Wacky hippie confectioners Ben & Jerry have announced details of a new John Lennon-themed ice cream. Ingeniously entitled Imagine Whirled Peace, the tempting taste sensation (we’re guessing here) features toffee cookies and fudge peace signs. Not trivialising Lennon’s beliefs at all there, then.

Hold on to your hats, ladies and gents, the muf*ckin’ Beastie Boys are working on a new album. Brooklyn’s elder statesmen of hip-hop released instrumental album ‘The Mix-Up’ last year, but the as-yet-untitled new record will be their first high-profile release since 2004’s ‘To The 5 Boroughs’. That one took six years to follow ‘Hello Nasty’, so we wouldn’t hold our breath for the newie if we were you.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Adam Yauch (aka MCA) said, “It’s in the early stages of development, but it sounds cool to me.” Chatting about life in the studio, he added, “We make music and eat lunch. Sometimes we fantasise about how cool it would be if we had a chef that cooked lunch every day.”

The Irish Times has published a list of “the top 40 Irish albums” of all time, and the recently reconvened My Bloody Valentine come out top with their seminal album, ‘Loveless’. Compiled by four of the paper’s writers, the list encompasses 40 years of music from Van Morrison’s ‘Astral Weeks’ in 1968 to Snow Patrol’s ‘Eyes Open’ in 2006.

Super Extra Bonus Party have dramatically claimed the Choice Music prize for their self-titled debut album. Rank outsiders before the competition, Ireland’s equivalent to the Mercury Prize, the Kildare seven-piece beat acts including Roisin Murphy, Delorentos and favourite Cathy Davey at the ceremony held this week in Dublin. The band has just completed a tour in support of new ‘Everything Flows’ EP.

AU 43 star Chris Tomson (far left) from Vampire Weekend has been hospitalised in London following an apparent hit-and-run incident. The New York band’s drummer was struck by a car outside the Hoxton Hotel at 00.30 last night (February 29). An ambulance was called and paramedics treated Tomson outside the hotel before transferring him to the Royal London Hospital for treatment. There is no indication that his injuries are serious, though it was reported by DrownedinSound that “a puddle of red liquid” was seen on the ground next to where Tomson was hit. According to the NME, the drummer “was hoping to be discharged this afternoon (February 29).”

Daniel Day Lewis, who plays an arrogant, scheming and paranoid oil magnate in There Will Be Blood has lauded praise upon Jonny Greenwood’s score for the movie. The Oscar winner was present when Greenwood mixed the music, “He recorded it with the BBC Symphony orchestra at Abbey Road and I came over while he mixed it. It was a day I will never forget. I was absolutely amazed.

Klaxons will team up with best international female nominee, Rihanna, at the Brit awards this week. The three-piece, who have been nominated best live act and breakthrough act, called the collaboration ‘mind boggling’.

A wealthy US couple have paid Babyshambles’ frontman Pete Doherty £15,000 for an hour-long acoustic private concert in the singer’s rented house. Greg Thomas, a computer games tycoon from California, and his wife Cynthia flew to the UK especially for the gig.

Martin Scorsese is following up his Rolling Stones documentary with a film about the life of reggae legend Bob Marley. Ziggy Marley, Bob’s son, is to co-produce the as yet untitled film. ‘I am thrilled that the Marley family will finally have the opportunity to document our father’s legacy and we are truly honoured to have Mr Scorsese guide the journey,’ Ziggy Marley said.

My Chemical Romance are set to start work on a “punk rock” album this year. Singer Gerard Way explained why he wanted to par the band’s sound down for their next record, the follow-up to 2006’s ‘The Black Parade’.

Ryan Adam’s former band Whiskeytown are set to rerelease their 1997 classic Stranger Almanac complete with live radio tracks, acoustic demos, unreleased Whiskeytown tracks and classic covers. The first disc includes the original album, produced by Jim Scott, plus five live public radio performances.