Apologies for not posting for so long. Yes, an actual human writes and posts this information.

Here’s an item that should have went up two weeks ago — another run by Anticon co-founder Sole & the Skyrider Band. They’ll be accompanied by Fake Four Inc. owner Ceschi Ramos and Oldominion side project Dark Time Sunshine.

• 3/11: The Terrace, Pasadena, CA
• 3/12: The Bunk House, Las Vegas, NV
• 3/13: Chasers, Scottsdale, AZ
• 3/14: Silver Skate Shop, Albuquerque, NM
• 3/15: Hodi’s Half Note, Ft. Collins, CO
• 3/18: Iron Gate, Austin, TX
• 3/18: Momo’s, Austin, TX
• 3/19: Karma Lounge, Austin, TX
• 3/22: The Green Elephant, Dallas, TX
• 3/23: Vaudeville Mews, Des Moines, IA (1)
• 3/25: Firebird, St. Louis, MO (1)
• 3/26: Triple Rock, Minneapolis, MN (2)
• 3/27: Redno Five, Chicago, IL (3)
• 3/28: The Division Gallery, Detroit, MI
• 3/29: The Knitting Factory, New York, NY
• 3/31: Cafe 9, New Haven, CT
• 4/01: The Western Front, Boston, MA
• 4/02: The Space, Portland, ME

(all dates) w/Dark Time Sunshine, Ceschi Ramos
(1) w/Astronautalis
(2) w/Ecid
(3) w/Miles Maeda, Konichiwa Motherfucker

This morning, Sole announced in a post on his website, Soleone.org that he is leaving Anticon, the company he co-founded in 1998.

It wasn’t unexpected. Rumors had spread that Sole was leaving Anticon, especially after his last album with the Skyrider Band, Plastique, became his first release to not appear on the label. (It was issued by Fake Four Inc.) In the post, titled “Sole leaves Anticon Records,” he writes, “From now on now all my releases will be made available @ soleone.org via my new label Black Canyon Records and exclusively distributed worldwide via Revolver USA.”

Anticon hasn’t issued a response yet, but will presumably do so in the next few hours and/or days.

“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,” writes Sole. “Today, with a heavy heart I end 11+ years of working with anticon.”

Ten years ago, when Sole was recording underground classics like Bottle of Humans, few longtime Anticon fans would have anticipated that the crew’s biggest (and most controversial) mouthpiece would someday abandon his “pet project.” If anything, Anticon would cease to exist first, and Sole would proudly go down with it.

“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,” writes Sole.

However, the underground rap world that Sole once led and provoked has long since fractured, unable to find the common ground that catapulted indie-rock — to name a genre/scene it is often compared to — to dominance. The Okayplayer.com scene gets grudging respect (if at all) from the old-school rap audience; so-called “emo rappers” leap onto Warped Tour and other rock package tours to seduce the Hot Topic crowd; and electronic-tinged “beat” makers spend more time remixing indie-rock acts like the XX and mainstream ciphers like Lil Wayne and Gucci Mane than collaborating with their indie-rap counterparts. Too often, these sometimes-oppositional enclaves have split audiences, resulting in neither sustained fan appreciation, critical acclaim nor noteworthy record sales.

Already, 2010 has brought the apparent collapse of Definitive Jux, the once-mighty label that has floundered in recent years. Unlike Def Jux, however, Anticon Records recovered after the indie-rap salad days ended in the mid-oos. Now, it is performing better than ever now, reaching new artistic and commercial highs. Not only have its core artists (Why?, Dose One) legitimately branched out into more current/trendy rock and electronic-oriented styles, but it also dropped a surprising amount of rap efforts last year, including Serengeti & Polyphonic’s Terradactyl and Buck 65 and Greetings from Tuskan’s More Heart Than Brains.

Unfortunately, as the label evolved from a iconoclastic rap movement into an independent label with unpredictable musical tastes, Sole increasingly found himself on the outside. The brash, politically-charged rap he makes seem out of place with the new Anticon’s focus on genre-blurring experiments and diarist confessionals.

In the post, Sole writes, “Upon returning to the states from a 2-year exile in Spain, I found myself increasingly at odds with the business end of anticon and began doing more DIY work via soleone.org. Running my own website and taking a more hands on approach with my art has always brought me great satisfaction and it is what I am choosing to return to. 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. This is a decision to change the way my music will be exploited and adapt to shifting paradigms.

