Music News & Gossip
Jul 23, 2003
Threats & Promises
Yo. What up? Cool. Does it seem like summers in Athens are getting more and more crowded? Sure it does. While this could show hopes for better attendance at local shows it doesn't look like it's working out that way. I'm a mere student of life but one thing I've learned is that no matter who you are (Grandma, soccer mom, doctor, lawyer, Indian chief, etc.) if you talk on the phone while driving you're an asshole. Period. Now that I've downloaded that, let's get on with it...
D'ya Want Fries With That?: Rumblings are all over town about a new local record label about to have its debut hit the streets here anytime now. The label, Shake Records, is releasing a split 7" between Athens' own Carrie Nations and Florida's This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb. Word is that the label is named after the Carrie Nations dog Shake, but I can neither confirm nor deny this rumor. At any rate, there isn't a set-in-stone release date for this so keep your eyes peeled, your wallets ready and keep bugging the record store clerks. They love that.
Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Turn On The News...: Ted Turner's cable news network, uh, CNN kicked down some props for Atlanta's Chan Marshall, the woman better known as Cat Power. The attention came recently via the channel's entertainment spotlight show "The Music Room." The program played continuously all last week on CNN International. The show was a pretty glowing treatment of its subject and didn't paint her at all as the crazy, self-obsessed, half-assed performer she has spent her entire professional career personifying. If you missed the show but would still like to get the gist of it, read the on-line interview with her majesty over at www.cnn.com/tmr.
Oh, Keep Your Shirt On: Ok, I give Jomo Entertainment a good ribbing pretty often in these pages, but the guys have their act together in a way most of us can only dream of and envy. They've got a couple of really notable shows happening in town pretty soon and I want to encourage y'all to make it out.
Grammy-winner Shelby Lynne canceled her Friday, July 25, gig at the40 Watt, but thanks to Jomo for getting her committed anyway (get your ticket refunds from wherever you purchased them). Honky-tonk hero Robert Earl Keen will play The Georgia Theatre on Thursday, Sept. 11. Tickets and T-shirts are available over at www.jomoentertainment.com.
What Goes Around, Comes Around: Athens super-cool pop monster group Wide Receivers has re-formed after a year-long hiatus from playing live and is set to kick Athens in the elbow again. The band's last live performance was for the wedding reception of Possibilities member Matt Lane in August of last year. In a nice gesture, the band decided to regroup to play Lane's anniversary party - that's when the ball started rolling. While original bassist Georgette has bowed out, stepping up to the plate is the mighty Jess Robbins of Ceiling Fan fame. The Wide Receivers will return to the Athens club scene on Saturday, August 9, at Nuçi's Space and will share the bill with Ceiling Fan and Casper & The Cookies.
Go Get You One!: Downers Grove, IL label Lo-Fidelity Records has just released an eight-song EP of rare and unreleased tracks by Bill Mallonee and his Vigilantes Of Love. Titled Need To Bleed, only 1,000 copies were pressed and the band has sold them steadily while on the road, but since some remain they're offering them to fans via the Internet and mail order. The CDs are a mere $8.50 and you can buy up to five(!). Says Mallonee of the collection, "Needless to say, I'm very proud of this initial collection. I hope to continue to release these archival works on a regular basis." Get ordering info and more over at www.billandvol.com.
Speaking of Limited: Former local band Sound Tribe Sector 9 (which recently up-and-moved to San Francisco) just dropped Live at Home, a collection of 23 tracks recorded specifically for this release. Only available at shows (but the band'll be in Japan for a while, so good luck) and on-line at www.sts9.com, Live at Home will have an extremely limited press run with only 1,000 or so copies seeing print. The collection explores the more electronic side of the band's music and features many songs that let individual members shine. Sound Tribe Sector 9 is currently recording its first studio album in three years, set for release sometime in 2004. [Chris Hassiotis]
Got 'Em Like National Geographic: Skilled Athenian MC Ishues has a show coming up at the Georgia Theatre, and to pull some attention the Attica Sound label has released Ishues Most Wanted: Mixtape Vol. 1. Featuring guest appearances from Fort Knox, Jawz of Life and more, DJ Chrisis' mix deftly jumps from erratic but well-placed flows ("This Ain't a Game") to intense, crafty rhymes ("Open Warfare"). At 22 tracks, the mix can be exhausting when consumed in its entirety, but it serves as a good appetizer for Ishues' full-length, due in September.
The Theatre show takes place Thursday, July 24: First Team from Atlanta opens, then Herb & Skills will perform off their CD, Ishues lays down his vocals and the show closes out with an Herb & Skills live set with Jorma Starratt drumming, Hano Leathers on guitar, Carl Lindberg on bass and the rest of the crew on the mic. [CH]
Local Lyric of The Week: Although he's been in a seemingly semi-retirement for a few years now, Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel has written some of the most shockingly beautiful words of any artist anywhere, sometimes opaque to the point of utter confusion and then at times so crystal clear it's as if he's speaking for you. Here's a gorgeous line from "You've PasseD" off of the 1996 On Avery Island: "And I wanted To know you/ Before you started to fade/ But I gave everything to/ A lie and a farce and a fake."
