We've received quite a few emails asking the same question, so we decided it's time for a lil' Q&A at Mic to Mic.

Q: I'm amping up for a gala event and I was just curious about the actual level of "dressiness" for the fans at these events. The Boys have mentioned that we should be dressed better than we would for normal concerts, and I noticed in your photos that they are dressed up to perform--but are we talking fancy gowns and tuxedos/GQ suits or just dressy skirts/trousers and shirts with ties?

A: Dress to impress, they say.

During the Pageant Tour, the band made the same request for fans to dress to impress. They clarified what that meant in a short video posted at Beastieboys.com [see below]. Adam Yauch explained that a tuxedo or a t-shirt with a tuxedo printed on it would be equally appropriate. The same rules apply on this tour. Dress to impress means dress with style (i.e., with flair).

Most Beastie Boys fans with whom I've spoken are interpreting "dress to impress" on this tour as dressing in the same style as the band in their vintage-inspired suits.

My advice: wear whatever you want. Have fun with dressing up, if you want. I recommend, however, not wearing anything that you don't want ruined. You never know if a crazy person is going to attack you and rip up your clothes (happened to me), throw beer all over you (happened to me), or just sweat profusely against you (happened to everybody).

If you do dress up, do it to please yourself, not the band. It's unlikely that you're going to get props from them.


Thanks to Ana for the video!

If this doesn't put a smile on your face, you've had too much plastic surgery.

Beastie Boys sing Rawls and Rogers [3MB mp3 via zshare)

Information on the Beastie Boys performance at the Fuji Rock Festival in Niigata, Japan, is slow coming in. I'm waiting to get details from friends in Japan. [Updated with setlist, photos, and video]

Setlist
MMM Opener
Super Disco Breakin'
Sure Shot
Triple Trouble [VIDEO]
Shake Your Rump
Time for Living
Live at PJ's
B for My Name
Gratitude
Remote Control
Body Movin'
Pass the Mic
Time to Get Ill
Ch-Check It Out
Son of Neckbone
Suco de Tangerina
Sabrosa
Off the Grid
Tough Guy
Egg Raid on Mojo
Root Down
No Sleep Til Brooklyn
3 MCs and 1 DJ
So What'cha Want [VIDEO]
MMM Interlude
Intergalactic [VIDEO // ALTERNATE VIDEO]
Heart Attack Man
Sabotage [VIDEO, pt. 1, VIDEO, pt. 2]

Someone shot a lot of video! A 10-minute video of Mix Master Mike's opener, Super Disco Breakin', Sure Shot, and Triple Trouble may be viewed here. A 9-minute video of Time for Living, Live at PJ's, and B for My Name may be viewed here. An 8-minute video of Gratitude, Remote Control, and Pass the Mic may be viewed here. A video of Time to Get Ill, Ch-Check It Out, Transitions, Sabrosa, and Off the Grid may be viewed here. A video of the end of Transitions, Son of Neckbone, and Sabrosa may be viewed here. These last two videos prove that the setlist provided by the Beastie Boys label in Japan and published above is incorrect, or at least not in correct order.

According to one fan with whom I communicated, the crowd for the Beastie Boys set was pretty tame, except during Sabotage. The audience wigged out for that song.

Photos





The last photo is from Money Mark's set at the Fuji Rock Festival.

Talk about the passion.

Below are several contests in which you can win something Beastie Boys-related:

Win two VIP passes to the Virgin Festival from ThePolice.com (ends August 2)

Win two tickets to the Beastie Boys show at Brixton Academy in London (presumably to the first show on September 4) at Caughtinthecrossfire.com

Win a copy of The Mix-Up from Hit40UK.com (ends July 30)

Click image to view enlargement.

Virgin Festival organizers have finally announced the schedule for the two-day music festival, which takes place in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 4 and 5. Beastie Boys are scheduled to perform from 6:15 to 7:35 p.m. on the North Stage Saturday night.

Diamond is Batman, Horovitz is Robin, and Yauch is Superman.

Yeah, that seems right.

After enjoying a brief break from their tour schedule, Beastie Boys packed up and left New York City again today to return to touring. They will be appearing at the Fuji Rock Festival in Niigata, Japan, this Saturday (July 28).

It seems that Adam Horovitz had a little problem leaving the city this morning, according to a New York blogger who recognized Horovitz standing on the street and wrote about the encounter:

We were loading up the truck this morning for a return to Home Depot when our event producer, Jonny Santos notices something familiar about the guy leaning next to our front door with a red suitcase sipping an iced coffee.

"That's totally Adrock," says Jonny.

He was right. Turns out the towncar broken down on Spring Street was the reason he was standing in front of our door.

"You're not going to JFK by chance?" he says.

"We'll take you," says Jonny, and runs upstairs to print out some directions from our office.

Adrock tells the driver he's going with us, but before Jonny can get back downstairs with the directions an auxiliary towncar rolls up.

So it goes. He was very calm and cool, even when it looked like he'd miss his flight. He told Jonny he'd see him next week when the Beastie Boys perform at the Virgin Festival in Baltimore. Really nice guy.

Photo credit: Kollaps

"Hi, everybody. Hellooo. Hey, over there by the hot dogs! Hiii! Over in the back, by the rollercoaster...hi."

Adam Horovitz shouted greetings to fans before the Beastie Boys performed their final song at the Roskilde Festival. The following audio download is a rip from an MTV Europe broadcast of the performance.

Sabotage (Live at Roskilde 2007) [3MB mp3 via sendspace]

Much thanks to Friis!

Original Concept was a four-member rap group from Long Island that formed in 1986. Among its members was André "Doctor Dré" Brown, who was the Beastie Boys DJ from 1985 to 1986.

According to the liner notes of Original Concept's one-and-only album, titled Straight from the Basement of Kooley High (Def Jam, 1988), Mike Diamond contributed to the song shared as today's audio flashback.

"She's Got a Moustache" [5.3MB mp3 via zshare]

Read more about Original Concept and Doctor Dré at Beastiemania.com.

Yowza! You gotta watch this excellent video of Mix Master Mike at the World Electronic Music Festival.

Photo credit: Weller Photography

Mix Master Mike rocked the house at the World Electronic Music Festival this past weekend in Welland, Ontario.

Watch -- I mean, hear -- a short video from his set:

Because that video might not give you a satisfying Mix Master Mike fix, watch the following video, filmed at the Bruk Summer Street Festival in Poland earlier this month. Make note of who MMM's official photographer is.

Enough readers contacted me about wanting a place to buy and sell tickets that I created a group on Google for that specific purpose.

Anyone can view the posts; however, only members may post. This measure is to keep out the spammers and riff-raff. To join the group, click on the "Apply for group membership" link on the Group home page.

I advise people who join the group to read the messages on the group web site or use the RSS feed instead of having individual messages delivered by email. Members may specify their preferences for reading messages by clicking on the "Edit my membership" link.

If you would like to join the group without a Google account, email me and request that I add you to the group at your preferred non-Google email address.

Because of the break in the tour, I've found time to beef up our reports on the European tour by adding new photos, videos, press reviews, and information. I've been able to build partial setlists for some shows we had little information on by watching videos on Youtube.com and other video sites. All videos -- even crappy-quality videos -- help to tell a story.

Our European tour reports are now listed as quick links in the right column on this page for easy access and review. If you have or find photos or videos from the shows, please contact us so we can add them to the reports. We're especially interested in getting photos or scans of the setlists.

