About Abdominal & The Obliques
Having made his debut on the UK music scene as the long time collaborative partner of DJ Format, quirky and lovable Canadian rapper Abdominal (aka Andy Bernstein) returns from across the Atlantic for a UK headline tour with his three-piece band in March.
Joined by his trusty live band, dubbed The Obliques, Abdominal’s music has been busy maturing from the seminal days of noughties hip hop that saw him and DJ Format criss-cross the UK, playing everywhere from dive raves in Exeter to sold out nights at Brixton Academy and multiple standout appearances at Glastonbury Festival.
Since his debut solo album Escape From the Pigeon Hole in 2007, Abdominal has been inevitably getting older and so his music has evolved to better reflect his advancing years and more wizened outlook on life. As well as adding The Obliques for 2012’s full-band album Sitting Music (Pinwheel Music), one notable change is the lyrical content, with less focus on the typical rap themes of braggadocio and material consumption, already done to death by many a younger MC. Instead, Abs chose to look inward, beginning to tackle themes of pain, vulnerability, courage and resilience.
Sitting Music was a critical and press success in the band’s home country of Canada, where numerous songs have been in high rotation on national radio and a successful East Coast tour and hometown shows in Toronto cemented Abdominal’s reputation one of Canada’s most unique live acts.
Through all of this much appreciated local love however, by far the majority of album sales have been to Brits! Mainly to loyal fans who have been with Abs since the DJ Format days. Given that fact (plus the constant ‘when will you next be hitting the UK?’ queries on his Facebook and Twitter walls), Abs realised a return to the UK, new band in tow, was long overdue!
