You’ll want to be at the Sett this Saturday to catch indie hip-hop at its best. Two months after labelmate Astronautalis played the same venue, bleubird and Ceschi will bring their rhymes to Madison. Local favorite Phonetic ONE will set the stage for the night. It’s sure to be a party.

bleubird released his U.S. debut in January after making a name for himself living in Canada and Europe. The debut, CANNONBALL!!!, was produced by Astronautalis and Radical Face and features a little bit of everything – from the playful (I highly recommend “Black Sandcastles”) to sullen, storytelling (“Geihe 1977″ highlights his family tree) to stream of consciousness. In addition to recently touring Europe with Astronautalis, bleubird’s played shows with an impressive array of artists including Xiu Xiu, Deerhoof, and Battles, so you know his show’s got to be good.

On CANNONBALL!!!‘s track “Time For Real” (available below for download) you can catch some lightning quick spitting from a featured appearance by Ceschi. Ceschi’s songs paint descriptive pictures with the skill of a literary genius, putting the listener in the shoes of a struggling artist in his most recent release, 2010′s The One-Man Band Broke Up. He’s also responsible for creating the label Fake Four Inc, through which some of our favorite artists like Busdriver, Sole, and the aforementioned Astronautalis and bluebird tell their stories.

Getting us started will be a local favorite, Phonetic ONE. A member of UW-Madison’s First Wave Spoken Word and Hip Hop Learning Community, Phonetic ONE showed the world what the Madison Hip-Hop scene has to offer in a big way with 2009′s Phonetic Phenom EP. Since then he’s followed that up with the On The Bus Stop LP (which had a pretty great promo) and shared the stage with acts like Eyedea & Abilities, Doomtree, and F. Stokes. He’s currently a contender in the Chegg College Battle of the Bands, which has had past contestants like Local Natives and Mike Posner.

Make sure to come out for the 9 p.m. start of bleubird, Ceschi, and Phonetic ONE at the Sett on Saturday. Below, Download separate tracks from bleubird and Ceschi along with “Time 4real,” on which they share the mic. That’s lots of music people. Listen, love, come to the Sett.

Download bleubird’s “Time 4real ft. Ceschi”
Download bleubird’s “Down Like Brothers ft. Radical Face”
Download Ceschi’s “Bad Jokes”

In the mood to get your booty shakin’?! If you are (and why would you not be?) then we have just the thing for you. Big Freedia and The Divas, along with Sissy Nobby and DJ Diamond, will be playing at The Sett this Saturday 4/14… And if you’re nervous your dance skills might not be up to par, don’t be! Before the show at 8 p.m., Big Freedia and The Divas will be giving a lecture and a lesson on bottom bouncing… Oh yeah. So, don’t fret about not being able to Bounce just right- Big Freedia will guide you and the rest of the crowd into eternal rump-bumping bliss.

Big Freedia is a renowned Bounce artist hailing from New Orleans. For those of you unfamiliar with Bounce, it is the dance form Big Freedia’s music is based on that specializes exclusively in shaking one’s tail feather. Big Freedia’s dance and musical skills are both critically acclaimed and present fresh and exciting rhythms. Recently, Best of the Beat 2011 Music Awards named Big Freedia Best Rap/Hip-Hop Artist. Over the past decade, Big Freedia has played alongside artists such as Spank Rock and Snoop Dogg and just recently toured Europe. Big Freedia will also be playing at the legendary Bonnaroo this June. Upon being a talented musician and dancer, did you know that Big Freedia has an online video game?! If you didn’t, you can check it out here because it’s supremely awesome. Big Freedia will surely get you grooving, so get your you-know-what down to the Sett and see what Bounce is all about!

Sissy Nobby, another fantastic Louisiana Bounce artist, will also be performing at the Sett Saturday night. Besides having ridiculously wonderful dance skills, Sissy Nobby creates music that is both witty and fun. Honestly, folks, an opportunity like this one does not come along often: two seasoned and superb Bounce artists plus up-and-coming hip-hop artist DJ Diamond. There is no better time to “back that thang up” and satisfy your ears with some lively and exciting melodies.

