Chicago’s Riot Fest has announced the first wave of artists for its 2013 festival, and with a whole hella lot of big-name pull, tickets are going fast.
MHz Legacy: s/t (Man Bites Dog, 10/30/12)
Since the release of its long-awaited reunion album in October, rap collective MHz Legacy has been busy. The group has held a fan remix contest and has steadily released videos for tracks from the record. That continues with “Satisfaction” by Copywrite and RJD2, featuring Slug of Atmosphere.
Illogic & Blockhead: Capture the Sun (Man Bites Dog, 4/16/13)
Columbus rapper Illogic and Aesop Rock-collaborating producer Blockhead are teaming up to release Capture the Sun on April 16. “I’d been wanting do to an album where it’s just one MC and one producer,” Blockhead says. “All it took was Illogic dropping me a line, and I was down.”
Living here in Chicago, we’re not ready to give up summer until we’re good and ready. So even though the electronically inclined North Coast Music Festival purports to be “summer’s last stand” from August 31 to September 2, we’ll be living it up until the autumnal equinox.
Semantics aside, if you’re here with us, you can enjoy North Coast too, seeing artists such as Pretty Lights, Atmosphere, Big Boi, Girl Talk, The Rapture, Dan Deacon, YACHT, Rebirth Brass Band, People Under the Stairs, and many more in addition to some of dance music’s biggest names. See the full lineup here.
Now on its 45th go-round, Milwaukee’s massive Summerfest returns from June 27 to July 8, offering 11 days of high-profile and independent musicians performing around the 75-acre Henry Maier Festival Park along Lake Michigan. This year, our favorite performers include The Hives, Foo Fighters, Ben Folds Five, Devotchka, The Promise Ring, Galactic, Collections of Colonies of Bees, Atmosphere, The Roots, Common, Thievery Corporation, Mayer Hawthorne, and Lupe Fiasco.
English duo dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip combines spoken-word lyrics with electronic hip-hop beats to create songs that awaken thoughtfulness and provoke opinions. Just don’t take them too seriously.
Each Monday, Beats & Rhymes highlights a new and notable hip-hop, rap, DJ, or electronic record that embraces independent sensibilities.
Atmosphere
: The Family Sign (Rhymesayers, 4/12/11)
Atmosphere: “Just for Show”
[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Atmosphere_Just_for_Show.mp3|titles=Atmosphere: “Just for Show”]The land of independent hip hop is a dangerous, inconstant place. Giants like Rawkus Records and Definitive Jux, once considered among the most vital sources of hip-hop innovation, have collapsed into footnotes. But Minnesota-based Rhymesayers Entertainment has managed to hold its place in the world of underground rap for more than 15 years, thanks in part to founders Slug and Ant’s flagship duo, Atmosphere.
Atmosphere’s previous album, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, broke into the Billboard top 10 — an impressive achievement for an underground hip-hop group, and, as a result, Atmosphere represents to the general public what underground hip hop is. Its latest album, The Family Sign, typifies all of the strengths and weaknesses of indie rap, but it’s unusual and accessible enough to be easily enjoyed. If the genre must have a face, it could do much worse than Atmosphere.