Many would have you believe this announcement and El-P’s recent decision to build Hovercrafts is proof of the widely held conspiracy theory that suggested Def Jux and Anticon were in fact working closely together over the past decade to subvert and annihilate the indie rap micro-industry. You be the judge, Tim “Sole” Holland explains:

Today, with a heavy heart I end 11+ years of working with anticon. In the early days of the label, anticon was a pet project of mine, a life-long dream. We fulfilled the dream of a collectively run record label and put out many great records and stood as an image of defiance against the music industry. Those memories, I will always have and be proud of. Sadly, those times are gone, and I need to live in the present as I prepare for the future.

We created anticon as a response to what was going on at the time in the music industry – the indy boom of the late 90’s. There were still a viable music industry then and people bought records. That’s how we built up our empire. The music industry isn’t just dying, but what it means to be a recording artist is changing. Technology is making everything cheap, and cheapening everything it touches. Soon the old ways of selling records will be a distant memory, along with magazines, working musicians and employed blue-collar dads. It’s not a time to cry about the recession, or urge people to go to their local mom and pops and pick up the new sole & skyrider LP. Technology is working its magic, and instead of being a passenger on its ship, I have decided to plot a new course for myself.

Read the full press release over @ soleone.org

Excerpt:
Sole: at that time i had left my old graffitti crew / gang and started writing “sole.” i made a song about it, and then after that song i eventually changed my name to sole
Sole: 3 guys in a bar was also a fluke
Sole: back then my favorite record was j live’s braggin writes
Sole: i had been wanting to do music with j live so i got in touch with rawshack
Sole: george, the guy who ran rawshack, i think was amused by me as well,, so he’d explain the game to me, he was someone i used to call all the time
Sole: i was trying to sign with him.
Sole: anyway, me and j live never panned out, when mr complex dropped his record it, that and saafir, totally fucked up my approach to rapping , like “i dont have to rhyme”
Sole: i sampled mr complex on a song i did with cryptic one of atoms family who i met on prodigy
Sole: i sent mr complex the CD and he was so excited to hear himself sampled he agreed to do a song with me
Werner: lol nice
Sole: so he hooked it up with d-stroy and we did this song together
Werner: so, at that time you were running 45 below pretty seriously… you had other acts
Sole: yes
Werner: how did you link up with, like, six-too?
Sole: i mean, i cant say it was really serious. it was more of a crew, 45 below was an old school crew/label run from back 90 by moodswing 9

From the new Serengeti & Polyphonic album titled Terradactyl, out now via Anticon

Serengeti & Polyphonic – My Negativity

The live cello on instant standout “My Negativity” recalls Float-era Aesop Rock (albeit, re-produced by Tony Hoffer), with Geti delivering a pre-apocalyptic warning drenched in strange imagery. (via ABR0094)

Download [.mp3] Buck 65, Live from the 3rd Annual Anticon 10 Year Anniversary Show in NYC

Download [.mp3] Alias and Sole, Live from the 3rd Annual Anticon 10 Year Anniversary Show in NYC

Download [.mp3] Why, Live from the 3rd Annual Anticon 10 Year Anniversary Show in NYC

Themselves [ft. Aesop Rock, Busdriver, Why?/cLOUDDEAD - FREEHoudini / excerpt

"Oversleeping"
"Know That to Know This" [ft. Aesop Rock]
“Party Rap Sucks” [ft. Busdriver]
“Rappers Is Retired” freestyle
“theMark”
“rapping4money” [ft. WHY?, Odd Nosdam, and cLOUDDEAD]

Recorded straight from the sound board last month at the Anticon 10 Year Anniversary, peace to Peter Agoston. via Soleone.org

Jel & Odd Nosdam – Live @ NYC Knitting Factory

The whole Anticon crew celebrating their 10 year anniversary for the third straight time. I guess they couldn’t wait till the next rounded number. This is only one of several great shows coming up at the Knitting Factory in December. buy tickets

Thursday, Dec 18, 2008 // DOORS 7:00 PM
ADV $20 // DOS $25

Knitting Factory – New York
74 Leonard Street
New York, NY 10013

Apparently, Dose-One of Subtle/Anticon served Bisc-1 and Broke MC in an impromptu freestyle battle on WFMU’s remote broadcast last week live from the Knitting Factory. C’mon Anticon, wouldn’t a new solo rap album from Dose-One be swell? via WFMU blog

Stream audio of battle + interview

All involved were good sports, and DoseOne (left) (whose battling days date back to the mid-nineties when he would take on the likes of a then unknown Eminem at the Scribble Jam in Ohio) was the clear winner as he served both NYC emcees (my opinion). In fact, DoseOne was so superior that he took on both opponents at once. And not only that, but he remained seated the entire time he (lyrically) demolished both Bisc-1 and Broke MC.

