new beastie boys album. so much fun. so much funk. so many silly puns. (best line: “Cause like a mormon, I’m on a mission.”) it’s everything a beastie boys album should be. if you have half an hour to kill, check out the long-form music video/promo video featuring every celebrity you’ve ever heard of. the boys are back. -d

and on this, the 26th Annual Power Christmas Day of Greatness, the day on which we celebrate all things great and powerful, we enjoy the new single from TV on the Radio. -d

*this is a free download at http://www.tvontheradio.com/ for the price of a fake birthday and a junk email address. full album out soon.

on a beautiful day like today, there’s nothing more natural than slipping into some skinny jeans and a deep v, popping on your prescriptionless plastic frames, flipping on your ironically off-brand mp3 player and finding a nice quiet venice skatepark where you can practice the jerk with your friends. hey, at least these guys own it. bring on summer. -d (thanks, lance)

miniature tigers. pretty much your standard brooklyn indie pop band. but these guys get the nod cuz i’m a sucker for crisp vocals and catchy chromatics, and because the other day somebody mentioned that they released a new album this year that i haven’t heard. all seemed like good reasons. have a rad weekend. -d

what song do you pick to represent the day you quit your job? do you pick something bombastic and liberating? or maybe you try to capture the savory satisfaction of abandoning your manipulative, opportunistic boss? or the twinge of anxiety at what could possibly be next? or do you try and sum up everything the last five years have meant, in all its glory and horror? or do you just pick that great song you were reminded of last night, like it was any other day? i just don’t know. -d