"Hella H***"- A$AP Mob

Phrases like "controlled chaos" or "measured urgency" are some of the only ways I can describe certain efforts by A$AP Mob members Rocky and Ferg. On the cuts "Wild for the Night" and "Shabba Ranks" they're incredibly collected, but there's always a certain agitation in their voice that suggests they could fly off the handle once their verse ends. They've got a finite amount of time and if you dare ask them to repeat themselves, you're guaranteed to end up with a knot on your forehead. 

"Hella H***", the first taste of the long-delayed L.O.R.D. album, continues the trend. Aided by A$AP role players Nast and Twelvyy, and a booming music box beat from Nyrell OC, Ferg and Rocky team up to unravel a laundry list of recent acquisitions and beefs . Through diamond imprinted teeth and adapted patois, Ferg details dusting off Versace and sending people to their new home at the bottom of a lake. Even at his menacing high, Ferg still manages terrific jokes like "open your chest like your Janet Jackson". As the gunshots die down after Ferg's rapid-fire verse, Rocky engages in some gun play of his own. "Pretty mothaf****" that he is, he has to keep himself protected at all times, so he's "loading up the clip" and keeping a finger firmly on the trigger. If this sounds a bit lurid, it is. But "Hella H***" is delivered in such an unflappably cool tone, it's hard not to listen.



L.O.R.D. still doesn't have any release date, but as soon as it does you'll find news on it here.

What's New(s)?

M.I.A. to tour with A$AP Ferg

In support of last year's under-appreciated Matangi, musical firestarter M.I.A. will be going on a late-spring North American tour with none other than A$AP Ferg. According to Brooklyn Vegan, she'll kick off the tour with a festival date in Miami before teaming up with the A$AP Worldwide member in Washington D.C. on April 27th. Once her tour with the new Shabba concludes, she'll embark on a European for additional festival dates. Given both M.I.A.'s and Ferg's dancehall obsessions, I can only hope this tour results in a collabo effort.

Tour Dates:
3/28 Miami, FL - Ultra Music Festival
4/25 Upper Darby, PA - Tower Theater
4/26 Asheville, NC - Moogfest
4/27 Washington, DC - Echostage (w. A$AP Ferg)
4/28 Pittsburgh, PA - AE Stage (w. A$AP Ferg)
4/30 Detroit, MI - Detroit Masonic Temple (w. A$AP Ferg)
5/1 Chicago, IL - Riviera Theater (w. A$AP Ferg)
5/3 Toronto, Ontario - Yonge-Dundas Square
5/4 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis
5/5 Boston, MA - House of Blues (w. A$AP Ferg)
5/6 Portland, ME - State Theater (w. A$AP Ferg)
5/8-9 Queens, NY - Knockdown Center
5/24 Quincy, WA - Sasquatch Festival
6/28 Seinajoki, Finland - Provinssi Rock
6/30 Arendal, Norway - Hovefestivalen
7/5 Belfort, France - Eurockeenes Festival
7/11 Gräfenhainichen, Germany - Splash Festival
7/12 Liège, Belgium - Les Ardentes Festival
7/19 London, England - Lovebox
7/20 Valencia, Spain - Benicassim International Festival 

"Come Walk with Me"

"Let It Go"

Girl Talk and Freeway set to release Broken Ankles EP

 

All the way back in October on the blog, news surfaced that sample wizard Girl Talk was partnering with Philly-Freezer, Freeway himself to craft an EP tentatively titled Broken Ankles. According to Pitchfork, that EP is now official and will be available April 8 for free download via Datpiff. The 6-track release will also feature rappers: Waka Flocka Flame, Jadakiss, and Young Chris. 

In an official press-release for the EP, Girl Talk (born Gregg Gillis) discussed the stylistic differences between this upcoming record and prior albums: 

"I wanted to work closer to traditional song structure compared to my last few albums, but still include some detailed sample splicing and change-ups when it felt appropriate. The overall structure is what I thought worked best with Freeway's style... It's always important to me to have an album that works as a whole; something that has a calculated flow to it, which is intended to be listened to front to back."

To promote Broken Ankles, Girl Talk and Freeway have teased a video for "Tolerated", their collaboration with Waka Flocka Flame. You can view it below, along with the official Broken Ankles tracklist. 

