Anticon
Encyclopedia
Anticon is an Oakland based independent record label
founded in 1997. It is collectively owned among six (of an original seven) founding artists and one manager. The musicians signed to Anticon are referred to as the Anticon Collective.
The label's roster of artists has been described as "the hip-hop equivalent of post-rock
," and "avant-garde
hip-hop", also called "trip-hop." Releases feature material created by its members, affiliates, and extended musical family. Although Anticon cohered originally within alternative hip hop
circles, Anticon's founders have become only tangentially related to hip-hop music, and the label has in recent years begun releasing music in the indie rock
and electronica
genres. Artists signed to Anticon are based on the west coast, the east coast, the midwest, and Canada
, and the label has recently signed artists in the UK
.
The artists within the collective have been known to perform and release music in solo and group form. Artists on the label are known for frequent collaboration
, both within and outside of their own collective. However, the Anticon collective has over time evolved into a group of separate artists who, despite sharing a similar progressive and often challenging indie
quality,
explore different styles of music including electronica
and rock. Many of the artists on Anticon are signed to multiple labels, and some have their own small, independent labels through which they have self-released material.
Anticon has also organized art exhibitions featuring visual art by several of the artists on the label.
On February 9, 2010, founder and fellow rapper Tim "Sole" Holland
left Anticon exclaiming that it is time to try and push forward and find new opportunities. Holland does leave assurance that this is a progressive decision and has nothing to do with his love for Anticon. "There are no ill feelings between myself and members of anticon. I will continue to work with many of the artists and will always love them as brothers and consider them allies." http://www.soleone.org/main/?p=227
(Co-founder and former manager Sole
(Tim Holland) officially renounced his 1/8 of ownership and formal affiliations on February 9, 2010.)
Anticon's current roster of active artists and groups include:
Artists that have contributed in the past but are no longer active on the label are Buck 65
, Sixtoo
, Sage Francis
, Slug
(of Atmosphere
) and Sole and the Skyrider Band
.
, Slug
and Ant (members of Minneapolis-based Atmosphere), Darc Mind, Mr Dibbs, DJ Signify
, Eyedea
, DJ Abilities
, J. Rawls
, Moodswing9, Circus, Controller7, Boom Bip
, JD Walker, Josh Martinez
, Sixtoo
, Matth, Fog
(Andrew Broder), Hood
, Hrvatski
, Electric Birds, John Herndon (Grapedope/Tortoise
), Stefanie Bohm (Ms. John Soda
), Jessica Bailiff
, Rusty Trombone
, Tarsier, Mike Patton
, Beyond Space Entertainment on Beyond Space Presents Vol. 1, and Boards of Canada
.
label.
Some notable projects of the Anticon collective include the following:
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
founded in 1997. It is collectively owned among six (of an original seven) founding artists and one manager. The musicians signed to Anticon are referred to as the Anticon Collective.
The label's roster of artists has been described as "the hip-hop equivalent of post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
," and "avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
hip-hop", also called "trip-hop." Releases feature material created by its members, affiliates, and extended musical family. Although Anticon cohered originally within alternative hip hop
Alternative hip hop
Alternative hip hop is a sub-genre of hip hop music. Allmusic defines it as follows: -Origin:...
circles, Anticon's founders have become only tangentially related to hip-hop music, and the label has in recent years begun releasing music in the indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
and electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
genres. Artists signed to Anticon are based on the west coast, the east coast, the midwest, and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and the label has recently signed artists in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
The artists within the collective have been known to perform and release music in solo and group form. Artists on the label are known for frequent collaboration
Collaboration
Collaboration is working together to achieve a goal. It is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals, — for example, an intriguing endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing...
, both within and outside of their own collective. However, the Anticon collective has over time evolved into a group of separate artists who, despite sharing a similar progressive and often challenging indie
Indie (music)
In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie" is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing....
quality,
explore different styles of music including electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
and rock. Many of the artists on Anticon are signed to multiple labels, and some have their own small, independent labels through which they have self-released material.
Anticon has also organized art exhibitions featuring visual art by several of the artists on the label.
