【コラム】 Anticon — 反・アイコンの系譜とその周縁音楽

Column en Experimental Hiphop History Post Rock

03 Oct 2025

Beyond indie hip-hop, post-rock, electronica, and the art scene in general

Text: mmr

Theme: The history of experimental hip-hop/indie music by Anticon (founded in 1998) and the discography of major artists.

Anticon (anticon.) is an American indie/experimental hip-hop label/collective founded in 1998.While many of the founding members expanded their scope of activities into “avant-garde hip-hop” and indie/electronica, crossing over between solo acts and derivative units, the label’s activities declined in the late 2010s after significant changes (departure of a co-founder, death of a member, etc.).

History and spirit — origins as “anti”

Anticon was founded in 1998 with the likes of Sole (Tim Holland), Doseone (Adam Drucker), Jel (Jeffrey Logan), Odd Nosdam (David Madson), Pedestrian (James Brandon Best), and Yoni Wolf (Why?). The name comes from the word “ant-icon”, symbolizing resistance to established genres and commercial norms.

Representative projects include cLOUDDEAD, Themselves, Subtle, and Deep Puddle Dynamics.

Musical characteristics and transformation

In the early days, the band’s core was fragmentary, abstract, and even literary lyrics, which were described as avant-hip-hop'' orhip-hop’s version of post-rock,’’ as well as an experimental orientation that made extensive use of samples, noise, and ambience.However, since the mid-2000s, the individual members have shifted towards indie rock, electronica, and pop, and as a result, Anticon has become less of a “single genre label” and more of a “group of individuals who resonate with each other.”Representative Why? (Yoni Wolf) has deepened his melody-oriented songwriting, while Doseone and others have turned to performance-oriented projects.

Anecdote/Turning Point

Sole’s departure (2010): Co-founder Sole announced his departure from Anticon in 2010.It is said that there were differences in business views and directions, but he commented that they would continue to work together on a personal basis.
Alias Passes away (2018): Co-founder, producer/artist Alias passed away suddenly in 2018.Since then, the label’s activities have dwindled, and one of its founding members, Sole, has stated that the label was dissolved after Alias’ death.This is a clear turning point in Anticon’s history

Recommended albums by generation

Year	Artist	Title	Link
1999–2001	cLOUDDEAD	cLOUDDEAD	Amazon
2000	Sole	Bottle of Humans	Amazon
2002	Themselves	The No Music	Amazon
2005	Why?	Elephant Eyelash	Amazon
2003	Alias	Muted	Amazon
1999–2004	V.A. (Anticon)	Anticon: Label Sampler	Amazon

Discography by artist

■ Sole (Tim Holland)

Year	Title	Notes	Link
1999	Bottle of Humans	Anticon’s earliest solo masterpiece	Amazon
2003	Selling Live Water	Deepening your political message	Amazon
2005	Live From Rome	Lo-fi feel and experimentation	Amazon
2010	Plastique	Co-produced with Skyrider Band	Amazon
2014	Death Drive	Co-produced with DJ Pain 1	Amazon

■ Doseone (Adam Drucker)

Year	Title	Notes	Link
1998	Hemisphere	Early works with Jel	YouTube
2005	Ha	Abstract solo	Amazon
2016	G Is For Deep	Beat/Singing Voice Experiment	Amazon

■ Jel (Jeffrey Logan)

Year	Title	Notes	Link
2002	10 Seconds	MPC feats	Amazon
2006	Soft Money	Many guests	Amazon

■ Odd Nosdam (David Madson)

Year	Title	Notes	Link
2001	Plan 9… Meat Your Hypnotis.	Sample Heterogeneous Beauty	Amazon
2005	Burner	Ambient texture	Amazon
2007	Level Live Wires	Boards of Canada’s worldview	Amazon

■ Alias (Brendon Whitney)

