New Video Podcast: Sole and the Skyrider Band Live @ the Nectar Lounge

New live music this week from Sole and the Skyrider Band. Checkout videos for the tracks “Battlefields” and “Fire”, which is off the band’s newest LP, Hello Cruel World. These videos were filmed at the Nectar Lounge in Seattle, August 18th. Stream the videos below, read more after the jump, and check out the podcast here…iTunes. CONTINUE READING

STREAMING MEDIA LINKS:
VIDEO: Sole and the Skyrider Band “Battlefields” (Fake Four Music) [YOUTUBE]
BUY CD: Amazon BUY MP3: BUY VINYL: INSOUND

VIDEO: Sole and the Skyrider Band “Fire” (Fake Four Music) [YOUTUBE]
BUY CD: Amazon BUY MP3: BUY VINYL: INSOUND

Last February Tim Holland, or the musician better known as Sole, left the highly esteemed label collective Anticon so that he might more faithfully follow his own musical vision and business pursuits. Having cofounded Anticon in the late 90’s with the rapper Pedestrian, the two would be instrumental in bringing together an independent-minded family of musicians and producers intent upon do-it-yourself ethics and the pursuit of experimental hip-hop and avant-garde electronics. By the 21st century the label collective would go on to include artists like Alias, Doseone, Jel, Odd Nosdam, and Why?, as well as their numerous musical projects like Deep Puddle Dynamics, Clouddead, or Themselves, and would be responsible for pushing hip-hop and electronic music beyond it’s conventional boundaries.
Fast forward to 2011, and we find Tim Holland hyperactivly creative as ever! This year his post-rock, rap outfit, Sole and the Skyrider Band, released one of their finest LPs to date, Hello Cruel World (Fake Four Inc.). Formed in 2006 in Flagstaff, the band came together when the psychedelic leaning, post-rock group Skyrider joined forces with Sole in an effort to fuse musical elements as diverse as rap, rock, and neoclassical. The band released a self-titled album in 2007, and the LP Plastique in 2009. During that period they relocated to LA and Denver, and toured relentlessly, sharing the stage with a wide array of acts like Awol One, Astronautalis, Telephone Jim Jesus, and The Apes. All that experience, travel, and networking is evident on the newest, Hello Cruel World. The band has upped the ante for themselves, and the result is a cinemagraphic, tour-de-force from the edges of economic armageddon. The album is filled with some of Sole’s strongest, most cohesive lyrical content, and it is scored by Skyrider’s nuanced ability to move between diverse genres and styles to create a timeless sonic palette. In addition, contributions from indie artists like of Xiu Xiu, Lil B, Pictureplane, Ceschi, Noah23, Sage Francis, and others, allows the album wide range, as well as a classic rap feel.
Sole also released another mixtape this year, Nuclear Winter Volume 2: Death Panel, where he kicks mad knowledge, and claims what should be his title, the “Noam Chomsky of Rap”. This project represent Sole’s continued interest in gangster rap, and his effort to bring his style to bear on the genre. Calling the effort “rapper’s journalism”, Sole unleashes his lyrical beast rerouting gangster’s interest in guns and money into an anarchist’s rally cry to, “hustle hard” and claim one’s own! Set to some of his favorite, bangin’ club tracks, Nuclear Winter deconstructs the divided, American political-sphere in real time, and serves as a stark diary of our recent events. In addition, Sole’s talent as an organizer/agitator, evident since his first days with Anticon, are again on display as he brings together an underground, all-star team that includes players like Kool A.D. from Das Racist, Busdriver, Ceschi Ramos, Mac Lethal, Cadalack Ron, and others, to obliterate a political consciousness where CNN consensus making is the norm. And, what do you know, functioning properly as DIY agitprop, Nuclear Winter is free, so you should download it here!
Also this year, Sole’s long-running, solo project, Mansbestfriend put out two releases, Mansbestfriend Volume 5 and Mansbestfriend Volume 6: Radioactive Rain. Hitting the game from all angles with tireless creativity, this project is an outlet for a more spontaneous kind of creation. Call them Sole’s homegrown, fresh baked goods, and like a spicy plate of kale and red beans, they’re sure to please!
And you thought you were some kinda indie-rap mogul? Take a lesson from the master, and hustle hard!