A few items that I added to the reports that I feel are particularly worthy of review are these nice photos from the Montreux Gala Event (send your mom a Beastie Boys e-card!); a video of "Time to Get Ill" from the Moon & Stars Festival in Switzerland that captures Mike's microphone dying on him (listen to his explanation of why the mic died); and a video of "Tough Guy" from the Southside Festival in Germany that includes a goofy conversation between Mike and Yauch. What does Yauch know about naked bungee jumping?!

One unusual find is the following video, which was shot before the Montreux Gala Event. You have to be kind of patient while you watch it, but there is a reward at the end.



As I find time, I will continue to update our tour reports and point out items of interest.

How did everyone make out with getting tickets to the U.S. shows? Everybody good?

I have been kicking around the idea of creating a forum for fans to sell and/or trade tickets, but I'm unsure of the need. Contact me by email or post a comment if a ticket forum is something you would use.

Because I was following the European tour when the U.S. shows went on sale, I had to rely on friends and family to purchase my tickets. A communication snafu among my ticket team caused me to end up with extra tickets to several shows. I have tickets to the following shows for sale:

8/19 - Greek Theatre, Los Angeles (one seated ticket)

8/20 - Greek Theatre, Los Angeles (two seated tickets - not together)

8/24 - The Warfield, San Francisco [Gala Event] (one seated ticket)

Contact me by email if you're interested in purchasing any of the tickets. (Please don't post in the comments.) I am selling them at face value.

I would like to thank all the readers who contributed their iTunes codes to help other fans purchase tickets. Many fans got the tickets they wanted because of your generosity!

A number of readers have contacted us, requesting we post mp3s of the bonus tracks from The Mix-Up. Sorry, no can do. The bonus tracks are intended to encourage people to buy the album. C'mon, Adam Horovitz has a dog to feed!

Although we can't point you to mp3 downloads of the songs, we can point you to audio clips of the songs so you can hear them. Martijn at Beastieplaza.nl has posted short audio clips of the two bonus tracks on the Japanese version of the album:

"The Mix-Up"
"Fibonacci Sequence"

A third bonus track, titled "Biscuits and Butter," is an iTunes exclusive that is available only with the album download. An audio clip is available to hear in the iTunes Music Store.

"Professionals!"

Beastie Boys filmed a short message for a listening party of The Mix-Up in Austria before their performance at the Nuke Festival.

Setlist
MMM Intro
Triple Trouble
Super Disco Breakin'
Sure Shot
Shake Your Rump
Gratitude
The Biz vs. The Nuge
Time for Living
B for My Name
Live at PJ's
Heart Attack Man
Remote Control
Body Movin' [video]
Pass the Mic
Brass Monkey
Posse in Effect
The Gala Event
Tough Guy
Shambala
Sabrosa
Off the Grid
Root Down
3 MC's & 1 DJ
Ch-check It Out
So What'cha Want
MMM Interlude [video]
Intergalactic [video]
No Sleep Til Brooklyn
Sabotage [video]

The show was broadcasted on Austrian radio Fm4.

Photos

Yauch: Everybody in the house, let me hear you say "Bong-bong!"
Audience: Bong-bong!
Yauch: Say "Bong-bong!"
Audience: Bong-bong!
Horovitz: My side, my side! Go "Bing-bing!"
Audience: Bing-bing!
Yauch: Bong-bong!
Audience: Bong-bong!
Horovitz: Bing-bing!
Audience: Bing-bing!
Yauch: Bong-bong!
Horovitz: Bing-bing!
Yauch: That was great.
Horovitz: We've got to work that one out.
Diamond: That was a hot routine, y'all.

Ahh, bong-bonging and bing-binging in the rain in an old airfield in Poland with the Beastie Boys! Yes, I remember it well! And now we all can remember it well, thanks to a generous taper who recorded and shared the show with us.

Download a compressed folder [.rar] containing mp3s at Megaupload.com or individual mp3s via Zshare.net below.

01 Gratitude
02 Time for Living
03 Live at PJ's
04 Root Down
05 Triple Trouble
06 Sure Shot
07 Shake Your Rump
08 Remote Control
09 Tough Guy
10 Electric Worm
11 Sabrosa
12 Pass the Mic
13 Body Movin'
14 Super Disco Breakin'
15 Brass Monkey
16 Off the Grid
17 Shambala
18 Son of Neckbone
19 The Maestro
20 Egg Raid on Mojo
21 3 MC's and 1 DJ
22 No Sleep Til Brooklyn
23 Ch-Check It Out
24 So What'cha Want
25 MMM Interlude
26 Intergalactic
27 Heart Attack Man
28 Sabotage

Mix Master Mike interlude and "Intergalactic" at Balaton Sound Festival, filmed by Kobak

It's rare for me to find a video that captures what I feel a Beastie Boys concert experience is like. This video, filmed at the Beastie Boys set at the Balaton Sound Festival in Zamardi, Hungary, achieves just that.

This video has it all: Mix Master Mike's mastery, B Boy banter, special visuals (the robot animation for "Intergalactic" that I wrote about in another review), audience exuberance, and Beastie Boys craftiness (i.e., taking a mistake and turning it into something good). Note the funky, spoken-style way Adam Horovitz picks up the interruption in "Intergalactic."

This video put a huge smile on my face.

Listeners of B92 Radio in Serbia were asked to listen to audio of live performances from artists who appeared at the Exit Festival and choose the best performance of the entire festival. Guess who listeners chose? I'll give you a clue. It starts with "B."

Listen to the song that convinced B92 Radio listeners to vote Beastie Boys as best performance at the Exit Festival:

3 MC's and 1 DJ (Live at the Exit Festival) [dl via Zshare]

Thanks to Ana!

Adam Horovitz participated in a short radio interview with B92 Radio last Friday, the day the Beastie Boys performed at the Exit Festival in Serbia.

You can download and listen to the 5-minute interview here [updated link].

Thank you, Baseline!

"Put one finger in the fuckin' air like thissss!"

For the final date of the European tour at the Balaton Sound Festival in Zamardi, Hungary, Mike chose to dress in his yachting outfit. Fressssh attire!!


Beastie Boys performing "Super Disco Breakin'" at Balaton Sound Festival

Setlist*
Sure Shot [video]
The Maestro [video]
No Sleep Til Brooklyn [video]
Remote Control
Pass the Mic
Tough Guy
Body Movin' [video]
Time to Get Ill [video]
Skills to Pay the Bills [video]
Ch-Check It Out [video]
3 MCs and 1 DJ [video]
MMM Interlude [video // alternate video (includes Intergalactic)]
Intergalactic [video]
Sabotage [video]

Here's a video montage that includes clips of Ch-Check It Out, Remote Control, Pass the Mic, Tough Guy, No Sleep Til Brooklyn, So What'cha Want, Intergalactic, and Body Movin'

Photos








*Incomplete

Beastie Boys with an Exit Festival publicist in Serbia. Mark must have been on the bus.

We were very pleased to receive an email from a fan who attended the Beastie Boys performance at the Exit Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia. Ana provided the kind of detailed review we like to read.

She writes:

The performance was great! It's not just my opinion; everybody agreed Beastie Boys were the best performance at Exit 07. Their setlist was similar to the one at the Open'er Fest in Poland -- pretty much in the same order, plus they played "Suco de Tangerina." People loved the new stuff, and I must say it sounds even better live!

The Boys were funny as usual, especially Adam Horovitz, who was drinking beer on stage, and Mike D. Mike started the show with apologizing for not coming to Serbia sooner and finished the show with a toast in Serbian. (He tried to say "na zdravlje," but I don't know what he said or I didn't hear it right.) Mike also wished the audience a good time at the other shows at the festival, mentioning Snoop Dog, Wu-Tang Clan, Lauryn Hill, and even Robert Plant. He turned to Horovitz and said, "You know, that guy from Led Zeppelin." He didn't mention The Prodigy.

