The Roundup: A Tribe Called Quest’s New Album, Fleet Foxes Reunion & More

I don’t know about you, but I am 1) obsessed with music news and finding out the ins and outs of what my favorite artists are doing/eating/feeling, but I also 2) get overwhelmed by the mass amount of information floating around the interwebs. Maybe you feel that, too? Luckily, that’s where this comes in! The Roundup will cumulate some of the latest and most exciting music news for you to digest at your own pace. Maybe you’re reading this during your rushed C-Street breakfast, or maybe you’d prefer to read this on the potty—that’s all up to you.

A new A Tribe Called Quest album? Fleet Foxes are reuniting? Dude York just got signed to a label? Say what? Read up, my friends.

A Tribe Called Quest Drops The Political Album We All Needed

18 years, y’all! It’s been 18 years since A Tribe Called Quest released their last album, The Love Movement. Then, just a few days after the election results and amidst the political chaos that ensued, on November 11, 2016, they released what they’re claiming is their last album as a group—We Got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service. This album includes their undeniable sound, rooted in ‘90s hip-hop with tones of jazz and blues. While this album features the hip-hop icons Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi, ATCQ brought out a multitude of talents from the likes of Elton John and Jack White on instrumentals, and Talib Kweli and Kendrick Lamar on vox. While musically, this album is no doubt a topper, it is also so important in that it came at the right time and provides an uncensored, much-needed critique on society. It is a political masterpiece of sorts. According to Billboard, after almost 20 years, ATCQ’s album is heading straight to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. I wouldn’t be surprised.

Their songs touch on issues ranging from gentrification (ahem, Seattle), racism, and other political issues. My favorite song off of this masterpiece, “We The People,” seems to be a clever critique on societal views, and could possibly be a satirical critique on our President-elect’s expressed opinions:

“All you Black folks, you must go
All you Mexicans, you must go
And all you poor folks, you must go
Muslims and gays, boy, we hate your ways
So all you bad folks, you must go”

So damn good. A Tribe Called Quest, thank you for your service. Your album is the album that we didn’t know we needed until now.

Fly Moon Royalty Announces Their Very Last Show

This summer was a particularly great one, with one of the reasons being that I saw local indie-soul duo, Fly Moon Royalty, play at two different festivals. In fact, it feels like just yesterday when my pal, Craig, and I saw Adra and Mike smash the stage at Macefield Music Festival wearing their personally branded aprons. But, to my dismay, on November 7, they announced that they will be taking on the stage together as Fly Moon Royalty for one last time. Read their statement below:

“All things come to an end. At the end of this year Fly Moon Royalty will no longer be playing shows or making new music.

We really appreciate all the love & support these past 6 years. It’s been an amazing ride. We feel very fortunate to have been able to share our music with so many people. I hope that you bump our music for a thousand years.

Thanks for watching, Thanks for listening & Thanks for riding with us.

Adra & Mike

Now….let’s celebrate funky music with one last dance party.”

Thank you, Fly Moon Royalty, for providing endless grooves and sassy tunes to all of us. We’re definitely sad to see you go. You can see Fly Moon Royalty get funky for one last time at Neumos on December 23 with special guest, Paris Alexa.

Fleet Foxes Announce A New Album and Reunion Show

Okay, everyone, listen up. Fleet Foxes is one of my favorite bands of all time. They made two beautiful albums, the last being Helplessness Blues in 2011, and then went on a clear hiatus, with lead man Robin Pecknold going solo and drummer Josh Tillman creating music as Father John Misty. Of course, the end of Fleet Foxes brought a single tear rollin’ from many of our eyes, so once Robin Pecknold hinted of a new album earlier this year, I felt myself waiting on the tips of my toes for a masterful comeback. After not having posted since December of 2015, the Fleet Foxes official Facebook page recently changed its cover photo, which people have assumed to be a clue to their newest album. If that’s not enough for you, a person also commented on that cover photo asking if there would be a new album, to which they replied, “Alllllmost done.”

Then, to add a cherry to the top, Fleet Foxes also just announced their first show together after five long years! They’ll be returning to the stage, this time at the BBK Live Festival in 2017, which is set to take place in Bilbao, Spain. So, who wants to buy tickets to Spain with me?

Seattle’s Dude York Signs with Hardly Art Records

On Tuesday, Hardly Art (Sub Pop’s sister label), announced that they just signed Seattle band Dude York for the release of their upcoming album, Sincerely. Dude York’s album will be the first release for Hardly Art in 2017! Exciting times are ahead.

Announcing our first record of 2017, Sincerely by @DudeYork. Stream their new song “Black Jack” via @thefader: https://t.co/YaeXizXM1m

— Hardly Art (@hardlyart) November 15, 2016

I’ve been a longtime fan of Hardly Art (did you know that they have the softest shirts ever?) so this news was already exciting to me, but it’s also so great to see the local music scene thrive! Dude York’s sound meshes perfectly with that of the rest of the amazing bands of Hardly Art. They recently released their single, “Black Jack,” which is the first teaser to the entire album.

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Dude York will be joining the family of incredible artists including Chastity Belt, Gazebos, La Luz, and Tacocat. With the addition of Dude York, Hardly Art now has 12 incredible artists, all of whom we love here at KXSU. What a team, am I right? Sincerely is set to be released on February 24, 2017, but you can preorder it now.

APRIL JINGCO | How much for tickets to Bilbao? | KXSU Digital Music Director