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Threats & Promises

Slime Ring’s SLM_RNG_EP, And More Music News and Gossip

DON’T FIGHT AND BE POLITE: Over the past few weeks, select local establishments have publicized their current COVID-19 policies and attendance requirements. Among the most popular with regular readers are Normaltown’s Hi-Lo, The Georgia Theatre and the 40 Watt Club. Due to the ongoing, and possibly changing, nature of such requirements and restrictions (i.e. mask policies, vaccination requirements, etc.), I’m not gonna go into a huge explanation of them all. You can easily contact individual businesses on your own or seek out their social media pages and websites for information. What I do want to do, though, is strongly remind y’all that these establishments and their employees were among those that took more than their share of the terrible economic brunt last year’s lockdowns visited upon us. The absolute last thing they need now is anyone giving them grief and trouble regarding what are, hopefully, temporary policies. So, if you’re not of the mind to be a good neighbor, please don’t attempt to patronize them at this time. Everyone involved in the Athens live music scene is trying damned hard to keep it going, so please don’t make this task any more unpleasant than it already is. 

SHOW SOME LOVE: There’s a benefit for Love.Craft Athens at Southern Brewing Co. Friday, Aug. 27. Featured acts this night are The Pink Stones, Tedo Stone, Innerbeing and The Love.Craft Band, and the event is presented by New West Records, Normaltown Records and Strolling Bones Records. There’ll be a food truck on site, as well as local vendors. Doors open at 7 p.m. with the show starting at 7:30 p.m. Love.Craft Athens engages disabled adults in creative endeavors, such as music and art, which helps provide them with a means of creative expression while also exhibiting skill levels and interests which could assist in future employment opportunities. Tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for kids and all proceeds benefit the organization. For more information and to purchase in advance, please see lovecraftathens.kindful.com/e/burning-lovecraft–1. 

HEY, NEIGHBOR: Sebastian Marquez (Dead Neighbors) has a new solo project named Slime Ring, which has a new album named SLM_RNG_EP. On its surface, it appears as a marked change from his previous work. Speaking as someone who engaged every note of Dead Neighbors, though, it sounds to me like a very natural progression for Marquez. Fingerpicking figures prominently across the entirety of these seven tracks, and its presence here has a lulling and meditative effect much the way, say, looped work by Animal Collective had. There’s a fair amount of moods represented here from the chaos-to-calm “SLM_RNG_interluder,” to the immediately collar-yanking “SLM_RNG_VIB” to the sweet mellowness of “SLM_RNG_HOP.” These three, incidentally, occupy the middle of the record as a nice three-punch section. Even so, the album’s real highlight is the second to last track “SLM_RNG_crescendo,” which is exactly what Slint would have sounded like if they’d bothered to ever release anything that was actually listenable. All in all, a fine release that is probably more than the sum of its parts. Check it out at slimering.bandcamp.com. 

THE ‘OL COLLEGE TRY: UGA’s Office of Research, through its Innovation Gateway, is hosting an Innovation Bootcamp named Entrepreneurship for Musicians. This is a free set of courses that will run on consecutive Wednesday evenings beginning Oct. 6 and ending Nov. 17. The classes (billed here as “cohorts”) begin each week at 5 p.m. and end between 7–8:30 p.m. depending on the week. The organizers are pretty insistent that participants make sure they can attend all the sessions to maximize the experience. Featured sessions include Introduction to Collaboration and Team Building, Making a Record, Event Production, Legal and Accounting, Licensing and many more topics. This series is free and open to all students, faculty, staff and community musicians. The application deadline is Sept. 15, but spaces are limited. Classes are to be held at the Innovation Hub (210 Spring St.). To apply, please see research.uga.edu/gateway/innovation-bootcamp/upcoming-cohorts, and if you have any questions at all, please write to Grace Trimble via grace.trimble@uga.edu. 

BLEEP BLOOP: Electronic duo Testing Reflex released a single named “Time Rider” recently. The track itself is a fairly smooth, inoffensive affair that mixes icy cold futurism with down-to-Earth humanism. The vocals run through a full gamut of effects, and I can’t decipher most of them, but that doesn’t really matter. This kind of sounds like a car commercial or the kind of thing you hear when walking around Urban Outfitters. The main issue is it’s just too short. It’s very well executed and easy to get into, but it ends before the three minute mark. Someone hit me with a remix! You can find this on the major streaming services, but if you want to go a little deeper into currently available tracks by Testing Reflex, head to soundcloud.com/testingreflex where you’ll find a few more. I encourage you to do this, too. 

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