On February 9, 2010, founder and fellow rapper Tim "Sole" Holland
Sole (artist)
Tim Holland, known as Sole, is an alternative hip hop artist and a co-founder of the Anticon collective/label. Sole is known for his dense and often dark stream-of-consciousness style of rapping. His verses are often filled with abstraction, metaphor and sarcasm while avoiding or deconstructing...
left Anticon exclaiming that it is time to try and push forward and find new opportunities. Holland does leave assurance that this is a progressive decision and has nothing to do with his love for Anticon. "There are no ill feelings between myself and members of anticon. I will continue to work with many of the artists and will always love them as brothers and consider them allies." http://www.soleone.org/main/?p=227
Artists linked to Anticon
Anticon records is owned by the following artists and one manager:- AliasAlias (artist)Brendon Whitney, known as Alias, is an abstract hip hop musician and producer. He is mainly affiliated with the anticon. label/collective.-Biography:...
(Brendon Whitney) - DoseoneDoseoneAdam Drucker, better known as Doseone , is an American MC, artist, and poet from Idaho. Dose is known for his nasal, high pitched, fast polyrhythmic rapping style and abstract lyrics. He often simultaneously performs synth, sampler, or keyboard on stage. His words tend to express upon topics of...
(Adam Drucker) - JelJelJel is a hip hop producer and rapper for the Anticon label. He is a part of the hip hop duo Themselves and is also heavily involved in the bands Subtle and 13 & God.-Style:...
(Jeff Logan) - Odd NosdamOdd NosdamOdd Nosdam is a musician, DJ, artist, and co-founder and ex-art director of record label/collective Anticon.Nosdam was first noticed for the drone and warped pop of his former group cLOUDDEAD ; he has worked closely with Mike Patton on his Peeping Tom project and remixed tracks by a variety of...
(David Madson) - Pedestrian (James Brandon Best)
- Why?
- Baillie Parker
(Co-founder and former manager Sole
Sole (artist)
Tim Holland, known as Sole, is an alternative hip hop artist and a co-founder of the Anticon collective/label. Sole is known for his dense and often dark stream-of-consciousness style of rapping. His verses are often filled with abstraction, metaphor and sarcasm while avoiding or deconstructing...
(Tim Holland) officially renounced his 1/8 of ownership and formal affiliations on February 9, 2010.)
Anticon's current roster of active artists and groups include:
- 13 & God13 & God13 & God is an American and German electronic collaboration group between Weilheim, Germany-based The Notwist and Oakland, California-based anticon members Themselves. The group is signed both to anticon and Alien Transistor. They are joined live by Jordan Dalrymple who now plays Dax Pierson's...
(Project between The NotwistThe NotwistThe Notwist are a German indie rock band. Formed in 1989, the band moved through several musical incarnations despite maintaining a relatively stable lineup...
and ThemselvesThemselvesThemselves is an Oakland-based hip hop group, made up of rapper Doseone and producer Jel . Dax Pierson, from the affiliated group Subtle, has played keyboards for the group, though he is not considered an official member. To date, the group has released three full-length albums and two singles...
) - Alias & Tarsier (Brendon Whitney and Rona Rapadas)
- Alias
- AnathalloAnathalloAnathallo was a band originally from Mt. Pleasant, Michigan and then based in Chicago, Illinois. The band started practicing in the fall of 2000 and played their first show soon afterward. Their name is derived from a Greek word meaning "to renew, refresh or bloom again."In 2006 Anathallo released...
- Baths
- Bike for Three (a collaboration including Buck 65Buck 65Richard Terfry , who uses the stage name Buck 65, is a Canadian experimental artist, MC and turntablist. Underpinned by an extensive background in abstract hip hop, his more recent music has extensively incorporated blues, country, rock, folk and avant garde influences.Terfry is also a radio host,...
and Greetings from Tuskan) - Bracken (Chris Adams)
- DJ Mayonnaise (Chris Greer)
- DoshDoshMartin Luther King Chavez Dosh , known in music as Dosh, is a musician and multi-instrumentalist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As an artist, Dosh is a percussionist uses various electronics, often with a Fender Rhodes...
(Martin Dosh) - Odd NosdamOdd NosdamOdd Nosdam is a musician, DJ, artist, and co-founder and ex-art director of record label/collective Anticon.Nosdam was first noticed for the drone and warped pop of his former group cLOUDDEAD ; he has worked closely with Mike Patton on his Peeping Tom project and remixed tracks by a variety of...