Year	Title	Notes	Link
2000	The Other Side of the Looking Glass	Debut work	Amazon
2003	Muted	Suppressed sound world	Amazon
2008	Resurgam	Post-rock	Amazon
2014	Pitch Black Prism	Final work	Amazon

■ Why? (Yoni Wolf)

Year	Title	Notes	Link
2005	Elephant Eyelash	Early masterpieces	Amazon
2008	Alopecia	Highly hailed as a masterpiece	Amazon
2009	Eskimo Snow	Mellow texture	Amazon
2012	Mumps, etc.	Humorous lyrics	Amazon
2017	Moh Lhean	Recent masterpieces	Amazon

■ cLOUDDEAD

Year	Title	Notes	Link
2001	cLOUDDEAD	A fantastic masterpiece	Amazon

■ Themselves (Doseone + Jel)

Year	Title	Notes	Link
2000	Them	Debut work	Amazon
2002	The No Music	Representative works	Amazon
2009	CrownsDown	Full of tension	Amazon

■ Subtle

Year	Title	Notes	Link
2004	A New White	Project led by Doseone	Amazon
2006	For Hero: For Fool	Highly rated work	Amazon

■ Deep Puddle Dynamics

Year	Title	Notes	Link
1998	The Taste of Rain… Why Kneel?	Legendary works by Slug, Sole, Alias and others	Amazon

Influence in production/guest performance

The members of Anticon collaborated extensively outside of their own label.For example, his remix work with Odd Nosdam and production/collaboration with Alias intersect with artists from the post-rock and indie worlds.Anticon also became a hub for releases and tours from outsiders such as Buck 65 and Sage Francis, contributing to the formation of its own scene.

Current status (2020s) and legacy

There are reports that the official website and activities have shrunk since 2018, and that “continuation as a label” has virtually ceased with the death of founding member Alias.However, individual artists (Why?, Doseone, Odd Nosdam, etc.) continue to pursue solo careers or other labels, and Anticon’s musical influence remains strong in the indie/experimental music world today.The diaspora in the 2010s and the turning point in 2018 are good examples of how the “collective” called a label changes as individuals become more diverse.

Deep dive: Highlights to listen to

Decoration and deconstruction of words: Anticon style vocals often embellish words to shake up meaning and emotion.Lyric analysis (vocabulary frequency, theme changes) is also interesting from a cultural research perspective.

Production Experimentality: Tracks that utilize field recordings, noise, and subtle ambience need to be listened to with a different metric than traditional beat-oriented hip-hop.

Politics of community: The conflicts and resolutions of label management, ownership, and artistic policy are useful materials for thinking about the politics of indie music.Sole’s departure in 2010 and Alias’ disbandment following his death are important case studies.

Reference (excerpt)

summary

Anticon was more than just a hip-hop label; it was a cultural experiment that proposed new possibilities for words and sounds, incorporating elements of experimental music, post-rock, and electronica.Key members such as Sole, Doseone, Jel, Alias, Odd Nosdam, and Why? continued to update their poetic expressions and sonic worlds through solo work, bands, and collaborations.

At the core of its activities is an awareness of the expansion of underground hip-hop'' from the late 1990s to the 2000s, and as a result, Anticon has taken on a strong character as anart collective,’’ independent lab,'' andideological community.’‘cLOUDDEAD’s fantastic works, Why?’s pop-leaning albums, and the experimental productions of Alias and Odd Nosdam continue to influence many listeners and musicians to this day.

Although the label effectively came to an end in the late 2010s with the passing of Alias and the scattering of members, its spirit continues to pulsate in the activities of each artist.Anticon’s genre-bending aesthetic has become one of the cornerstones of modern indie music and DIY culture, and has been passed down to a new generation of experimental artists on Spotify and Bandcamp.

In other words, Anticon is a ``group that continued to experiment with the impossible’‘**, and their challenging attitude continues to live on in the music scene.

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Column en Experimental Hiphop History Post Rock