What's New(s)?

Pete Rock produces a Mac Miller/Schoolboy Q track

 

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.



Follow AllFreshSounds on Twitter for updates throughout the day.

What's New(s)?

Miley Cyrus covers the Smiths 

No one will ever confuse pop megastar Miley Cyrus with indie pop pioneers the Smiths. At their best the Morrissey-fronted quartet cracked Number 2 on the UK Albums Chart and continues to exist as one of music's most adored cult acts. Cyrus meanwhile can lay claim to two of 2013's largest chart smashes and is currently in the midst of one the most written about tours since U2's Popmart Tour. 

Despite the ocean of difference between the two artists, Cyrus wasn't kept away from covering one of the band's all-time greats during the European-leg of the Bangerz Tour. At Belfast's Odyssey Arena on Monday night, the pop megastar offered up her reworking of 1986 Queen Is Dead cut "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out". Though it starts off with a bit of hesitant pop wavering, the end of the clip finds Cyrus fully committed to the chorus' doomed romance.

The cover comes on the heels of her performance of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" with the Flaming Lips, which will appear on the Flips' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band tribute album.

 

Morrissey streams new song "Istanbul"

Speaking of the former Smiths lead singer, Morrissey has a new record entitled World Peace Is None Of Your Business out July 15 Harvest/Capitol and to promote the LP Moz is now streaming audio of album track "Istanbul". Spotify users can listen to the song below, but if not a member of the site, you can enjoy Morrissey's spoken word performance of "Istanbul".

RiFF RAFF has at last unveiled the tracklist for debut album NEON iCON

A release for rap weirdo RiFF RAFF's debut album NEON iCON has been promised for a while now, but now that promise has materialized with the announcement that the LP will drop June 24 on the Mad Decent label. And if the incredibly garish album cover weren't enough to lure you in, the exhaustive guest list may. Mac Miller, the Dirty Projectors' Amber Coffman, Mike Posner, and Childish Gambino will all appear, along with fellow Houston natives Slim Thug and Paul Wall.

To complement the overstuffed guest lineup, NEON iCON will feature production from DJ Mustard, Diplo, Harry Fraud, and DJA. The tracklist for NEON iCON is included below and apparently if you pre-order the album through RiFF RAFF's site you get a pair of exclusive tracks ("2 GiRLS ONE PiPE" and "TROPiCAL VACATiON"). In addition, RiFF RAFF's dropped the unsurprisingly bizzaro video for "How to Be Man “which is also viewable below.

 

Tracklist:

1. "iNTRODUCING THE iCON"
2. "KOKAYNE"
3. "WETTER THAN TSUNAMi"
4. "JODY 3 MOONS (SKIT)"
5. "VERSACE PYTHON"
6. "LAVA GLACiERS (ft. Childish Gambino)"
7. "TiP TOE WiNG iN MY JAWWWDiNZ"
8. "MAYBE YOU LOVE ME (ft. Mike Posner)"
9. "AQUABERRY DOLPHiN (ft. Mac Miller)"
10. "THE BLOOMiNGDALES AT WiNDSHiRE PALACE (SKIT)"
11. "TiME"
12. "HOW TO BE THE MAN"
13. "COOL iT DOWN (ft. Amber Coffman)"
14. "ViP PASS TO MY HEART"
15. "HOW TO BE THE MAN (ft. Slim Thug and Paul Wall) (Houston Remix)"

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

What's New(s)?

Wild Beasts preview "Sweet Spot"
























Kendal, England dream-pop outfit Wild Beasts are gearing up for Present Tense, their 4th studio LP, and today the band shared the latest offering from record. "Sweet Spot" is a sublimely gorgeous, subdued track where Hayden Thorpe gives a whispered croon atop silky guitar slices and gulping bass parts. "The sweetest spot, when it's gone it's gone," he intonates before the song fades into wobbly synthesizer. They're still in the dreamworld, it's just become a lot less bright.

