[News] W Magazine Interviews Kanye West

As Yeezus seeps further into the public consciousness, Kanye has begun putting himself out there, revealing intimate details through rare and selective interviews. The first was his interview with The New York Times, where he was open about moments throughout his career, his failings and also his successes. Now, the fashion magazine W has published an interview with Kanye that occurred in Paris just before Yeezus was released.

The interview revealed a Kanye that, as much as he is boastful and self-aggrandizing, understands the importance of inspiration and the effect others can have on oneself. Speaking on Paris, where he recorded Yeezus, he said, "In Paris, you’re as far as possible from the land of pleasant smiles. You can just trip on inspiration—there are so many people here who dedicate their lives to excellence."

For example, the song "I Am A God," a title that flaunts a self-absorbed mind, came about because of a major fashion designer's poor decision to attempt control, effectively dissing Yeezy:

[A] few days before Paris Fashion Week, West was informed that he'd be invited to a widely anticipated runway show only on the condition that he agree not to attend any other shows. "So the next day I went to the studio with Daft Punk, and I wrote 'I Am a God,'" West says. "Cause it’s like, Yo! Nobody can tell me where I can and can’t go. Man, I’m the No. 1 living and breathing rock star. I am Axl Rose; I am Jim Morrison; I am Jimi Hendrix." West is not smiling as he says this, and his voice is getting louder with each sentence. "You can’t say that you love music and then say that Kanye West can’t come to your show! To even think they could tell me where I could and couldn’t go is just ludicrous. It's blasphemous—to rock 'n' roll, and to music.""

He went on to reason why he chose the title "I Am A God": "I made that song because I am a god. I don’t think there’s much more explanation. I'm not going to sit here and defend shit. That shit is rock 'n' roll, man. That shit is rap music. I am a god. Now what?"

Kanye even embraced the shortcomings of his opinionated voice, understanding that his way of expressing that opinion doesn't always work the way he wants it to: "God's little practical joke on me—as an intellect who doesn't like to read a lot—is like, I'll say some superphilosophical shit, but I'll say it the wrong way. I'll use the wrong word, so it goes from being really special to completely retarded."

You can read the entire interview here.

[Watch] Disclosure's Light Up the Screen in the Video for "F For You"

Howard and Guy Lawrence, the brother duo known as Disclosure, have shared their visuals for the track "F For You," one of many highlights from their great debut LP Settle. It's a simple video, focused solely on the two performing the track on stage with a dazzling array of lights dominating the background. It goes to show that a lot of the time, simple really does work best. Check it out below.

[News] Arctic Monkeys Announce New Album, 'AM'

As I predicted on Saturday Morning, Arctic Monkeys have just out of the blue announced their fifth studio album, AM, which will be released on the 9th of September. It features twelve tracks, three of which we've already heard. The new single "Do I Wanna Know?" along with "Mad Sounds" and "R U Mine?" will be joined by another 9, some of which star some interesting sounding guest spots. Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme, former member of The Coral, Bill Ryder-Jones and Elvis Costello's drummer too, Pete Thomas. It's been produced by James Ford, and co-produced by Ross Orton at two Los Angeles studios: Sage & Sound Recordingand Rancho De La Luna, Joshua Tree. 

Mark your calendars and get excited. I'm sure we'll have plenty of previews before then. Also you should be extra pumped this week as the band are set to headline Glastonbury this weekend and it'll be televised on the BBC. Check out the new single and tracklist below.

AM Tracklisting:

1. Do I Wanna Know?
2. R U Mine?
3. One For The Road
4. Arabella
5. I Want It All
6. No. 1 Party Anthem
7. Mad Sounds
8. Fireside
9. Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?
10. Snap Out Of It
11. Knee Socks
12. I Wanna Be Yours

[Watch] Arctic Monkeys Perform Live at Best Kept Secret Festival

Last week we awoke on Saturday to a brand new track from Arctic Monkeys that they'd debuted in Sweden. On Wednesday the band released "Do I Wanna Know?" out of the blue ahead of more festival dates this weekend. So how about on this fine looking Saturday morning you treat yourself to some pro-shot footage of them performing at Best Kept Secret last night in the Netherlands. They even open with the new single straight off the bat. It's 30 minutes of some if their biggest hits via 3Voor12. I'm expecting an album announcement is on the not to distant horizon, but for now it's great to see these boys delivering night after night on the live circuit. Very excited to see their Glastonbury performance next weekend.

[News] Arcade Fire to Release New Music on September 9th

We know Arcade Fire has been working on new material. James Murphy recently told Rolling Stone the band recorded at DFA Records' studio in March. Hell, in an interview last fall band member Jeremy Gara told Canadian radio station CKCU that they hoped to release a new album by the end of 2013. It's been too long since 2010's standout The Suburbs consumed our eardrums.

