In Revue-At. Long. Last. A$AP (A$AP Rocky)

Who the hell does A$AP Rocky think he is? That's the half-serious question I have when I finish At. Long. Last. A$AP, Rocky's clouded, wigged-out, overlong (by about 10 minutes) third album. Dude put an unknown British folk singer on nearly a third of his LP. He repurposes the schmaltzy Platters holiday tune "Please Come for Christmas" for aquatic stomper "Excuse Me." "Wavybone" has him resurrecting the dearly departed Pimp C to count pyramidal stacks of paper. M.I.A. comes through just to spitefully chant "tell your new b**** to suck a d***," on lean sipper "Fine Whine." And his organ-driven second single "Everyday" samples Rod Stewart. ROD STEWART. As in the dude behind "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" Listening to At. Long. Last. A$AP. I'm reminded of H.G. Wells' when he lambasted James Joyce's ponderous book Finnegan's Work: "who the hell is this Joyce who demands so many waking hours of the few thousands I have still to live for a proper appreciation of his quirks and fancies and flashes of rendering?"

The answer to my question is he's "A-f***king SAP." Lord Pretty Flacko's the most unflappably confident rapper since '06 T.I. At his most uncool, he's cool because he thinks he is. Kanye West, Schoolboy Q, Lil Wayne, Future and Mos Def all bring their A-game to At. Long. Last. A$AP and you walk away thinking Rocky won the bout. He has a way of phrasing that makes a possibly mundane brag seem amazing. Like on "Canal St." when he spits "your favorite rappers corpses couldn't measure my importance." How great is that? He could've said he's better than your favorite living rapper. Not enough. He's better than any rapper living or dead. And you believe him when he says so in his spacious cadence. 

It's nightmarish when he applies the style to the Danger Mouse produced "Pharsyde." The recollection: "Found his body parts in awkward places like apartments, basements, Garbage vacant, lots, garages, spaces, Harlem's far too spacious," is something no one should have to see, but it's more horrifying because of how Rocky steadily pinballs to the conclusion. Violent people aren't to blame for such carnage, the entire city's guilty. So too are crooked pastors and peddlers of religion, whom Rocky ferociously indicts on fervent opener "Holy Ghost." To hear him tell it, the ushers are skimming from collection baskets and "they tryna' dine us with some damn wine and crackers." If the line is autobiographical it's absolutely deflating.

The production of At. Long. Last. A$AP only reinforces Rocky's nightmarish/hellacious words. "Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2" stomps so heavily that bones in your feet get broken. When Rocky and ScHoolboy Q play their long-running game of one-upmanship on "Electric Body," you fear it's going to end in dual beheadings. The opening Friday the 13th woodblock clanging cultivates such an air of menace that it doesn't even matter the song is tailor-made for stripper clubs with its XXX hook "shake that ass girl, make that coochie wet." It's too terrifying to twerk to. Ditto for "M'$" which is undoubtedly bass heavy, but crams in enough screams, synth heaves and engine revs to make Death Grips envious. Lil Wayne, turning in his best performance in four years ("6 Foot 7 Foot"), sounds like Galactus coming to swallow Earth whole when he raps over the track. 

Even when the beats have room to breathe the rapping sounds authoritative. Take the golden soul of Kanye West produced "Jukebox Joints," the track never gets above an inside voice, but A$AP and 'Kanye manage some impressive s***-talking. The former brags about changing rap and the latter claims to be "a black man with confidence of a white male." I especially love the Kanye line because it's continuing the 2015 trend of him indulging in sly racial commentary. Meanwhile "Everyday" has none of "Juke Joints" import and might be the most compelling effort on At. Long. Last. A$AP. The track's warm organ is hypnotic piping out of a car window on a summer night and the aforementioned Stewart sample is oddly rousing, his raspy voice just works for a banger. When you're constructing beats that can bang and sample Rod Stewart, without seeming crammed, you're in rarefied air.

And A$AP Rocky unquestionably is in rarefied air. He's one of several hip hop artists: Drake, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross, capable of selling 100,000-plus copies of an album in the first week. Rappers don't do that anymore. Granted rappers don't sign deals worth $3 million anymore and A$AP did that too. He'll keep making that kind of money as long as he keeps putting out work as strong as At. Long. Last. A$AP. 

"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.

