Dälek

If you're one of the old-school hipsters who spent most of 1990 and 1991 listening to Fear of a Black Planet and Loveless, you should feel right at home with alt-hip-hop duo Dälek. MC Dälek and producer Okotopus shun club-jam raps in favor of dense, atmospheric, and politically conscious sounds that are informed as much by electronic squall as they are Public Enemy. "You can't be limited by a genre," says Dälek. "My Bloody Valentine moved us and was something we could relate to. That's the beauty of music. It's a sound that goes beyond language, beyond where you're from. It allows people to connect." That theory carries over to Dälek's current tour, which includes sets by post-rockers Russian Circles and the self-explanatory Dub Trio. "If I was going to a show, I'd feel better about spending money [on] four totally different bands instead of four bands that sound the same," says Dälek. "But that's me. I'm also the kid who likes digging through record crates for hours and listening to all types of shit."