Beastie Boys Back in Studio; More on Adam Yauch's Film Biz

Adam Yauch, Mike D. and Adam Horovitz are working on a new album, recording at the Beastie Boys' Oscilloscope Studios in lower Manhattan. "It's in the early stages of development, but it sounds cool to me," says Yauch. He wouldn't offer much else in terms of details: "We make music and eat lunch," he says. "Sometimes we fantasize about how cool it would be if we had a chef that cooked lunch every day."

Yauch was more forthcoming about his new side project, Oscilloscope Pictures, a small film distribution company that he launched earlier this month. He's already looking at "a handful" of films, saying, "There are cool, interesting films that fall between genres that the larger companies might not be not looking to distribute." Yauch says he sees the new company as a "small indie label," adding that he's learned some lessons from his experience with the Beasties' defunct Grand Royal imprint. "There's a danger of getting too much overhead going," he said. This time around, "a big part of the idea is to do everything in-house -- the artwork, the DVD covers, posters, that kind of stuff."

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Song Stories

“Time to Pretend”

MGMT | 2008

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”

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