THE UNCLUDED - “DELICATE CYCLE”

You should be excited about The Uncluded. Why? Because the duo is composed of indie hip hop maestro Aesop Rock and notable indie rock iconoclast Kimya Dawson of Moldy Peaches, Juno soundtrack and all of her awesome solo albums fame. The group released a couple tracks during Record Store Day last year and now have their debut album Hokey Fright coming out May 7 on Rhymesayers. Catching Kimya sing and Aesop flow over acoustic guitar is a hard to describe aural treat that we’re looking forward to more of.

via mtvu

BROTHER ALI - “WORK EVERYDAY”

Earlier this week, OccupyHomesMN.org premiered Brother Ali’s new video for “Work Everyday.” Watch the new video above, featuring Tom Morello, Jackson Browne, BK-One, Slug, P.O.S., I Self Devine, and members of the community.

THE UNCLUDED - “SCISSORHANDS”

Aesop Rock and Kimya Dawson will be releasing their debut collaborative LP, Hokey Fright, on May 7 via Rhymesayers. Aesop’s delivery meshes surprisingly well with acoustic guitar.

02.09.13

On Saturday night, indie rap heads traversed the post-blizzard snow drifts surrounding Union Square and packed Irving Plaza from merch booth to balcony for Aesop Rock’s second NYC gig in the past six months.

Juggaknots, a New York hip hop crew in existence since the mid-90′s, were a surprise late addition to the lineup. Emcees Breeze Brewin and Buddy Slim split the crowd down the middle for some 90s’ style call-and-response interspersed with old tracks from the Clear Blue Skies days and newer material such as the unreleased “Road Rage.” Breeze Brewin ran through his verse from Company Flow’s “The Fire in Which You Burn” and rapped about Molly Shannon’s Superstar (yes, an ecstasy reference) before Juggaknots’ 30-minute set was up.

Los Angeles underground hero Busdriver kicked off his set, oddly enough, with “NoBlacksNoJewsNoAsians” from last year’s Beaus$Eros record. While he is a rapper prone to abstraction and obscure references that can generally be deciphered after a couple listens, “NoBlacksNoJewsNoAsians” is a song I could listen to for the rest of my life and still have no clue what the hell it’s about. Right off the bat, you could see Busdriver was happy to be in New York. He appeared far more animated than he was at his marginally attended summer performance at Santos Party House, while diving into songs from his Anti- releases Roadkill Overcoat and Jhelli Beam. “The Troglodyte Wins” poured from the speakers as a paint-like psychedelic backdrop danced across the projection screen.

“I’m so ill that I’m more than often ill-received,” Busdriver spit on the glitchy, punchline-heavy “Fire Hydrant.”

If his tongue wasn’t so firmly in his cheek, you might mistake some of his one-liners as misogynistic. Though his Flash Bang Grenada track “Moisturizer” does encourage one to rub lotion on their buttcheeks, it’s all metaphors and giggles at the end of the day.

Busdriver’s experimental post-rap catalogue continues to evolve and get weirder, with love-it-or-leave-it results. Downtempo tracks like “Take This Step with Me and Never Come Back,” from Arguments with Dreams, pay dividends on the risks being taken, and “Werner Herzog” is downright hilarious. The acoustic guitar of “Unemployed Black Astronaut” and “Split Seconds” highlighted a diverse, high-octane performance from Busdriver. His blistering, machine gun cadence on “Me Time” wowed the audience before he closed his set with the flute bounce of “Imaginary Places.”

One of the dopest album intros in recent memory, the misanthropic “Leisureforce,” announced the arrival of Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz. A lively crowd obliged the SF emcee’s request for crow SFX at the end of “Crows 2” and one brave individual submitted his dome to Busdriver’s electric clippers during “Racing Stripes,” now a staple at Aesop gigs. Speaking of bad haircuts, Aesop came through New York sporting an unapologetic art school mullet, which he noted his mother has given him grief for. He traded bars with Rob Sonic on “Dokken Rules,” a Skelethon b-side set to lo-fi funk with rap’s first (and hopefully last) Guy Fieri reference. “Nickel Plated Pockets” and “None Shall Pass” were welcome additions, as attested to by pretty drunk girls rapping along while sitting on dudes’ shoulders like Spring Break ‘97.