"Crib In My Closet" ft. A$AP Rocky & Rick Ross- 2 Chainz

Near the end of his lead-off verse on the churning collabo "Crib In My Closet", the indomitable 2 Chainz snarls "yeah I'm a motherf***ing poet." With such brazenness and delivered in such an oppressive climate, it’s hard to take the claim seriously. The same guy that once went by the moniker Tity Boi is now placing himself in the company of Rimbaud and Walt Whitman? It's enough to rankle anyone who enjoys "Mercy" up until the ATL-rapper makes his appearance.

But the declaration is so authoritative it’s hard not to take 2 Chainz seriously. Amongst the current trap-revivalists, he's comparable to someone like Allen Ginsburg. Every word he utters is comprehensible, but how exactly those words fit together becomes a mystery. As he laces up a pair of "Timbs" he sets aside his "peanut butter MCM" handbag. While he's had a history of intermingling food and fashion, "Feds Watching" immediately comes to mind, the peculiarity is in no way lessened. Who's ever seen a handbag before and thought "Jiffy"?

In some ways, he's the anti-A$AP Rocky which makes their particular partnering on the Metro Boomin track such a joy. 2 Chainz sprints towards the surreal, while Rocky's content to kickback in the land of the literal. When he talks about his collection of Prada from the '99 line you can rest assured it's not a product of his imagination. "I'm in Vogue, this winter, the runaway, no Insta," he waxes over the gothic chants and drum machine slithering. Everyone else needs to stage their photos and add filters when they hop on Instagram; all A$AP does is point and click. 

And in the picture "Crib In My Closet" snaps, you'll see Rick Ross looming large. Before you can say "huh" he's filling up his closet with 4000 pairs of shoes. A closet he can't tend to because he's sitting "second row at the fight." Ross is all about conspicuous consumption and in "Crib In My Closet" he devours everything in sight. He goes into seizures over how much his watch costs and buys up Floyd Mayweather's mansion just because. But for all of his chestpuffing, he can't compete with 2 Chainz. Ross has intentionally crafted himself as a Bill Gates figure no one could ever get at. Chainz is the everyman pulling rubber banded money out of Nike shoeboxes. For all of his enigmatic qualities, he's the most relatable one here.

"Californication" ft. A$AP Rocky- Schoolboy Q

Yesterday the first move I made was to snatch up copies of St. Vincent's digitally skronky self-titled LP and Schoolboy Q's heavily anticipated Oxymoron release. Bogged down by a major article, I couldn't wait to tear into two albums I'd been "dying" to hear. However, amidst all that great new music, I fell into a rabbit hole of Fallout Boy songs. I perused Wikipedia reading up on band members and who gets credit for what. It wasn't celebratory the entire time though. I gleefully sniped at "Sugar We're Going Down" wondering how exactly Pete Wentz won against this unnamed girl when she wound up as "a line in a song." Had I plowed ahead to their next record, 2007's Infinity on High I would've come across the perfect reference point for Schoolboy Q and A$AP Rocky's working relationship, "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race".

I'm fairly certain the bi-coastal pair hasn't heard much of the pop-punk band, but there's no other way to describe them. Q came to prominence on Rocky's churning "Brand New Guy" with full-throated threats and nightmarish squeals. So Rocky paid the Black Hippy member back by burning down the indelible "Hands on the Wheel" with a laundry list of drug-consumption that still makes me feel high. How does Q respond? By doubling down on the crisp Long. Live. A$AP cut "PMW". He tipped his bucket hat to "Hands on the Wheel", made 30 racks in one flight, and managed to bring back the much maligned Hush Puppies brand. Their partnership is a hip-hop Cold War with all of the escalation, but none of the ill-will.

That's why it seemed impossible Rocky wouldn't be appearing on Oxymoron, Q's major-label coming-out party. Did the pair have nothing left in the tank? Was there actual animosity? Had we already reached disarmament? All of those questions disappeared as soon as "Californication" (a Target only exclusive) was revealed. Rock doesn't waste any time coming in over the nightmarish 8-bit beat. He brings 808s back in full-force, lands a DDT on the rap game, and pulls-off a BBC joke that will make news junkies squirm. Not one to be outdone, Q bulldozes the listener with a brand of over-consumption he's perfected. Forget nibbling on fine lobster or steak, he'd rather "eat until my tummy swole." Sex turns into a game of "eenie, meenie, minie, mo" and enough indo will be blow to rival The Fog. "Californication" then continues Q's streak of making embraceable "lecher" raps that pull everyone around him into that universe. To quote the man himself, "wouldn't be the first" and here's hoping it's far from the last.

