Anti-Pop Consortium regroups, posts new track on MySpace

Between 1996 and 1997, the face of hip-hop shifted dramatically. Its two biggest stars, Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G., both met their demise from the end of a barrel. The East Coast-West Coast madness was growing out of control. Hip-hop seemed doomed to implode.

Out of the darkness of that period, however, arose a quartet of artists—three MCs and a DJ—that called themselves the Anti-Pop Consortium. One of the first groups to straddle the line that had been artificially constructed between IDM and hip-hop, APC released only two full-length studio albums in its five-year existence.

Citing creative differences, the group disbanded in 2002, leaving the hip-hop world a changed place. APC's arrhythmic sounds were harsh on the ear, challenging, and utterly different than anything else at the time. In the six years since the group broke up, that's all changed. APC's influence can be heard far and wide, most prominently in the glitch music movement that's begun to explode out of California over the past few years.

Then, last August, the four members of APC spoke with Pitchfork, and informed the music world that they had reunited and were hard at work on a new album. Since then, not much had been heard from the four guys. But just last week, a song entitled "Volcano" appeared on their MySpace page.

APC also has several European tour dates scheduled in March, and plans to play a few festivals in May at Britian's Don't Look Back Series, in support of none other than Public Enemy. What this all means for their next album is still a mystery; An anonymous APC members recently posted a blog that simply read, "I've been getting a lot of people asking me about a date for the next Anti-pop record but I'm sad to say that there is no new album ready yet at the present time but stay tuned on this page for any furthur developments."

Re-familarize yourself with the group with the following YouTube video, and keep your eyes and ears open for news about a new Anti-Pop Consortium album:

March
4 - Amsterdam, Zuid-Holland @ Melkweg
5 - Paris @ La Maroquinerie
6 - Geneva @ L’Usine
7 - Belfort @ Poudriere
8 - Dijon @ La Vapeur
9 - Geneva @ Usine PTR
22 - New York, New York @ Knitting Factory- Tap Bar

May
23 - Lambeth, London and South East @ Brixton Academy
26 - Lancashire, Northeast @ Manchester Academy- All Tomorrows Parties
27 - Glasgow, Scotland @ Glasgow ABC 1- All Tomorrows Parties