I already mentioned this show yesterday, but those unable to catch these guys in Fort Collins will have another chance to see them tonight, this time at the Summit Music Hall in Denver. It should be a real treat to longtime fans of underground hip-hop and just may cause a paradigm shift for those who will be witnessing Aesop Rock for the first time. Kimya Dawson is an interesting inclusion to the lineup, suggesting there will be some folk and hip-hop crossover happening tonight. Rob Sonic is another quality Definitive Jux labelmate that will set the stage well for Aesop.

Aesop Rock quietly launched his career in 1996, bringing a distinctive vocal style and complex, metaphorical and subjective lyricism to the underground hip-hop scene. Using dark beats mainly produced by himself and hip-hop experimental instrumentalist Blockhead, his unique sound quickly grew in popularity and thrust him as being one of the biggest breakthrough acts in the indie rap world. He is currently working on a collaborative album with anti-folk singer-songwriter Kimya Dawson, so I expect to see much of this intriguing project. I do hope Aesop Rock performs much of his solo material like "Labor" and "None Shall Pass", but I won't be surprised if his performance is dominated by new material.


I don't know much about Kimya Dawson aside from the work she did on the Juno motion picture soundtrack like "Tire Swing".  She is known for playing subverted folk music (anti-folk) - music that has the traditional sound of folk but where the lyrical content is turned on its head in a sort of satirical manner. Conceptually, the idea of Kimya and Aesop working together makes sense. Aesop Rock is more of an anti-hip-hop artist, abandoning common rap themes and is known to be a bit satirical himself. They should be an interesting performance pair.


I first heard Rob Sonic in 2004, shortly after the release of his debut album Telicatessen. Rob Sonic handled the majority of the production on this album and the quirky beats instantly sucked me in. It's like he's a distant cousin of producer El-P, but with playfully dark beats, almost whimsical. Since then, he released a similarly styled album in 2007 called Sabotage Gigante. I'm very excited to finally see this guy live, and I hope he plays early stuff like "New Car Smell" to go along with his newer material like "Rock The Convoy".

The show starts at the Summit Music Hall at 8:00PM. Tickets are $20. It'll be the first time since I've been taking my camera out that I won't be allowed to have it tonight, so I'll apologize in advance for the crappy camera phone pictures I'm going to have to take.


None Shall Pass-Aesop Rock by TheBoyandColors

06-kimya dawson-tire swing by Jezzyroks