Free download of Uck Rt, a limited edition tour CDR sold by Sole on the Selling Live Water tour in 2001. Download (via)

the story of fuck art is as follows….

selling live water was initially to be produced solely by alias. these were just songs i made in my house during that period…. stuff with nosdam and jel wasnt gonna go on there…. so i took all the stuff i had laying around and made uckrt. then, after the prodding of friends everyone thought i should take all the best stuff i had lying around and make put it on selling live water and it sounded like a good idea. because i was moving forward with other projects i never bothered doing anything with this older stuff. thats the story. i dont know how many copies i made of uckrt…. 500-1000.

fair warning: it’s just a bunch of soul and Jamaican soul songs about prostitution, prison, ghettos, death, and war that i’ve been bumping in my car lately. there’s a couple blues joints at the end on the same themes.

there’s shit like lou bond, who is questionable but intriguing, and there’s shit like doris duke, whose “i don’t care anymore” is one of the hardest, coldest songs i’ve ever heard.

b

With the 20th anniversary re-release of Straight Outta Compton a few months ago, Pedestrian looks back on the album and its impact on the use of the “F” word. And no, I don’t mean friend. Link

Seems like a great move for him both artistically and business-wise. Serengeti over Jel beats? Sounds dope! Link

…lastly my first album with ANTICON is to begin soon, production by jel…alias…nosdam….dose one. dope shit.

A friendly update from the editor: Serengeti was apparently just having some fun with Anticonoclast fans:

hey good people of grandgood,

can you please remove the story about serengeti signing to anticon.
he has not signed to anticon and no announcement of such has ever been
made other than on his myspace. i can’t deny wanting to talk to the
fellow, but seeing as we’ve never even exchanged a word, i think it’s
a bit premature to announce a signing.

thanks very much for all the continued support.

best,
shaun

——————————–
shaun koplow
anticon. records | label manager
——————————–

see also:
[video] Jel Sweet Creamin It (live bedroom mix)

Wow, has it really been almost ten years since Anticon started out? Looking back, I probably own every release until about 2002. The Centaur 12inch with 15 Minutes To Live on the flip-side. The dope Controller 7 remix of Rain Men. Man Overboard with the great cover art. Joyful Toy of 1001 Faces. Bottle Of Humans. Deep Puddle Dynamics. The list goes on and on. And the live performances were just as impressive. One of my all-time favorite shows was Sole, Alias, Josh Martinez and Sage Francis performing on a Brooklyn rooftop.

Anyway, good interview here. The collective of Why, Odd Nosdam, Dose-One, Jel, Sole and Alias sound off on a number of topics such as their past and current role at the label, the legacy of Anticon and a possible documentary in the works. Link

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the label about to turn ten? That seems a significant benchmark for an independent to reach, especially these days. Looking back on your achievements – both personally and collectively – are you pleased with how far you’ve travelled as a creative force?

Why: I’m quite pleased with the progress of the label. We went from an artist-run mess of a posse / collective / label who released basically only our own music in the late ‘90s to a real-deal label capable of releasing albums by anybody we find fit and willing, with a dedicated label manager and a decent sized base of listeners.

Jel: From working off of 4-track tape machines and recording on DAT and ADAT with minimal instrumentation in the music, to most of us forming live bands and focusing our careers on that aspect of music making. I think we all have really refined our skills as musicians and cracked the shell of ‘beat maker’, ‘rapper’ and ‘DJ’.

On record and in previous interviews I’ve read, you seem like a fairly headstrong collective; to what extent do you feel as though the label has succeeded in the music industry on its own terms?

Jel: Largely, and that reflects on the creative output very positively. But on the financial side it’s not so positive… sustainable.

Dose-One: Being DIY can become a bit of a barbed wire fence and being unique musically can be a bit of a glass ceiling. As a record label we want to not have any ‘keep out’ signs on our property or ‘stay put’ signs in our future. By and large, we have secured a way for our music to always see daylight and its way to headphones.

