READ ALONG: Songwriter and musician Lydian Brambila (Outersea, Sea of Dogs) just released a new track with an accompanying zine under the name In a Kythe. The combined release is titled Joro Season, and the track itself is a gorgeous and meditative ambient piece nicely punctuated with harmonium courtesy of Mat Lewis (Grape Soda). Due to this particular choice of instrumentation, the audial effect is one of waves both receding from and rushing toward an emotional shoreline. The zine, which explores deeply personal issues and occurrences in Lydian’s life, is deeply lyrical and does an outstanding job of using the Joro spider—both its seemingly sudden appearance as well as its permanence—as metaphor. All in all, it’s a wonderful piece crafted through remarkable bravery. Listen and purchase over at lybram.bandcamp.com.
NEW ARRIVAL: The debut album by Athens songwriter Jacob Mallow was just released last week, and it’s named Neighbors. He enlisted a small cabal of local musicians to flesh out the arrangements and act as players on this, and had it produced and released by Tommy Trautwein (Well Kept) on his WBAZ Records. Mallow’s songwriting is soulful and often takes place in the unlikely blended vein of artists as diverse as Tracy Chapman and Radiohead, such as on the song “From The Beginning.” He’s also tapped into the deep well of Tim Hardin, Tim Buckley and Dave Mason. These are, obviously, only my impressions, and I’ve no idea if any of this is intentional, but I certainly enjoyed the references. Neighbors runs 10 tracks long and can be found on all major streaming services.
EBONY AND IVORY: The Willson Center at UGA will present a performance by pianist Zaira Castillo titled Identity through Sound at Ciné on Thursday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. The event’s description as published by the Willson center says, “These works have been written by UGA and Athens-based composers of the BIPOC community. Alongside the solo works, there will be corresponding documentary videos by composers entailing their upbringings navigating the world of music and composition as people of color.” This is a free event, but donations are encouraged. All proceeds will go towards supporting the Lift Music Fund, whose mission is to make achievement in music more accessible and equitable. For more information, please see willson.uga.edu/programs/spotlight-arts.
GET DOWN WITH BROWN: Niño Brown will release “The Internet,” the second single off his upcoming album, on Nov. 18. It was only a few weeks ago that Brown released his Terrible Tingz EP. This new track is fairly mid-tempo but with a distinctly downbeat rhythm. The full length is slated for release Feb. 9. You can find this on all major streaming services.
SPIRIT OF ’76: Wuxtry Records will celebrate its 45th anniversary with a throw down at Little Kings Shuffle Club sponsored by Southern Brewing Co. on Nov. 19. Keeping with the numerical spirit of things, select DJs will spin 45 rpm records. Specifically, these folks are Phillip Jagger (DJ Pip), Tim Schreiber and Nate Mitchell (DJ Nate from Wuxtry). A live show by The Asymptomatics is also scheduled to happen. The organizers have said that there will be homemade food and refreshments, as well as a raffle and giveaways. Doors are at 7 p.m., food shortly thereafter, and music will start around 10 p.m. The actual anniversary was back in March but, you know, nothing was happening then. So it’s happening now. If you’ve got any questions at all, you could hit up facebook.com/WuxtryAthens or, better yet, just drop by the store where they always love people dropping in and asking questions.
PAY IT FORWARD: A benefit show for Athens’ Caitlin Gal is happening Friday, Nov. 26 at Hearts of Harvest Farm in Arnoldsville (0 Yancey Rd.). Cleverly billed as the Caitlin Gala, the lineup is pretty jaw-dropping and features Patterson Hood, Hardy & the Hardknocks, Blunt Bangs, Palace Doctor, Heffner, Reign & Reveltry, David Barbe and Swimming Pool Qs. Tickets are $35, which is both a total steal as well as a price point that should raise a decent amount of funds. Tickets are available via Eventbrite and, even if you can’t attend but would like to donate something, please see gofundme.com/f/caitlin-gal-cancer-fund for more information.
SLANG BANGIN’: Austin Darnell (The Darnell Boys, Deaf Judges) just released his first hip-hop music in a very long time. Working under the name Sawmill Slang, his new record is titled Something Monstrous and it runs a tasty seven tracks. There are guest appearances here from Louie Larceny, DJ Triz and album producer Donny Knottsville. Stylistically, this falls somewhere near both Memphis, TN’s Three 6 Mafia and Houston’s Bun B (UGK). The beats are slow, the lyrics are both reflective and violent, and it works just as well in the background as it does with headphones. Check it out at sawmillslang.bandcamp.com.
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