Broken Ankles:
1. "Broken Ankles Intro"
2. "Tolerated" ft. Waka Flocka Flame
3. "Tell Me Yeah" ft. Young Chris
4. "I Can Hear Sweat" ft. Jadakiss
5. "Suicide"
6. "Lived It"

Check back in tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s) and follow AllFreshSounds on Twitter for updates throughout the day.

What's New(s)?

Springsteen announces new album

On January 14, Bruce Springsteen will be following up his working-man ode Wrecking Ball with High Hopes, a collection of "some of our best unreleased material from the past decade" as the Boss himself pens in the album's liner notes. The album features multiple collaborations with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, including a studio reworking of "The Ghost of Tom Joad" and "American Skin" (41 Shots). And in a sly-nod to "State Trooper"s Suicide influence, Springsteen will be tackling the no-wave duo's "Dream Baby Dream".

Also included on the release will be several unreleased Clarence Clemons features, along with of cover of The Saints track "Just Like The Fire Would". Check out the tracklist below, along with the title track.

Tracklist:

1. "High Hopes" ft. Tom Morello
2. "Harry's Place" ft. Tom Morello
3. "American Skin" (41 Shots)  ft. Tom Morello
4. "Just Like Fire Would" ft. Tom Morello
5. "Down in the Hole"
6. "Heaven's Wall" ft. Tom Morello
7. "Frankie Fell in Love" ft. Tom Morello
8. "This Is Your Sword" ft. Tom Morello
9. "Hunter of Invisible Game" ft. Tom Morello
10. "The Ghost of Tom Joad" ft. Tom Morello
11. "The Wall"
12. "Dream Baby Dream" ft. Tom Morello

Busta Rhymes drops "Thank You" video

Busta Rhymes springy, funk-rap workout "Thank You" features a pretty impressive guest list: Q-Tip, Kanye West, and Lil Wayne; and now that improbable crew has made an appearance in a new video. Shot multi-screened, the four MCs strut their stuff in and out of verses, and share screen time with A$AP Worldwide members Ferg and Nast. It's all fairly lowkey (save for a mountaintop appearance by Busta), but seeing these four in the same video is more than enough.


Busta Rhymes is currently readying sequel Extinct Level Event 2 for a 2014 release via Cash Money, but no release date has been announced yet.

Check back in tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s), and visit @AllFreshSounds on Twitter for additional news updates.

"Shabba" (Remix) ft. Shabba Ranks, Busta Rhymes, & Migos- A$AP Ferg

In terms of hero-worship, no song in 2013 has been as giddily starstruck as A$AP Ferg's menacing earworm "Shabba". In the minimalist chorus, the A$AP crew-member doesn't regale us with tales of the dancehall legend, he gleefully stutters "Sh-Sh-Sh-Shabba Ranks" ad-infinitum. He's not collecting gold chains or teeth purely for the sake of stunting, but to approximate his idol. The unbridled joy worked well enough to coax Mr. Ranks himself into a video appearance, splitting screentime with an affable A$AP Ferg and Rocky.

The "Shabba" (Remix) takes the hero-worship one step further, dialing up the dancehall crooner to drop a bomb of Jamaican patois all over the opening. Chock full of abrupt twists and frantic threats "chop off dem head with me cleaver" attempting to decipher his verse is as advisable as stepping in front of oncoming train. Further down the line, Atlanta's Migos (rap rookie of the year contenders) play double dutch with the booming horror movie score. Quavo's meeting "plugs at a Quiktrip" and partner Takeoff is aiming AK's fully intending to bust some lips. And if the energetic ante wasn't high enough, rap's eternal megaton bomb Busta Rhymes drops by to lay waste to the track. Frequently referred to as the "best-worst rapper" ever by me and my friends, Busta is a human cyclone on the track; twisting from promises of "drop kicks to the jaw" one moment to confessions of Islamic faith the next. At one point he sputters like a motorcycle engine, suggesting he's more machine than man. Then there's Ferg riding sidecar content to keep it "collegiate". Why do any lifting when there's so many heavyweights around?

Ferg’s insanely fun debut-album Trap Lord is out now on RCA, and the “Shabba” remix is up on iTunes.