- Passage (David Bryant)
- Restiform Bodies (Passage, Bomarr & Telephone Jim Jesus)
- SJ Esau
- Son Lux (Ryan Lott)
- Telephone Jim Jesus (George Chadwick)
- Thee More ShallowsThee More ShallowsThee More Shallows are a three-piece San Francisco based experimental indie rock band formed in 2001, consisting of song-writer Dee Kesler, Chavo Fraser and Jason Gonzales...
- TobaccoTobacco (musician)Thomas Fec, better known by the alias Tobacco, is an American electronic musician. He is the frontman of the band Black Moth Super Rainbow, in addition to working as a solo artist; in both settings he works most conspicuously with pre-digital electronic instruments such as analog synthesizers and...
- Why? (Yoni Wolf, Josiah Wolf, Doug McDiarmid [plus Andrew Broder and Mark Erickson in live performances])
Artists that have contributed in the past but are no longer active on the label are Buck 65
Buck 65
Richard Terfry , who uses the stage name Buck 65, is a Canadian experimental artist, MC and turntablist. Underpinned by an extensive background in abstract hip hop, his more recent music has extensively incorporated blues, country, rock, folk and avant garde influences.Terfry is also a radio host,...
, Sixtoo
Sixtoo
Sixtoo was the main project of a Canadian hip hop DJ, MC and producer Vaughn Robert Squire between 1996-2007. He has since retired the Sixtoo name pursuing other directions in electronic music, with a large genre shift from experimental hip hop to deeper club sounds of various temposSquire rose to...
, Sage Francis
Sage Francis
Paul "Sage" Francis is a hip-hop artist from Providence, Rhode Island.-Biography:Born Paul Francis in Miami, Florida, Sage Francis is a rapper/writer/performer from Providence, Rhode Island. He is the founder and CEO of the independent hip-hop record label Strange Famous Records...
, Slug
Slug (rapper)
Sean Michael Daley, better known by his stage name Slug or "'Sep Seven'", is an American rapper. He is from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Slug is best known as one fourth of the hip hop group Atmosphere, which he founded with Derek Turner...
(of Atmosphere
Atmosphere (music group)
Atmosphere is an American hip hop group from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group is composed of rapper Slug and DJ/Producer Ant...
) and Sole and the Skyrider Band
Sole (artist)
Tim Holland, known as Sole, is an alternative hip hop artist and a co-founder of the Anticon collective/label. Sole is known for his dense and often dark stream-of-consciousness style of rapping. His verses are often filled with abstraction, metaphor and sarcasm while avoiding or deconstructing...
.
Collaborators
Several other artists are currently, or have been, closely associated with Anticon: Dax PiersonDax Pierson
Dax Pierson is the keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist for anticon.-related electronic/hip-hop groups Themselves, Subtle, and 13 & God.In late February 2005, Pierson was seriously injured and left paralyzed from the chest down when the Subtle tour van hit a patch of black ice in Iowa during their...
, Slug
Slug (rapper)
Sean Michael Daley, better known by his stage name Slug or "'Sep Seven'", is an American rapper. He is from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Slug is best known as one fourth of the hip hop group Atmosphere, which he founded with Derek Turner...
and Ant (members of Minneapolis-based Atmosphere), Darc Mind, Mr Dibbs, DJ Signify
DJ Signify
DJ Signify is a hip hop producer from New York City. His 2004 debut album Sleep No More, featuring collaborations with Sage Francis and Buck 65, was described as "hip-hop at its darkest and most chilling" and earned him accolades as a "master beatsmith." 2009's Of Cities was similarly described as...
, Eyedea
Eyedea
Micheal Larsen , known by his stage name Eyedea, was a well-known freestyle battle champion and underground rapper. His notable wins included the televised Blaze Battle sponsored by HBO and a victory at Scribble Jam...
, DJ Abilities
DJ Abilities
DJ Abilities is a Minnesota-based hip-hop DJ affiliated with Rhymesayers Entertainment. With his emcee partner, the late Eyedea, he formed the group known as Eyedea & Abilities, also known as E&A...
, J. Rawls
J. Rawls
Jason Rawls is an American hip hop, soul, and neo-soul producer whose work crosses over into jazz. He has worked with Dose One, Beastie Boys, Slum Village, El Da Sensei, Count Bass D, Grand Agent, 9th Wonder, J-Live, Us3, and Moka Only...
