Beastie Boys The Mix-up Grade: B-

It is only appropriate for the band that has enjoyed over 20 years of success by constantly evolving its music to drop something like The Mix-Up. The Beastie Boys' seventh studio release should come with a warning label that cautions, "Listening to this album might make you feel a bit confused," or as the three Jewish-born MC's from NYC might say, "meshuga."\nIn an all-instrumental album that serves as both a nod to the past and a window to the future, the Beastie Boys don't rap a single verse, a la 1992's Check Your Head. Mike D trades in his prowess on the mic for drumsticks on this CD, which dances along the industrial side of acid jazz.\nThe Mix-Up offers up an array of styles on a groove-heavy platter. There is "14th St. Break" and its psychedelic rock guitar that could have been on The Beatles' Revolver. Then there is "The Gala Event," a spacey, almost electronica tune for which the Boys have already made a video. Mike D is no Art Blakey, but with Adrock on guitar and MCA on bass -- and with the help of keyboardist Money Mark and percussionist Alfredo Ortiz -- the boys from the boroughs do a solid job of laying down jazzy tunes like "Freaky Hijiki" and the album's opening track, "B For My Name."\nOverall, the Beastie Boys' latest release shows the audience another fold of a band that after two decades can still show us something fresh -- even if it is at the expense of your roommate kvetching about how the new Beastie Boys album he just downloaded doesn't sound like them at all.