Sole at the hi-dive

After launching the anticon. label with Pedestrian in 1998, Sole (due at the hi-dive on Sunday, October 25) has become one of the world's most influential underground hip-hop artists. With a dense stream-of-consciousness lyrical delivery and emotionally charged beats and music to accompany the weighty content, Sole established himself early...

By Tom Murphy

October 22, 2009

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After launching the anticon. label with Pedestrian in 1998, Sole (due at the hi-dive on Sunday, October 25) has become one of the world's most influential underground hip-hop artists. With a dense stream-of-consciousness lyrical delivery and emotionally charged beats and music to accompany the weighty content, Sole established himself early on as very different from most commercial hip-hop artists while still embracing the musicality and techniques of the mainstream. With the Skyrider Band, Sole mixed rock with hip-hop in a way that didn't sound like a mangled amalgam of the two, but rather like a synthesis that allowed for a broad sonic range and an enhanced edginess in both art forms. Since moving to Denver in spring 2009, Sole has embraced the underground scene and makes his debut as a local artist with this CD-release show for Plastique, an album that explores the solipsistic alienation of modern life.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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Twitter: @simianthinker