, Moodswing9, Circus, Controller7, Boom Bip
Boom Bip
Bryan Charles Hollon, better known as Boom Bip, is an American producer and musician. His music is mostly instrumental, but over the course of his career he has collaborated with several vocalists. He is currently signed to Lex Records, which, until 2005, was a division of Warp Records in the...
, JD Walker, Josh Martinez
Josh Martinez
Josh Martinez , is a Canadian rapper, record producer and record label executive. In the early 2000s, Martinez started his own label, Camobear Records, to which fellow rap artist Moka Only is signed...
, Sixtoo
Sixtoo
Sixtoo was the main project of a Canadian hip hop DJ, MC and producer Vaughn Robert Squire between 1996-2007. He has since retired the Sixtoo name pursuing other directions in electronic music, with a large genre shift from experimental hip hop to deeper club sounds of various temposSquire rose to...
, Matth, Fog
Fog (band)
Fog is a band fronted by Andrew Broder, which includes members Mark Erickson and Tim Glenn. For most of their existence, material released by Fog had been produced largely by Broder alone, combining both traditionally performed instruments and turntable-derived samples, until the switch to a...
(Andrew Broder), Hood
Hood (band)
Hood is a UK-based band from Leeds, that formed in 1991. The band consists of brothers Chris and Richard Adams, and friends .- History :...
, Hrvatski
Keith Fullerton Whitman
Keith Fullerton Whitman is an American electronic musician who has recorded albums influenced by many genres, including ambient music, drill and bass, and krautrock. He records and performs using many aliases, of which the most familiar is Hrvatski...
, Electric Birds, John Herndon (Grapedope/Tortoise
Tortoise (band)
Tortoise is an American post-rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1990.-Music:Tortoise's almost entirely instrumental music defies easy categorization, and the group gained significant attention from their early career. The members have roots in Chicago's fertile music scene, playing in...
), Stefanie Bohm (Ms. John Soda
Ms. John Soda
Ms. John Soda is an indietronic band from Weilheim, Germany. Their members are Stefanie Böhm singing, and Michael Acher the main composer and programmer of the songs.A side project of sorts, Ms...
), Jessica Bailiff
Jessica Bailiff
Jessica Bailiff is an American singer-songwriter from Toledo, Ohio. Her music is largely classified as slowcore, although it contains elements of post-rock and shoegaze. Bailiff was discovered by Low's Alan Sparhawk, who recommended her earlier demos to Kranky Records, the label on which Bailiff...
, Rusty Trombone
Rusty trombone
Rusty trombone is a euphemism for a sexual act in which a man stands with his knees and back slightly bent, with feet at least shoulder width apart in order to expose the anus...
, Tarsier, Mike Patton
Mike Patton
Michael Allan "Mike" Patton is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor, best known as the lead singer of the metal/experimental rock band Faith No More. He has also sung for Mr...
, Beyond Space Entertainment on Beyond Space Presents Vol. 1, and Boards of Canada
Boards of Canada
Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin...
.
Projects
The Anticon collective is known for its many musical projects. Interestingly, not all of these projects are released through the Anticon label; artists within the Anticon collective have released collaborative and/or concept albums through different labels or through their own independent labels, and the group Subtle has enjoyed success on the Lex RecordsLex Records
Lex Records is an independent record label founded by Tom Brown in 2001. The label was an imprint of Warp Records and run from their North London offices, until September 2005.Lex has a low volume of releases, rarely releasing more than three albums annually...
label.
Some notable projects of the Anticon collective include the following:
- ClouddeadCLOUDDEADClouddead was a musical group consisting of the experimental hip hop musicians Doseone , Why? , and Odd Nosdam . Generally Drucker and Wolf provide the group's vocals while Madson produces the music...
(Why?, Doseone and Odd Nosdam) - Deep Puddle DynamicsDeep Puddle DynamicsDeep Puddle Dynamics was a collaborative group featuring hip-hop artists Sole, Alias, Doseone and Slug. In 1999, they released their album The Taste of Rain... Why Kneel? on Anticon.-Albums:*The Taste of Rain... Why Kneel?...
