Early January is usually a quiet time for music releases, so it shouldn't necessarily come as any surprise that the corpse of Death Grips has reanimated to deliver an unholy racket entirely unprompted. At this point, the only thing we were expecting from the now expired band was jenny death, the second half of the powers that b.
The instrumental album Fashion Week then is a complete and total curveball that no one saw coming. The chaotic electropunk that Death Grips always cultivated is in full-effect, though MC Ride's voice never cuts through the chatter. Nevermind that exclusion because its thoroughly enjoyable from what I've heard, and actually goofy in the case of "Runway N."
Speaking of jenny death it looks like we can expect a physical release of the powers that b featuring both n***** on the moonand jenny deathon February 10. If that sounds like an eternity from now, you have Fashion Week to keep you company and the knowledge that Death Grips love a surprise digital release.
(You can download Fashion Week through the band's website or Soundcloud and listen to it all on a YouTube playlist. It is worth pointing out that the song titles of Fashion Week spell out JENNYDEATHWHEN, so there's one more thing to tease you with.)
Few producers in hip hop have ever been able to create a vibe quite like Pete Rock. Listening to any number of tracks, you can find a way to float off in a matter of seconds. So it's no surprise that go-to weed rapper Mac Miller and the effortlessly cool Schoolboy Q would team up with Rock on a song.
Left off of Miller's breakthrough 2013 record Watching Movies with the Sound Off, "Melt" is cut from the same hazy cloth. Twinkles abound, strings are delicately plucked, and Rock's drums possess a gentle crispness instead of their typical boom-bap quality. Stereogum's Tom Breihan calls it "softly psychedelic" and I'm inclined to agree. "Melt"'s the type of song a rap fan would throw on before taking a hit of acid or smoking "cigarillos bigger than armadillos" as Miller does. Whatever your preferred leisure is, "Melt" provides a terrific soundtrack.
Stream RiFF RAFF's NEON iCON album now
Though RiFF RAFF's second studio album NEON iCON is scheduled to drop next Tuesday through Diplo's Mad Decent label, one of rap's resident weirdos has gotten antsy and released the whole thing for streaming now.
Anchored by the undeniably catchy, DJ Mustard assisted "How to Be the Man", NEON iCON is a blitzkrieg of brightly colored, chintzy sounding Southern hip hop that begs to be blasted out of a car and replayed at least a dozen times. And if Jody Highroller's presence is grating to you at all, as it is to many rap purists, the guests he wrangles for NEON iCON are proven entities. Diplo, Mac Miller, Harry Fraud, and Lex Luger all produce, while rappers: Childish Gambino, Mike Posner, Slim Thug, and Paul Wall guest.
If you want to take a dive, NEON iCON's available for streaming below and can be preordered here.
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Lana Del Rey's sophomore LP Ultraviolence is set to drop next Tuesday and the melodramatic pop star has already releasedplentyof music in the run-up to the album. That generous trend continued today with "Is This Happiness", bleary-eyed romance that will appear as a bonus track on the iTunes edition of the record. Backed by a virtually inaudible piano, Del Rey wonders aloud what "happiness" really is in a faint whisper that's ready to collapse at any moment. If this is what's been left off the album, it's hard to imagine the quality of what made it on to Ultraviolence.
(As previously mentioned, Ultraviolence is out 6/17 on Interscope.)
Download Danny Brown collaborator ZelooperZ's Help album
Prior to today's release of Help, Detroit native ZelooperZ's biggest claim to fame was appearing on Danny Brown's Old, one of last year's stand out rap records. Whatever snarling, verbal contortions ZelooperZ's hinted at on his effort with Brown and A$AP Rocky is fully realized over Help's unwieldy 17 tracks. Brown stops by twice near the album's end, but even he can't completely put out the firebreathing ZelooperZ's is doing here. It's a thoroughly enjoyable listen and one that deserves to be heard. (You can download Help here and view the video for spastic single "Plateau" below.)