Mike also said something about many people coming to the festival to meet others and asked Horovitz if he had met anyone there. Horovitz ignored him, but when he repeated the question twice, Horovitz replied, "Not yet. Maybe after the show." Mike said, "Ok, see ya at the afterparty at Motel 6."

Besides their brilliant performance and the crazy atmosphere, I'll remember this concert as the first one in which I couldn't get to the first row. It just wasn't possible! You and Midzi (with your injuries) crossed my mind at one point, during "Egg Raid on Mojo," when I lost my sneakers in the crowd! You can see in this photo, where the dust is in the air, is where I was standing for the show. I'm telling you, it was total chaos!

I saw one interview with the band on national television in which Mike said that he's not afraid of anything -- except oversized microphones. Yauch made funny faces with his fingers on his head, like horns or rabbit ears, while Horovitz chased away invisible flies. When asked about Live Earth and the environment, Yauch presented his idea of generating power with people who ride bikes at the gym. When asked about the difference between a Gala Event and a regular show, Mike replied that they drink better champagne and dress better at the Gala Events.

Ana reports that all the performances at the Exit Festival, including the Beastie Boys performance, were streamed live at www.exitlive.tv. She hopes to track down a recording of the show and share it with the fan community.

Reuters photos

Unfortunately, I can find little information about the Beastie Boys performance at the Exit Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia, yesterday (July 13). I read one short report that said the band performed "all their hits." Duh.

One interesting thing I found related to the show is a video of Beastie Boys performing "Off the Grid" at the Exit Festival. The lighting and visuals for this song performance, as shown in this video, are different than at other shows during the European tour. It appears the lighting and visuals for the tour have been designed and evolved with each performance. Each show has had its own unique look.

An interesting thing to note about the Beastie Boys performance at the Exit Festival is its marks the first time the Beastie Boys have shared a stage with The Prodigy since their infamous "misunderstanding" at the Reading Festival in 1998. I don't suppose Beastie Boys asked The Prodigy not to play "Smack My Bitch Up" again, do you?

Read a fan's account of the Beastie Boys performance at the Exit Festival here.

Setlist
MMM Intro [video]
Super Disco Breakin' [video]
Sure Shot [video]
Triple Trouble
Shake Your Rump
The Biz vs. The Nuge
Time for Living
Live at PJ's
B for My Name [video]
Gratitude [video]
Remote Control [video]
Body Movin' [video]
Pass the Mic
Brass Monkey [video]
Ch-Check It Out
Off the Grid [video]
Tough Guy [video]
Shambala
Suco de Tangerina
Sabrosa
Egg Raid on Mojo
Root Down
No Sleep Til Brooklyn
3 MC's and 1 DJ
So What'cha Want [video] / [alternate video]
MMM Interlude [video]
Intergalactic [video]
Heart Attack Man
Sabotage

A video montage of Super Disco Breakin', Sure Shot, Triple Trouble, and Ch-Check It Out may be viewed here.

Photos

From The New York Times:

Hello, Natty
By Christopher Bollen

Inside the wood-paneled walls of the former executive offices of the Benjamin Moore paint company on Canal Street, three men dressed in circa 1950s suits are getting down to business. Only these guys aren’t looking at paint chips. Adam Yauch, Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz are recording “The Mix-Up,” their new all-instrumental album. Welcome to the Beastie Boys’ Oscilloscope Studios, where for the past year, a strict dress code has been in play.

The new work clothes are not a sign that New York’s favorite delinquent sons have finally grown up or have mellowed with age. “The Mix-Up” finds the Boys away from the rapping and sampling that has defined their hip-hop sound and adopting the old-school approach of just sitting down in a room together and playing their instruments. “We did a total 180 on ourselves,” Diamond says, tugging on his polyester lapels. This is not the first time the Beastie Boys have donned suits for a release — they wore matching jumpsuits while touring for “Hello Nasty” and Adidas track suits for “To the Five Boroughs.” Those looks, however, were assembled specifically for the stage. The vintage suits and ties set the tone for the new album, with MCA, Mike D. and Adrock wearing their retro jazz-cat fineries into the studio every day and requiring everyone else to dress in a similar fashion. “Whenever you look at old pictures of musicians recording,” Yauch explains, “everyone is in suits and ties — formal was normal. So we thought for the music we were making it just didn’t seem right coming in wearing T-shirts and sneakers.”

The three decided that Monday through Thursday were compulsory suit-and-tie, but that Fridays would be casual. “Well, ‘casual,’ ” Horovitz clarifies, “meant, like, old-school sneakers from the ’60s.” All three musicians took instantly to their work threads — even competitively accessorizing with tie clips, cuff links and hats. And they became very savvy hunters on eBay. But of course, when you’re the Beastie Boys, you can also rely on a little help from your fans. “As a band, whatever you’re into, people show up to make it available to you,” Diamond says. “If your band is into drugs, you’ll have seedy drug-type people around you. When we went through our skateboarding phase, people would show up and give us skateboard gear. Now people are showing up with incredible stuff — and I don’t mean drugs, I mean suits.”

The Beastie Boys plan to continue the late-’50s look on tour (they play a bunch of hometown shows next month) and have even produced specially constructed Plexiglas instruments to take on the road. Just don’t expect any onstage pyrotechnics. “Yesterday, I was wearing a shirt that was very flammable,” Diamond says. “There was quite a sheen to it. Most of these clothes are highly petroleum-based. That’s not very environmental.” He opens his jacket to reveal a label that reads, “Lord Douglas expressly tailored for Bonney & Gordon Store for Men, Sacramento, California.” “But on the other hand, we are saving fine clothes from landfills.”

View of a slideshow of photos of the Beastie Boys, taken by Ari Marcopoulos and published with this feature article, here.

We received an email from a fan who saw the Beastie Boys' set at the Quart Festival in Norway, one of the shows we heard very little about.

Morten writes:

"There was trouble with the instrument sound, so the guys had to improvise for the first 30 minutes. They just rapped to some records -- freestyle shit. Very cool!"

Dang! That does sound cool, doesn't it?

We are happy to report that we have successfully hooked some fans up to other fans to share the iTunes code and get Beastie Boys concert tickets. Unfortunately, we received more requests for iTunes codes than we received code donations. We're making a final appeal to fans who haven't yet used their code to buy Beastie Boys concert tickets to donate the code to fans in need.

Most people who have written us are looking for only one or two tickets to a single show. Everyone who has written is a genuine fan. (Geesh, you have to be a big fan if you're reading this goofy blog.)

So, pleeeaasse, if you have a code to spare, help your fellow Beastie Boys fan. Email us the code and the amount of tickets available with the code. We will distribute the codes to fans in order of request received.

A final note: The code is not related to an individual's iTunes identity or account. No personal information is revealed through sharing of the code.

Beastie Boys perform "No Sleep Til Brooklyn" at the Moon & Stars Festival in Locarno, Switzerland.

Setlist
Super Disco Breakin'
Sure Shot
Triple Trouble
Shake Your Rump
Time for Living
Live at PJ's
Gratitude
Remote Control
Body Movin'
Pass the Mic
Time to Get Ill [video]
In the middle of the song, Mike's microphone dies. Mike explains to the audience, "I was so hot on the mic, I blew it up."
Ch-Check It Out
Off the Grid
Tough Guy [video]
Son of Neckbone
Suco de Tangerina
Sabrosa [video]
Egg Raid on Mojo [video]
Root Down [video]
No Sleep Til Brooklyn [see video above]
3 MCs and 1 DJ
So What'cha Want
MMM Interlude [video]
Intergalactic [video]
Heart Attack Man
Sabotage

This video is a montage, featuring performances of Pass the Mic, Time to Get Ill, MMM Interlude, Intergalactic, Live at PJ's, and Sabotage.

