Prefuse 73 (Warp), Blockhead + Signify (Ninja Tune) + Black Grass (Catskills)

Civil Society presents an Easter Sunday of killer quality sounds from the left-handed hip-hop brain – Prefuse 73’s bugged out beat re-arranging, compelling cinematic hip-hop of Ninja Tune’s Blockhead live w DJ Signify, Black Grass’s Mex DJing soulful beats + FrigidCyclic impresarios Sub-Bass Snarl.

Prefuse 73 (US/live/Warp)

On record, Prefuse 73 sounds like a cyborg creation caught in a time trap somewhere between the hot buttered soul of the 70s and the Mantronix-era vintage hip-hop of the mid-1980s. However, Scott Herren, the man behind this digital sonic fusion, couldn’t be more real. Catch his visually dynamic live show and hear why he’s worked with MF Doom, TV on the Radio, Tortoise and Ghostface and left Q Magazine describing him as “a malfunctioning iPod loaded with The Neptunes, Aphex Twin circa Windowlicker and The Last Poets – only with all the fragments miraculously falling in just the right places…”.

Blockhead + Signify (US/live/Ninja Tune)

Downtown New York City resident Blockhead debuted on Ninja Tune in 2004 with the critically-acclaimed and JJJ supported Music By Cavelight. It was described as “one of the most fantastically good albums you’re going to hear this year” (Sunday Telegraph!?) with Blockhead himself hotly tipped as definitely one to watch. Both his Music By Cavelight and Downtown Science albums on Ninja Tune have hit a huge chord in Australia, making Blockhead one Ninja’s most popular artists in this country. Bringing out DJ Signify – a major new talent, a producer in the vein of DJ Shadow and working at the heart of the US turntablist scene – for his live show and debut Australian tour, this a rare treat for lovers of quality beats.

Black Grass (UK/Mex DJ set/Catskills)

Black Grass know that the secret of soul is not where you expect it but where you find it, playing across the board from hip hop, jazz, soul, downbeat, reggae, boogie and UK garage. Their debut self-titled album on Inertia Recordings was of immense musical breadth and an Australian smash with tearaway summer festival appearances sealing the deal. Black Grass’ Mex will be wheeling out the Black Grass sound – a celebration of all that is great in club music moving your feet, soothing your spirit and stirring your soul