Subtle

Location:
COATESVILLE, Indiana, US
Type:
Artist / Band / Musician
Genre:
Experimental / Hip Hop / Other
Site(s):
Label:
Lex Records
Type:
Indie
First, this is not the actual band. I'm a fan who thinks they're absolutely genius.



Doseone and Jel form the core of the Subtle equation, but the band is also greater than the sum of its subsequent parts. Hailing from Oakland in San Francisco, California, the Subtle sextet are intent on home-recording their way to the far side of music employing one electronic drums, kit drums, electric cello, 3 keyboards, 3 samplers, guitar, and Doseones dazzling and unclassifiable vocals. Subtle describe their songs as; re-sampled and re-approached improv and the terms rock, hip-hop, and electronic all apply here but are by no means exhaustive.



Doseone is the vocalist, lyricist, and sometime rapper. A highly prolific artist whose previous output and achievements include being one third of cLOUDDEAD alongside why? and Odd Nosdam; half of Themselves with Jel; a published poet; Boom Bip collaborator; solo artist; and more. Having performed countless shows to fans across the globe and once battling (a then unknown) Eminem in the semi-finals of emcee competition Scribble Jam, Doseone is no bystander to the world of live performance either. A self-confessed neurotic and word fanatic Doseone, real name Adam Drucker, is a totally unique musician with an unmistakable style who has been called; an artist who may turn out to be our generations most important. by US magazine Urb.



Jel, real name Jeff Logan, is a drum machine abuser, producer par excellence, and beat architect. He met Doseone at high school and theyve been making music together on and off ever since. After falling in love with hip-hop during the late 80s Jel bought an SP1200 and that was it.



Jel and Doseone met at high school and are longstanding collaborators within their own group, Themselves (formerly known as Them until an unseemly incident with a Van Morrison fan club forced Them to add selves). The pair are probably the most active of the artists associated with the Anticon Record label.



Also present are Dax Pierson, Marty Dowers, Jordan Dalrymple, and Alexander Cort. Dax moved to Oakland in 96, has previously worked with Jel and Doseone in their Themselves guise, and been involved in separate projects with Alex, Marty, and Jordan. Multi-instrumentalist Dax looks after synths, sampler, melodica and auto-harp. Marty Dowers is described as the elder statesman of the six, Jordan Dalrymple is on guitars and computers, while cooking enthusiast and electric cellist Alexander Kort completes the sextet.



For Subtle, the last twelve months have been nothing short of life changing. Surviving through and recovering from a terrible tour van accident last February has led the subtle6 to their most adventurous and clear-hearted achievement, the soon to be released "for hero : for fool". A contiguous and conceptual work of album as art, picking up and running away with the motifs and musical arrangements of "a new white" and their four self-released season themed ep's. Carrying on Doseone's outer/inner monologue that underlies his previous endeavours cLOUDDEAD, themselves, and 13 & god, "for hero : for fool" boldly follows the B-movie dreams and midday terrors of a working-class poet, born of raw raps and the somewhat vacuum times of the last quarter century.



Their latest release "wishingbone" is a CD/DVD collection of new material, re-approaches and remixes as recorded by Subtle and a few of their closest friends Mike Patton, Beck, Console, Hrvatski, Fog, and Ms. John Soda. The DVD features three music videos by London-based animators SSSR, tied together as a short film. Creating a twice-textured and all-era style, SSSR melds filmed miniatures, surreal sketch work, and classic animation to create a world in and of itself.



Subtle hits the stage this spring in support of the "wishingbone", touring the U.S.of A and Europe in stride. Not to be missed, their live performance parallels and elaborates on the complex and natural lengths of their recorded material. With painted backdrops, stageprops and a whole lot of middleclass mojo, it is in the midst of live performance that Subtle's works of song complete themselves.



Subtle have previously offered forth four now out of print EP releases, each named after a season of the year. In 2001 Subtle released A New White debut album, and the F.K.O. single from it. This year, the sister album to 'A New White', 'Wishingbone' will be released, will an accompanying tour.
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