Oxymoron is in-stores now through TDE/Interscope. Look for a review of the LP later in the week.

What's New(s)?

Arcade Fire announce tour

After all of the "microscopic" shows and salsa-club appearances, Arcade Fire are embarking on a full-blown arena tour, worthy of the spectacle that's surrounded their fourth album Reflektor. The Montreal-based band's tour will take them through much of North America from March to August of next year, not suprisingly wrapping up in their hometown in August. No word yet on whether or not frontman Win Butler will be performing with a mariachi band before the shows.

Check out the tour dates below (which all go on sale November 22nd) as well as the band's video for "Reflektor".

Tour Dates:

3/6 Louisville, KY - KFC! YUM Center
3/8 Minneapolis, MN - Target Center
3/10 Auburn Hills, MI - The Palace of Auburn Hills
3/12 Pittsburgh, PA - Consol Energy Center
3/13 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre
3/14 Ottawa, Ontario - Canadian Tire Centre
3/16 Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
3/17 Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
3/18 Bridgeport, CT - Webster Bank Arena
4/9 Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
4/10 Austin, TX - Austin360 Amphitheater
4/23 Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
4/26 Kansas City, MO - Starlight Theatre
4/27 St. Louis, MO - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
4/29 Columbus, OH - Schottenstein Center
5/1 Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
5/2 Atlanta, GA - Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood
7/30 Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre
8/8 Seattle, WA - Gorge Amphitheatre
8/11 Edmonton, Alberta - Rexall Place
8/12 Calgary, Alberta - Scotiabank Saddledome
8/14 Winnipeg, Manitoba - MTS Centre
8/17 Washington, DC - Verizon Center
8/19 Boston, MA - Comcast Center
8/22 Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center
8/23 Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center
8/26 Chicago, IL - United Center
8/30 Montreal, Quebec - Parc Jean-Drapeau

"Reflektor"

Unreleased J Dilla tracks coming soon

 

On November 29, clothing label Akomplice will be releasing a new line in partnership with Joey Bada$$ and the J Dilla Foundation. Accompanying an "angelic graphic" of the now-deceased cloud-rap forerunner J Dilla, there will be a 7" vinyl pressing featuring unreleased efforts from both of the performers. The Dilla offering "Two Lips" was originally released with the treasure-trove Lost Scrolls collection, and the Joey Bada$$$ B-side will see the boom-bap revivalist tackling the same beat. According to a press-release, all proceeds will be going to youth in music programs.

Check out the video for Bada$$'s "95 Til' Infinity" below, alongside a fan-made video of the all-time Dilla classic "Last Donut of the Night" from the final studio-album released before his death in 2006.

"95 Til Infinity"

"Last Donut of the Night"

A$AP Rocky drops video for "Phoenix"

Following the airy, fashion-focused video for "Fashion Killa", A$AP Rocky has dropped a similarly low-key clip to accompany Long.Live.A$AP cut "Phoenix". Shot by director Francesco Carrozzini, the stark video sees Michael K. Williams (Omar of The Wire and Chalky White of Boardwalk Empire) and model Joan Smalls as a feuding couple who gradually turn to violence. "Lord Flacko" mostly sticks to the sidelines of this moody drama, knowing precisely when to "take cover".

In Michael K. Williams news, the Brooklyn-born actor is still slated to portray to portray the late Ol Dirty Bastard in an upcoming biopic entitled Dirty White Boy. To see Williams rapping live as the fellow "Zoo" native, head here.

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

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."

Top 20 Songs of 2013 (So Far) Part II

Back with the final batch of the top songs of 2013 (so far), counting down from 10-1. Like the first crop of songs, the ones you'll find below are all over the map from somber-dance tracks to posse-rap cuts and even a cover making an appearance.   before we press play on the countdown, a quick rewind is in order.