Photos

Now that we're nearing the end of the European tour, let's take a look at the upcoming U.S. tour. Beastie Boys have announced the following dates in the United States:

August 1 - Festival Pier, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Purchase tickets

August 2 - The Borgata, Atlantic City, New Jersey (A Gala Event)
Purchase tickets

August 4 - Virgin Festival, Baltimore, Maryland
Purchase tickets

August 5 - Opera House, Boston, Massachussetts (A Gala Event)
Purchase tickets

August 6 - Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, Massachussetts
Purchase tickets

August 8 - Central Park Summerstage, New Yawk, New Yawk
Purchase tickets

August 9 - McCarren Pool, Brooklyn, New York
Purchase tickets

August 10 - Hammerstein Ballroom, New Yawk, New Yawk (A Gala Event)
Purchase tickets

August 16 - Red Rocks, Morrison, Colorado
Purchase tickets

August 17 - The Fillmore, Denver, Colorado (A Gala Event)
Purchase tickets

August 19 - Greek Theater, Los Angeles, California
Purchase tickets

August 20 - Greek Theater, Los Angeles, California
Purchase tickets

August 21 - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, California (A Gala Event)
Presale on July 13; on-sale on July 14 at Ticketmaster.com

August 23 - Santa Barbara County Bowl, Santa Barbara, California
Purchase tickets

August 24 - The Warfield, San Francisco, California (A Gala Event)
Purchase tickets

August 25 - Greek Theater, Berkeley, California
Purchase tickets

View a visual representation of the tour schedule.

From Stereo Warning:

You guys played and have seen lots of concerts. What makes a performance stand out?
MCA: Mike and I were trying to calculate the other day how many hours we've spent on stage, 'cause we were talking to this pilot and she said she had flown for 11,000 hours. My guess is we've spent maybe 10,000 hours on stage.
Mike D: I could be wrong, but I'm throwing 10,000 out there. That's pretty good experience, you know. You'd feel safe - not with us flying a plane, 'cause I've never flown a plane, but performing with us. We know what we're doing up there. That's all I'm saying.

Why don't you bring more bands from New York on tour with you? Bands from your old New York roots, that never got discovered.
Adrock: None of those bands are together anymore.

Murphy's Law is.
Adrock: We've toured with Murphy's Law before.

But not in Europe.
Adrock: No, not in Europe.
Mike D: How come you didn't bring up Urban Waste, though? Or Kraut? Or even The Mob? Or The Attack? The Undead?
MCA: How about Cavity Creeps? How do you feel about Cavity Creeps? You're into them? No?
Mike D: How about Adrenaline OD? Come on, you're feeling them boys at home! You love that shit, right?

What's the difference between Beastie Boys 20 years ago and today?
MCA: I have more gray hair.
Adrock: I have more money.

I was thinking more along the lines of artistic...
Mike D: You know, I just spent all my crowns today at lunch. I don't have any left.
Adrock: I have more, but in the bank.
Mike D: It's probably not that different, every record we do is a bit different, but it represents where we're at the moment. Twenty years ago we listened to some different types of music.
MCA: I got a computer.

Do you see a difference in the music scene?
MCA: Not much.
Adrock: Just trying to barely get by.
MCA: Just trying to stay afloat.
Adrock: Hanging on by a thread.

Do you have anything in common with the hip-hop scene from today, like 50 Cent for example?
Mike D: I actually use the same dry cleaner as 50 Cent. We do use the same dentist, although he uses a different person for his fronts, 'cause my dentist won't do that type of work.
Adrock: 50 Cent is in much better shape than us.
Mike D: Well, he drinks vitamin water. I drink soda. I had a dentist once who gave me teeth made out of wood, because he said that's what George Washington had. Then I found out that George Washington didn't use wood in his teeth and I started to get splinters from the teeth and I sued the dentist. 'Cause it hurt me a lot and he lied to me.
Adrock: George Washington, the first American president, his teeth were from elephant's teeth.
MCA: No, rhino tusk.
Adrock: I thought it was elephant tusk.
MCA: No, rhino. I can send you the link if you want it. You can google it, too.

What do you think of Rick Rubin's work today, he's a very popular producer...
Mike D: I don't know if it's been announced, 'cause it's something he just told me about when we were in the sauna together, but he's doing a thing with Cirque de Soleil.
Adrock: He gets mistaken sometimes for the dude in ZZ Top.

Which one?
Adrock: The one with the beard.

Will you make any political statements today on stage?
Mike D: I'd like you to consider strongly voting for me. I don't have an office per se that I'm running for, but if an argument erupts I'd like you to just take my side.
Adrock: We don't even have an office.

How is the music scene in New York right now?
Mike D: I'm not familiar with it. But there's always something going down.

What's a good bar to go to in New York?
Adrock: Astoria Hogwash. There's a bar called Hogwash in Astoria, Queens. It's a drive from New York, but it's a good bar. And Murphy's Law are from Queens too. And so is Run DMC and LL Cool J. A lot of history in Queens.

What do you think of CBGB's going down?
MCA: It's sad.
Mike D: New York changes.
Adrock: What are you gonna do, it's the way of the world.

All good things must end. The Beastie Boys European tour is about to wrap up soon. The last performance of their European tour will take place this Saturday (July 15) at the Balaton Sound Festival in Hungary. After that performance, the band will be returning home for a break before beginning the first date of the U.S. tour on August 1 in Philadelphia.

One member of the band, however, is not taking much of a break. Mix Master Mike is scheduled to perform at the World Electronic Music Festival, which takes place in Welland, Ontario (near Toronto), on July 20-22. Mix Master Mike will headline the World of DnB Stage.

For ticket information, visit the World Electronic Music Festival site.

If you received a special code to purchase concert tickets by downloading The Mix-Up on iTunes and you have not yet ordered the maximum number tickets allowable (four total), please consider donating your code so other Beastie Boys fans can use it to purchase good tickets. Contact us if you are willing to donate your code or if you need a code. We'll do our best to help fans connect so they can help one another. The ticket offer expires on July 14, so please don't delay.

Part 1 of 3 videos, posted at Youtube.com by Pulp68

Our favorite DJ performed at an afterparty at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 9, 2007. Watch, listen, and appreciate.

Part 2 // Part 3

"Jimmy James" at the Montreux Gala Event

A Beastie Boys fan, going by the username b0nkb0nkb0nk on Youtube.com, has posted video from the Gala Event at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 10, 2007, at Youtube.com. The videos are full-song recordings, and the audio quality is pretty good (all things considered).

Setlist*
Sure Shot [video] [alternate video]
Suco de Tangerina [video]
Live at PJ's [video]
Jimmy James [see above video]
Sabrosa [video]
Transitions [video]
Groove Holmes [video]
So What'cha Want [video]
3 MCs and 1 DJ [video]

*Incomplete

Oddities

Backstage video
Another backstage video

Photos



Press

Concert review and photos at Vibrationsmusic.com (in French)

Thanks and praise to Michal at Gigblog.pl for sharing this audience recording of the Beastie Boys' Gala Event at the Heineken Open'er Festival in Gdynia, Poland, on July 1, 2007. Download a compressed folder [.rar] containing mp3s at Megaupload.com or individual mp3s via Zshare.net below.