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ATMOSPHERE - “MILLENIUM DODO 1 & 2”

Atmosphere’s Welcome To Minnesota Tour is now sold out in Minneapolis (in one hour!), St. Cloud & Duluth! To celebrate, Atmosphere has decided to release a double feature video for “Millennium Dodo 1 & 2” from their most recent album The Family Sign. Video directed by Jake Handegard.

This March, Rhymesayers and Atmosphere bring you the Third Annual “Welcome To Minnesota Tour”, with performances from Atmosphere, Brother Ali, Get Cryphy, Carnageand Haphduzn. The tour begins Friday, March 1st in Bemidji, MN and makes subsequent stops in Duluth, St. Cloud, Mankato, and Minneapolis.

In support of the tour the billed artists recorded an exclusive song, “It Ain’t The Prettiest”. Check it out below.



TOUR DATES:
3.1 - Bemidji, MN - Sanford Center Ballroom
3.2 - Duluth, MN - Clyde Iron Works 
3.3 - St. Cloud, MN – Red Carpet
3.4 - Mankato, MN - Verizon Wireless Center
3.5 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue

Aesop Rock has shared a new video, this time for the Zavala remix of Skelethon track ”Cycles to Gehenna”. The clip features a ballerina dancing in the shadows.

Below the video, check out Aesop Rock’s upcoming tour dates. 

Aesop Rock:

01-19 Oakland, CA - The Parish
01-21 Ashland, OR - Ashland Armory
01-22 Bend, OR - Domino Room 
01-24 Portland, OR - Roseland 
01-25 Seattle, WA - Neumos  
01-26 Vancouver, British Columbia - The Venue
01-28 Missoula, MT - Palace 
01-30 Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot

via pitchfork

Nardwuar vs. Brother Ali

P.O.S. - Get Down (f/ Mike Mictlan)

Check out the premiere of P.O.S.’s brand new video “Get Down” featuring fellow Doomtree member Mike Mictlan. Today also marks the release of P.O.S.’s fourth album We Don’t Even Live Here.

For over a decade, Minnesota’s Brother Ali has been bringing together disparate indie rap audiences with his messages of compassion and love. I recall a show back in 2004 at the now extinct The Scene in San Diego when Ali was opening for Atmosphere and debuted the song “Rain Water” off of his then forthcoming Champion EP. The track chronicled Ali’s grandfather leaving the world by his own hands and his mother’s death from cancer, both of which occurred in the same year, and the need to press on despite the tragedies that inevitably present themselves in this life. Gazing around the warehouse-like venue, tears were flooding down dozens of cheeks by the song’s close.

This knack for capturing a crowd’s emotions and making each individual fully present in the moment is part of the reason Brother Ali is still selling out venues like the Bowery Ballroom in 2012. Following a charismatic opening set from Queens native Homeboy Sandman, Ali opened the night with “Stop The Press”, the first single from his just released Mourning In America And Dreaming In Color. The song, a journal entry on the past three or so years of the rapper’s life, mirrors the dismal history of “Rain Water” in its reference to Ali’s father’s suicide and the untimely passing of brilliant Minnesota lyricist Eyedea, with whom Ali was close friends. Ali’s salvation from sorrow came in the form of a trip to Mecca, where he connected with others of his faith, got a foothold on peace of mind, and returned to the States with a renewed purpose in the vocal booth.

These brief glimpses into the abyss via the aforementioned tracks are far from emblematic of the artist’s canon. They show that his larger message of unity and positivity is not some vague and corny mantra, but a tangible choice in worldview in the wake of events that may lead others towards fierce degrees of hopelessness. His encore of “Letter To My Countrymen”, which features a Cornel West speech on the album version, embodied this succinctly.

