Aesop Rock Talks New Record, Darnielle, Storytelling
"I hung out in parking lots. For like, years and years and years."

Photo by Chrissy Piper

Musically, Aesop Rock's last four years have included shows, an EP, a book, and one of those Nike exercise mixes. What they haven't included is a full-length album. But the MC will fill the LP-shaped void in his recent past with the release of his fourth album, None Shall Pass, via Def Jux on August 28. He spoke to Pitchfork about the album earlier this week, and during the course of the conversation, he revealed insights about the writing and recording processes, his (and Def Jux's) history, and his friendship with Mountain Goats songwriter John Darnielle, who provided a seemingly unlikely guest appearance on None Shall Pass.

Pitchfork: What's the idea behind the album's title?

Aesop Rock: Well, I turned 30 this year, and I did a bunch of shit there that was more adult-y than things that I've ever done before, so it settled into my head that once you hit an age-- I guess I'll throw 30 out there, around then-- is sort of a time when you become ultimately responsible for your actions. And I guess None Shall Pass is saying nobody is going to get past this mid-point in their life without being looked at or judged in a certain way by their peers and their contemporaries.

Pitchfork: How did the John Darnielle collaboration on the record come about?

AR: I think it was like 1994. My older brother was in college, and I went to college and he was like, "Hey check this band, the Mountain Goats, out," and I heard a bunch of Mountain Goats stuff starting in '94. I was kind of an über-fan for many years, and sometime after Bazooka Tooth came out, I was randomly reading a Mountain Goats interview and he had put Bazooka Tooth on an end-of-year list. And I was just floored, because I was a super-fan, and I was like, "Holy shit! He's a fan!" And I had seen him do shows for years and years and years, and then finally I was at a Mountain Goats show in New York, and I was like, "Should I be that fucking asshole who's just like, 'Hey, I'm fuckin' Aesop'?" But I did, and I was like, "Hey man, I think you know my stuff," and then he was like "Shit yeah," or whatever, so we got to know each other. That was at some show in New York three or four years ago, I guess 2003 that was, and we've been pretty good friends since.

That guy is one of the better lyricists of our generation. One time we were in Brooklyn when he performed, and after the show we were going to do something, so he actually recorded some other stuff at my house that's not getting used. [Because] I don't know how to figure out how to collab with someone who's not rapping [laughs], he just recorded a straight-up acoustic song at the house. And I was like, "Well, it's a good song, maybe I'll fuck with it and tweak it and turn it into a beat and rhyme on it," but it never ended up panning out. So eventually I was recording songs for the album, and I just sent him an mp3 of a demo, and I was like, "Hey can you sing anything on this? Would this be up your alley?" And he did a pretty damn good job.

Pitchfork: So the song that ended up on the album is essentially a rap song, and he gave it the equivalent of an r&b singer treatment?

AR: Well, he doesn't do the hook [laughs]. He's got a verse. It's not like a rap verse or anything, but he sings a verse on the song.

Pitchfork: Was it weird to be a fan of his for so long and then to meet him and become friends?

AR: Yeah, it's completely weird. This is a guy who, out of everybody in the world, was on my real top list of people that just flat-out impressed me, and so, yeah, when I found out that he liked my stuff I was going crazy. It was definitely a bit of a dream come true. And then when he actually did the singing and recorded and I got to hear it, it was better than I had hoped. I think it came out sick, I can't even lie. I kept rewinding his verse for a long time.

Pitchfork: When you guys first met, was he in awe of you at all, or did he play it cool?

AR: Oh we probably had a bit of a mutual fan-out, but he's been putting out music since way before I was putting out music, and I feel like I'm probably a bigger fan of him than he is of me [laughs]. But that being said, he definitely knows my stuff, and he likes it. At this point, it's turned into a friendship, but one of those friendships where he'll sing on a song, and I'll be reminded, "Oh yeah, you're this guy, and you're really talented on top of everything." There are probably more collaborations to come, too. We've just got to figure out a way not to make it too Judgment Night-y. That was our biggest worry. [MORE...]

