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. 

What's New(s)?

M.I.A. debuts video for "Double Bubble Trouble"

There's nothing inherently political about M.I.A.'s writhing Matangi cut "Double Bubble Trouble". The blaring Partysquad beat is far more likely to get you dancing than rallying. But this is still M.I.A. we're talking about and the recently released video for "Double Bubble Trouble" proves the Sri Lankan artist can't remain apolitical for long.

"What if you could make weapons like these in your own home, using what's called a three-dimensional printer?" a voice calmly wonders aloud at the beginning of the M.I.A. directed clip. It's not a stretch to say our society is suffuse with guns, so to hear that making your own is now possible is utterly terrifying. And M.I.A. seizes on that terror throughout the video. Brazen individuals are seen waving their weaponry with delight, while others quietly lurk in close quarters. If that weren’t enough, circular drones casually float overhead to check in on the self-made "militias." For all of the neon-imagery and brightly colored parrots the political firebrand throws in, "Double Bubble Trouble" stays remarkably dark.

(Earlier this morning, M.I.A. was apparently having troubles with Universal in releasing the clip, but thankfully those problems have now been resolved.)

 

How to Dress Well is hitting the road

 

Indie R&B crooner How to Dress Well (Tom Krell) has a new album, entitled "What Is This Heart?", out June 24 through Weird World and to promote the record Krell is hitting the road this summer.

 

After 5 European dates in mid-to-late June, Krell will arrive on North American shores in August and tour until late-September. With 26 total dates spread over two months, its the largest tour the artist has undertaken. And while you wait for the "massive" tour to begin, you can enjoy the video for beautifully fragile "Repeat Pleasure".

 

Tour Dates:

6/13 London, England - ICA

6/14 Brussels, Belgium - Beursschouwburg
6/16 Paris, France - Nouveau Casino
6/17 Amsterdam, Netherlands - MC Theatre
6/29 Berlin, Germany - Berliner Festspiele

8/21 San Diego, CA - Casbah
8/22 Los Angeles, CA - First Unitarian Church
8/23 Monterey, CA - First City Festival
8/24 Monterey, CA - First City Festival
8/25 Portland, OR - Holocene
8/26 Vancouver, British Columbia - Fortune Sound Club
8/27 Seattle, WA - Neumos
8/29 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
9/2 Omaha, NE - Waiting Room
9/3 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
9/4 Chicago, IL - Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA)
9/4-9/6 Raleigh, NC - Hopscotch Music Festival
9/5 Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall
9/8 Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
9/9 Nashville, TN - Exit In
9/11 Columbus, OH - A&R Music Bar
9/12 Toronto, Ontario - The Mod Club
9/14 Montreal, Quebec - Le Belmont
9/16 Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall
9/17 New York City, NY - Irving Plaza
9/19 Philadelphia, PA - District N9NE
9/20 Washington, DC - U Street Music Hall
9/22 St. Louis, MO - The Luminary Center for the Arts
9/24 Oxford, MS - Proud Larry’s
9/25 New Orleans, LA - Hi Ho Lounge
9/27 Austin, TX - Central Presbyterian Church

Lupe Fiasco battles cancer in new single "Mission"

 

 

 

Lupe Fiasco dubbed himself a "Friend of the People" all the way back in 2011, but today's release of Tetsuo & Youth's first single "Mission" fully drives the point home. Beginning with personal testimonies of cancer survivors, including G.O.O.D. Music's Charlie Wilson, Fiasco breathlessly raps over a hyper-kinetic beat about an unshakable will to live. Throughout the six-minute effort are small asides about "bald heads" and "biopsies" which only makes the track more relatable for anyone who has ever been affected by cancer. 

 

While "Mission" is intended as the first single to Fiasco's upcoming 5th album Tetsuo & Youth, it also serves to promote the Stand Up 2 Cancer foundation, "a groundbreaking initiative created to accelerate innovative cancer research that will get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now." You can download "Mission" now through iTunes.

 

 

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)?

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)?