“All of this struggling gotta amount to something,” Ali relayed over the track’s soothing keys.

The white-bearded emcee’s gradual progression from personal to political realms has neared its peak on the new record, which was produced entirely by Seattle beatsmith Jake One. Art imitates life for Ali, who was arrested over the summer during a rally in solidarity with the Occupy Homes movement. The commanding drums of “Mourning In America” found him tackling the prison industrial complex and examining warfare as “terrorism of the rich”. It’s difficult to broach such topics without coming across as preachy or sacrificing nuance; few do these days, other than Ali, Sole, B. Dolan and Sage Francis. Immortal Technique, another heavily political rapper who caught on with college crowds around the same time as Ali, made a surprise appearance and spit a few bars acapella.

Blank Tape Beloved supplied the energetic backdrop re-imagining a decade’s worth of Ant beats for Ali to tear to shreds with his distinct and powerful flow. The quintet incorporated guitar, keyboard, banjo, trombone, French horn, and saxophone over the course of a lengthy set. A few hundred fans singing along to the self-affirming “Forest Whitaker” refrain of “You ain’t gotta love me” brought the evening full circle and showed just how long many of the faces in the audience had been following Brother Ali’s career. Songs such as “Dorian” from 2003’s Shadows On The Sun and “Fresh Air” off of his penultimate release Us were met with equal fervor by the downtown Manhattan capacity crowd.

08.03.12

If you looked closely amongst the crooked caps, you could discern a fair amount of single women who ventured out on a Friday night to witness the lyrical dynamism of Aesop Rock. Growing up in an era where the only girls in the audience at a non-Atmosphere indie rap show had likely been dragged there by their significant others, it was refreshing to see more gender diversity gazing down from the balcony of the sold-out Irving Plaza.

Fake Four Inc. was in the building by way of Pacific Northwest emcee Onry Ozzborn and Zavala, the duo better known as Dark Time Sunshine. Last month saw the release of their sophomore album ANX, which exceeded the lofty expectations set up by the critical success of their psych-rap opus Vessel. Chicago beatsmith Zavala is on such another plane with production these days that Onry could step into a vocal booth, mumble something incoherently about Pop Tarts, and DTS would still have a banger on their hands. Thankfully Onry is a first-rate spitter, weaving styles and witty one-liners into a rich potpourri of sound. He began the group’s opening set with “Overlordian” which melted neatly into the bubbly and inviting “Now They Know.” Zavala’s next level synths and heavy drums rang out on “Valiant,” a Child Actor-assisted winner from the new record. Dim red lights shone over the pair as “Shewolf,” from theBelieveyoume EP that preceded both full-lengths, engulfed the speakers before transitioning into “Never Cry Wolf” off of ANX.

Hats off to the soundman for containing the uber drums on tracks like “Look At What The Cat Did,” spilling out while Zavala got busy behind the boards with a lo-fi projection of the album artwork looming over his shoulders. Frontman Onry is a reluctant star of sorts, with one hand in his pocket and the other directing a sea of waving patron hands like a conductor, perhaps unaware of just how bright his vocal cords are shining of late. Sporting an LMNO shirt, Jordans, and a red beanie ideally suited for New York in August, the emcee moved around minimally on stage and let his music do the talking. Under Zavala’s wardrobe, it howled.

A beat intermission followed DTS courtesy of San Francisco-based Edison with his 256 button, non-looping handiwork displayed on the projection screen along with some trippy, irreverent visuals. At one point, Edison let an audience member name an untitled song, and the unfortunate youngster went with “Fucking Awesome,” which drew a sturdy (and warranted) round of boos. Not everyone has the knack for song-naming, particularly difficult in the realm of instrumental music, that Edison does. Circular green light patterns book-ended the DJ as he flipped a simple guitar sample into something pulsing and immediate on “The Poetry Of Public Transportation.”