Follow AllFreshSounds on Twitter for updates throughout the day and check back in Monday for more of the newest in new(s).
No it won't feature Blanka, Chun-Li, or Zangief, but Young Money/Cash Money's latest tour will feature two of its biggest acts battling each other for label supremacy. Following last month's stellar comeback "Believe Me", Drake and Lil Wayne are linking back up for a 31 date summer tour that kicks off on August 8 in Buffalo, NY.
The Street Fighter themed tour comes in support of Tha Carter V, which still doesn't have a release date, but is being touted as Wayne's final LP. Tickets for "Drake vs. Lil Wayne" go on sale June 21 and maybe by then we'll have more info on Tha Carter V. Given the relative silence though, any news is unlikely at this point. Check out the tour dates below, along with recent tracks from both Drake and Wayne. Tour Dates: 8/8 Darien Center, NY- Darien Lake Performing Arts Center 8/9 Noblesville, Indiana- Klipsch Music Center 8/10 Tinley Park, IL- First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre 8/12 Saratoga Springs, NY- Saratoga Performing Arts Center 8/13 Hartford, CT- Xfinity Theatre 8/15 Cincinnati, OH- Riverbend Music Center 8/16 Clarkston, MI- DTE Energy Music Theatre 8/17 Burgettstown, PA- First Niagara Pavilion 8/19 Forest Hills, NY- Forest Hills Tennis Stadium 8/21 Camden, NJ- Susquehanna Bank Center 8/25 Mansfield, MA- Xfinity Center 8/26 Holmdel, NJ- PNC Bank Arts Center 8/27 Virginia Beach, VA- Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach 8/29 Bristow, VA- Jiffy Lube Live 8/30 Charlotte, NC- PNC Music Pavilion 8/31 Atlanta, GA- Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood 9/3 West Palm Beach, FL- Cruzan Amphitheatre 9/4 Tampa, FL- MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre 9/6 Austin, TX- Austin360 Amphitheater 9/7 Dallas, TX- Gexa Energy Pavilion 9/10 Morrison, CO- Red Rocks Ampitheatre 9/11 West Valley City, UT- USANA Amphitheatre 9/13 Ridgefield, WA- Sleep Country Amphitheatre 9/14 Auburn, WA- White River Amphitheatre 9/16 Mountain View, CA- Shoreline Amphitheatre 9/17 Wheatland, CA- Sleep Train Amphitheatre 9/19 Irvine, CA- Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre 9/20 Chula Vista, CA- Sleep Train Amphitheatre 9/22 Los Angeles, CA- Hollywood Bowl 9/25 Phoenix, AZ- Ak-Chin Pavilion 9/27 Woodlands, TX- The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Lil Boosie releases new single "She Want Some"
Since wrapping up his five year prison stint in March, Baton Rouge rapper Lil Boosie's stayed busy with recording. He's dropped his own reflective tracks with frequent partner Webbie and stomped all over other people's tracks like 2 Chainz's lurching "Could Woulda Shoulda".
Amidst all of that recording, Boosie's planning to issue his comeback album Touchdown 2 Cause Hell some time this summer. As a first taste he's delivered "She Want Some", a gloriously chintzy piece of strip club rap bound to have you dancing by the time the chorus hits. If half of Touchdown 2 Cause Hell is as infectious as "She Want Some" is, Boosie's post prison adjustment will go just fine.
Death Grips, Gonjasufi appear on new tracks from The Bug
Experimental dubstep artist The Bug (aka Kevin Martin) hasn't had a studio LP since 2008's London Zoo, but that will soon change with the August 26 release of Angels and Devils.
Divided into two distinct halves, Angels and Devils will feature a psychedelic, "dubbed out" first half ("Angels") and a screeching second half under the banner of "Devils". On either side of the record there will be appearances from: Liz Harris of Grouper, Jesu's Justin Broadrick, Hype Williams' Inga Copland, hip hop mystic Gonjasufi, and perpetual agitators Death Grips.