   

What If?

Almost immediately after finishing up a post yesterday about indie guitar nerd St. Vincent reviewing Arcade Fire's well-received Reflektor, my mind was aflame with possible future pairings. Furiously I started combing the depths of my iTunes catalog, drawing lines back and forth in my head to find the "perfect" pairings. Some of these are genuine pairings; artists who I believe are operating on similar frequencies despite genre differences. Others are far-flung and hair-brained in the best way possible; artists who wouldn't be found in the same orbit as one another. I hope you enjoy them and if you're own "what if" scenario pops up along the way, feel free to leave it in the comment section. Now let's get on with it. 


A$AP Ferg reviews Return of the Super Ape

  























A$AP Mob member A$AP Ferg's love of dancehall music was perfectly delineated in the hero-worshipping "Shabba", so what about willfully weird reggae music? Sure Mr. Loverman Shabba Ranks had his affectations, but nothing approaching sonic innovator Lee "Scratch" Perry. Perry had a hand in developing early dub music, and he stretched that hand over a vast six-decade career. While the original Super Ape debuted in 1976 remains Perry's magnum opus, the '78 sequel Return of the Super Ape possesses a cartoonish hall-of-mirrors quality only hinted at in the first incarnation. 

Opener "Dyon Anaswa" remains one of the most delightfully catchy dub/reggae cuts on wax and the title track's machine gun sounds and menacing lurch reflect Ferg's "Cocaine Castle" if he incorporated an inconsolable horn. "Jah Jah a Natty Dread" packs enough bass punch to figure into the Trap Lord's rabble-rousing sound. "Huzza a Hana" spins a celebratory tale where Perry and crew can't rise above a drunkard's mumble. An album this muscular, catchy, and downright weird is just begging to have someone calling themselves the "Hood Pope" pontificate about it.




Björk tackles Blue Chips 2

Reaching the second "what if" on the list and we've already gone off the rails. Then again a hypothetical trainwreck can be a thrilling thing to watch and this absurd pairing would pile it high. The word "eclectic" has been used to describe Björk's work to the point it should be appended to her name. Action Bronson/Party Supplies new installment of Blue Chips hopscotches from sampling "Tequila" to making "Jack & Diane" rappable in a few short moves. Where Björk strayed from the course with beatboxing and Inuit throat singing, Party Supplies mixes things up by dropping in Applebee's ads featuring Jason Sudeikis. Sitting the Icelandic artist down to dissect Bronson's slapdash masterpiece would assuredly end in fidgeting. On more than one occasion Party Supplies can be heard turning his Mac volume up, the sort of warts-and-all inclusion to drive a studio rat like Björk crazy. Not to mention the undoubted headscratching that would occur when she's confronted by Fab Five member Jalen Rose or joints "thicker than Pinky's butt". 

On Homogenic cut "Hunter", defiantly sang "I'm not stopping". Blue Chips 2 is suffuse with a similar wrecking-ball abandon. What starts off as an improbable pairing morphs into a kinship.




Kanye raves about Bankrupt

  























I'll admit the initial purpose of this premise was to make a "hurry up with my damn croissants" joke at the expense of the French synth-rockers. But the more I lingered on the prospect, the further it came into focus. Part and parcel of the Kanye West enterprise a decade in is unabashed ego tempered by an unparalleled self-consciousness. He applies for the title of "genius" and recoils in horror when his efforts are questioned. Though a seemingly amiable group like Phoenix will never scale to Yeezus levels of egoism, the bitter fruit is in blossom here. Thomas Mars adapts a slimy celeb persona in service of the jangly "Drakkar Noir", spinning yarns of "fake riches" and "oblivious tales". Insecurity (the Achilles-heel of West's godlike stature) creeps into "Chloroform", where a borderline predatory Mars molds the truth into his own successful pick up line. "Trying to Be Cool"s quiet desperation to fit in with the fashionable is a Louis backpack away from becoming 2004 Kanye West. The endearingly goofy concept of "mint-julep testosterone" is the sort of head-slapping line Kanye would craft if he logged hours at Churchill Downs. And contortion act "Bankrupt" which fidgets from guitars to synthesizers and plucked harps recalls "All of the Lights" where seemingly every 30 seconds a new idea was introduced and chased to its conclusion. West will continue to chow down on croissants, though his fill will come from Phoenix. 