20. "Young & Beautiful"- Lana Del Rey (The Great Gatsby OST)
19. "Living Room"- Grouper (The Man Who Died in His Boat)
18. "Domo 23"- Tyler, the Creator (Wolf)
17. "Power Trip"- J. Cole (Born Sinner)
16. "Where Are We Now?"- David Bowie (The Next Day)
15. "Blood on the Leaves"- Kanye West (Yeezus)
14. "Perfect Form"- Cyril Hahn (Single)
13. "Good Ass Intro"- Chance the Rapper (Acid Rap)
12. "The King"- Tree (Sunday School II: When Church Lets Out)
11. "I Miss You"- the xx (Live Cover)

#10. "Whoa"- Earl Sweatshirt (Doris)

Rare is the moment that Tyler, the Creator's guttural yells offer any semblance of shelter, but Earl's all-out verbal onslaught on "Whoa" makes Tyler's protestations of "nah nah f**k" strangely comforting. To refer to Earl's rapping here as "spitting" is a gross disservice, implying some sort of general spray as opposed to the targeted barbs tossed off, "grab mittens who have to spit blizzardous, actually flick cigarette ash at b***h n***as." If Earl's spitting anything here, its poison dart's like some sort of rap assassin, "spraying then hide away in the shade of his maimed innocence." The B-grade synths that back Earl up only manage to make his calm demeanor on the track more menacing. He goes the whole track without raising his voice once and yet every turn feels like he could snap and start swinging at everything in his sight. He's raiding rubbish bins "at your local loony clinic," and tossing back bars like a "vodka fifth." File it away as another chapter in the "misadventures of a s**t-talker."

#9. "#Beautiful" ft. Miguel- Mariah Carey (The Art of Letting Go)

Excepting Frank Ocean, Miguel had the best year of any R&B singer in 2012. His bold, successful Kaleidoscope Dream was a dense, taut blend of classic R&B tropes and more modern indie trends. Few songs towed this line as well as "Adorn" an infectious bubbling number that's impossible not to crack a smile at. Every yelp and hiccup carries the message of Miguel's love as far as his words, and his sliding wordless vocals seal the deal. Mariah Carey's "#Beautiful" provides a similar lesson in restraint. A guitar riff straight out of the 60s Stax catalog sets the stage for a feathery Miguel. His voice here is as soft as the "kiss of moonlight on your skin." For Carey's part she still slips in a trademark vocal burst or two, though she's plays it cool for the most part. She's feeling giddy here and professes a feeling of invincibility. No nervousness or confusion here, just two people turning in an effortless performance. 

#8. "1Train" ft. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson, & Big K.R.I.T.- A$AP Rocky (Long.Live.A$AP)

"Don't be scared n***a is you ready?" A$AP Rocky cryptically asks over the haunted strings and boom-bap drums of 1Train, already a serious contender for the all-time great posse-cuts list. How could you be ready? Rap features have always been about one-upsmanship and a competitive spirit, but everyone here though sounds absolutely possessed. Rocky's clinging to "bags made of Goyard, cheffin' like I'm Boyar-Dee," and taking us back to the days of riding the titular train. Kendrick continues his lyrical gymnastics here, riding up on a skateboard, and gunning down everyone in sight, while still finding time to eat them all like "cooked beef." Joey Bada$$ can be caught "barely even conscious, talking to my conscious," and meeting with Jigga. For his part, Alabama-bred rapper Yelawolf is huddling with "Nubians," and assuring us there's never been "a rapper this cold, since 2Pac was froze, and thawed out for a spot-date at a Coachella show." To the surprise of no one, Danny Brown is thoroughly unhinged, spinning through his verse like the Tasmanian Devil hopped up on "molly." Brown supplies one of the most nauseating, gut-busting lines of the year rapping, "b***h p***y smell like the Penguin, wouldn't hit that s*** with my worst enemy's penis." Action Bronson (he who shall forever be compared to Ghostface Killah) drives by swiftly, "shifting the Bimmer 860," "confetti torching," and somehow finding the time to fix a game between Georgia Southern & Grambling. Then there's Mississippi-native Big K.R.I.T. bearing his "Muddy Water flow, Dixie rebel past." Rocky and Bada$$ both swear by K.R.I.T.'s verse, and it understandable. K.R.I.T.'s verse is filled with flash, packaged inside a classic frame, much like the candy-painted Caddies he can be found in. When the song ends, it's hard to imagine what could conceivably be better than that "1Train."

