Atmosphere - Like the rest of us
Atmosphere - Dreamer

One of my friends, we’ll call him Kyle, is a huge indie hip hop fan. Unfortunately, thanks to my roots as a Texan/New Mexican - I didn’t grow up with such a great taste in music. (I mean, it’s way better than YOURS now, but it wasn’t always this way) I think my first compact disc I ever purchased for myself was Dave Matthews Band - Under the Table and Dreaming. Not such a bad disc - especially for the grunge overtones of the day.

I’ve since moved on from the Glen Philips, Dave Matthews, and Goo Goo Dolls of my youth. While I do revisit them occasionally, just for a sense of nostalgia, I no longer crave the acoustic guitar. So, when Kyle and I took a road trip on music, we first made a pit stop at Best Buy to pick up some new tunes. He bought two, and I bought 50. Mine were blank. His were ‘Atmosphere - When Life Hands you Lemons, you Paint that Shit Gold’ and ‘Lyrics Born - Everywhere at Once.’

If you’ve ever followed either of these artists, you know that both of them have a very unique style. Atmosphere - very angry white boy rap that isn’t Eminem, and Lyrics Born is a soul groover that raps to the beat of his own damn drum. And they’re both good. And about a month, they both released some new discs that have really shown that they are growing up.

Atmospheres Lemons’ is a journey of a 30 something white boy who is just now figuring out how to grow up and not be angry. Full of wit, honesty, and charm, Sean Daley (Slug) gives insight to all his previous records. He opens up, talking about his youth, the groupies, his son, his ex, and anything else he could fit on this astounding record. The music is just as clean as his new style, and won’t get on your nerves.

Lyrics Born, on the other hand, was a disappointment. Typically in the past, Lyrics will bring some funk, some soul, some light, some dark, and some really intricate records. And when you get into the first 3 songs off of ‘Everywhere at Once,’ you quite enjoy the pure funkadelic path he has choosen. The problem is, he never let’s off the pedal. It’s Funk, and it’s ALL FUNK. For me to dislike a record on first listen is very rare these days, but, Lyrics took the cake for June, I think.

Check out the tracks I included, and make up your own damn mind.

I was in a friends car about 3 months ago, and Lyrics came on. As a fan of indie hip-hop, I was ecstatic. He was way underground, usually drawing large crowds in the Berkley/Oakland area, but nothing very big outside of our backyard. His rap is fast and furious, and appears on trax (is that correct?) with lots of other folk. His music is hip, so your parents won’t wanna a copy, but I guarantee that your roommate will.

His new CD, Everything at Once, drops(?!?) on April 21st. To see him live this summer, grab advanced tickets to San Francisco’s Outside Lands festival in Golden Gate park, and if you really can’t wait until August 24th, your only hope is the west coast. That is unless you happen to be in Europe. Grace his website and you can find dates all over.

I couldn’t find any free downloads for Lyrics, but I did his new single ‘I like it, I love it,’ on KEXP song of the day for 4/7/08. Just go into your Itunes store and search for KEXP, and you’ll get an amazing array of options, the best one of these being the songs of the day. Word.

This could be the best festival out there this year. The bang for your buck is ultimate, especially since Radiohead is headlining. I figure you have to see them once up close and personal in your life. At least that’s what all my friends tell me. I’ve yet to experience the brilliance.

Maybe because it’s in my own backyard, but as I looked down this list, it quickly became a quick favorite. I never go to festivals for headliners, rather for the artists I might discover or already know of that are very underground. Radiohead and Tom Petty are easily worth the money, although I’d pay that much to not see Jack Johnson. (insert agitated surf-music content here)

Some under radar performers that I’m totally stoked about are….Regina Spektor, Devendra Banhart, bay area hip hop rapper Lyrics Born, Andrew Bird, rap/hip-hop group Little Brother, rock band Dredg, and of course my latest love, Bon Iver. I will be attending this amazing festival with bells and whistles on. More information to come on it very shortly.