Final Notes: MTV2 in Europe has been spinning The Agenda's video for "Crash, Crash" to good reception; I recently found out that "Zumm Zumm" means "fiasco" in Norwegian; Why do all the punks that insist on wearing a portable cup on their belts still drink from plastic Dixie cups when there's a keg present?; Garbage Island sounded pretty damn good on WUOG's "Live In The Lobby" last week.
And that's it folks. As always, keep the news coming in and PLEASE address me in the subject line or it might just fall down the e-hole. You know I love you guys. Got live if you want it via email to music@flagpole.com, voicemail at 549-2360; via fax at 548-8981; or by post to P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603.
Gordon Lamb
D'ya Want Fries With That?: Rumblings are all over town about a new local record label about to have its debut hit the streets here anytime now. The label, Shake Records, is releasing a split 7" between Athens' own Carrie Nations and Florida's This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb. Word is that the label is named after the Carrie Nations dog Shake, but I can neither confirm nor deny this rumor. At any rate, there isn't a set-in-stone release date for this so keep your eyes peeled, your wallets ready and keep bugging the record store clerks. They love that.
Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Turn On The News...: Ted Turner's cable news network, uh, CNN kicked down some props for Atlanta's Chan Marshall, the woman better known as Cat Power. The attention came recently via the channel's entertainment spotlight show "The Music Room." The program played continuously all last week on CNN International. The show was a pretty glowing treatment of its subject and didn't paint her at all as the crazy, self-obsessed, half-assed performer she has spent her entire professional career personifying. If you missed the show but would still like to get the gist of it, read the on-line interview with her majesty over at www.cnn.com/tmr.
Oh, Keep Your Shirt On: Ok, I give Jomo Entertainment a good ribbing pretty often in these pages, but the guys have their act together in a way most of us can only dream of and envy. They've got a couple of really notable shows happening in town pretty soon and I want to encourage y'all to make it out.
| |
What Goes Around, Comes Around: Athens super-cool pop monster group Wide Receivers has re-formed after a year-long hiatus from playing live and is set to kick Athens in the elbow again. The band's last live performance was for the wedding reception of Possibilities member Matt Lane in August of last year. In a nice gesture, the band decided to regroup to play Lane's anniversary party - that's when the ball started rolling. While original bassist Georgette has bowed out, stepping up to the plate is the mighty Jess Robbins of Ceiling Fan fame. The Wide Receivers will return to the Athens club scene on Saturday, August 9, at Nuçi's Space and will share the bill with Ceiling Fan and Casper & The Cookies.
Go Get You One!: Downers Grove, IL label Lo-Fidelity Records has just released an eight-song EP of rare and unreleased tracks by Bill Mallonee and his Vigilantes Of Love. Titled Need To Bleed, only 1,000 copies were pressed and the band has sold them steadily while on the road, but since some remain they're offering them to fans via the Internet and mail order. The CDs are a mere $8.50 and you can buy up to five(!). Says Mallonee of the collection, "Needless to say, I'm very proud of this initial collection. I hope to continue to release these archival works on a regular basis." Get ordering info and more over at www.billandvol.com.
| |
Speaking of Limited: Former local band Sound Tribe Sector 9 (which recently up-and-moved to San Francisco) just dropped Live at Home, a collection of 23 tracks recorded specifically for this release. Only available at shows (but the band'll be in Japan for a while, so good luck) and on-line at www.sts9.com, Live at Home will have an extremely limited press run with only 1,000 or so copies seeing print. The collection explores the more electronic side of the band's music and features many songs that let individual members shine. Sound Tribe Sector 9 is currently recording its first studio album in three years, set for release sometime in 2004. [Chris Hassiotis]
Got 'Em Like National Geographic: Skilled Athenian MC Ishues has a show coming up at the Georgia Theatre, and to pull some attention the Attica Sound label has released Ishues Most Wanted: Mixtape Vol. 1. Featuring guest appearances from Fort Knox, Jawz of Life and more, DJ Chrisis' mix deftly jumps from erratic but well-placed flows ("This Ain't a Game") to intense, crafty rhymes ("Open Warfare"). At 22 tracks, the mix can be exhausting when consumed in its entirety, but it serves as a good appetizer for Ishues' full-length, due in September.
| |
Local Lyric of The Week: Although he's been in a seemingly semi-retirement for a few years now, Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel has written some of the most shockingly beautiful words of any artist anywhere, sometimes opaque to the point of utter confusion and then at times so crystal clear it's as if he's speaking for you. Here's a gorgeous line from "You've PasseD" off of the 1996 On Avery Island: "And I wanted To know you/ Before you started to fade/ But I gave everything to/ A lie and a farce and a fake."
Final Notes: MTV2 in Europe has been spinning The Agenda's video for "Crash, Crash" to good reception; I recently found out that "Zumm Zumm" means "fiasco" in Norwegian; Why do all the punks that insist on wearing a portable cup on their belts still drink from plastic Dixie cups when there's a keg present?; Garbage Island sounded pretty damn good on WUOG's "Live In The Lobby" last week.
And that's it folks. As always, keep the news coming in and PLEASE address me in the subject line or it might just fall down the e-hole. You know I love you guys. Got live if you want it via email to music@flagpole.com, voicemail at 549-2360; via fax at 548-8981; or by post to P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603.
Gordon Lamb
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