Music/FilmThere’s not a whole lot I know about A$AP Rocky other than he’s been making waves through the rap music-sphere for the past couple years. And now, he’s going to be a more well-known face after having a Noisey documentary filmed about him (SVDDXNLY). The first part of the film, which features a cameo by Rihanna, is available online, with the rest coming out in weekly increments. Future installments of A$AP’s feature-length film include appearances by Drake, Danny Brown, Kathy Griffin, Snoop Dogg, Macklemore and Jeremy Scott. View the first part below, and check YouTube weekly for the rest of the doc.On the horizon … Bass Drum of Death’s self-titled album was one of my favorites of 2013. Not enough to make my top five, but it was a bashin’, thrashin’ mix of a variety of influences, culminating in a wall of sound that wasn’t easily forgettable. Now the band is set to release a new record (Rip This), which hits the online and physical markets on Oct. 7, and to give folks a snippet as to what the record will sound like, they’ve made album track “Left For Dead” available. If the track is anything to go by, this one’s gonna be a keeper.Now that Sonic Youth has called it quits (thank God, and you can quote me), Thurston Moore has had his hand in other projects, among them Chelsea Light Moving, though that project hasn’t released anything since last year. However, Moore is now gearing up to release a solo LP (The Best Day), which will have contributions from Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley and My Bloody Valentine bassist Debbie Googe. The record will have other guest musicians, including Chelsea Light Moving contemporaries. And before you start marking those calendars, a release date hasn’t been announced. Bummer. I go back and forth with Stevie Nicks. I like her voice, I do. But a part of me always flinches when people declare her one of the greatest female vocalists in music. That’s a bold statement to make. I mean … have you never listened to Aretha Franklin? I digress. Nicks is releasing a compilation of unreleased tracks (24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault), which drops on Oct. 7. And Nicks has released one of the album’s tunes (“The Dealer”), which you can hear below. The Flaming Lips is another band I don’t know much about, though I was a little surprised to see photos of Wayne Coyne hanging out with Miley Cyrus and getting matching tattoos. Not up to me to question the friendship between a singer-songwriter in his fifties and a young pop star 30 years his junior. I could care less. But that’s beside the point. The Lips are gearing up to release With a Little Help From My Fwends, which covers The Beatles’ entire St. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It’ll have contributions from the aforementioned Cyrus, as well as My Morning Jacket, Dr. Dog, MGMT, Tegan and Sara, Moby and many more. That drops on Oct. 28, so you still have some time to save a few “coynes.” See what I did there?Music televisionIf you haven’t yet watched “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” here is some incentive to tune in. Well … at least for a short time. In case you didn’t know, Fred Armisen is Meyers’ bandleader. However, weirdo rock/pop ingenue St. Vincent is going to fill in for Armisen on Monday, Aug. 11, and Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 10:35pm (our time). Not sure if she’s going to play any of her originals, but it would be interesting to see her leading an entire house band on a network television show. Check out the video to her single “Digital Witness,” off her latest release.Is electroLike most people who know about Jimmy Tamborello, I was introduced to him via The Postal Service. However, it wasn’t until years later that a friend played me his solo work as Figurine that I became more acquainted with the artist. Then his album Dumb Luck, under the monicker Dntel, came out. And hearing his track “Roll On,” which featured vocals by Jenny Lewis, changed things. It even prompted me to see him live, which was fairly boring, as he stood on a stage with a computer in front of him, with some light installations on a screen making weird shapes and colors. Not exactly my idea of a concert, but it’ll do. I digress. Now Dntel is coming out with a new record (Human Voice) on Sept. 23, and he’s shared the track “If I Stay a Minute” to give peeps a taste of its oeuvre. You can hear that below.There’s nothing like a record label celebrating a quarter century of its tenure. And there’s nothing better than a record label coming out with a new music compilation to celebrate such an expanse of time. In keeping with the spirit of such triumphs, XL Recordings is releasing a collection of ditties called Pay Close Attention, which “compiles important music from the label’s illustrious discography.” It’ll feature artists such as Radiohead, M.I.A., The White Stripes, The Prodigy, Adele, Devendra Banhart and more. There’s also a Pay Close Attention website where fans can read more about why these records and songs were so monumental when they were released. And you can also preorder your copy of the compilation here.Audio/VisualWhile I’m not an overtly huge fan of electronic music, I’m not completely opposed to it. It just takes me some time. Like dipping your toe in a frozen lake before you plunge through a crack in the ice, ya dig? Austra was first introduced to me after a friend played me an acoustic piano performance of their track “Lose It,” and that’s pretty much all I know of the Canadian group. The band recently came out with their Habitat EP, and they’ve shared a new video for the song “Doepfer,” which is viewable below. If you like LED lights and trippy electronic tunes, this has your name spray-painted all over it.For all the New Pornographers fans out there, it’s time to get excited. Or kind of excited. Band member A.C. Newman has been hard at work on the soundtrack for the film What If (a romantic comedy/drama starring Daniel Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter, and Zoe Kazan). The soundtrack is out and about, meaning you can find it at your local retailers or online. Almost all of the songs were were written and recorded by Newman, though there is an Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros track. Oh, and a Patrick Watson tune. But you get the idea. Head over to Pitchfork to read more ’bout it.
Rooster Roundabout: This Week’s Music Highlights
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