01 Live at PJ's
02 Futterman's Rule
03 Time for Living
04 Remote Control
05 B for My Name
06 In 3's
07 Song for the Man
08 Suco de Tangerina
09 Root Down and Get It
10 Pow
11 Lighten Up
12 Mark on the Bus
13 Transitions
14 Ricky's Theme
15 Do It
16 Something's Got to Give
17 The Gala Event
18 Gratitude
19 Heart Attack Man
20 Honky Rink
21 Jimmy James
22 So What'cha Want
23 Encore Break
24 MMM Interlude
25 Sure Shot
26 3 MC's & 1 DJ
27 Egg Raid on Mojo
28 The Maestro
29 Sabotage

Please note that Michal posted mp3s at his blog to download; however, they're stored on his server, so it costs him if you download from his blog.



If you download this recording, please thank Michal for sharing by posting in the comments here or on his blog. Tapers like to know that people appreciate what they do.

Everyone in Montreux must be partying instead of blogging and posting their photos because we've had little luck finding photos, reviews, and articles about the Beastie Boys show at the festival yesterday. The Gala Event at the festival takes place today. Maybe we'll hear from fans after today's show.

Setlist*
Egg Raid on Mojo / B for My Name / Shambala / The Maestro / Tough Guy [video montage]
Yauch dedicates Egg Raid on Mojo to Dave Parsons.
Sure Shot [video]
Pass the Mic [video]
No Sleep Til Brooklyn [video]
3 MCs and 1 DJ [video]
So What'cha Want [video]
Intergalactic [video]
Sabotage [video]

Photos




*Incomplete

From Grist:

Diamond Off the Cuff
By Sarah van Schagen

"I'm recording [this interview] so I can send the tapes to Jerry Lewis; he archives all of my interviews," Beastie Boy Mike D deadpanned at the other end of the phone line. "In addition to being an all-around comedian and famous in France, he's very much a stickler for recording interviews."

It was a bizarre response to my routine opener about recording interviews, but perhaps not entirely unexpected. I'd read that the hip-hop punk-rockers -- known for hits like "Brass Monkey," "Fight for Your Right (to Party!)," and "Sabotage" -- were sometimes flippant with the press.

But as soon as I gathered my wits and began asking him about his personal environmental ethic and raising his kids green, Michael Diamond got serious. Which also shouldn't have surprised me: The Beastie Boys have long been serious about their social activism, donating songs and ticket sales to various charities and organizing major events like the Tibetan Freedom Concert in 1996 and the New Yorkers Against Violence Concert a month after 9/11.

Tomorrow, the group -- which includes Diamond (Mike D), Adam Horovitz (Adrock), Adam Yauch (MCA), and Michael Schwartz (Mix Master Mike) -- will play Live Earth London, one of a number of concerts around the world on 7/7/07 to raise awareness about climate change. It was "instant acceptance" when they were asked to participate, Diamond says, putting them on stage with other major artists like Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Black Eyed Peas, even a reunited Spinal Tap.

I spoke to Diamond while he was in New York just before leaving for the group's tour of European music festivals in support of this year's all-instrumental album The Mix-Up. Our call was short but chatty; Diamond seemed sincere about his green leanings, and sported a healthy dose of political cynicism. I'd definitely consider the interview ill communication ... I wonder what Jerry Lewis thought.

Q: You'll be playing Live Earth in London. How did you get involved with that?
Global warming is something that needs everybody's immediate attention and action. And it's not something anybody can afford to wait on; it's very, very clear. So somebody came to us with the idea of Live Earth raising so much consciousness, so much awareness ... it was pretty much an instantaneous "yes" on our part.

Q: How would you describe your environmental ethic?
My environmental ethic?

Q: Are you doing anything with your tour ...
When we get back to doing our own tour here in the U.S., there are a bunch of initiatives that we're starting work on that won't have fully manifested until the tour starts -- like the trucks and the buses on our tour are going to all run on biodiesel.

We've kind of informed our audiences about the concept of carbon offsets for every event that we're doing and how much energy we [use]. We're going to hopefully have pretty extensive tabling, but we haven't sorted out exactly who we're working with, in terms of groups.

And then we're also trying to get this thing going where you turn in, say, 10 water bottles at the venue and you get an incentive for that -- our own kind of incentive-based recycling program at each venue.

Q: That's cool. They were actually doing that at Sasquatch in May.
Yeah. That was what kind of inspired us. We bit their idea, but I think they'll be happy about that.

Q: Yeah I think so, too. I was volunteering there.
I was impressed. At Sasquatch, I had a couple people come up to me, like, "Would you mind signing this record? I turned in" -- you know, whatever it was -- "10 water bottles, 20 water bottles, and I got this record of yours."

Q: The records were 200 bottles, so that was a lot of recyclables.
So it worked.

Q: Well, what about in your personal life?
Basically, I just try to, as much as possible, tread lightly, which is not so easy here in New York City. But I guess, on the other hand, the flip side is that I walk to and from work every day; I walk my kids to school and then we walk back. So a lot of times, I can go days without having to get in an automobile.

Q: That's the good thing about big cities.
And if I get lucky and I get a hybrid taxi, then I've really done well.

Q: So you have two sons. How old are they now?
One will be 3 this summer. And one's going to be 5.

Q: And how are you passing along your environmental ethic to them?
It's pretty interesting. With them, they're already so recycling-aware. As soon as they finish a thing of yogurt, right away, instead of throwing it out, they say, "Daddy, this gets recycled, right? We recycle this, right?"

We really just try to be aware of things like when we leave the bathroom, let's turn this light off and explain why and the energy it's using. Really I think what I try to explain to them is our responsibility: the care of the land and the environment. As humans, this is our responsibility. It's something we have to take very seriously.

Actually, it's pretty amazing. I think kids now -- I'm hoping -- seem to be brought up with a lot more awareness. Like one of my sons yesterday did a field trip to the Bronx Botanical Gardens. So they were planting plants, and he came back and he was telling me so much about what the plants do and how they help our air. I was really psyched that he actually had this hands-on interaction. It made it all so much more immediate for him.

Q: Do you keep up with politics at all? Who are you favoring in the presidential race?
I'm undecided in terms of Obama and Clinton, although I haven't seen what Obama's or Clinton's environmental stance has been ... Although of course, you know, the front page of the Times today: "Bush is coming around..." [Laughs]

Q: Yeah. I don't know if I believe that.
Bush is really coming around now ... [Laughs]

Q: I know a few years ago you worked with Alanis Morissette and some environmental groups to get [Interior Department official] Steven Griles out of office. How did you feel when he resigned and then it was revealed he was involved in the Abramoff scandal?
It felt good having a small victory; although, on the other hand, it was so small. It's such a small amount of work because it was OK, then the issues were drilling the Alaskan wilderness, there was the brilliant plan put forth by the Bush administration to start logging our own national forests -- which would supposedly keep us safer from fires.

Q: Right, right. Healthy Forests.
Clear-cut the forests before they can burn!

Those were two things that ... instantly motivated me to become active. So maybe it's a short-term victory, but still I just feel like all these things are being threatened every day. It kind of requires constant vigilance and a constant effort on the part of everybody, really, unfortunately.

Until we one day, hopefully, have a government that actually serves the people and listens to the people's interests as opposed to business's interests, yeah, it's going to require constant vigilance on the part of the people.

Q: What do you think about the focus on bling and sort of consumerist, materialistic stuff in hip-hop culture right now?
I'm a bit torn, because on the one hand, I think that people make a bit too much of it because it's always sort of been an element of hip-hop. There's kind of like the boastful part of hip-hop, and an extension of that at times involves boasting about what you got -- could be skills or possessions.

I think it falls on me, as a parent, to instill whatever the values say to my kids -- in terms of: Do they want to spend all their money on a pair of 22-inch rims? Or would they rather see some people eat? But that's gonna come from me, not from a song.