DJ Diamond is a Chicago-based hip-hop artist who will get your head bobbing and body grooving. His debut album Flight Muzik was released last August under Planet Mu Records and has since spurred much approval from local listeners. Flight Muzik introduced tracks that were both soulful and mind infusing; sampling various beats and sounds. His music has been described as both trance-inducing and dreamlike (sweet). We can expect some sophisticated yet atypical beats from DJ Diamond- something that’s rare these days. You definitely don’t want to miss a night of body movin’ and groovin’ this Saturday at the Sett! (For Free, of course!)

Download Big Freedia’s “Feelin’ Myself”

We have a little of everything for you in this week’s announcements. You like blues? Check out Madison’s own Boo Bradley at The Sett this weekend.How about electronic music? This weekend’s DTF will be with UW student Ben Benson. If you’re into local acoustic duos, Color Me Once will play Memorial Union on Saturday. Opening for Blackbird Blackbird on April 27th will be Milwaukee’s critically-acclaimed electronic-infused indie pop band Canopies, who you may have just caught with Reptar last week. Rap fans, we’ve got two for you: Spliff Hemmingway on May 5th in Der Rathskeller and Aer and OCD: Moosh & Twist on the Terrace June 7th. Check out the new dates below and see the calendar for all dates announced already.

4/13/2012 Boo Bradley – The Sett: Union South

4/13/2012 DTF: Ben Benson – The Sett: Union South

4/14/2012 Color Me Once- Der Rathskeller: Memorial Union

4/27/2012 Canopies opening for Blackbird Blackbird – The Sett: Union South

5/5/2012 Spliff Hemmingway – The Terrace: Memorial Union

6/7/2012 Aer + OCD: Moosh & Twist – The Terrace: Memorial Union

Milwaukee’s Fresh Cut Collective is no stranger to either the Sett or success, and they’re revisiting both. Last semester, they played a blowout with Chicago’s Kids These Days at Union South, electrifying the crowd with their grooves and inviting rhymes. Their talent helped them win the 2011 Wisconsin Area Music Industry’s award for best rap/hip-hop award.

With 2012 only about a fourth of the way over, there’s every indicator that Fresh Cut Collective will see even more accolades and great things come their way this year. Last week, the list of WAMI nominees was released, and Fresh Cut Collective found themselves as one of the few 2011 winners defending their crown. You can even hear whispers of “three-peat” as they’re set to release their newest album, RE-FRAME (Part 1). This Friday’s show will serve as a Madison release party, while the following Friday will see their hometown record release party at the Mirimar Theatre in Milwaukee.

Joining them will be Chicago’s Sidewalk Chalk, who recently had a record release party of their own for their debut album Corner Store. Playing a DJ set after their record release was a guy you may have heard of named ?uestlove (He’s on a late night talk show as a band leader… Look it up). Their upbeat soul/rap fusion is a perfect match with that of Fresh Cut Collective and will provide audiences with pleasing messages and feet-moving jams.

Check out songs from each (and Sidewalk Chalk bassist Garrett McGinn’s Swanson-stache) below, and do not miss this one. See the Facebook event for more details on this 9:00-starting Friday show.

Is there a guitar gathering dust in the corner of your room as if to ask, “When are we gonna take the stage again?” Open Mic at Der Rathskeller is the answer. Every second and fourth Thursday of the month is your chance to show off at Memorial Union, whether it be full-band, a solo act, an instrumental performance, poetry, or a comedy routine. The mic is live – what you do with it is up to you.

So when’s your next chance to be a part of it? Tomorrow night, February 22! Sign-up begins at 7:45. At 8 there’s a drawing to determine order (à la NBA Draft lottery). Each act gets fifteen minutes, so make sure you prepare at least two to three songs. Be sure to invite your friends to watch in amazement at how good you are. That’s all you need to know to play on the same stage that acts like WHY?, Los Campesinos, and Real Estate have played. So start practicing!