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…
Continue reading →