The Bug's collabos with the latter two are both available now through Soundcloud and are well worth a listen. Gonjasufi effort "Save Me" rests on a subtle, atmospheric production bed; while "F*** A B****" with Death Grips explodes out of a burbling futuristic cannon. In other words, The Bug's already established how disparate the two halves of Angels and Devils will be long before it drops. Tracklist: 1. "Void" ft. Liz Harris 2. "Fall" ft. Copeland 3. "Ascension" 4. "Mi Lost" ft. Miss Red 5. "Pandi" 6. "Save Me" ft. Gonjasufi 7. "The One" ft. Flowdan 8. "Function" ft. Manga 9. "F*** A B****" ft. Death Grips 10. "Fat Mac" ft. Flowdan 11. "F*** You" ft. Warrior Queen 12. "Dirty" ft. Flowdan
Check back tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s) and follow AllFreshSounds on Twitter for updates throughout the day.
Andrew Bird premieres new album Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of...
Indie-folk/chamber-pop
artist Andrew Bird has been on a bit of cover kickas
of late, and today brought news that streak would continue with the
announcement of the indecisively titled Things Are Really Great Here, Sort
Of... Joined by recently formed backing band Hands of Glory, Bird is
delivering a full record of covers of alternative-country duo The Handsome
Family, who are best known for their 2003 track "Far From Any Road"
which was the True Detective season 1 theme song. The release comes a little
more than 6 months after Bird's last album, the seven song EP I Want to See Pulaski at
Night.
Things Are
Really Great Here, Sort Of... drops
June 3 and you can preorder the track on Bird's site. You'll find
a gorgeous, slightly rollicking cover of "Tin Foiled" here
via Pitchfork and below there's a teaser trailer for the LP along with summer
tour dates.
Tour Dates:
6/6 New York City, NY- BAM Harvey Theater (Studio 360 Radio Love Fest) 6/7 New York City, NW- Rough Trade 6/8-9 Washington, DC- Lincoln Theatre 6/10 Carrboro, NC- Cat's Cradle 6/12 Asheville, NC- Orange Peel 6/13 Manchester, TN- Bonnaroo
6/15 Tulsa, OK- Cain's Ballroom
6/16 Austin, TX- The Paramount Theater
6/20 Boulder, CO- Chautauqua 6/21 Telluride, CO- Telluride 7/2 Ann Arbor, MI- Power Center 7/4 Toronto, Ontario- Toronto Urban Roots Fest 7/5 Ottawa, Ontario- Ottawa Bluesfest 7/6 Montreal, Quebec- Jazz Fest 7/8 New York City, NY- Central Park Summerstage 7/10 Hanover, NH- Spaulding Auditorium at the Hopkins Center 7/11 Bridgeport, CT- The Klein 7/12 Lowell, MA- Lowell Summer Music Series 7/18 Vancouver, British Columbia- Vancouver Folk Fest 7/24 Calgary, Alberta- Calgary Folk Fest 7/26 Edmonton, Alberta - Interstellar Rodeo 8/1 Big Sur, CA- Henry Miller Library 8/2 Saratoga, CA- Mountain Winery 8/3 San Francisco, CA- Sigmund Stern Grove 9/19 San Diego, CA- Humphrey's 9/21 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
Spoon unveiling something on June 10
Back in March indie rock quartet Spoon teased
their recently completed eighth album with a short, cryptic trailer entitled
"Hi". And now after the announcement of inking with label Loma Vista, the Britt Daniel
led band have added to the album mystery with the above photo. Found on both
their Twitter
and Facebook
pages, the picture offers no other details other than that the band is doing
something on the date. "R.I.P." could be the name of a darker new
album, a new track, or something else entirely.
Whatever
it is the band is keeping quiet, other than to tell Rolling Stonethe record will accompany a
summer tour. In many ways the campaign resembles Arcade Fire's masterful run-up to Reflektor with all the similar
frustration of waiting. While you wait, ponder over this short clip of Spoon
performing new track "They Want My Soul".