Q: Back in your early days, you were known for wearing a gold Volkswagen on a chain around your neck ...
Yeah, see now that's recycling.

Click on the above photos to visit galleries of photos of the Beastie Boys at Roskilde.

While at the Roskilde Festival, Beastie Boys did an interview with MTV Overdrive. Video of the interview is available at the following MTV Overdrive sites: Norway // Denmark // Sweden. You must be physically located in one of those countries to view the video. Friis was kind enough to rip audio from the video for those who cannot access the video. Download and/or listen to an mp3 of the interview here. [9 minutes, 8.37MB]

Most interesting about the MTV Overdrive interview is what the band reveal about what's next for them. Yauch says, "We've got some new joints." He also describes a new project: "We're working on a film version of the album."

"We've got big things comin' up," Horovitz chimes in.

Media

Review of Beastie Boys performance with several photos at Gaffa.dk (in Danish)
Friis provided a translation. She says the reviewer goes on about how great the Beastie Boys were when they performed at Roskilde in 1998. It seems the reviewer longs for the Beastie Boys of yesteryear.

Review of Beastie Boys performance at Ibyen.dk (in Danish)
Check out the nice photo published with the review. English translation by Friis below:
When Beastie Boys are in full effect, they still rock the best street party outside New York. The hip-hop legends were doing well on the Orange stage. They seemed to be having so much fun with each other that they almost forgot they were doing a concert. Dressed in black suits and armed with the punk rock they played before they switched to hip hop, MCA, Adrock and Mike D started the party Roskilde was waiting for. After the fast opener, hits like "Pass the Mic" and "Sure Shot" were flying from the edge of the stage, while the guys from Brooklyn were switching from mics to instruments with a grin on their faces. But then they switched to instrumental songs and the energy of the concert died. Before we all forgot their skills, they returned to their edgy rhymes, so it was sing-along rhyming by the jumping crowed to an awesome and heavy version of "No Sleep Til Brooklyn" and an ending series of hit tunes including "So What'cha Want," "Intergalactic" and "Sabotage." Beastie Boys could have been better, but nobody can front that they are one of hip hop's veterans.

Interview with Beastie Boys at Ibyen.dk (in Danish)
English translation by Friis below:
What should have been a huge interview with hip-hop legends ended in nothing, because the gray-haired boys didn't want to trek in the mud. And they don't want to take anything serious. To interview the Beasties is like trying to get a serious answer out of a school kid who only answers with farting sounds. All they did was goof, do inside jokes, and provide dumb answers to questions. This is strange considering they probably want to be taken seriously on their latest album.

Two hours before they jumped on the Orange stage, we meet them in a small shed behind the stage that was curtained and had an amar shelf [a Danish kind of shelf, left in the pic] on the wall. We should have had the interview around a big table, but the boys were in white sneakers, and they refused to move outside in the mud.

As soon as we got in, we could tell the bad-ass boys, who were sitting shoulder to shoulder in a sofa, were going to be goofing and play the game I-play-kinda-goofy/wack-talk for the next ten minutes. Mike D wore shades and a big wig. At least I thought so.

Ibyen.dk: Your recent album is full of political lyrics. Can we expect political statements on stage?

Mike: I think you should vote for me as president next time.

Ibyen.dk: I promise I will if you are still wearing that wig.

Mike keeps talking, but is interrupted by Adrock.

"What did you say? Did you say he's wearing a wig?" Adrock asks with a grinning smile.

"Yeah," I reply. "I will vote for him if he still has his wig on."

"IT'S MY REAL HAIR!!" Mike yells, pulling his locks. "This interview stops here!" he jokes.

Adrock is thrilled. "That was the best question," he says.

Yes, it's obvious that's the best question when all the other questions are answered by goofy talk about yachts, elephant teeth in his upper mouth, and George Washington's wooden teeth.

Twenty years ago, they would get white kids to dig hip hop, but now they can't make seven white journalists laugh in a shed behind the Orange stage.

Thanks to Friis for the concert review, translations, links, and audio!

From The Vancouver Sun:

Beastie Boys still 'tongue-in-cheek'

ROSKILDE, Denmark -- Pioneering rap group Beastie Boys lived up to their reputation for tongue-in-cheek interviews on Sunday when they answered press questions at Denmark's Roskilde festival.

The three New York rappers -- Mike D (Michael Diamond), MCA (Adam Yauch) and Adrock (Adam Horovitz) -- who released last month the instrumental album The Mix-Up, were one of the headlining acts at the festival on the weekend.

Following is a selection of their answers at a news conference held in a trailer behind the festival's main stage.

Q: What is the difference between Beastie Boys of 20 years ago and today?
MCA: I have more grey hair.
Adrock: I have more money.

Q: I was thinking more along the lines of artistic...
Mike D: You know, I just spent all my Danish crowns today at lunch. I don't have any left.
Adrock: I have more, but in the bank.
MCA: I've got a computer.

Q: Do you have anything in common with the hip-hop scene today?
Mike D: I actually use the same dry cleaner as 50 Cent. We do use the same dentist, although he uses a different person for his fronts, because my dentist won't do that type of work.
Adrock: 50 Cent is in much better shape than us.

Q: What do you think of Rick Rubin's work today? (Rubin launched Beastie Boys' career, but later they parted ways. He remains one of the most in-demand producers today.)
Mike D: I don't know if it's been announced, because it's something he just told me about when we were in the sauna together, but he's doing a thing with Cirque de Soleil.

Download an mp3 of the Beastie Boys performance at Live Earth [DVB-C source], courtesy of Squeeze 1st. The mp3 is not the full performance.

If you know of a complete or better audio source, please contact us.

The Mix-Up sold 44,000 copies in its first week in stores to claim the No. 15 spot on the Billboard Top 200 chart.

Other Billboard chart positions for The Mix-Up are:

No. 3 on Tastemakers chart
No. 6 on Top Digital Albums chart
No. 16 on Top Internet Albums chart
No. 84 on European Top 100 Albums chart

Similar to our compilation of fan reviews of The Mix-Up, I have compiled what the music press are saying about the new album. This was a major undertaking, as the music press tend not to express their opinions concisely. I did my best to edit the superfluous.

The Mix-Up is a sweaty, '60s soul package so smooth it's subliminal -- like swallowing your own spit. Woven tight with fuzzyliscious grooves and beats that'll have you reaching for an afro pick, the album has all the enthusiasm of a neighborhood basement jam session with musicians that have actually been around the block a few decades."
-- Erin Glass, San Diego Union-Tribune
Grade: 4 stars (of 5)
Recommended songs: B for My Name, Off the Grid

The Mix-Up is the first time the threesome have sat down to make a purely instrumental record, and it's a shame they don't do so more often...[The Mix-Up] reveals a much more refined band who have mastered their art.
-- David Watkins, South China Morning Post
Grade: N/A
Recommended songs: Electric Worm, Off the Grid

[The Mix-Up] is laid-back, good-natured, and sounds as if it was a lot of fun to make...Quite possibly a record whose subtleties will be revealed with time.
-- David Peschek, The Guardian
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: The Rat Cage

There's much to snap a finger to in the snazzy grooves and sharp pick-up funk of "The Melee" and "Off the Grid"...The Mix-Up has the look and feel of a contractual obligation ahead of a world tour.
-- Jim Carroll, Irish Times
Grade: 3 stars (of 5)
Recommended song: The Melee

12 rap-less tracks do groove, holmes, but they also blur together, and offer few surprises. It's the sound of the Boys kickin' back, picking up their instruments and jamming it out - no muss, no fuss.
-- T'cha Dunlevy, Montreal Gazette
Grade: 3 stars (of 5)
Recommended song: Freaky Hijiki