“The very fact that I have thrived in this environment still sometimes is a surprise to me. I’m 32 today. I put out my first vinyl when I was 16. For me its always been about ethics & passion, doing what felt right in my core and acting on that, whether or not it was the popular or conventionally wise thing to do.”

(February 9 update: Anticon posted the following message on its website today: “Anticon and label co-founder/artist Sole, a.k.a. Tim Holland, have decided to part ways. Albums previously released here will now be a part of Sole’s Black Canyon imprint. We wish him the best of luck in all his future endeavors.”)

Tomorrow, October 13, Anticon icon Sole drops his second album with the Skyrider Band, Plastique. Unlike previous efforts, which all came out via Anticon, this one arrives courtesy of Fake Four Inc.

To promote Plastique, Sole is embarking on a national tour. Check after the jump to see if he’ll reach a town near you.

But first, the all important press release snippet:

The follow-up LP to Sole & the Skyrider Band’s debut of the same name, is Sole’s most cohesive, dynamic, listenable and interesting record to date. In contrast to the apocalyptic imagery of the first record, this album adopts the Jean Beaudrillard idea that “when the spectacle took over, man ceased to be man.”

Skyrider’s music finds itself more sparse and deliberate on this record. The idea behind this album is less about politics and more about reflections on the postmodern mess that is the “me” generation. Sole bounces from the ironic to the iconoclastic, from the worldly to the deeply personal. Unlike many previous recordings, sole’s rapping is at the forefront and his lyrics are clearer than ever. This is partly thanks to more immaculately composed music, and partly to Son Lux collaborator Doc Harril on the mixing boards.

Sole has spent the last two years living in a cabin in the midst of the Coconino National Forest in Arizona with no mayor, no phone lines, broken cell phone reception, just books and environmental canyon sprawl. This return to analog life inspired much of the reflection found herein. Everywhere man goes he is in conflict, and such conflicts are found throughout the album: the interpersonal, the political, the anti-social, the city, the desert, the industries and the anti-ideologies wherever they are found. Sole touches on everything from touring in a recession, media and war, race, rap, wildlife, space, identity politics and the insane tightrope one must walk to talk about such issues without sounding like a book report.

Here’s the track listing:

• 1. “Children of Privilege”
• 2. “Battlefields”
• 3. “Longshots”
• 4. “Nothing Pt. 2″
• 5. “More”
• 6. “Pissing in the Wind”
• 7. “Bait”
• 8. “Mr. Insurgent”
• 9. “Black”

Here are the tour dates:

• 10/15: Knitting Factory, Los Angeles, CA (1) (2)
• 10/16: Kava Lounge, San Diego, CA (1)
• 10/17: The Uptown, Oakland, CA (1)
• 10/18: Rotture, Portland, OR (1)
• 10/19: Nectar Lounge, Seattle, WA (1)
• 10/20: The Palace, Missoula, MT (1)
• 10/21: Neurolux, Boise, ID (1)
• 10/23: Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT (1)
• 10/24: Black Sheep, Ft. Collins, CO (1)
• 10/25: Hi-Dive, Denver, CO (1)
• 10/26: The Launchpad, Albuquerque, NM (1)
• 10/27: The Bunk House, Las Vegas, Nevada (1)

(1) w/Astronautalis
(2) w/Awol One

Here’s a clip for the Battlefields EP, which you can download for free. Directed by Ravi Zupa, it features lots of paramilitary imagery and puppets. Interpret what you will.

Also, Sole has a new album, Plastique, out next week on Fake Four Inc. More on that shortly.

Here’s another late pass courtesy of the illustrious Sole and Awol One. Both are on the Outsiders tour, the former without his group the Skyrider Band, the latter with frequent collaborator Factor. Ceschi and Scotty Six & Cainam fill out this backpacker extravaganza, and Icon the Mic King appears on most of the dates. Look out for Awol One and Factor’s album Owl Hours, which drops July 21 on Fake Four Inc.