(Sole, Doseone & Alias, with Slug of Atmosphere) - Restiform Bodies (Passage, Telephone Jim Jesus and The Bomarr Monk)
- ThemselvesThemselvesThemselves is an Oakland-based hip hop group, made up of rapper Doseone and producer Jel . Dax Pierson, from the affiliated group Subtle, has played keyboards for the group, though he is not considered an official member. To date, the group has released three full-length albums and two singles...
(Doseone, Jel and when performing live, Dax PiersonDax PiersonDax Pierson is the keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist for anticon.-related electronic/hip-hop groups Themselves, Subtle, and 13 & God.In late February 2005, Pierson was seriously injured and left paralyzed from the chest down when the Subtle tour van hit a patch of black ice in Iowa during their...
) - 13 & God13 & God13 & God is an American and German electronic collaboration group between Weilheim, Germany-based The Notwist and Oakland, California-based anticon members Themselves. The group is signed both to anticon and Alien Transistor. They are joined live by Jordan Dalrymple who now plays Dax Pierson's...
(Doseone, Jel and Dax Pierson of Themselves, with Markus Acher, Micha Acher and Martin Gretschmann of The NotwistThe NotwistThe Notwist are a German indie rock band. Formed in 1989, the band moved through several musical incarnations despite maintaining a relatively stable lineup...
) - GreenthinkGreenthinkGreenthink were a group of hip-hop musicians and rappers. The group included the rappers Why? and Doseone , although many other artists contributed to varying degrees,including Sole, Alias, Odd Nosdam, Slug of Atmosphere, Illogic, Lionesque & Mr.Dibbs. The group, which no longer records, produced...
(Doseone and Why?) - SubtleSubtle (music)Subtle is a music group consisting of Adam Drucker, Jeffrey Logan, Dax Pierson, Jordan Dalrymple, Alexander Kort, and Marty Dowers. Although both Adam and Jeff have strong ties to the anticon. music collective, Subtle is not on the Anticon roster. Subtle started as an Oakland-based band in 2001...
(Doseone, Jel, Dax Pierson, Jordan Dalrymple, Alexander Kort and Marty Dowers) - Hymie's BasementHymie's BasementHymie's Basement is a collaboration of anticon and cLOUDDEAD singer, lyricist, rapper producer Yoni Wolf and singer, turntablist, guitarist Andrew Broder , released in 2003 via Lex Records....
(Why? and Andrew Broder of Fog) - Reaching QuietReaching QuietReaching Quiet was a American hip hop duo made up of anticon. and cLOUDDEAD members WHY? and Odd Nosdam. The duo released one full-length record, In the Shadow of the Living Room, in 2002...
(Why? and Odd Nosdam) - Sole and the Skyrider BandSole and the Skyrider BandSole and the Skyrider Band is a self-titled 2007 album by rapper Sole and instrumental hip-hop band Skyrider.-Track listing:#"A Sad Day for Investors"#"Ghost Assassinating Other Ghosts"#"Nothing Is Free"#"The Bridges Let Us Down"...
(Sole)
Anticon
- Anticon—Official Web site
- Anticon's official online store
- Anticon at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Anticon at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Anticon profile at Stylus MagazineStylus MagazineStylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
- Profile of Baillie Parker
- Anticon interview at Drowned in SoundDrowned in SoundDrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
- Anticon label playlist at SpotifySpotifySpotify is a Swedish-founded, UK-headquartered DRM-based music streaming service offering streaming of selected music from a range of major and independent record labels, including Sony, EMI, Warner Music Group, and Universal. Launched in October 2008 by Swedish startup Spotify AB, the service had...
Individual artists
- Official Web site of DoshDoshMartin Luther King Chavez Dosh , known in music as Dosh, is a musician and multi-instrumentalist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As an artist, Dosh is a percussionist uses various electronics, often with a Fender Rhodes...
- Official Web site of SoleSole (artist)Tim Holland, known as Sole, is an alternative hip hop artist and a co-founder of the Anticon collective/label. Sole is known for his dense and often dark stream-of-consciousness style of rapping. His verses are often filled with abstraction, metaphor and sarcasm while avoiding or deconstructing...
- Doseone Gigastore
- Subtle
- Official Web site of Dj Mayonnaise
- Restiform Bodies
- Official Web site of TOBACCOTobaccoTobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...