I first heard Themselves when they opened for The Notwist downstairs at the Middle East, whenever the hell that tour was. (4, 5 years ago, more?) I was immediately reeled in by this weirdo rapper with a mohawk and crazy voice, just crusing over these dark boombastic (yeah, boombastic) beats that were unlike anything i had heard from hiphop at the time, and still since… These are Doseone and Jel, and yes, Jel plays all the beats live every time on a variety of drum machines and samplers (and has some solo shit that is amazing), giving the unearthly robot sounds a very human feel.. I was so amazed by them, they were doing exactly what I needed to hear at every turn. They were animated, with Dose parading around the stage and getting up in the crowd’s face, and Jel channeling the bounce through his fingers right then and there, like a drummer but with sounds that you just can’t get from an acoustic set… Dose’s rhymes are always a couple steps ahead, and seem to be the words you can’t quite articulate, and then pizzazzed out. The beats are exciting, the grooves are deep, the energy is unlike anything. I bought their record, The No Music (2002, Anticon) on the spot. They gave me an Anticon pin, just a non discript tiny white disk with a black ant, which I am pissed that I lost.. Feels kinda wierd to be writing a “review” of a show that happened however many years ago, but TOMORROW NIGHT they are coming to Great Scott. After working on other projects for 6 years or something, Themselves are going to be in Boston tomorrow. Damn kid. I made an earlier post about the free version (about 40 mins) of the new mixtape that is available on the Anticon site for a very limited time.. I think it is still up, go check it out. @ anticon. myspace. anticon. …making this real easy…

I first heard Themselves when they opened for The Notwist downstairs at the Middle East, whenever the hell that tour was. (4, 5 years ago, more?) I was immediately reeled in by this weirdo rapper with a mohawk and crazy voice, just crusing over these dark boombastic (yeah, boombastic) beats that were unlike anything i had heard from hiphop at the time, and still since… These are Doseone and Jel, and yes, Jel plays all the beats live every time on a variety of drum machines and samplers (and has some solo shit that is amazing), giving the unearthly robot sounds a very human feel.. I was so amazed by them, they were doing exactly what I needed to hear at every turn. They were animated, with Dose parading around the stage and getting up in the crowd’s face, and Jel channeling the bounce through his fingers right then and there, like a drummer but with sounds that you just can’t get from an acoustic set… Dose’s rhymes are always a couple steps ahead, and seem to be the words you can’t quite articulate, and then pizzazzed out. The beats are exciting, the grooves are deep, the energy is unlike anything.

I bought their record, The No Music (2002, Anticon) on the spot. They gave me an Anticon pin, just a non discript tiny white disk with a black ant, which I am pissed that I lost..

Feels kinda wierd to be writing a “review” of a show that happened however many years ago, but TOMORROW NIGHT they are coming to Great Scott. After working on other projects for 6 years or something, Themselves are going to be in Boston tomorrow. Damn kid.

I made an earlier post about the free version (about 40 mins) of the new mixtape that is available on the Anticon site for a very limited time.. I think it is still up, go check it out.

@ anticon.

myspace.

anticon.

…making this real easy…