Tang albums, and you'll even want to hunt down more from Caruana himself. Not every song reveals something new about the source material, but Caruana has crafted something that is more than the sum of its parts, which is pretty incredible, considering how good those parts are by themselves. Luckily, Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers is available as a free download (which makes sense, since clearing all of those samples would easily cost more than our national deficit), so it's easy to find on the Interweb (although it has since been taken down from the site belonging to Caruana's own label, so you may have to spend more than ten seconds Googling it). If you're a fan of either group (I'd be willing to bet that there are a lot of you two that actually love both), you should give this a spin, if for no other reason than because Caruana somehow made Method Man's “Uh Huh” into something worth listening to.

-Jason

(Questions? Comments? Concerns? Leave your thoughts below.)