#7. "Retrograde"- James Blake (Overgrown)  

Few people can make loneliness sound as lovely as James Blake. On his "post-dubstep" debut LP, 2011's James Blake, he made abject isolation a commodity, the solitary life the only sort worth living. On the frigid summits of closer "Measurements," he was wandering through "forests cold," and putting all his doubts on trial in a courtroom of the elements. "Retrograde" maintains the spirit of that lone traveler mentality, but this time out a companion's come along. The isolation has shifted from the first to third person in the course of one winter; "we're alone now." The small ember of the track that Blake's voice clings to in the cold becomes a burning fire in the pit of his stomach by the time his loverman chorus hits. Blake begs, "show me why you're strong, ignore everybody else, we're alone now," wallowing the first time he runs through the line. The clattering drums and keyboards only fan the flames in the dark of night, as Blake is hit by the "starkness of the dawn." If it truly is "darkest before the dawn," Blake's found someone to peer out into the darkness with.

        

#6. "Started from the Bottom"- Drake (Nothing Was The Same) 

Wherever you think Drake came up or started from is irrelevant right around the time that minor-key piano figure is pushed out of frame by the sturm und drang trap-rap drums stitched up by producer Mike Zombie. Any possible chuckle or headshake at the notion of Drake "keeping it real from the start" disappears. Drizzy doesn't sound assured here, but authoritative. Through his sharp eyes we see arguments at his "momma's house" and late-night joyrides unwittingly sponsored by his uncle asking "where you at." The familiar themes of friends and family are in abundance here. Drake's proven more skilled than most artists at delineating the lines between the friends that'll die for you and those that would prefer to just sit in the car. Here Drake celebrates the success with the "whole team" drafted from the get-go and throws up deuces to any bandwagoneers, "f**k a fake friend." On "Over" he let us know "I'm doing me." "Started from the Bottom" is the ultimate reminder that in spite of everything, the story's stayed the same.  

#5. "Climax"- The Dirty Projectors (Cover)

The original "Climax" released off of Usher's wildly inconsistent (but ultimately enjoyable) 2012 record Looking 4 Myself was one of the greatest thrills in pop last year. Usher and producer Diplo gave us a masterclass in restraint. Usher could've howled his way through the thing, racing for those high notes like a rocket blasting off into space, but he didn't. He stayed grounded in hushed falsettos and dubstep burbles, until the relationship plateaued, and then Usher's voice was right there at the summit, howling in pained agony. On their "Like a Version" cover, the Dirty Projectors forgo any plateauing altogether. Leader Dave Longstreth immediately goes for the gut, if Usher sounded like he could survive another round of love in limbo, Longstreth's already called it quits. Longstreth clings to every note like there was nothing else left in this world. For her part, Amber Coffman (eyes closed) ethereally floats through the notes, feet firmly "off the ground." When Longstreth steps back up his questions of "why do I care at all?" are just as vital as Usher's original interrogations. The grand finale where Usher threw all caution to the wind is more reckless now, Longstreth and Coffman splitting the difference to pull the relationship apart.  Transcending source material and making it your own is never easy, even if the Dirty Projectors make it seem that way.

#4. "Ya Hey"- Vampire Weekend (Modern Vampires of the City)

On the highest of the highest, Vampire Weekend's rousing "Ya Hey" amounts to finger-wagging at the highest on high, the big man himself, the imperturbable Yahweh. "The faithless they don't love you, the zealous hearts don't love you," Ezra Koenig sings, his warm tone hardly masking the frantic finger-wagging he's committed too. Koenig nurtures all his guilt and inner turmoil for a time, but "lets it go," shedding his own crown of thorns and moving on with his life. "Ya Hey" is one of several tracks on the album to question religion's role in our lives when the trouble finds us, against frenetic guitar strumming on "Worship You" the group asks "who will guide us through the end," and "Unbelievers" resigns to the warmth that awaits all its titular characters. But the true beauty of "Ya Hey" is its ability to descend from the clouds and operate on a less celestial level. Trade an all-seeing God for an overly invested lover searching for the last ounce of love in a deflated relationship, and the metaphor comes into focus. Koenig cops to his mistakes in the cathartic chorus and swelters in the heat of the fire and flames. His lover meanwhile just sits in silence, out of sight and out of reach. Lacking faith in a higher power, Koenig is still burdened by an overwhelming faith in humanity.