• 4/15: The Terrace, Pasadena, CA
• 4/16: Kava Lounge, San Diego, CA
• 4/17: Hidden House, Phoenix, AZ
• 4/18: Meow Wolf, Santa Fe, NM
• 4/20: The Cork, Fort Collins, CO
• 4/22: Hi Dive, Denver, CO
• 4/23: The Red Sea, Minneapolis, MN
• 4/25: Abbey Pub, Chicago, IL
• 4/26: Division Gallery, Detroit, MI
• 4/29: Webster Hall, New York, NY
• 4/30: Middle East, Cambridge, MA
• 5/01: Jerkys Live Music Hall, Providence, RI
• 5/02: The Asylum, Portland, ME

4/15-5/02: w/Factor, Ceschi, Scotty Six & Cainam
4/15-4/29, 5/01: w/Icon the Mic King

On February 3, Sole & the Skyrider Band will release a remix album for 2007′s self-titled debut on Sole’s Black Canyon imprint. It includes remixes from Anticon associates Telephone Jim Jesus, Son Lux, Dosh and Odd Nosdam as well as indie producers Thavius Beck, Astronautalis and Sleeper. Unusually, the group is offering the press advance of the album — the one that often just goes to print critics and established bloggers — as a free download for everyone.

Here’s an explanation:

A year after the release of the self-titled lp from sole & the skyrider band, many of the songs have become prophecy. After 2 world tours as a band, and ten years of touring the globe, sole has witnessed the decline of the the west, from France to america, the first world is becoming the third world, one giant conflict zone where there are no innocent bystanders. The stupid things have indeed begun to implode on themselves, and this year has indeed turned out to be a “sad day for investors.” This is sole’s first major release outside of anticon on his new imprint “black canyon recordings.” The new strategy embraces a shift away from the pay for play politics of the past, inflated publicity budgets and chart infiltration. This marks a return to the DIY guerilla roots, a re-ignition of the culture war, and the clarion call that “the only role of art is to challenge the status quo.”

What better way to celebrate such an occasion than a remix album with old and new friends? Featuring up and coming artists and indy stalwarts alike, the record features; Dosh, Andrew Broder of Fog, Electric President, Astronautalis, Son Lux, Sleeper, Telephone Jim Jesus, Odd Nosdam, Thavius Beck, Subtitle , Bit tuner, DJ Egadz, Otem Rellik and pictureplane.

This record is a departure from the post-rock influenced lp that came last year and is re-visited in a more IDM/electronic fashion. Song structures are destroyed, but the theme remains, whether it’s Pictureplane calling for a return to 68, Dosh’s re-emphasis of “to know thy enemy is to know thyself” or Son Lux recalling “everyone you know is on a tiny blue dot,” in this rapidly changing world these aren’t empty songs of protest, love, or gluttony, they are calls to arms. Sole & the skyrider band go where no one else in hip-hop or indy rock dare to go, stock up on guns, grains, and ammo; fill your library, you won’t be needing your i-phone much longer. Strange days are upon us yet there is no need to fear, the burning plastic smell can’t last forever…

• 1. “Sad Day For Investors (Astronautalis remix)”
• 2. “Ghost Assassinating Other Ghosts (Telephone Jim Jesus remix)”
• 3. “Magnum (Sleeper remix)”
• 4. “100 Light Years and Running (Son Lux remix)”
• 5. “Bridges Let Us Down (Thavius Beck remix)”
• 6. “Bones of Pets (Bit Tuner remix)”
• 7. “In Paradise (DJ Egadz remix)”
• 8. “Nothing Is Free (Radical Face remix)”
• 9. Stupid Things Implode On Themselves Fog”
• 10. “One Egg Short Of The Omelette (Nosdam remix)”
• 11. “Sound Of Head On Concrete (Dosh remix)”
• 12. “Shipwreckers (Otem Rellik remix)”
• 13. “On Cavalry (Pictureplane remix )”

Meanwhile, Sole is on a solo tour with Myka 9. You can catch him at one of the dates below.

• 1/16: Knitting Factory, Los Angeles, CA
• 1/17: The Exit, Fresno, CA
• 1/18: Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA
• 1/20: Red Fox Tavern, Eureka, CA
• 1/22: WOW Hall, Eugene, OR
• 1/23: Berbati’s Pan, Portland, OR
• 1/25: The Neurolux, Boise, ID
• 1/27: Zebra Cocktail Lounge, Bozeman, MT
• 1/28: The Badlander, Missoula, MT
• 1/29: Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT
• 1/30: Bender’s Tavern, Denver, CO

Download: Sole & the Skyrider Band remixes

For the next two months, you can find Tim “Sole” Holland and his Skyrider Band on the Red Carpet Tour. It’s just for kicks, although there’s a remix album of the band’s self-titled album coming shortly.

