Upcoming dates of importance to me:
June 26 (today!): New Beastie Boys album released. Supposed to be as good as Paul’s Boutique and Check Your Head! Must download before heading out of office.
July 10: New They Might Be Giants album released. Sounds dark, discordant. Excellent.
July 11: New Harry Potter movie opens. More Gary Oldman and Alan Rickman? Yes please!
July 21: New Harry Potter book released. There goes the weekend.
July 24: New Tuesday Next novel released. Another two days lost. Maybe one if I read quickly.
The BB album is a MUST have. I had forgotten it was coming out this soon! They are touring this summer… closest dates (I think) are Philly and maybe Columbus.
Ok, at the risk of exposing myself as the hopeless old fogey that I truly am — I’ve never understood the respect given to The Beastie Boys. To me, they’re a one-off novelty act, roughly on a par with Weird Al and whoever did the Chicken Dance.
Now get off my lawn, whippersnappers.
Bob, I’m not one to fight for my right to party, but the three Beastie Boy albums after the first are well worth a listen. I don’t know all the parties who helped produce them — the Dust Brothers maybe? — but the songs are creative blends of various sampled bits with some hip-hop thrown in, some funk, some rock. If you’ve only heard the hits that got a lot of radio play, then you’re missing out on the good stuff. “Ill Communication” is probably the best starting point, but I like the two earlier albums a whole lot. And this new album is right in line with the groovy, flowing vibe of the later tracks on all three albums.