The head-nodding rhythms of “We Don’t Make Anything Here Anymore” entered the fray as medicinal contrails rose toward the ceiling. DJ Big Wiz supplied cuts for Edison’s finale and nominee for song title of the decade, “Talking About Art Is Like Puking About Food.” Edison’s set, which married RJD2’s melodic penchant with the spastic compulsions of Egadz, cleansed the palate for a Long Island-born lyricist who had all five boroughs converging on the Union Square venue.

Since the release of his last record, None Shall Pass, Aesop Rock moved from NYC to San Francisco and underwent a string of tragedies well-documented on his new album Skelethon. “Postcards from the pink bath paint leisure / As a cloaked horse through a stained-glass Saint Peter / Hack faith healer, cheat death to the very end / Cherry wooden nickels on his specs for the ferryman,” Aesop relayed to open the evening under themes of isolation and Greek mythology-draped mortality confrontation. These intricately-penned, pained diagrams from “Leisureforce” were juxtaposed with footage of a cat roaming and playing through grassy fields. Animals continued to figure into the set as a driving synth and Murs sample ushered in the graveyard party of “Crows 2.” The aforementioned cat was then laid to rest on “Homemade Mummy,” with Hail Mary Mallon partner-in-abstraction Rob Sonic assisting Aesop and hundreds of fans on the “Take the brain out! Leave the heart in!” refrain. Spectacular levels of crowd participation resumed on latest singles “Zero Dark Thirty” and “ZZZ Top,” with Aesop bathed in oscillating purple and green lights.

The headliner played for about an hour and a half and drew a frenzied hometown crowd to a boiling point in the way Bruce Springsteen does when he plays a show in Jersey. Though fans clearly favored solo material over Hail Mary Mallon cuts, they remained enthusiastic for the cinematic backdrop of “Smock” and back-and-forth wordplay of “Grubstake.”

Crowd participation took on new meaning when the Dark Time Sunshine barber shop emerged center stage. “Racing Stripes,” Aesop’s ode to the late great Camu Tao, tells a story of how Camu fueled his productivity by giving himself purposely awful haircuts which inspired him to stay inside and make music. For each show on the Skelethon Tour, a fan was selected to hit the stage and submit his scalp to the whims of Zavala and Onry while Aesop dove into “Racing Stripes.” At Irving Plaza, Zavala turned young Graham Wood’s hair into something resembling the San Diego Padres friar mascot, before Onry put on some truly terrible finishing touches.

Each song of Aesop’s set was paired fittingly with images on the big screen, such as the Evel Knievel archival footage flashing across while the rapper tore through “Cycles To Gehenna.” The piano breakdown on the Hunter S. Thompson-channeling track allowed Aesop’s spine-tingling lyricism to ride unencumbered. “It was less of an act of hubris / More a lonely hearts club at the helm of a magic bullet,” Aesop spoke to a packed and attentive house. Aesop powered through more Skelethon material, such as the brilliantly-dark “Gopher Guts,” before wrapping up the night with a few classics. The double-time chorus of “Big Bang,” amazingly 12 years old at this juncture, was a treat for die-hard, catalogue-celebrating fans. “Nightlight” flowed from there until the beat flipped midway through to “Daylight,” which closed Aesop’s void-jousting set with a life-affirming sing-along. Wiz clipped the beat at the tail end while Aesop provided the beatbox for legions of followers. “All I ever wanted was to pick apart the day / Put the pieces back together my way,” they belted out in unison, their voices reverberating down congested Irving Place.

(Late review. IT issues with DailySpots relaunch. Blah blah blah.)

Toki Wright - High Definition

“High Definition” is the latest single from Rhymesayers emcee Toki Wright’s FADERS mixtape, which dropped earlier this year.

Brother Ali - Only Life I Know

Brother Ali’s new album Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color drops 9/18 and he is kicking it on the serious tip on this one. From the man’s website:

“This is not just a new album, but a new chapter. There’s a kind of democratic reawakening in people at this point in time. I was really looking to take these topics and really hit them hard.”

This new video for “Only Life I Know” fits the mold perfectly.

via mtvu