John Darnielle and Sunbather (a match made in hell)

Anyone who's logged any amount of time on Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle's social media accounts knows the man likes his metal. He's devoted entire articles to death/grind band Cretin, logged studio time with Hate Eternal guitarist Erik Rutan, and used Pitchfork features to recommend situation specific Danzig songs to blast. 

Deafhaven's 2013 LP Sunbather is a heavy music tour-de-force intermingling: crushing black metal, ascendant post-rock, and exploratory shoegaze. Sunbather's heaviness transcends genre limitations, offering respites only to make the next wave more destructive than the last. Their refusal to play within the occasional paint-by-numbers medium of metal potentially creates a problem for a fervent disciple like Darnielle. However, in the past decade Darnielle has moved from his monolothic "experiments" in minimalistic folk to full-bodied arrangements. Where one or two characters previously factored in, now: brothers, lovers, and apartment buildings jockey for position alongside discordant strings and solemn piano. While Deafhaven's in-the-read playing renders lyrics null and void, discerning ears pick up on microscopic details. Time-specific moments whirl past, and George Clarke screams out "I watched you lay on a towel in the grass that exceeded the height of yours." Relentless tinkering brings these two together, but a desire to paint small-scale tragedies unites them. All that's left is for Darnielle to slot Sunbather into a must-have playlist to soundtrack a high-speed ride across a snowpacked Iowa landscape.



 
So ends round 1 of this bizarre trek into musical matchmaking. If this is well-received I'll undoubtedly offer a sequel, maybe one where Danny Brown reviews the Zombies and Beach House tackle's the DJ Mustard produced Ty Dolla $ign album Beach House 2. And again, if you have suggestions don't hesitate to leave them in the comments.




                

What's New(s)?

Sleigh Bells remix Phoenix's "Chloroform"

Following R. Kelly's silky croon remix of "Trying to Be Cool", Sleigh Bells have reconfigured the electronic-ballad "Chlorform" into a blaring bit of twitching synthesizers, cavernous drums, and saccharine vocals. In other words, they lay-waste to the original track and sift through the rubble for a Sleigh Bells track. Phoenix vocalist Thomas Mars makes an appearance amidst the carnage only to be swallowed up. It's less remix and more reclamation; one that could readily appear on their forthcoming Bitter Rivals release.

 




Kurt Cobain childhood home for sale

Kurt Cobain's childhood home will soon be up for auction according to the Guardian's reporting. The Aberdeen, Washington locale where Cobain lived for many of his early years is being put up for sale by Cobain's mother Wendy O'Connor and sister Kim Cobain. The two are currently asking $500,000 for the "bungalow" located at 1210 E. 1st St. in the hopes of connecting with someone interested in turning the home into a museum. Located two hours for the city of Seattle, the former Cobain residence still bears scrawls of Iron Maiden and Led Zeppelin written in Kurt's room, along with an old mattress of his. Putting it all into perspective Kim Cobain had this to say, "We've decided to sell the home to create a legacy for Kurt, and yes, there are some mixed feelings since we have all loved the home and it carries so many great memories. But our family has moved on from Washington, and feel it's time to let go of the home."

The 20th Anniversary edition of Nirvana's final studio LP In Utero is out now and features a new 2013 remix of the album.

"Heart Shaped Box"

A$AP Rocky unveils "Fashion Killa" video

The floating synths and distended vocals of LongLiveA$AP cut "Fashion Killa" now have an equally airy video, featuring none other than Rihanna. The original track bore the line "Her attitude Rihanna, she get it from her mama," so it's only appropriate the muted, mostly white and black video spotlight the pop singer. The fashion conscious couple scour abandoned boutiques, as the tags they eyeball pop up on screen.  "Fashion Killa" detours briefly to spotlight A$AP Mob member A$AP Ferg performing an acapella version of the booming "Murda Something", from his excellent Trap Lord LP. Reflecting on the choice of Rihanna, Rocky told Park 106 "She's a fashion killa in my eyes. I respect her jiggyness. I respect her fashion sense."