#3. "Cherry"- Chromatics (After Dark 2)

Yes, in the most narrow-minded and myopic view of list-making this one breaks the rules. It originally made its appearance back in November 2012, but merits inclusion because a. it didn't see official release until After Dark 2, a compilation of moody dance acts from label Italians Do It Better dropped, and b. it's one of the best songs of this (and frankly) any year from the still young decade. I've easily heard the song some 60 plus times now and the crying synths and chugging bass find new ways to surprise me. There are still nights where I press repeat and let the spirit of the song haunt my room as I nod off into the ether. I originally wrote that "Cherry" is a marvelous encapsulation of what Rodney Dangerfield once referred to as the "heaviness" where the weight of the world casts a shadow over every kiss, every relationship, and every regret. Months later, singer Ruth Radelet wearisome "I can't keep crying all of the time," hasn't gotten any easier to lift. "Cherry" isn't an incredible song just for the hypnotic backbeat soundtracking the most sullen dancefloor in the world, but for the tragically pointed and relatable lyrics. Cherry's true nature is revealed in the final verse when Radelet discovers "Cherry can be very sweet when she needs a friend, but it's only a mask she wears so she can pretend." I feel perfectly comfortable admitting I've had the same paranoia creep over me; concerned that all my rushing to someone's side will be for naught when the roles are reversed. Some do it out of selfishness, but others are merely shortsighted, unable to see anything worth sharing with another human being. Hearing the song now, I'm reminded of a quote from a Kafka short-story about a man and woman engaging in a high-stakes game of "judgment." Near the finale, the man remarks "yet you smile-- inviting mortal danger-- from time to time." We've all been put in that danger before and like Radelet we can grow to hate the power it has over us. A way out from underneath the heaviness is possible; if you can summon the strength.

#2. "Mirrors"- Justin Timberlake (20/20 Experience)         

The last time unmitigated devotion and unyielding fidelity sounded this good on record, Rihanna was taking an oath to "stick it out to the end" on "Umbrella." For whatever reason, even in the world of Top 40 radio, martial stability annoys us. Rumours, one of the most successful albums of all time painfully traces the dissolution of relationships. The runaway success of Adele's 21 was fueled by a similar source. Justin Timberlake himself began his solo career with the bitter pill of "Cry Me A River." Despite our best intentions, bliss bores us. Which makes "Mirrors" dominance of the Billboard charts all the more impressive. Holding steady in the top 10, the arena ready track shows everyone how commitment can be done right. Sporting Timbaland's trademark handclap beats and smothered in synths, Timberlake is looking at his other half with emotional honesty, "I don't wanna lose you know," he sings in a buttery falsetto on the hook. The imagery here of two becoming one is simplistic, but powerful aided by Timbaland's hefty bass and soaring synths. Soon Timberlake loses all control, the music's grand scale is re-sized, and JT's devolved into a chorus of "you are the love of my life." There's no mystery in tomorrow, Timberlake's figured it out.

#1. "Get Lucky" ft. Pharrell- Daft Punk (Random Access Memories)

Unless some Earth-shattering, world-conquering song comes along in the next 5 months, "Get Lucky"'s disco-strut won't be stopped. What is already an earworm, has its DNA drastically mutated by Pharrell's silky croon, Niles Rogers' (of Chic fame) choppy guitar playing, and Daft Punk's funky vocoder breakdown. The song's an aural plague; reeking "havoc" on your whole body 'til your up on feet, head bouncing to-and-fro to Pharrell's hook, and voice joining the fight to "get lucky." Seeing Pharrell play this song back-to-back-to-back live makes perfect sense, who isn't pressing repeat as soon as the song heads off into the sunset? As I write this I'm struggling to finish, the smallest ripples in the song distracting me. Another keystroke is halted by the tiny piano figure or the muted bass thud. I can't imagine getting anything do listening to this, let alone a complicated task that commands your full concentration. Daft Punk demand that here, luring you into their all-night funhouse, and never letting you leave. The band's prior pop savvy with highlights "Da Funk," "One More Time," "Harder Better Faster Stronger," and "Make Love" can't hold a candle to what Daft Punk crafted here. "Get Lucky" doesn't just raise the bar, so much as it obliterates it.

  

Got a problem with any of the selections here or on part 1? Then let your voice be heard! Drop a comment, hit up the twitter account @allfreshsounds, give a stern talking to on Facebook, whatever you've gotta do. And look for a list of the top 10 albums so far this year to drop next week.