Meat Puppets' Kirkwoods Reunite and Rise, Tour

They've been Up on the Sun and Too High to Die, II, but they'll be damned before they'd call the trip done just yet. Both Curt and Cris Kirkwood will appear on Rise to Your Knees, the newest album from the twisty-wristed punks of the Meat Puppets, due out July 17 on Anodyne. It's the brothers' first on-record pairing since 1995's No Joke! and the first Puppets studio album period since 2000.

And what would a reunion record be without an accompanying tour? Diddly, that's what. The Puppeteers have a few west coast dates slated for May, with an "extensive U.S. tour" promised later in the year. [MORE...]

Alog Drop Chops for Amateur

Espen Sommer Eide and Dag-Are Haugan of Norwegian electronic duo Alog have been fooling around. They've recorded themselves playing various instruments to which they are not accustomed. The result is anything but amateurish, but it is Amateur, a collection of these recordings releasing in North America on double LP and CD May 15 on Rune Grammofon.

Rune Grammofon are having themselves a busy late spring, with MoHa!'s Norwegianism and Ultralyd's Conditions for a Piece of Music both due out this month. And Supersilent are at work on a new disc, tentatively scheduled for late summer or fall according to the label's website.

Alog's got an awfully leisurely schedule in comparison, with a single September date scheduled in Spain. [MORE...]

Drag City Launches World Music Label Yaala Yaala

Chicago indie Drag City has always favored music a little out of step with the indie rock norm (check the booklet of Ys for testament to that), but their latest venture takes them quite a few paces off the beaten path.

May 22 will see the proper launch of Yaala Yaala Records, the new world music imprint under the Drag City umbrella that will release three albums of music from lesser-known West African artists May 22. Albums by Wasulu duo Pekos & Yoro Diallo, Malian griot Daouda Dembele, and a collection recorded at house parties in the Malian locales of Bougouni and Bamako will all hit stores with a Yaala Yaala sticker.

The Hives Tour, Record, Collaborate With Raconteurs

Swedish sharp dressers the Hives are dropping hints about the sound of their forthcoming album on both their MySpace blog and the "Personals" section of their official website (i.e. their journals, not yet a date-finding tool).

Guitarist Nicolaus Arson says, "We just have too much good stuff to put on this new record of ours. How we are gonna pull it off, all these bitchin' rock 'n rollers together with the crazy dance and hip hop flavoured stuff we have recorded and make that work on one record? I don't know, but if someone is gonna do it, it is your favourite crimefighters, the Hives. We also, by the way, today mish-mashed Chuck Berry and Gang of Four in a moronic way to create yet another dear freak of a song." It sounds like that Timbaland collaboration might have gone to their heads.

Drummer Chris Dangerous adds to the MySpace blog that they have recorded the album, the follow-up to 2004's Tyrannosaurus Hives, in London, Miami, and Oxford, Mississippi.

Though it will not appear on the Hives' album, vocalist Howlin' Pelle Almqvist adds that he recently breakfasted with Jack White and collaborated with the Raconteurs on a song called "Footsteps" for their new album.

The Hives also shot a video with Timbaland recently for "Throw It on Me", their aforementioned guest appearance on the producer's solo album, Shock Value.

The band will continue their globetrotting ways on tour at various European festivals this summer. The rocking begins June 1 at the Rock am Ring Festival in Germany.

In related news, this is pretty fucking scary. [MORE...]

Trembling Blue Stars Return With The Last Holy Writer

Although he's sworn off the whole playing live thing, Bobby Wratten hasn't forgotten the kids who'd prefer to pine away their hours in dimly lit bedrooms, watching the raindrops roll down their windowpanes, lost in wistful reverie-- all while indulging in the Sarah Records catalogue.

Hence, Wratten's present, post-Sarah outfit Trembling Blue Stars returns May 14 with the UK release of The Last Holy Writer, on Spain's Elefant Records. Produced by longtime Wratten associate Ian Catt and available on CD and 2x10", Writer also hits the U.S. on June 4 via Darla, and France and Germany on June 7.

The disc follows up 2004's The Seven Autumn Flowers and features 12 tracks of what Wratten and company do best, including quite a few with lead vocals by Beth Arzy (formerly of Aberdeen). Fans may rest assured, as Wratten's fixation with nautical metaphors is very much intact on this record.

