Alternative hip-hop artist Busdriver has been confirmed for the 16th edition of Skaņu Mežs festival, which will happen on October 12 and 13 in Riga, Latvia, at music house Daile. He will play on the first evening of the festival, and will present his new album „Electricity is on Our Side”, accompanied by drummer Darryl Moore. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.bilesuserviss.lv/
Possessing a hyper-literate, intellectual style of rapping augmented with dizzying elocution that would tongue-tie even the fiercest auctioneer, Busdriver is eclectic and eccentric enough to cite vocalese jazz singer Jon Hendricks as a primary influence. Born Regan Farquhar, the Los Angeles MC was introduced to hip-hop culture early — his father wrote the screenplay to one of the earliest films focusing on hip-hop, Krush Groove. He began rapping at age nine, releasing his first record at age 13 with his group, 4/29, named after the 1992 L.A. riots. By the mid-’90s, Busdriver was a regular at the Project Blowed open mike, where he would meet future collaborators and underground luminaries like Aceyalone, Abstract Rude, and Freestyle Fellowship. And shortly after, the vinyl did flow. Busdriver guested on upward of 20 singles, and by 2001 he could no longer be contained by guest spots, releasing his first full-length, Memoirs of the Elephant Man. There were just as many detractors as supporters for his singular style, which was so densely packed it made his chosen name seem a reference for multiple-personality disorder, and the lo-fi production also left more listeners scratching heads than nodding them. His next album, This Machine Kills Fashion Tips (2002), continued in a similar manner before being trumped by better production and more focused rhymes on Temporary Forever the same year. Joined by another West Coast avant-garde MC, Radioinactive, and the breezy, fractured pop of electronic producer Daedelus, Busdriver released yet another odd puzzle piece in 2003, Weather. Fear of a Black Tangent followed on Mush in 2005. After moving to Anti/Epitaph, the rapper issued RoadKillOvercoat, which featured production from Nobodyand Boom Bip. His second Anti release, Jhelli Beam, appeared in 2009 and he took a three year break before returning on Fake Four with Beaus$Eros, a strange departure into electro pop that featured production by Loden. The Perfect Hair album from 2014 was a return to form but on a new label for the artist, Big Dada, which was followed by album Thumbs on his own label Temporary Whatever in 2015.
Busdriver returned to listeners in 2018 with two new releases – two song single „The Imperfect Cinema” and, more importantly, the 22-song full-lenght album „Electricity is on our Side”, which he reportedly produced at his home using dated equippment across many years.
Stay tuned for further announcements of Skaņu Mežs 2018. Tickets to the festival can be purchased here: ticketservice.lv. Advance sales ticket for a single concert night costs 15 EUR. Meanwhile, the first 100 two-day passes are currently available for 20 EUR.
Skaņu Mežs festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture of Latvia, State Culture Capital Foundation, the Municipality of Riga, Trust for Mutual Understanding as well as iRobot, Valmiermuiža and Red Bull Music Academy. Skaņu Mežs is also a member of the SHAPE platform for innovative music and audiovisual art, supported by the „Creative Europe” program of the European Union, and I.C.A.S., an international network of festivals, devoted to adventurous sound.
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a0Y-CRx4nE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJfTY8JVuE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTxDEu1mw68
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A9-kYwnN2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNhF92bL5s4