A light blanket of snow settled on the still-green trees around the amphitheater, thin layers of ice coated wooden planks and steps, and expertly positioned heaters scattered the stage. It was October 4th at Red Rocks, and it was cold. But timing wasn’t much of a choice for Lotus and their supporting bands BoomBox and Break Science.

Lotus drops the new hip-hop album Monks today as a free download on the band’s Bandcamp page.

If Sound Tribe Sector 9 got a case of the spits, if “Coffee” and “Smithereens”-era El-P was swallowed by Deep Medi Musik, if RJD2 dosed yellow instead of smoking his jazzy tea—there you’ve got something close to Lotus’ new effort, Monks.It’s unsurprising that the veteran act’s production is top-notch as they bite their own studio pipeline for samples and breaks to create a thoro

One of the defining and most popular acts in live electronic music, Lotus has never fit neatly in a simple categorization. The 5-piece continues to push boundaries with the September 10th release of Monks, a hip-hop album featuring Lyrics Born, Gift of Gab (Blackalicious), Mr. Lif, Doodlebug (Digable Planets) and more. Using the band’s own studio work as a sample source, the music will have a familiar feel to Lotus fans but recontextualized as classic hip-hop.

Lotus is ready for an intense festival season. Before they get back on the road with a special two-night run at Pittsburgh's Mr. Small's Theatre, the group releases a live video for "Age of Inexperience" from the 2012 headline appearance at Red Rocks, courtesy of NoCoast. Lotus returns to this historic site on September 13th with special guests BoomBox, Break Science, and Minnesota.

Friday, August 30th to Sunday, September 1st, The 4th annual NORTH COAST MUSIC FESTIVAL (NCMF) returns to Chicago's Union Park! This year’s headliners include the legendary WU-TANG CLAN, celebrating the 20th anniversary of their seminal album

Lotus is composed of Mike Greenfield (Drums), Jesse Miller (Bass, Sampler), Luke Miller (Guitar, Keys), Mike Rempel (Guitar) and Chuck Morris (Percussion). Special guests BoomBox, Break Science and Minnesota will open the show.Riding high off of the most recent album release, Build, Lotus brings the party back to Red Rocks this fall.

Luke the Knife, the DJ side project of Lotus’ Luke Miller, premieres a new mix with Vibe.com today.

Catskill Chill Music Festival has announced the lineup for the fourth annual Chill at Camp Minglewood in Hancock, New York. Taking place September 6th – 8th, the 2013 event will offer more music than ever before with 60 acts performing live on five stages during the 3-day camping festival. Featured artists include: The Meter Men featuring Zigaboo Modeliste, Leo Nocentelli and George Porter, Jr.