Field Mouse/Northern Picture Librarian Wratten (who also plays in the Occasional Keepers, his collaboration with members of the Wake) has promised another Trembling Blue Stars release, the Exploring the Shadows EP, for later this year. TBS will also appear on the forthcoming Love Goes On tribute to the Go-Betweens' Grant McLennan, due September 25 from Rare Victory. [MORE...]

Lewis & Clarke Deliver Blasts With Man Man, Rachel's

There's a kind of hush all over the world tonight; must be pastoral folkies Lewis & Clarke, whose Blasts of Holy Birth will gently lull its way into release May 15 from La Société Expéditionnaire. Blasts features eight tracks of delicate beauty, boosted by guest spots from Man Man's Russell Higbee and Eve Miller of Rachel's and Matt Pond PA.

Those looking for a Lewis and Clarke expedition will have to expand westward on their own time; the band's got a single New York City date slated for mid-June, although the La Soc website promises more to come. [MORE...]

Betty Davis Being Reissued, Kicking Ass

Betty Davis's growling, gale-force grooves are the stuff of legend, and the former Mrs. Miles Davis-- not to mention early Commodores songwriter and Ebony model-- is responsible for some of the deepest funk ever committed to tape. Two proper documents of Davis' badassery have been given life anew from Light in the Attic Records, who will reissue Betty's self-titled debut and its follow up, They Say I'm Different, May 15.

Betty Davis was produced by Family Stone drummer Greg Errico, while They Say I'm Different was a self-made effort on both sides of the board. Both reissues feature previously-unheard bonus tracks and liner notes by soul scholar Oliver Wang. The reissues mark the first time Davis will receive royalties for the sales of her music on CD. [MORE...]

Madlib Putting Out a Gazillion New Records, As Usual
In the works: Yesterdays New Quintet Offshoots, another Beat Konducta, Erykah Badu and Talib Kweli collaborations

Considering the amount of material the man has released-- not to mention the fact that he probably has months of music that has yet to see the light of day-- my theory about Madlib is that he is actually a bubble-man of sorts, rolling around all day in a human-sized, music studio version of a hamster ball.

As usual, the latest recorded emissions from the Madlib hamster ball are plentiful. Though the deluxe re-release of his J Dilla collaboration Jaylib's Champion Sound has been pushed from its previously reported date of May 8, it is still coming out. Stones Throw will now reissue the album on June 12, with an advance release to iTunes on May 22.

The producer has also gone almost completely down the rabbit hole to put Yesterdays New Quintet-- the jazz/funk/soul/hip hop fusion "band" consisting entirely of his own alter egos-- on something of a hiatus. How is it possible to put an imaginary group on hiatus, other than just forgetting about it, you ask? For Madlib, it's pretty simple: create new imaginary groups and focus on their full-lengths. He is currently prepping full-lengths by YNQ offshoots/side projects/diversions Kamala Walker, the Last Electro-Acoustic Space Jazz & Percussion Ensemble, and the Jahari Massamba Unit for summer and fall releases.

Despite Madlib's work on these new projects, there are two new YNQ releases planned for the summer.

The first is the "Jewelz" 12"/EP, credited to the Otis Jackson Jr. Trio. Jackson "was" a "member" of Yesterdays New Quintet who shares Madlib's given name.

The second YNQ-related release is titled Yesterdays Universe, which, according to a press release, "will feature the next phase in the YNQ universe: 10 new groups produced by Madlib, all of whom will have records released in the next 12 months."

So it's a compilation composed entirely of contributions from new Madlib alter egos. Actually, that's not entirely true. In addition to tracks by the three aforementioned YNQ new groups (and others), real people Karriem Riggins and Ivan Conti (aka Mamão of Azymuth) play drums on the record. It turns out Riggins is even a de facto member of the Jahari Massamba Unit, since he drums on all of "their" tracks.

Stones Throw will release the "Jewelz" 12"/EP in mid-June and Yesterdays Universe on July 17. The label will also release the third volume of Madlib's Beat Konducta series, Beat Konducta Vol. 3: Beat Konducta in India, in the first half of July.