Sole: The machine dictates how the business is run: we’re slaves to release dates and the need for forms of marketing; it’s a constant uphill battle against the constraints the music industry places on anyone who wishes to run that gauntlet.

Alias: For the most part, anticon isn’t a business that is set up to take care of the artists 100 per cent of the time. You have to do a bit of your own hustling as well, which is absolutely fine by me. It has taught me a lot about the business, and that you have to give to get. You can’t just sit back and expect the label to handle everything for you. This has allowed me to have 100 per cent creative control with every aspect of my career. I don’t have a manager taking a percentage of money when I would be telling them what I want to do in the first place. I like handling my own business.

Sole always brings a great live show. It should be a dope performance. Be sure to check out our latest audiocast for their new track A Sad Day For Investors. buy tickets

Knitting Factory – New York
74 Leonard Street
New York, NY 10013
Tel: (212) 219-3132

Friday, Nov 2, 2007 // DOORS 7:30 PM // ADV $10 // DOS $13

see also:
Brand New Music From A Variety Of Artists We Respect [audiocast volume 26]
Sole No Longer Wearing Heart On Sleeve

Short interview with Sole regarding a number of topics. I never really trusted or enjoyed reading music reviews either and I don’t know why anyone else does. I could never picture myself liking a song/album/artist/etc. just because it got good reviews from a so-called critic. Link

Speaking of the internet, as an artist, and co founder of a well known music label, how do you feel about the internet’s access to music? Is it helpful or discouraging?

I think it’s more bad than good. I don’t like seeing how digital downloads are fucking up the infrastructure for indies. I used to think it levels the playing field, but I don’t feel that way anymore, because the majors will always make their money, and the slim margin an indie survives on is getting slimmer and slimmer. I don’t like anything that alienates people from an experience, i.e.: comparing vinyl to an mp3, the world is becoming less romantic every day.

People have either loved or hated Anticon along the years. How do you feel about certain critics that react to the name Anticon, before hearing the music? Do you ever scroll down and read the name before reading the review?

Nah… my critics don’t gain any sort of infamy with me, they are quickly forgotten. I care less and less about this sort of thing. I recently got a press report from my publicist and some woman named Jessica Hopper wrote, when asked about how she liked my new record she wrote, “I hate sole,” that’s all she wrote back! Stuff makes me smile. I can’t fathom how anyone can be a music writer, it seems so missing the point. You really can’t write about music, the best thing about music is almost magical, unexplainable and when you try to describe something you have to put it in a box, and some stuff just doesn’t deserve to be put in a box. I’ve put so much effort into answering questions and sometimes I’m so proud of the thing I say, but usually people just write the article they want to write and I felt like I wasted my breath. There are some writers out there who do a good job, who really know how to write about music and do it with a passion, but I think a lot of them are just doing it because it makes them feel important and they can’t make it as fiction writers or political theorists. Press is becoming less and less important and that’s a good thing.

Link

I’ve decided to do a video blog while I work on my new record. Every week or so, I’ll be putting up a little slice of video of something having to do with this new instrumental solo record I’m working on. I have a few guest spots lined up, and you’ll hear them as I work on them……

here is the first one…..I’m working on a song that will definately be on my record, just not sure if all the elements you hear will make the final cut…..I’m singing and playing guitar on this song…..it’s a demo, so nothing is official…..peep it:

A quick perusal of the website for Southern Records, the record company responsible for manufacturing and distributing Anticon in Europe, revealed that they are gearing up for the promotional push for the third official Sole release, Live From Rome. Their press page contained press releases and cover art for the first single entitled “God Save the Whales” out January 5, and the new album due Febuary 21.

Although the press release suggests the new album will have moments of a greater political swing than Sole’s previous efforts, it also quells any notions of it being a “political album”; “his effort to place the personal and self-critical in the big and political helps him avoid singing to the choir… Live from Rome is a lyric volley of shots taken, but it’s lightened by his humor…”

Since Sole now resides in Barcelona, Spain, it will be interesting to note how differently, if at all, the album is received by the arguably more liberal European crowd.

Press releases and cover art can be found on the press page: http://www.southern.net/southern/band/SOLE0/press/

Dosh’s EP (dosh, who the hell is dosh?) Naoise is out now and if I ever need to hear a sample I know where to go…..