Branching Out With Doomtree

We hyped the Flobots show at House of Blues tonight in our calendar section this week, but I would like to urge you to get to the club early (doors open at 7 p.m., show starts at 8) for Doomtree. They're a nine-strong Minneapolis hip-hop crew who sound like an ideal hybrid between the Rhymesayers and anticon. labels' dominant aesthetics.

Doomtree's five MCs (including P.O.S.) relate poignant, metaphor-rich tales that keep it real without being overly obvious about it. The group's four DJs and producers lace their tracks with solid, fresh funkiness and unusual orchestrations/instrumentation (probably sampled, but there's a serious artfulness to it) that stand up to several listens. Doomtree's self-titled album (out July 29) is one of the most assured hip-hop efforts of 2008.

Check out their track “Flex” below.