And of course, there's more. In addition to working with Riggins on a forthcoming full-length from their new Supreme Team project, Madlib has also been busy collaborating with the likes of Talib Kweli, Erykah Badu, and Percee P.

He contributed production to Kweli's forthcoming Ear Drum (July 24, Blacksmith/Warner Bros.), and he is producing the entirety of Percee's Perseverance (August 14, Stones Throw). His work with Badu has been a little more untethered. They have collaborated on seven songs together so far, and they could all potentially appear on Badu's new album, though there is no official word on what that record will look like. You can, however, download one of tracks they did together, "Real Thing", at the link below.

Madlib has a single U.S. DJ date scheduled for May 18 at Chicago's Sonotheque with Riggins and Stones Throw colleagues J. Rocc and Egon, and on June 2 he will appear at the Taico Club Festival at Suge Kiso Village Festival Grounds in Nagano, Japan. Rhythm & Sound, Sleeparchive, Rub-N-Tug, Daedelus, and more will also perform at that festival. [MORE...]

Exclusive: Shout Out Louds Proclaim, "EP! Tour!"
EP features Essex Green guest spot, remixes by Kleerup, Russian Futurists

The vociferous Swedes of Shout Out Louds are wasting no time consummating their recent marriage with Merge. Knowing well that four whole months is a hopelessly long time for U.S. citizens to wait for the fivesome's forthcoming full-length, Our Ill Wills (out September 11 Stateside), they've announced a special EP to escort us through the summer months.

The Tonight I Have to Leave It EP arrives June 5 via Merge, including the title track (taken from Wills), a tune featuring fellow Merge indie-poppers the Essex Green, and a pair of "Tonight" remixes by the Russian Futurists and Kleerup (responsible for last year's wonderful Robyn jam "With Every Heartbeat"), plus one more jingle.

Shout Out Louds howl and gaff at four U.S. gigs this July, with a full-on tour of the red, white, and blue to follow in October. At present they're cavorting about Europe, where Wills has already dropped (in Sweden) or will soon drop (in Denmark May 21; in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland May 25). [MORE...]

Mirah Reveals New Album, Tour

Bug out, if you please; K Records songstress Mirah, along with Spectratone International-- who sometimes moonlight as Lori Goldston and Kyle Hanson of Black Cat Orchestra— will release Share This Place: Stories and Observations on August 7.

The album, which explores such tried-and-true lyrical themes as the lives of insects, was inspired by French entomologist Jean Henri Fabre. The record was produced by Steve Fisk (Nirvana, Low, Beat Happening) and frequent Mirah collaborator Phil Elvrum of Mount Eerie.

And Share This Place isn't just an album. It's a multi-media experience! The music is meant to accompany a series of twelve animated short films by Britta Johnson. The film Credo Cigalia is included on the Share This Place CD.

Mirah will also saddle up her pony right on a few dates, including a string of mid-May appearances at Seattle's International Children's Festival. [MORE...]

Lady Sov's Tour Tomfoolery Revealed in Video Diary

Ever wonder what goes down before the masses make way for the S-O-V? Yearn to learn how Lady Sovereign keeps busy while tourmate Gwen Stefani winds 'em up and Akon, er, dances with some young people?

Well you asked for it, and thanks to the world wide web, you're going to get it. Since her tour with Stefani and Akon kicked off in Cali late last month, Lady Sov has been posting little video tour diary nuggets on her website and MySpace-- one minute-or-so long clip per tour stop.

Marvel as Sov vacuums in Vegas, goes into cold storage in Albuquerque, races her scooter around Dallas and Denver, mucks up the green room in Houston, and plays Hacky Sack with edibles in Salt Lake City. I mean, no wonder this gal got all exhausted and whatnot.

Folks who sojourn to Sovereign's website have to sign up for some V.I.P. privilege to view the vids, but those who troll to her MySpace can watch them unabated. Sov's mammoth trek with lonely goatherd and hump-happy hook-man, meanwhile, continues tonight in the ATL. [MORE...]

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)