NOBODY GONNA BREAK-A HIS STRIDE: When he’s not busy scouring every town to unearth flyers and posters, Henry Owings—via his decades-old Chunklet Industries—continues to put out a nearly never-ending stream of records. This week, he’ll release Rhythm Forward +2, which is as proper a descriptor as you’ll ever read, by Athens’ own mysterious historical legend Limbo District. These songs were recorded in 1981. The title track is the anchor here, and is set deeply within the group’s signature sound of hard rhythms, sometimes perpendicular guitar strokes and inscrutable vocals. The record is available as a limited edition 7” single as well as a not-at-all limited digital download. Last month he released a full-length vinyl LP recording of Harvey Milk’s incredibly faithful and psychologically stunning live performance of the entirety of R.E.M.’s 1984 album Reckoning. This buried treasure was recorded live on April Fool’s Day 1993 at the 40 Watt by filmmaker Lance Bangs and mastered in the 21st century by Sloan Simpson. I’m not kidding, y’all, this is really so good. Grab each or both over at chunklet.bandcamp.com.
FOUR TO BE RECKONED WITH: Since I last mentioned him in June, partydead, a project credited to Eric The Hat, has released three new EPs. I don’t have room to go into depth on each of them, so I’m going to concentrate on the most recent one, Deez Dreams, which came out last month. It starts off, strangely enough, with the not-unlike Limbo District track “bun god,” shifts quickly into the noisy and semi-New Wave ambience of “did touch,” swings back through the oddly comforting mish-mash of “notarydead” and then closes with the dark and glitch, but highly rhythmic, “duppy thunn.” Nope, it’s definitely not for everybody, as nothing ever is, but it is for me. It might be for you, too. Listen for yourself over at ericthehat.bandcamp.com.
THE TALKING CURE: Former Athenian Emerson Dameron, now based in Los Angeles, is host of the radio program “Emerson Dameron’s Medicated Minutes,” which is billed as “LA’s #1 avant-garde personal development program.” Taking recordings from his show, he created songs from them and all the tracks sound, to me at least, largely if not totally sample-based. Dameron has a very strong and distinctive voice and, while there is a substantial amount of serious talk here, it is also undeniably entertaining in a Negativland way. Fans of traditional spoken word may enjoy this the most, but music fans that don’t mind, or actually enjoy, vocals that are not sung could probably get into this, also. Careful, though, as there are some extremely dark takes here. I believe them to be at least mostly comedic, but it’s also out of Los Angeles, so who really knows? Be your own guide over at emersondameron.bandcamp.com.
LA NOSTALGIA: The leading mariachi band in the United States, Mariachi Sol de México de José Hernández, will perform at the University Of Georgia’s Hodgson Concert Hall Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. A free pre-performance talk by Jared Holton, professor of ethnomusicology and musicology, will happen in the Ramsey Concert Hall from 6:45–7:15 p.m. in celebration of el Día de los Muertos. The band has performed for five U.S. presidents and has shared the stage with multiple high-profile symphony orchestras, including those of San Francisco, Jalisco and Los Angeles. This performance is part of the UGA Presents concert series, and tickets can be purchased by visiting ugapac.evenue.net. Prices range from $25 for ages 6–16 and $30–65 for adults. Please note that children under 6 will not be admitted to this performance. Tickets may also be purchased by phone via the Performing Arts Center Box Office at 706-542-4400, Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. For all other information, please see pac.uga.edu.
RE-BIRTH OF THE COOL: Rapper, singer and songwriter Cassie Chantel dropped three demos from her upcoming album a couple of weeks ago and, oh boy, are these a treat. The new album is named Auntie’s Soiree, and these three tracks are presented as Auntie’s Soiree (DEMO). She opens it with the deeply soulful “Cool Chix Only,” which is quickly followed by the cool jazz and hip hop of “Out In The Streets” before closing out with the spot-on “Ms. America (Jazz Hop Version).” For the past several years, Chantel has been one of the most creatively satisfying artists of our area, and watching her expand as an artist and performer has been quite edifying. Here’s to the new album arriving sooner than later. Find this at cassiechantel.bandcamp.com, and consider throwing a few bucks down for it, too, as your purchase will help fund the album’s completion.
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