Gig of the Week: Anti-Pop Consortium, Saturday 10th April, Whelan's

Apr 06

Gig of the Week: Anti-Pop Consortium, Saturday 10th April, Whelan's

NYC's Anti-Pop Consortium return to Dublin after a mind-blowing, roof-raising Irish début performance in 2009.

Formed in autumn 1997, united under the credo “disturb the equilibrium,” the Anti-Pop Consortium came together as a divergent force to resist the evil empire hip-hop was slowly becoming.

Three vocalists, Priest, Beans and M.Sayyid, and the aural alchemy of Earl Blaize met at a poetry slam in New York City. Through a mutual appreciation for each others' work, their collaborations resulted in the now classic underground composition Disorientation.

At its inception The Consortium issued a series of cassette only releases on the then fledgling Anti-Pop Recordings. After circulating the cassettes among divergent taste makers of the NYC underground the four-man crew became known as the Anti-Pop Consortium. With an almost religious fervor the team began their assault with an infamous Xerox and sticker campaign that landed Priest in jail for vandalism under Giuliani's “increased standard of living regime.”

Coupled with the verbal pyrotechnics of their live show the Consortium gained the favor of both the staunch B-boy purists as well as the experimental heads. They released several tape singles and two albums primarily on Dan the Automator 's experimental hip-hop label 75 Ark before being signed by Warp Records in 2000.

The group disbanded due to creative differences in August 2002, with Beans pursuing a solo career while High Priest and M. Sayyid formed Airborn Audio, releasing a single album, Good Fortune, on Ninja Tune in 2005. All three members have pursued solo projects since the group's breakup.

APC completed their third album before they broke up, released in February 2003 as Antipop Consortium vs. Matthew Shipp.

Six years after they parted ways Anti-Pop Consortium reunited and recorded their fourth album, Fluorescent Black (Big Dada). The album represents the group's best work yet, a seventeen track masterpiece that moves through moods, concepts, beats and rhymes with the mind-bending ease which has always characterised their output, but expands their work further in every direction.

APC say they reunite enriched by the time apart: “We're grown men,” says Beans. “So our acceptance of our differences has allowed to bring all the more magic to the table. We're stronger now and the music is better for it.”

Whelan's. 25 Wexford St, D2.

Doors: 8pm

Tickets: €18.50 (incl booking fee) from WAV Box-Office (Lo-Call 1890 200 078), City Discs, Sound Cellar, www.tickets.ie, Ticketmaster outlets nationwide

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