M.I.A. releases Matangi bonus track

It's been a little more than a month since sonic manipulator M.I.A. released her fourth studio album Matangi. The genre-hopping album found time for raucous hip hop, ear-splitting electronic workouts, dancehall, and bhangra while getting bitingly political and interpolating Y.O.L.O. for reincarnation purposes. Today she continues that proud "everything but the kitchen sink" tradition with bonus cut "Trouble Again". The song's a Spotify exclusive so if you're Thom Yorke, you probably won't be hearing it anytime soon.


 



Toro y Moi side-project drops new music

When he's not making retro psychedelic dance/soul-pop as Toro y Moi, frontman Chaz Bundick somehow finds time to record as side-project Sides of Chaz. Next Tuesday he'll be releasing a new 7" under the moniker. A-side "Sweet Tea" is  manages to incorporate more jagged guitar than is the norm for Toro y Moi and Bundick's vocals are more self-assured. Besides doubling up on recording projects, he's "seeing double" in the swirling, slightly T.Rex indebted number.

The new 7" will be released through the Fork and Spoon label and also feature B-side "Take My Car". Listen to "Sweet Tea" below.

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks announce North American Tour

On January 7 Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks will be releasing their sixth studio album, the awesomely titled Wig Out At Jigbags. To celebrate the new release, the former Pavement frontman and his cohorts will embark on a 2014 North American tour set to begin in Denver on February 12th. Support for the band will come courtesy of: Speedy Ortiz, Tyvek, Purling Hiss, Disappears, and Endless Boogie.

Check out the tour dates below along with the French-lyric video for the breezy garage-rock cut "Lariat".

Tour Dates:

2/12 Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre (w. Tyvek)
2/14 Columbia, MO - Mojo's (w. Tyvek)  
2/15 St. Louis, MO - Old Rock House (w. Tyvek)
2/16 Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room (w. Tyvek) 2/18 Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Center (w. Tyvek) 2/19 Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon (w. Tyvek)
2/20 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall (w. Disappears)
2/21 Ferndale, MI - The Loving Touch (w. Disappears)
2/22 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace (w. Disappears)
2/23 Montreal, Quebec - Cafe Campus (w. Disappears)
2/25 Boston, MA - Paradise (w. Disappears)
2/26 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom (w. Disappears)
2/27 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg (w. Endless Boogie)
2/28 Washington, DC - Black Cat (w. Endless Boogie)
3/1 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts (w. Endless Boogie)
3/3 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle (w. Purling Hiss)
3/4 Atlanta, GA - Terminal West (w. Purling Hiss)
3/5 Birmingham, AL - The Bottletree (w. Purling Hiss)
3/6 New Orleans, LA - The Parish at House of Blues (w. Purling Hiss)
3/7 Houston, TX - Fitzgerald's Upstairs (w. Purling Hiss)
3/9 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater (w. Purling Hiss)
3/15 Portland, OR - Star Theater
3/27 San Francisco, CA - Slim's (w. Speedy Ortiz)
3/28 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre (w. Speedy Ortiz)
3/29 San Diego, CA - Casbah (w. Speedy Ortiz)
3/30 Pioneertown, CA - Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown (w. Speedy Ortiz)
4/1 Phoenix, AZ - The Crescent Ballroom (w. Speedy Ortiz)
4/2 Las Vegas, NV - Beauty Bar (w. Speedy Ortiz)
4/3 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge (w. Speedy Ortiz)
4/5 Missoula, MT - Top Hat (w. Speedy Ortiz)
4/7 Calgary, Alberta - Republik (w. Speedy Ortiz)
4/8 Edmonton, Alberta - Starlite Room (w. Speedy Ortiz)
4/10 Vancouver, British Columbia - Rickshaw Theatre (w. Speedy Ortiz)
4/11 Victoria, British Columbia - Lucky Bar (w. Speedy Ortiz)
4/12 Seattle, WA - Neptune Theatre (w. Speedy Ortiz)

"Lariat"

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

What's New(s)?

Kanye West full interview now available

Yesterday part 1 of the Kanye West/Zane Lowe went up and amongst other things we heard West discuss: his status as "the #1 rock star on the planet", his calling to "f*** s*** up" for modern radio, and how he owes his career to Michael Jackson. Rather than wait for a steady stream of Kanye gems to pop up in parts 2-4 throughout the rest of the week, we are now privy to to the full-interview of Yeezy's unfettered thoughts. During the course of the full 60, West shares what "dopeness" means to him, how he strives to one day be as "zenned-out as Jay Z", and his eager anticipation to talk with Kendrick Lamar out on the Yeezus tour heralding him "he's one of our future messengers." The entire thing is brimming with Internet-baiting quotes that would talk too long to parse all of here, so check it out below.





