The Mix-Up

I grew up with the Beastie Boys. When they started making music, I was in high school and instantly connected with the rebellious and rocking party tunes they churned out. She's On It and Brass Monkey bring me back to bonfires on the Causeway where we promised to keep in touch forever.

College started and Paul's Boutique arrived with a trippy and advanced style, including lyrics that were alternately frivolous and fun or thought-provoking. After a particularly grueling day of exams, Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun sounded perfect in your car's new stereo system for those nights where we just parked, turned it up, and listened.

Packed essential clothes and one album, Check Your Head, when I took off one summer on my own to discover the west. Part rap, part instrumental - the songs signaled a more mature style as I contemplated life after school in between tattoo sessions and Grateful Dead concerts.

Out on my own as a hard-working twenty-something, I connected with Ill Communication, especially MCA's cosmic awakening. It mirrored my own path from religious to spiritual. Hello Nasty was my soundtrack when walking the streets of Boston every day to work. And there is no better Bush bashing than To The 5 Boroughs - a cry for change before the last election.

So here we are now, in the midst of a mess, both personally - new town, homesick, no job, no home - and as a country - Iraq war, corrupt administration, global warming, screwing endangered species. I could go on and on. This is the perfect time to contemplate and let some funky instrumentals soothe your soul.

The Mix-Up. Buy it. Download it. Today.

You won't be sorry.