Anglo-Saxon

This Avenue of the Arts MC may have shortened his moniker to Anglo-Saxon, but you can still call him Ill Al -- he sure lives up to the name with incredible rhymes on his new disc, Unplug, which is being jointly released by two up-and-coming local indie labels, Grave 9 and Universatile ("Yo, that's fresh"). In 19 tracks, the young talent proves himself to be the whole package: socially conscious ("This Old House," addressing child labor and the war), intellectually curious ("Unplug," which considers life beyond the boob tube), and frank ("Breaking Up/Power Trip," a bit of hindsight wisdom on heartbreak). As a kid, Anglo-Saxon overcame a haunting family tragedy (read his bio at illal.com) that's apparently behind his drive and conviction. Not to mention, he's got a primo posse of contributors, including DJ Les, DJ Konradio, Ohm, LMNO (Visionaries), Life Rexall (Shape Shifters), and soulful vocalist Neila. Together, they create some deeply funky sessions -- check out the upright bass melody in "The Way" and the uncontrollable groove of "Traveling." And while Unplug creatively layers instruments, samples, scratching and electronic blips to stunning effect, what's even more satisfying is the live spoken-word piece "Walkman." Rhyming fast and furious, Anglo-Saxon's only backed up by the sweet sounds of a crowd going wild.

Anglo-Saxon's CD release party, originally scheduled for Friday, August 5, has been postponed. Please check gravenine.com for details.