Present Tense is out February 25th through Domino Records and the band is kicking off a world tour for the record starting next week in Paris.


Tour Dates:
2/18 Paris, France -  Nouveau Casino
3/4 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall Of Williamsburg
3/6 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
3/8 Mexico City, Mexico - El Plaza Condesa
3/26 Manchester, England - Albert Hall
3/27 Glasgow, Scotland - Arches
3/29 Dublin, Ireland - Olympia
3/30 Bristol, England - Academy 1
3/31 Cambridge, England - Corn Exchange
4/1 London, England - Brixton Academy
4/3 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
4/4 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Motel Mozaique Festival
4/5 Cologne, Germany - Gebaude
4/6 Berlin, Germany - Lido
4/7 Hamburg, Germany - Knust
4/9 Munich, Germany - Strom
4/10 Milan, Italy - Elita Festival @ Teatro Franco Parenti
4/11 Lyon, France - Marche-Gare
4/12 Zurich, Switzerland - Plaza Club
4/13 Lille, France - Aeronef
4/15 Brussels, Belgium - Orangerie

RiFF RAFF is making country music

 

For someone who has previously labeled himself the "white Danny Glover" and shouted out Versace wife-beaters, there isn't much that rap weirdo RiFF RAFF could to do to surprise anyone. Even considering that fact, today's "announcement" that he's pulling an Alan Jackson and "gone country" is a bit of a head-scratcher. 

In a chat with TMZ, the Houston-native discussed plans to record under his country moniker Jody Highroller (which has been his Twitter handle for quite some time) and release the track "Take U Away". Apparently he'll continue to record as RiFF RAFF for rap efforts and use the Highroller guise for country endeavors. "I love country music ... I'm good at it and it's a good fit" he told the site. Maybe he'll finally grab a Grammy for his new career path.

RiFF RAFF's Neon Icon album is slated for a 2014 release through Diplo's Mad Decent label, but it still doesn't have a date nailed down.

Guided by Voices share video featuring Breaking Bad's Matt Jones and Rob Cordry of the Daily Show

For being insanely prolific, indie-rockers Guided by Voices have never exactly been high-profile. Even in the peak during the mid-90s, the band never exactly crossed over into mainstream territory. Now three years into the reunion of that "classic lineup", the band's output is almost taken for granted. 

Their 20th album Motivational Jumpsuit is out next week through GBV Inc and there hasn't been much in the way of major fanfare for the release. But today's debut of the video for the anthemic "Planet Score" works to correct that. Ostensibly the video focuses on Breaking Bad's Matt Jones (Badger) and his ineptitude at playing basketball. Nate Cordry indulges his inner Bobby Knight to bark at Jones in the highway-side clip, while brother Rob (of The Daily Show) does his best to "coach em up". In the end Jones and Rob Cordry win out, sending Nate home disappointed. It's the type of small-scale heroism the band has done for year and still it remains as fresh as ever. 

You can find the video here and again look for Motivational Jumpsuit to drop next week.



For news updates throughout the day, follow @AllFreshSounds on Twitter and check back in Monday for more of the newest in new(s).

"How to Be the Man"- Riff Raff

How has this collaboration not already happened? Rap-weirdo RiFF RAFF has thrived on booming, minimalist beats and over the past few years no one's done trunk-rattling minimalism quite like ratchet-music producer DJ Mustard. On should've been summer-anthem "Burn Rubber" Gameboy bloops were reconstituted as the backbone of a serpentine track. And lurking just beyond the shadowy menace of the song, there was goofball glee caught up in the infectiousness of it all.