Belle & Sebastian planning new album, tour, and reissues
2014 is shaping up to be a jam-packed
year for Scottish pop outfit Belle & Sebastian. Stuart Murdoch and company
have been working on a ninth LP with Gnarls Barkley/Youth
Lagoon/Animal
Collective producer Ben Allen. Though it's currently without a title,
tracklist, release date, or album cover, the band has been fastidiously
documenting the recording process for the album on Instagram.
And if their first album since
2010's Write About Love wasn't enough, the sextet is plotting a tour
that will include choice festival dates in: Germany, Austria, Spain, Poland,
and Sweden this summer, in addition to Austin, Texas this fall. Not enough?
Stuart Murdoch's directorial debut God
Help The Girl, which won awards at Sundance this year, will start
showing in the United States and Canada in the fall.
Finally, long-term home Matador
is prepping a reissue campaign of the band's catalog. Considering the "flat
production" found on the initial version of their magnum opus If You're Feeling Sinister
and the overwhelming fondness for it, the move is a no-brainer.
If you're still not satisfied,
watch the band briefly covering "Don't Stop Believing" and check out
the aforementioned tour dates.
Tour Dates:
6/9- Vienna, Austria- Arena Wien Open Air 6/20- Neuhausen, Germany- Southside Festival 6/21- Scheesel, Germany- Hurricane Festival 6/22- Hilvarenbeek, Holland- Best Kept Secret Festival 6/25- Copenhagen, Denmark- DR Concert Hall 6/26- Norkopping, Sweden- Bravalla Festival 7/26- Costa Brava, Spain- Festival Porta Ferada 7/28- Santiago de Compostela, Spain- Plaza de la Quintana 8/3- Katowice, Poland- Off Festival 8/8- Cesena, Italy- Rocca Mallatestiana 8/10- Palermo, Italy- Ypsigrock Festival 10/3- Austin, TX- Austin City Limits Festival 10/10- Austin, TX- Austin City Limits Festival 10/31- Paris, France- Pitchfork Music Festival Paris
Check back tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s) and follow AllFreshSounds on Twitter for updates throughout the day.
Against Me!'s Laura Jane Grace criticizes Arcade Fire's clip for "We Exist"
Against Me!'s lead singer Laura Jane Grace (formerly Thomas James Gabel) has been remarkably open about her own personal battles with gender dysphoria, discussing the fight at length on this year's Transgender Dysphoria Blues.
Today that personal exploration and advocacy turned to criticism, when Grace slammed Arcade Fire's video for Reflektor cut "We Exist". In the clip which debuted last week, Amazing Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield plays a young person struggling with gender identity while living in a small town. Over the duration of the 6 minute video Garfield's character is seen: dressing up in women's clothes, getting into a bar fight, dancing, and ultimately stepping onstage with the Canadian band at Coachella. Instead of criticizing one particular scene Grace raised issue with the casting of Garfield, saying on Twitter: "Dear @arcadefire, maybe when making a video for a song called 'We
Exist' you should get an actual 'Trans' actor instead of Spider-Man?" No one from Arcade Fire has responded to the criticism yet, though fans of the band have pointed out to Grace that transgendered classical pianist Our Lady J was an acting coach for Garfield throughout the filming process. (Opinion section: I understand where Grace is coming from on this issue and she raises a salient point not far-removed from Spike Lee's initial concerns about a white filmmaker directing Malcolm X. When dealing with the portrayal of anyone that's in any minority, you want the picture that's captured to be as honest and real as possible. I personally think that's what Arcade Fire has done with this video and if I'm wrong, I'd love to read comments as to why I'm wrong in the comments section.)
Rare Velvet Underground acetate previously sold for $25,000 is going back up for auction
Fans of groundbreaking band The Velvet Underground start scrimping and saving now. Rolling Stone is reporting that an acetate featuring band sessions from 1966 is going up for auction on Ebay through Chicago record store Shuga Records. On the site the record store specially created for the auction, Shuga points out the record was recorded in secret by producer Norman Dolph and initially pitched as a "finished album" by VU manager Andy Warhol to Columbia Records executives.
