The latest releases reviewed.

BEASTIE BOYS The Mix-Up Capitol ***

Still happiest cast as hip-hop's perpetual oddballs, the Beastie Boys celebrate their silver jubilee in the microphones and turntables business with an all-instrumental album. It is, let's be honest, an album that they could well have thrown together when they were knocking out Check Your Head or Ill Communication and kept in storage until now. While there's much to snap a finger to in the snazzy grooves and sharp pick-up funk of The Melee and Off the Grid (even if you wonder why there's no real attempt to kick out some of the snotty punk of their younger selves), all of this retro shape-shifting does make you wonder just where the Boys are at in their own heads right now. After 2004's block-rocking and streetwise To the 5 Boroughs reconnected the trio with their embattled hometown, The Mix Up has the look and feel of a contractual obligation ahead of a world tour. Let's hope their mikes are working when they hit Stradbally in September. www.beastieboys.com JIM CARROLL

Download track: The Melee