Circa 2013 there's no more viable a candidate for the title of goofball menace than Houston-native RiFF RAFF. Almost every utterance from the man also known as JODY HiGHROLLER tows the line between yuk-yuk comedy and madcap villainy. In many ways he's the rap game's Joker, and if you don't take him seriously, he's the one getting the last laugh. "How to Be the Man" (from the supposedly forthcoming Neon Icon) is chock-full of chuckles. Tiptoeing across a squeaking futuristic swing-set (provided by Mustard), RiFF RAFF prattles about swirling cups of Pink Panther and kicking back in Versace wife-beaters. Like a rickety old-playground, he's absolutely unstable. In his manic worldview, catching matinees with Barry Sanders is probable because "my whole life's a weekend". On those never-ending Saturdays, he assumes the role of Mary Poppins and envisions himself as the "white Danny Glover" or "white Eddie Murphy" depending on his outlook. If none of it seems to make sense or you'd rather pass, it's fine. As the man himself says "I don't need acceptance". 

Neon Icon is tentatively slated for a 2014 release through Diplo's Mad Decent label.


  

What's New(s)?

Jay-Z Sells Out

The tallies aren't official yet, but it looks like Jay-Z has another Billboard #1 album on his hands with Magna Carta...Holy Grail. According to HitsDailyDouble, Hov's album moved more than 500,000 copies in its first week, and that's without even counting the million-plus sales for the Samsung app deal (which Billboard decided not to factor into first week sales). If these numbers hold, Jay-Z will nab his 13th number one album, placing him just six behind The Beatles for the all-time mark. Check out an interview Jay did with BBC radio's Zane Lowe about the album and help yourself to a live-cut of "Holy Grail" featuring JT.

Zane Lowe/Jay-Z Interview

"Holy Grail" ft. Justin Timberlake (Live)

RiFF RAFF takes aim at Spring Breakers

Houston artist and all-around rap-weirdo RiFF RAFF in a video posted on TMZ let it be known he's planning on suing the makers of Spring Breakers for between $8 and $10 million. RiFF RAFF was hesitant to say he's going after James Franco, clarifying "Not necessarily James Franco, but there's a lump sum that's made per movie. James Franco is cool, he drops four or five movies a year, he has the money-- it's not about him. I just need my money." RiFF RAFF has previously claimed (in a roundabout way on the soap opera "One Life to Live) that Franco's otherworldly Alien character was appropriated from his on rap persona. Below is the booming "Dolce & Gabana" from the recently released NEON iCON.

Nas honored by Harvard

This morning, the W.E.B. Du Bois institute announced the formation of the Nasir Jones Hip-Hop fellowship, aimed to "fund and enrich artists and scholars with connections to hip-hop," hoping to show that "education is real power." Upon receiving the honor, Nas said:

“In my rollercoaster of a life I’ve endured good and bad for sure, and I’ve truly been blessed to have achieved so much thru art in my short life thus far. But I am immensely over-the-top excited about the Nasir Jones HIP-HOP Fellowship at Harvard. From Queens, NY to true cultural academia. My hopes are that greed for knowledge, art, self-determination and expression go a long way. It is a true honor to have my name attached to so much hard work, alongside great names like Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and W.E.B. Du Bois and to such a prestigious and historical institution, and all in the name of the music I grew to be a part of.”

Nas previously name-checked Ivy institutes Harvard and Yale in his 2002 track "Book of Rhymes," so take a stroll down memory lane with the song.

Mazzy Star debut new song

California dream-pop royalty haven't released an album since 1996's stripped-down Among My Swan, but that's about to change. Today, the band released the mostly acoustic and winsome "California" in anticipation of new album Season of Your Day; slated for a September 24th release via Rhymes Of An Hour. Lead-singer Hope Sandoval's voice is as haunting as ever on the song, floating back to "somewhere distant," and hovering over the ocean. You can find the track here and an official tracklist for the record below.

1. “In the Kingdom”
2. “California”
3. “I’ve Gotta Stop”
4. “Does Someone Have Your Baby Now”
5. “Common Burn”
6. “Seasons of Your Day”
7. “Flying Low”
8. “Sparrow”
9. “Spoon”
10. “Lay Myself Down”

Check back in again tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s).