It’s gratifying, in a selfish sorta way, when talented and prolific musicians from outside Athens’ borders decide to move in and share their stuff with us, especially when the lure and hipster-art sprawl of places like Brooklyn is so intense. As we know, there is no “Athens sound,” as much as outsiders, with their poorly researched lists and lazy, regurgitated capsule paragraphs (R.E.M. still=Athens, right?), may try to pin one on us. It’s a fact that certain music just oozes Southernness, regardless of how jangly or twang-y it is.
Georgians Grant and Rachel Evans have been recording and releasing tons of music on their own Hooker Vision imprint since 2008 (Rachel, as Motion Sickness of Time Travel—above, check out “One Perfect Moment” from her stunning, self-titled 2xLP—Grant, as Nova Scotian Arms and, more recently, under his plain ol’ birth name). After the two married in 2009, they formed Quiet Evenings, an outfit that combined both of their skill sets into one blissful, minimalist project. (Read a Pitchfork interview with Quiet Evenings here.)
Recently, the Evanses moved to Athens; their work is a fine addition to our rich musical history. These sounds are entirely Southern, somehow, with their palpable humidity, their unnervingly peaceful exteriors that always seem to conceal some horrible, hidden truth—something we all know is there but do our best not to think about. The music these two make is truly beautiful, as pure and evocative as anything else around.
Motion Sickness of Time Travel and Grant Evans will play tonight at Flicker with I Come to Shanghai (check out our Flagpole Premieres! feature on them here). The show starts at 9 p.m. and is FREE!
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