The tape, one of two known to exist (drummer Moe Tucker owns the other), was originally purchased by record collector Warren Hill in 2002 for 75 cents. Four years later Hill sold the Scepter Sessions album on Ebay for $25,ooo after a $155,401 bid was deemed fraudulent. Now it seems the record is on the move again and though the seller has chosen to remain anonymous, they have made it clear that 10% of the proceeds will benefit an animal rights charity. And considering the amount of interest around the band since founder Lou Reed passed away, that donation could be sizable.
Listen to the Scepter Sessions below:
Check back tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s) and follow AllFreshSounds on Twitter for updates throughout the day.
While speculation
continues to run rampant about the Knowles/Carter family elevator incident,
Forbes
is reporting that resale ticket prices for their massive summer tour have
fallen since the footage was first released by TMZ. Culling from
TiqIq, Forbes' Jess Lawrence writes that "average price across
all "On the Run" tour dates was $306.22, behind only Justin
Timberlake and Paul
McCartney for the most expensive tour of the summer on the secondary
market." Since last Monday, that $306.22 price tag has dipped to $264.73,
which still sits in the top 5 for summer tours, but represents a 13.5% decrease
in just over a week's time.
That decline comes despite a pubic
statement intended to quash the story and a recent promo video which
features everyone from Sean Penn to Don Cheadle and Rashida Jones. While the
statement has seen mixed success at best, the fake trailer promo has been
popular enough that fans
are asking for the married couple to make it into an actual movie. So yet
again, Ann Perkins
maybe the one who saves the day after all.
(The tour kicks off June 25 and tour
dates can be found below, along with the "Run" video.) Tour Dates: 6/25 Miami, FL- Sun Life Stadium 6/28 Cincinnati, OH- Great American Ballpark 7/1 Foxborough, MA- Gillette Stadium 7/5 Philadelphia, PA- Citizen's Bank Park 7/7 Baltimore, MD- M&T Bank Stadium 7/9 Toronto, ON- Rogers Centre 7/11 East Rutherford, NJ- Met Life Stadium 7/15 Atlanta, GA- Georgia Dome 7/18 Houston, TX- Minute Maid Park 7/20 New Orleans, LA- Mercedez-Benz Superdome 7/22 Dallas, TX- AT&T Stadium 7/24 Chicago, IL- Soldier Field 7/27- Winnipeg, MB- Investors Group Field 7/30 Seattle, WA- Safeco Field 8/2-8/3 Los Angeles, CA- Rose Bowl 8/5-8/6 San Francisco, CA- AT&T Park
Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis set to release a new solo album
Nearly three years have passed since Dinosaur Jr. guitarist
J Mascis released his gorgeous debut solo album Several Shades of Why, and
now fans of the LP have follow-up Tied To A Star to look forward to.
While guesting on Late
Night with Seth Myers, the traditionally reserved Mascis let Myers
break the news that the new LP would be "out this summer" on Sub-Pop.
Other than that small bit of info and the above album cover, there isn't much
known about the album, but Mascis' week-long stint with Late Night
bandleader Fred Armisen and the 8G Band may lead to more details.
As for Dinosaur Jr., the indie rock guitar gods will be headlining New York's 4 Knots Festival on July 12, as a replacement for the Julie Ruin whose lead singer Kathleen Hanna is currently battling Lyme's Disease. Dates for the trio can be seen below and you can watch the Late Night clip here (Mascis begins near the 4:40 mark).
Tour Dates: 5/28 New York City, NY- Music Hall of Williamsburg 5/30 Nelsonville, OH- Nelsonville Music Festival 7/12 New York City, NY- 4 Knots Festival 7/18-7/20 Pemberton, BC- Pemberton Music Festival 11/7-11/9 Austin, TX- Fun Fun Fun Fest
Check back tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s) and follow AllFreshSounds on Twitter for updates throughout the day.
