GO SEE ‘EM: If you’ve not seen them for a while, you’re not alone. They haven’t seen you, either. Who? Well, that would be Neighbor Lady. All y’all catch up and hug it out Saturday, Dec. 16 at the Georgia Theatre. Also on the bill are Rose Hotel, Curt Castle and Spencer Thomas. Word on the street is that Thomas will celebrate the release of his first single since signing to Strolling Bones records, which will release a full-length album next year. For more info on all these folks, please see facebook.com/Neighborladymusic, curtcastle.com, rosehotelmusic.com and spencerthomassongs.com.
IT MIGHT GET LOUD: Just in time to challenge your chestnuts comes the triple-threat bill strong enough to clog your arteries. On Friday, Dec. 15, Shadebeast will present the mighty metal mavens Savagist along with increasingly dark and driven Vincas, as well as the hardcore thrash exclamations of Weaponized Flesh. You will sweat, and your ears will ring like the bells of Christmas day. Tickets are $12 at 40watt.com. No idea if there will be more at the door or not, but considering there’s a nearly three-and-a-half dollar fee—don’t blame the Watt; processing costs money—when buying these online, you may as well take the chance and throw down your bucks in person. If you want to learn a whole bunch of songs so you can sing along while you’re there, please see savagist.bandcamp.com, vincas.bandcamp.com and weaponizedflesh1.bandcamp.com.
LISTEN TO THE WARM: Fans of outsider electronic music here in town have come to expect the annual Winter Solstice show, which organizers Michael Pierce and DJ Other Voices, Other Rooms used to coordinate at the Go Bar (RIP). This year’s event happens at Flicker Theatre & Bar with the aforementioned DJ, as well as LeeAnn Peppers, Michael Potter, Wet Garden (Michael Pierce and Shannon Perry) and G.A.G. (Joyce Le Guin). Other Voices, Other Rooms promises a set of “’80s Synth Pop, Shoegaze, and Sister Sledge” both in between acts and to close out the whole show, so when you’re not wearing your thinking caps you can put on your boogie shoes. This all goes down Thursday, Dec. 21.
A FINE DEBUT: While longtime Athenians may know him better as one of the founders of Loco’s, Jamey Loftin is also quite a fine songwriter and musician. To wit, he’s just released his first full-length album of all original songs that he wrote and recorded. This 11-song release is named Comes With The Dust. For ease of explanation, you could slot this easily onto your Americana-folk-country shelf, and you wouldn’t be incorrect, but you’d miss the full picture. Loftin shines immediately out of the gate with the finger-picked “Sun,” and then each song after it is a treat. I generally don’t care too much about production values—a good song should be evident no matter how it was recorded—but I have to say I really like some of the big-room 1980s-style production here. Other specific highlights on this are the reggae/rap “Fast,” which would have been much less effective in weaker hands, the Chris Isaak-meets-Mark Knopfler “Ben,” and the nearly Band-worthy “Travelin’ Angels.” When I first encountered this record I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did, so here’s to listening with open ears. Find this on Spotify and Apple Music.
THIS IS POTTER’S HOUSE: There’s a new one-two knockout available from The Electric Nature. First up is Live In Troy, which was recorded in New York while Electric Nature head honcho Michael Potter was on a solo tour this year. Cleverly, he’d loaded up a full studio session that the trio version of this Athens-based group (Potter, Michael Pierce and Thom Strickland) had recorded back in May, and his live shows on this tour used a lot of that as a platform and jumping off point. Importantly, none of the players he performed with on this tour had ever heard this material. This live show in particular was a collaboration with Eric Hardiman (Rambutan, Burnt Hills, Tape Drift Records) and Zoots Houston (Negative Raxxx, Rider/Horse). Next up is Live In Athens which catalogs the dual guitar directions between Potter and Pierce and was recorded during their appearance at ATHICA’s Sonic Space earlier this month. Potter’s musical vocabulary is quite large, and you never know exactly what he’ll grant an audience during a live show. That said, the Live In Troy recording is good but what longtime fans might expect in terms of noise, aggression, etc. The Live In Athens set is completely revelatory, though, and worth every second of its 33-minute running time. Find each at nullzone.bandcamp.com.
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