Revolt reports that sources close to Arcade Fire revealed September 9th as a date to watch out for. Apparently, the band will unveil new music that day, giving credibility to Gara's hopeful release window. It's not a lot to go on (barely anything to be honest), but if it's true we might just get a new Arcade Fire LP by the end of the year. We'll keep updating the story as it develops.

For now, you can watch the band performing a new track titled "Crucified Again," debuted during a show in New York last October.

[Watch] Yeah Yeah Yeahs Bring "Despair" to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Yeah Yeah Yeahs paid Jimmy Fallon a return visit last night, supporting their latest album Mosquito with a performance on Late Night. Karen O, donning a shiny suit and a Michael Jackson t-shirt, led fellow bandmates Nick Zinner and Brian Chase through a subdued rendition of "Despair." Watch it below.

The outfit has also been busy filming a new music video for "Despair" atop the Empire State Building, making them the first band to do so. According to The New York Times, they received permission to film there in April. Funny enough, Anthony E. Malkin, the building's operator, said, "[t]he way I look at it is, why hadn’t this been done before? Credit to them for having the gumption to ask." When asked about the shoot, Karen O was left in a state of awe:

It’s definitely not just another cool day in the life of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It was definitely an iconic moment. It’s hard to do something like that and not to feel like it’s symbolic – it’s like the American dream for us, singing your song on top of the Empire State Building, feeling like: man, where were we 10 years ago, when we were sitting around in some punk rock dive bar, thinking about what to name our band, and New York City, and now here we are at the top. It really felt dreamlike."

The video will premiere next Monday, June 24th, on Noisey.

[Night Out] Big Black Delta @ Mercury Lounge 6/19/2013

image credit: @markb

Despite being well aware of this upcoming tour, somehow Big Black Delta's show at Mecury Lounge on Wednesday night completely caught me off guard in the best possible way. I wasn't ready to leave work and go directly to a show, I wasn't ready for the further-fleshed out lineup that lead singer Jonathan Bates was rocking, and I certainly wasn't ready for my heart to be won over by a couple of overly-enthusiastic BBD fans. The last time I had the pleasure of experiencing that which is Big Black Delta, they were a three-piece consisting of two drummers, which left Bates with singing, programming, and lighting duties. This time around there were a few addiitons to accompany the more complex sound featured on their recent self-titled "official" debut release, namely some guitars and a badass bassist. 

Within the first couple of songs I happened to notice that someone near me clearly had not utilized all of the BO-supressing products that our fine society has to offer. In general, I find that to be pretty rude to subject other people to unpleasant smells, and this was no exception to that rule, at least at the beginning. Upon further examination, I discovered that the gentleman next to me, who slightly resembeled Zach Galifianakis, was the culprit of the foul odor I couldn't seem to escape up in the front. As I attempted to shoot him and his boyfriend a nasty glance, I realized that my fellow show-goer was in a current state of pure joy, dancing around and singing along as much as he possibly could with his boyfriend dancing at about 50% of his intensity. I've hit many a super jaded patch with regards to music, but the sight of this guy just letting loose for the remainder of the set took me back to a time where I wasn't being bombared with a ton of emails full of bands of the millisecond. Little by little his stench was the furthest thing from my mind. It clearly was refreshing for that level of excitement at a NYC for Bates because he couldn't help but point out how awesome the couple were while sporting a huge grin on his face. I feel like moments like that shouldn't have to be the exception in NYC. It would be nice if we all could ignore even the smelliest of distractions and just be able to let ourselves go, one set at a time.  

I can't detail this experience without noting how worthy Big Black Delta was of the excited spazzing from the attendees I featured above. The band's performance was spot on. Even with the music being of an electronic nature, Bates and his band were really able to keep the sound from feeling overly digital and cold. My only complaint was that it was the early show that evening so they had to keep it short. 

If you missed out on Big Black Delta on Wednesday, the band is playing at Glasslands tomorrow night (Saturday) with Joywave and Klaus. For more information on the show, head over to Glassland's website. 

[Watch] Japandroids Tear Up the Ed Sullivan Theater, Performing "Adrenaline Nightshift" on Letterman

Rowdy Vancouver rock duo Japandroids gave the Late Show with David Letterman a shot of adrenaline, performing their Celebration Rock track "Adrenaline Nightshift." The Ed Sullivan Theater echoed with the sounds of rock and roll. Paul Shaffer even cracked a joke about the band being Japanese (haha). Check out their performance below.