Anticon

Anticon (styled as anticon.) is a San Francisco Bay Area independent record label^[1] founded in 1997.^[2] It is collectively owned among seven founding artists and one manager.^[3] The musicians signed to Anticon are referred to as the Anticon Collective.

The label's roster of artists has been described as "the hip-hop equivalent of post-rock," and "avant-garde hip-hop", also called "avanthop."^[2] Releases feature material created by its members, affiliates, and extended musical family. Although Anticon cohered originally within abstract hip hop circles, Anticon's founders have become only tangentially related to hip-hop music, and the label has in recent years begun releasing music in the indie rock and electronica genres. Artists signed to Anticon are based on the west coast, the east coast, the midwest, and Canada, and the label has recently signed artists in the UK.

The artists within the collective have been known to perform and release music in solo and group form. Artists on the label are known for frequent collaboration, both within and outside of their own collective. However, the Anticon collective has over time evolved into a group of separate artists who, despite sharing a similar progressive and often challenging^[4] indie quality, explore different styles of music including electronica and rock. Many of the artists on Anticon are signed to multiple labels, and some have their own small, independent labels through which they have self-released material.

Anticon has also organized art exhibitions featuring visual art by several of the artists on the label.^[5]

Artists linked to Anticon

Anticon records is owned by the following artists and one manager:

• Alias (Brendon Whitney)
• Doseone (Adam Drucker)
• Jel (Jeff Logan)
• Odd Nosdam (David Madson)
• Pedestrian (James Brandon Best)
• Sole (Tim Holland)
• Why? (Yoni Wolf)
• Baillie Parker

Anticon Record's current roster of active artists and groups:

• 13 & God (Project between The Notwist and Themselves)
• Alias & Tarsier (Brendon Whitney and Rona Rapadas)
• Alias
• Anathallo
• Bike for Three (a collaboration including Buck 65 and Greetings from Tuskan)
• Bracken (Chris Adams)
• DJ Mayonnaise (Chris Greer)
• Dosh (Martin Dosh)
• Odd Nosdam
• Passage (David Bryant)
• Restiform Bodies (Passage, Bomarr & Telephone Jim Jesus)
• SJ Esau
• Sole and the Skyrider Band
• Son Lux (Ryan Lott)
• Telephone Jim Jesus (George Chadwick)
• Thee More Shallows
• Tobacco
• Why? (Yoni Wolf)

Artists that have contributed in the past but are no longer active on the label are Buck 65, Sixtoo, Sage Francis and Slug (of Atmosphere).

Collaborators

Several other artists are currently, or have been, closely associated with Anticon: Dax Pierson, Slug and Ant (members of Minneapolis-based Atmosphere), Darc Mind, Mr Dibbs, DJ Signify, Eyedea, DJ Abilities, J. Rawls, Moodswing9, Circus, Controller7, Boom Bip, JD Walker, Josh Martinez, Sixtoo, Matth, Fog (Andrew Broder), Hood, Hrvatski, Electric Birds, John Herndon (Grapedope/Tortoise), Stefanie Bohm (Ms. John Soda), Jessica Bailiff, Rusty Trombone, Tarsier, Mike Patton Beyond Space Entertainment Beyond Space Presents Vol. 1 and Boards of Canada.

Projects

The Anticon collective is known for its many musical projects. Interestingly, not all of these projects are released through the Anticon label; artists within the Anticon collective have released collaborative and/or concept albums through different labels or through their own independent labels, and the group Subtle has enjoyed success on the Lex Records label.

Some notable projects of the Anticon collective include the following:

• Clouddead (Why?, Doseone & Odd Nosdam)
• Deep Puddle Dynamics (Sole, Doseone & Alias, with Slug of Atmosphere)
• Restiform Bodies (Passage, Telephone Jim Jesus & The Bomarr Monk)
• Themselves (Doseone, Jel and when performing live, Dax Pierson)
• 13 & God (Doseone, Jel & Dax Pierson of Themselves, with Markus Acher, Micha Acher & Martin Gretschmann of The Notwist)
• Greenthink (Doseone & Why?)
• Subtle (Doseone, Jel, Dax Pierson, Jordan Dalrymple, Alexander Kort & Marty Dowers)
• Hymie's Basement (Why? & Andrew Broder of Fog)
• Reaching Quiet (Why? & Odd Nosdam)
• Sole and the Skyrider Band (Sole)

See also

• Abstract hip hop
• Alternative hip hop
• Indie rock
• List of record labels
• DipSet Records

External links

Anticon

• Anticon—Official Web site
• Anticon's official online store
• Anticon at Discogs
• Anticon at MySpace
• Anticon profile at Stylus Magazine
• Profile of Baillie Parker
• Anticon interview at Drowned in Sound
• Anticon label playlist at Spotify

Individual artists

• Official Web site of Dosh
• Official Web site of Sole
• Doseone Gigastore
• Subtle
• Official Web site of Dj Mayonnaise
• Restiform Bodies
• Official Web site of TOBACCO

References