The Mix-Up is all about groove and texture, sometimes at the expense of hooks...It's a different sound for the Beasties, to be sure, and one that places all the emphasis on their impressive instrumental chops.
-- Eric R. Danton, Hartford Courant
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: N/A

This fresh batch of tunes certainly has its goofy charms...it's hard not to be amused by the Beasties' groove-smitten, stiff-wristed take on funk, jazz and psychedelic sonics...[Beastie Boys] are having fun. And so are we -- up to a point. Alas, it isn't long before the trippy evocations ("B for My Name") and subverted funk jams ("Electric Worm") are followed by grooves and drones that aren't nearly as appealing.
-- Mike Joyce, Washington Post
Grade: N/A
Recommended songs: B for My Name, Electric Worm

[The Mix-Up is] a cool and groovy funk-lounge-dub affair that Austin Powers would surely dig...This is a music-only set featuring the surprisingly tasty playing of Mike Diamond on drums, Adam Horovitz on guitar and Adam Yauch on bass, and sizable contributions from keyboardist Money Mark and percussionist Alfredo Ortiz...The tracks draw you in with oodles of engaging atmosphere without going anywhere in particular.
-- Larry Katz, Boston Herald
Grade: B
Recommended song: B for My Name

[The Mix-Up is] low-fi, hazy and lightweight...For rappers, these guys can sort of play...They're riffing on the same retro grooves that might, on another album, serve as samples; you could call them the Uncredible Bongo Band.
-- Nate Chinen, New York Times
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: Suco de Tangerina

The rather homogenous sound washes over you but in a good way: each carefully constructed track has a robust groove at its core.
-- Killian Fox, The Observer (London)
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: Suco de Tangerina

Beastie Boys are not content to be the finest white rappers in the world. Every so often, they want to remind us they're musicians too. So they set up their gear, start jamming and slap together funky Latin-jazz instrumentals like these. If you have a blaxploitation flick in need of a soundtrack, this is your lucky day. Otherwise, not so much.
-- Darryl Sterdan, Toronto Sun
Grade: 2-1/2 stars (of 5)
Recommended songs: Suco de Tangerina, The Rat Cage

What's the use of a Beastie Boy who doesn't rap? The Mix-Up answers the question with a set of instrumental songs on which the trio, better musicians nowadays than they are rappers, indulge their enthusiasm for wah-wah guitars, funky organ licks and dubby basslines. With long-time collaborator Money Mark lending a hand on keyboards, the results are inconsequential but oddly enjoyable. The one-time rap delinquents have found a role for themselves as purveyors of high-quality background music.
-- Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, Financial Times (London)
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: N/A

Mike D, Adam Horovitz and Adam Yauch have dropped the mic and picked up guitar, bass and drums, returning to the jazz-tinged instrumentals explored on Check Your Head and The In Sound From Way Out! Even then, such jams worked best as interludes between vocal attacks, rather than stand-alone pieces...For fans only.
-- Luke Bainbridge, Observer Music Magazine (London)
Grade: 2 stars (of 5)
Recommended song: N/A

Overall, [The Mix-Up] is pretty good, though it's easy to imagine you're listening to one of those '60s albums knocked out in spare studio time by session men waiting for Ritchie Blackmore to finish his incantations...This is an entertaining, if inessential purchase for funk rock fans and habitual marijuana users.
-- Eddy Lawrence, Time Out
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: N/A

It is an ambitious set that, thanks to the trio's enthusiasm and way with a groove, they just about pull off.
-- Music Week
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: N/A

The grizzled wiseacres' second wordless disc reaches back to hip-hop's prehistory for a dozen lightweight psychedelic funk instrumentals -- the sort of thing the Boys might have dug up on a mildewed 45 for a sample back in their Paul's Boutique days. But they don't quite have the rhythmic mojo of the circa-1970 obscurities they're imitating here, and many tracks are exercises in texture (dub bass! sitar noodling!) that fail to develop into actual tunes. Who'd have guessed that a Beastie Boys record could be too subtle?
-- Douglas Wolk, Entertainment Weekly
Grade: C+
Recommended song: The Melee

The Mix-Up finds the Beasties indulging their love of '70s funk, dub reggae, post-punk dance bands like ESG and blaxploitation film soundtracks...The playing is excellent, the production style is suitably vintage and the music is at the very least pleasantly distracting. Yet they sound like they're improvising a film soundtrack instead of writing jams that hold up to repeat listening. There's a serious paucity of riffs or hooks or any kind of melodic development -- it all sounds like they're waiting for someone else to take the lead. Which, for such a band of brash iconoclasts simply seems, well, mixed up.
-- Michael Barclay, Canadian Press
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: N/A

[The Mix-Up] has shades of the 1996 compilation of instrumental tracks from Check Your Head and Ill Communication, The In Sound from Way Out!, but lacks the edge of those older tracks and the sense of discovery that made the comp and source discs so exciting. The Mix-Up is very polished and, in some cases, the B-Boys dub up or sitar things up, but they never crank it up. Yet they seem comfortable away from the cultural foreground, producing very nice background music.
-- Matthew Pioro, National Post
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: N/A

[The Mix-Up] is pleasant enough...[but] the grooves never seem to go anywhere...The dominant player throughout is Money Mark, and it's probably no coincidence that, like his own albums, The Mix-Up has the characterless quality of those late-Sixties albums of incidental TV music that some find so ironically cool nowadays.
-- Andy Gill, Arts & Book Review
Grade: N/A
Recommended songs: Suco de Tangerina, Electric Worm

[The Mix-Up is] a mixture of fuzzed-out funk and mutant R&B...A minor addition to the Beastie Boys canon, then, but cool driving music for hot summer evenings.
-- Mark Edwards, Sunday Times (London)
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: N/A

For the most part, The Mix-Up is devoid of new ideas -- a collection of dull, derivative, self-indulgent noodlings largely untouched by quality control.
-- Chris Elwell-Sutton, London Evening Standard
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: N/A

You can just see them, the "guys", who happen to be a world-famous hip-hop outfit well into middle age, jammin' like a bunch of kids who've just discovered dope, Tropicalia and the wah-wah pedal. They describe the 12 instrumental tracks as "post-punk" but it's more Austin Powers than Gang of Four. One for completists. And backpackers.
-- Phoebe Greenwood, The Times (London)
Grade: 2 stars (of 5)
Recommended song: N/A

Freestyle funk workouts. [The songs] get a little samey.
-- Cameron Adams, Herald Sun (Australia)
Grade: 3 stars (of 5)
Recommended song: Off the Grid

The Mix-Up is a kind of admission of obsolescence. Not that it's bad. Tossed-off, underdone, monotonous, unfinished and redundant maybe, but not bad.
-- Zach Baron, Village Voice
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: N/A

Their instrumental style is a hybrid of jazz, funk and rock, heavy on bongos, organ and wah-wah guitar...The album has a loping, groovy vibe, but like a just-for-fun jam session, it doesn't really go anywhere. It meanders around then blends into the background. There's no question Ad-Rock, MCA and Mike D. have grown musically, but they're at their best when they use words too. Their crafty, smart-and-silly lyrics are a big part of their charm, and a few rhymes might have made "The Mix-Up" more than background noise.
-- Sandy Cohen, Associated Press
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: The Rat Cage

Funksome, noir-ish and tinged with hints of subtle experimentation, it is surely just the job to put on the car stereo if you mysteriously find yourself night-driving through a large American city in 1974 with the suspicion that you are being followed by the cops.
-- John Harris, The Guardian
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: Off the Grid

