Happy Thanksgiving, y’all. Without getting too far into it, and before this slides into sentimentality and sappiness, let me just say that I remain thankful for everyone who reads these words each week and every artist whose news populates it. I mean, sure, there’s always going to be room for specific criticisms, but with regard to the huge, overall universe of Athens music, I remain very thankful. I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday. Now let’s get into it…
TWO NIGHT FLIGHT: This Friday, Nov. 25 and Saturday, Nov. 26, Flicker Theatre & Bar will host the 2022 instance of the Cloud Recordings Festival. Tickets are an exceedingly reasonable $10 per night. This year’s lineup features Telemarket, the duo Shane Parish & John Kiran Fernandes, The Rishis and Kiran Fernandes on Friday, then Marcel Sletten, In A Kythe, Shane Parish (solo) and Organically Programmed on Saturday. For more information, please see facebook.com/cloudrecordings and cloudrecordings.com.
DRIVIN’ BY, INDEED: Tickets are on sale now for the individual solo tours by Drive By Truckers’ Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley. Thing is, though, none of the shows are in Athens, but a few are fairly close. Hood plays Atlanta’s City Winery Dec. 13–14. The closest Cooley will come to Athens is Alabama, but he’s got four shows in our neighbor state. He’ll play Birmingham (Dec. 15), then he’ll do a double-header in Waverly (early show and late show on Dec. 17) before playing Selma on Dec. 23. Find tickets and more information at drivebytruckers.com.
HI-DEE HI-DEE HI-DEE HI: The Artie Ball Swing Band will perform a special show at VFW Post 2872 (835 Sunset Drive) this Friday, Nov. 25. The group, composed of quite talented Athens folks, sometimes performs in different configurations. For this show, though, they assure us that, “The full band will be on hand to play for you and help you get a little fun out of life!” which seems nice and helpful of them. Doors open at 7 p.m. and music starts at 8 p.m. For more information, please see facebook.com/vfwpost2872.
BYRON COLEY ON SPEED-DIAL: The cascade of new releases from Athens experimental label Hooker Vision will not let up and, as such, I’ve fallen behind on my coverage of what I believe to be one of the most aesthetically—in every sense—pleasing endeavors to ever come out of Athens. A few weeks ago, the label released new work from Quiet Evenings, Motion Sickness of Time Travel and M.M. Turner. The Quiet Evenings’ release, a 30-minute, two-track ambient drone named Glass Bridge is both unwittingly aggressive in its first movement while incongruously comforting in its second. Motion Sickness of Time Travel’s Outerboros is a combination of recent music and tracks from a decade ago. Self-described as possibly being “subliminal pop,” I’d have to agree, as this is especially true with tracks like “Green Carpet.” This is Rachel Evans’ (one half of the Hooker Vision C-suite) longtime solo project which has continually come more into focus. Finally, there’s Tree in Sun and Rain from composer and Professor of Music M.M. Turner (aka Mitch Turner). There are four themes explored here: light, rain, grass and leaves. Turner’s compositions contain solid underpinnings but have a sheen of brittleness across them such that it’s almost as if we weren’t supposed to hear them. This record is guitar-oriented and each track was recorded in a single take. But, as the liner notes say, “…this is not mere jamming, these pieces have been masterfully crafted and composed.” Well, I’m certainly no master, but even through my limited understanding I’m inclined to agree. For more information, please see hookervision.bandcamp.com and mmturnermusic.com.
BEYOND AND BEFORE: Prog rockers Nix The Scientist lean in hard to that descriptor on the group’s latest release, Chosen I. This five-song release certainly pays honest tribute to the band’s chosen musical predecessors. To wit, if you can get through the opening song “Prophecy” without thinking of both Emerson, Lake & Palmer as well as Pink Floyd, then you get a gold star. The band takes a huge left turn by the time it gets to “The Curse Of Being Bored” which is a fairly by-the-numbers fourth-wave emo pop song. Similarly, the theatrical screamo of “Eyes Up” leaves me pretty nonplussed. The operatic return to form, if you will, of closer “The End” is a fitting bookend which wraps this up nicely but, when matched with the record’s opener, you’ve got a book whose cover isn’t representative at all of what’s actually inside. I dunno. Let’s just say Nix The Scientist shines brightest when they’re reaching for the stars instead of looking on the ground. Find this on Spotify and other services, and for more information, please see facebook.com/nixthescientist.
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