Here’s the word from Tim:

As the first release on my new imprint “black canyon records” we’re dropping a remix lp of the highly acclaimed self titled lp. Contributors include son lux, thavius beck, subtitle, jim jesus, radical face, the fog, dosh, odd nosdam, the apes, sleeper, bit tuner & bleubird, dj egadz, astronautalis, & sj esau.

We will release it as an official “leak” when we establish a release date, in hopes that those who wish to support our new business venture, our mental health & our musical efforts will do so by preordering the release here at soleone.org.

Just to add on, Tim is still down with Anticon.

• 10/09: Bluebird, St. Louis, MI
• 10/10: Uptown Club, Minneapolis, MN
• 10/11: Elephungeon, Boone, IA
• 10/12: Beat Kitchen, Chicago, IL
• 10/13: Bourbon Street, Columbus, OH
• 10/14: Bug Jar, Rochester, NY
• 10/15: Geno’s, Portland, ME
• 10/17: Heirloom Arts, Danbury, CT
• 10/18: as220, Providence, RI
• 10/19: Middle East, Boston, MA
• 10/21: Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA
• 10/22: Talking Head, Baltimore, MD
• 10/24: Knitting Factory, New York City, NY
• 10/25: Market Hotel, Brooklyn, NY
• 10/26: Local 506, Chapel Hill, NC
• 10/27: Milestone, Charlotte, NC
• 10/28: Will’s Pub, Orlando, FL
• 10/29: The Earl, Atlanta, GA
• 10/30: Numbers, Houston, Texas.
• 10/31: Emo’s, Austin, TX
• 11/01: The Lounge, Dallas, TX
• 11/03: Willie’s, Sante Fe, NM
• 11/04: Solar Culture, Tucson, AZ
• 11/05: The Casbah, San Diego, CA
• 11/06: The Airliner, Los Angeles, CA
• 11/07: Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, CA
• 11/08: 21 Grand, Oakland, CA
• 11/09: Lil’ Red Lion, Eureka, CA
• 11/10: Rotture, Portland, OR
• 11/11: Chop Suey, Seattle, WA
• 11/12: Badlander, Missoula, MT
• 11/13: Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT
• 11/14: Hi-Dive, Denver, CO
• 11/15: Record Bar, Kansas City, MI
• 11/16: Aggie Theater, Fort Collins, CO

10/10: w/Fog
10/12, 10/31: w/RTX
10/18, 10/25: w/Monotonix
10/21: w/The Mae Shi
11/07: w/Telephone Tim Jesus

It might seem crazy now, but way back in 1999 Anticon Records was the Animal Collective of the indie world. Nerdy backpackers studied the label’s output like paint studies a wall. And none of the sprawling crew generated as much controversy as Tim “Sole” Holland. He took on Company Flow in a classic war on wax, issued the brilliantly bitter Selling Live Water, and became the prototypical angry white “emo” rapper (alongside Slug, of course), paving the way for dozens of others to follow.

Today, whenever I mention the word Anticon to people, they kinda turn up their nose, like, “Ugh! That’s so over.” (And then they go back to studying their Lil Wayne mixtapes.) But Sole’s career isn’t done by a longshot. Last year he formed a new ensemble, the Skyrider Band, and the crew issued a self-titled album. He also issued an instrumental album as Mansbestfriend, Poly.sci.187.

In January, he’s confronting his skeptics with a two month tour, and he’s taking the Skyrider Band with him. Guests include Anticon associate Telephone Jim Jesus and, on select dates, Washington, D.C. rockers the Apes. He also dropped a new video for the track “Stupid Things Implode on Themselves.” Directed by Ravi Zupa, it finds a group of people wandering around the Arizona desert. Good stuff.

The tour schedule and the video is posted below.