Grand Theft Auto V soundtrack dropped

Grand Theft Auto continually delivers with some of the greatest video game soundtracks around, but this time out they might've outdone themselves. Following suit from last Thursday's drop of the official mixtape featuring: Action Bronson, Tyga, Prodigy, and Kool G Rap, Rockstar has now released three volumes of music via iTunes. Volume 1 includes efforts from: Flying Lotus, Wavves, Tyler the Creator, and others. Volume 2 delivers the game's original score crafted by a collaborative effort of: Tangerine Dream, the Alchemist, Oh No, and composer Woody Jackson, as reconfigured by DJ Shadow. The final third includes an additional helping of in-game tracks ranging from Jai Paul to Bob Seger. Like the game itself the soundtrack's highlights will keep you busy for the foreseeable feature, so start now with the booming Clams Casino cut "Crystals" which can be downloaded here.



 M.I.A. unveils album art

Taking time out from her busy schedules of throwing shade at the NFL, M.I.A. has rolled out the album cover for her forthcoming Matangi release. The Sri-Lankan artist included the above image on her official Tumblr accompanied by two similarly psychedelic photos. Matangi is out November 5 via Interscope, and you can listen to her globetrotting 60s girl pop single "Come Walk with Me" here and if you still haven't seen her video taking aim at the NFL's $1.5 million fine of her (calling the move "a massive display of powerful corporate d**k shaking) that seething video is provided below.

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

What's New(s)?

Matangi gets release date

Apparently a threat was all it took. Matangi already spawned a single in "Bring the Noize" and booming cuts by way of "Only 1 U" and now after threatening Interscope with a leak of her 4th LP (and first since 2010), M.I.A. has now secured a release date of November 5.  This morning on Twitter, M.I.A. (whose real first name is in fact Mathangi) struck Interscope saying: "who would stop MATANGI from coming out? If interscope takes longer i can always leak this next week and make a new one by the time they are ready." Earlier this year, M.I.A. accused her label of not releasing the record due to "too much positivity." Only time will tell if that release date of November 5 will hold steady, so press play a few more times on "Bring the Noize" while you wait.

"Pretty Saro"- Bob Dylan

Dylan's widely panned 1970 double album Self Portrait will soon be up for reassessment, becoming the latest edition to the vault scouring Bootleg Series. The 10th installment will feature unreleased cuts and rarities from the period of 1969-1971, when he recorded not only the contemptuous Self-Portrait, but the revelatory Nashville Skyline and the tender New Morning. In the run-up to the release we now have our first taste of what's in store. "Pretty Saro" is an unreleased cut from a March 1970 session that finds Dylan adapting his countrified croon, strumming a subdued guitar figure and dreaming of the title figure who rests "down in some lone valley". Get your first taste of the release below and look for Another Self Portrait: The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 on shelves August 27.

Phoenix to work with R. Kelly?

 

  

 

Following an unannounced on-stage collaboration at this year's Coachella, Phoenix is hinting at the possibility of logging studio time with Mr. Robert Kelly. In an interview with Radio.com the band all about announced the collabo, responding to a question if there were future plans to record with him: "Yeah, maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe soon you will know. Maybe." The band's guitar Christian Mazzalai also described how the group had no rehearsal with Kelly before the Coachella surprise, so the moment was filled with "beautiful tension." Until that tension materializes further, will always have "Ignition (Remix)" set in the year "1901". 

Check back on Monday for more of the newest in new(s).

Azealia Banks and M.I.A. Hook Up

According to Pitchfork, rapidly-rising Harlem rapper Azealia Banks is working with indie-firebrand M.I.A. Presumably the two are collaborating on tracks for Banks' forthcoming Broke With Expensive Tastes LP which is slated to drop in September. While you wait for the record to be released, enjoy this still great track from Banks that shows what Universal saw in her.

"212" ft. Lazy Jay