The Mix-Up is all-instrumental, digging into the familiar organ-heavy lounge funk of Check Your Head and Ill Communication. Yet it's poignant, because the Beasties play their old grooves like they realize how bad people miss them and how high their stock remains despite so many years away...It's definitely fun to play loud on a sunny afternoon.
-- Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone
Grade: 3 stars (of 5)
Recommended song: N/A

[The Mix-Up] is a dozen instrumental tracks that border on noodling, but with just enough funky breakbeats to keep the album from turning into a complete snooze-fest...[It's] a bleary-eyed brew of tremolo guitars and organ swells...An album for Beastie Boys completists only.
-- Chris Macias, Sacramento Bee
Grade: 2-1/2 stars (of 5)
Recommended song: N/A

It's all new material and it's all good -- even without the boys' attitude-filled raps...There are solid slow beats and heavy repetitious echoes that make it futile to fight against the blissed-out leanings of the music. There are licks of '70s-sounding disco and jazzy guitar that would make Beastie Boys a dreamy contemporary fit at any jazz festival...The Mix-Up stands up easily to close listening, but would also make great background music for a dinner party among old friends who once relied on Check Your Head as reliable weekend rager music.
-- Amy O'Brian, Ottawa Citizen
Grade: 3-1/2 stars (of 5)
Recommended song: N/A

The boys drop the vocals and the samples, delivering a cool soul-funk instrumental album that's just begging to be remixed and sampled.
-- Rob Thomas, Wisconsin State Journal
Grade: Gottahaveit
Recommended song: N/A

[The Mix-Up is] an all-instrumental record that, in a way, goes back to their roots as actual musicians more than rappers. But if this is a Beastie Boys calibration, it's one worth getting into. Heady organs, thick bass, endless break beats and everything from funky horn samples to a ghostly sitar run throughout the record, taking you on an enjoyable - albeit far from revolutionary - ride...Anybody who ever put past Beasties' instrumentals like "Ricky's Theme" on a mix will definitely dig this disc.
-- Staten Island Advance
Grade: N/A
Recommended songs: Freaky Hijiki, The Cousin of Death

The Beastie Boys' monopoly on N.Y.C. rap-cat instrumental funk has been smashed to pieces by far tighter units like the El Michels Affair and the Budos Band. The Beasties sound rusty by comparison: Mike D's percussion comes across like he's randomly trying to find new beats between the one and the two, while MCA plays bass like he's following the rhythm through the wall of the next room over...The majority of the record seems intended as an extension of their Latin-, funk- and jazz-hued early-'90s instrumental jams-though aside from the atypically clean-sounding opener "B for My Name" and the monstrous Money Mark keyboard workout "The Cousin of Death"...As the product of a few guys screwing around with lo-fi dance-rock, it's diverting enough.
-- Nate Patrin, OC Weekly
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: N/A

There's nothing as exciting or feral as the distorted, propulsive beats of, say, "So What'cha Want" [on The Mix-Up], but it's at the very least interesting, if not at all exciting. Though every track is a variation of the same organ-laden, spacey, stoner-funk jam, and the instrumentation is competent at best, the Beasties maintain their knack for expertly crafted soundscapes, and every track could be the foundation for an excellent, if mellow, rap track. While the Beastie Boys have been neither boys nor particularly beastie for over a decade, at least The Mix-Up is exactly what its title suggests.
-- Greg Chow, Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania)
Grade: B
Recommended song: N/A

This smooth, all-instrumental move is more quaint than innovative. And Diamond, Horovitz and Yauch's drums, guitar and bass still sound rickety...But it's a charming, slinky racket they've Mix-ed with keyboardist Money Mark and percussionist Alfredo Ortiz - one with some new tricks...Sweet stuff this. Fightin' for your right to chill.
-- A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer
Grade: 2-1/2 stars (of 5)
Recommended song: N/A

A great album by the Beastie Boys that doesn't involve one word, rapped or otherwise? Yup. This totally entertaining, all-instrumental CD celebrates the soulful, funky pre-punk influences that first inspired the definitive New York hip-hop party group...The accent is on the sort of organ-fueled lounge funk familiar to fans of such Beasties classics as Check Your Head and Ill Communication. And it's a great bash.
-- Fred Shuster, Daily News of Los Angeles
Grade: 3 stars (of 4)
Recommended song: The Melee

[The Mix-Up is] a scrappy collection of head-nodding, organ-heavy grooves made for headphones. Unlike The In Sound from Way Out!, this feels like a real album. It starts off fairly mellow, with percolating keyboards and Latin-tinged beats. By the middle, we're in the deep end of the pool of funk, with "The Electric Worm" and the rocking "Off the Grid." It's shmoove sailing from there. Admittedly, my brain isn't wired to hate a new Beasties album, but The Mix-Up is easy to love.
-- Robert Benziker, Santa Fe New Mexican
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: N/A

Influences from dub, jazz and punk can be heard on The Mix-Up, making it tough not to like, especially if you're a fan of the Beasties' 1996 release The In Sound From Way Out! The mashing of styles creates some funk-flavored, soul-filled Muzak suited for a dentist's office where Bootsy Collins is the receptionist and James Brown is the man working on your molars.
-- Travis Hay, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: Off the Grid

The Beastie Boys -- once innovators in rap and hip-hop -- have done the unthinkable on their latest release: They've wandered squarely into mediocrity. Easily their most uninspired album to date, The Mix-Up reveals Beasties who have lost the plot and disguised their malfeasance as an instrumental album.
-- V. Marc Fort, Austin American-Statesman
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: None -- "Save your 99 cents."

Composed of low-end-heavy jams that reference the Meters, tropicalia, '70s funk and porn music (sometimes all at once) and zero words, The Mix-Up is thematically sound and feels like a comprehensive piece instead of a self-indulgent scheme. There are moments of thick, bona fide groove (the down-and-dirty "Off the Grid" chief among them). But stylistic aspirations aside, with the Beastie name on the cover, it's hard to listen without (sub)consciously seeking out the places where rhymes could go.
-- Jeff Vrabel, Billboard
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: N/A

[The Mix-Up is] proof that the Beasties' obsession with retro cop shows goes far beyond that glorious video for "Sabotage". Inspired by the likes of Mongo Santa-maria and David Axelrod, it's dominated by Latin-infused soundtrack jazz - perfect for walking around pretending you're a Seventies hoodlum played by Isaac Hayes.
-- Simon Price, The Independent on Sunday
Grade: N/A
Recommended song: Suco de Tangerina

Though the album's modesty is appealing, [The Mix-Up] is the sound of a group treading water. The mid-tempo, interchangeable grooves might occasionally get you nodding your head, but do you think even Mike D knows the difference between "The Rat Cage" and "The Kangaroo Rat"? Background music for alphabetizing your vinyl collection.
-- Alan Light, Blender
Grade: 2-1/2 stars (of 5)
Recommended song: Electric Worm

12 greasy funk instrumentals saturated with '70s blaxploitation atmospherics, fuzzy Eastern undertones, and garage-band Farfisa courtesy of the invaluable "Money" Mark Nishita...The result is destined to serve as chic background music for countless dorm parties thrown by people who'd never think of picking up a Meters or Booker T. & The MGs album...[The Mix-Up is a] satisfyingly uneven, agreeably overreaching hodgepodge of sounds and styles à la Hello Nasty or Ill Communication.
-- Nathan Rabin, The Onion
Grade: B
Recommended song: Off the Grid

[The Mix-Up] is repetitive, two-dimensional and couldn't involve more noodle if The Mars Volta played their local Wagamamas...The Mix-Up finds the Beastie Boys with nothing much to say, in more ways than one.
-- Julian Marshall, NME
Grade: 4 stars (of 10)
Recommended song: N/A