• 01/16: Casbah, San Diego, CA
• 01/17: Glasshouse, Pomona, CA
• 01/18: Knitting Factory, Los Angeles, CA
• 01/21: Plush, Tucson, AZ
• 01/23: High Mayhem, Santa Fe, NM
• 01/24: The Roadhouse Saloon, San Antonio, TX
• 01/25: Emo’s, Austin, TX
• 01/26: Proletariat, Houston, TX
• 01/28: Spanish Moon, Baton Rouge, LA
• 01/29: Sluggos, Pensacola, FL
• 01/30: PS 14, Miami, FL
• 02/01: Lenny’s Bar, Atlanta, GA
• 02/02: Bottletree, Birmingham, AL
• 02/05: Black Cat, Washington, DC
• 02/06: Talking Head, Baltimore, MD
• 02/07: Khyber Pass, Philadelphia, PA
• 02/08: Knitting Factory, New York, NY
• 02/09: Glasslands, Brooklyn, NY
• 02/10: Soundlab, Buffalo, NY
• 02/12: SUNY Purchase, Purchase, NY
• 02/14: The Space, Portland, MN
• 02/15: Harper’s Ferry, Boston, MA
• 02/16: The Living Room, Providence, RI
• 02/18: Bug Jar, Rochester, NY
• 02/19: Garfield Artworks, Pittsburgh, PA
• 02/20: Scrummage University, Detroit, MI
• 02/21: Mac’s Bar, Lansing, MI
• 02/22: Abbey Pub, Chicago, IL
• 02/23: The Uptown Club, Minneapolis, MN
• 02/24: The Picador, Iowa City, IA
• 02/26: Hi-Dive, Denver, CO
• 02/27: Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT
• 02/28: Badlander, Missoula, MT
• 02/29: Nectar Lounge, Seattle, WA
• 03/01: Rotture, Portland, OR
• 03/02: W.O.W. Hall, Eugene, OR
• 03/06: Bottom of The Hill, San Francisco, CA
• 03/07: Howie and Sons Pizza, Visalia, CA

1/16-3/07: w/Telephone Jim Jesus
2/12, 2/15-2/16, 2/22: w/the Apes

And here’s the video link to “Stupid People Implode on Themselves”:

{youtube}YywqSQ6-2Os{/youtube}

www.soleone.org
www.myspace.com/timholland
www.myspace.com/soleandtheskyriderband

Photo by Yasamin Holland.

Bad boy icon Tim “Sole” Holland has kept a low profile over the past few years. He lived in Spain, issued an album in 2005 (Live from Rome), and nurtured his Anticon emblem from a pioneer for underground hip-hop into an outpost for indie-pop mordancy.

He’s back in the States, living in Flagstaff, Ariz., collaborating with Skyrider and preparing to issue a new album. First, though, comes a instrumental joint under his pseudonym, Mansbestfriend. On May 29 he’ll issue Poly.sci.187, which translates to Political Science 187: “Political Science: This Shit’ll Kill You.”

A press release from Anticon describes it as “filled with such sonic explorations. The album is an accomplished work that testifies not only to the fine art of experimentation, but to the aural abilities of Tim Holland, instrumentalist?may he be loud even in silence.”

And what about the album project with Skyrider? “This album is going to be far less sample based than my other music,” he writes on his new website. “It’s a mature, raw sound, i feel like i’ve finally hit the nail on the head. I can’t remember being this excited about a sole project, so far we have completed 10 songs, and i expect the project to be completed in a month or so, but we’re not rushing this, we want it to be a classic.”

While you wait for that one to hit the streets, check out Poly.sci.187. Here’s the track listing.

• 1. “Dedemma Speaks”
• 2. “The Teachings of Leviticus”
• 3. “Wilting Onward”
• 4. “High Noon and Sobered”
• 5. “Allieverwanted”
• 6. “Stuck In My Head Since I Was 12″
• 7. “Giant Man Eating Bird”
• 8. “Bosnian Jazz”
• 9. “Spin The Humans”
• 10. “50 at 30″
• 11. “Firefish”
• 12. “Father Vs. Courage”
• 13. “Party Till We Drop”
• 14. “Missile Defense”
• 15. “How Big Is Space”
• 16. “6million Wayz 2live”

Also, here’s a short documentary on Sole that aired on Current TV last month. It’s directed by Chris Row.

{google}1637488160917726553{/google}

www.soleone.org
www.myspace.com/timholland