Apostle of Hustle

A revelation: Ian's a communist. Despite his prodigious entrepreneurial talents, Mr. Anderson let the red menace get to him in his younger, punker years. Back in those chaotic days, he was shilling the first Aneuretical mix tapes for sexual favors during the day, fighting for the proletariat by night. The ascension of John Ashcroft, September 11 and the introduction of the Patriot Act forced him to scale back his revolutionary activities, but his inner-pinko remains committed to class conflict, even if it only emerges in subtle ways.

For instance, this summer, Ian and I had separate blogger accounts for Sliver. If I posted something to the news section, blogger would give me due credit for my effort, and vice-versa for Ian. But right before I left for Dublin, Ian "assimilated" our two accounts, and now, whenever anything gets posted, we both receive credit (i.e. POSTED BY IAN AND PETE). Considering I've spent the past five months working on little besides permanently damaging my liver, the unified front Ian's been maintaining makes me feel a little guilty, because I received credit for a bunch of work I didn't do. So I wanted to come out and say it: I've been a lazy bastard. In my defense, it's hard to be proactive in a country that privileges whiskey consumption over work.

In any event, I'm back in Minneapolis now, and I've finally got the opportunity to write about Apostle of Hustle. The brainchild of Andy Whiteman – one of Broken Social Scene's 2,000 guitarists – Apostle of Hustle play BSS's brand of sweeping space-rock, only the trio tones down the bombast and adds a little Latin flavor into the mix. I picked up the group's first record, Folkloric Feel, right around the time You Forgot It In the People was getting (deservedly) pimped by Pitchfork. Folkloric Feel is a fine record, but it's peanuts compared to the band's newest effort, National Anthem of Nowhere.

Chock full of minor-key melodies and coated with snowy guitars and synths, Whiteman & co. eschew the big, cathartic rock of the last BSS record for weird space-pop and funky Cuban beats. National Anthem of Nowhere doesn't get released until March 6, but until then, peep this:

Apostle of Hustle - National Anthem of Nowhere