KEEP ‘EM COMING: The yet-to-disappoint Julia Nyunt has a new single, “Ballad,” out now on major streaming services. It starts off by immediately diving into a syrupy, slow R&B melody with an attendant rhythm. The track, one of longing and resolution, is pure old school, checkerboard tablecloth, Chianti-bottle-candle-holder lounge music. This will slot well next to any slow jams in your collection. If you missed her earlier this week at Flicker, she’ll next play Athens at Ciné on Friday, Sept. 20. Strange Orchard and Solstice are also on the bill this night. For more information, please see julianyunt.bandzoogle.com.
CALLING OCCUPANTS OF INTERPLANETARY CRAFT: Explained via a fantastical yet nearly completely fact-based narrative, Wow Signal Collective—the collaborative project between Chris McKay (Critical Darlings) and Robert Schneider (Apples In Stereo)—features both artists “collaborating” with artificial intelligence-generated “bands.” McKay’s band is Devine & Devine, and its track is the deeply soulful and slightly funky mid-tempo “I’ll Be Free (But Not Today).” Schneider’s band is Micropanthers who weigh in with the thumpy disco track “Personal Flight,” which is so authentic sounding it would be completely anachronistic were it not for our heroes in Daft Punk. The story goes that both artists were contacted separately by an entity making reference to the Aug. 15, 1977 transmission receipt by SETI (i.e. Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) radio astronomers. On this date a secret society was supposedly formed to accept, decipher and respond to this transmitted message. Now, 47 years later, McKay and Schneider were among, presumably, many artists contacted to participate. Unless this is all completely made up and just a way to elbow in some heretofore lost love for AI. I dunno, man. The ‘77 transmission is real, as is the readout of its intensity–6EQUJ5. The rest of this story? Just ask them, folks. As far as the tunes go, you can find them over at chrismckay.bandcamp.com.
UP TO SPEED: The style-shifting Bryant Perez has a new track out as of Aug. 30. This one’s named “Dance,” and Perez reports that a video is in the works that’ll feature other locals including Phantom Dan, Molly Tu Hott, P.O. The Priceless One, NateballYall and Nancy Morris. The song itself is a sticky-icky EDM track that has a beat approximating a sponge slapping the floor for the first minute. After this a keyboard riff kicks in and the tempo seems to increase. It doesn’t, actually, but that’s the effect of the arrangement becoming more crowded. All in all not a bad first foray into this area, but I’d like to see this tightened up a bit if he wants to continue in this direction. Find this on Spotify.
SHOW WHAT YA KNOW: Newer Athens promoter Jonah Boucher and his business partner Jacob Maldonado, together known as Dawghouse Presents, will host the Road To Breakaway at the Silver Dollar on Friday, Aug. 30. This event is associated with the national event series Breakaway Festival, which hosts events nationwide in multiple college towns. Featured acts on this EDM-heavy night are OTT, Tony Jack, Banjo, JGood and Tribe. There are three different tiers of tickets ($5, $8, $10), but there’s no indication of how these tiers are different. For more information, please see facebook.com/silverdollarathens.
SUMMER’S ALMOST GONE: In the past two weeks songwriter Quentin Love released the cleverly catchy folk-pop/skifflish “The Songs Of Summer,” then immediately turned around and released the full-length Quentin Loves You. It starts with the breezy “Smells Like Rain” which is largely softy psychedelic, but closes with a nice banjo coda. The multi-movement “Honey Get Home Part 1” is structurally similar to the bulk of the of Montreal catalog, but otherwise nondescript. The instrumental “Blossoms” is basically perfect, though, and pulls the listener right back into this. “Honey Get Home Part 2” is a logical continuation of its first part. Stripped down to its parts, what you have here is a style of music so deeply referential that to namecheck specific influences is chasing one’s tail. Placed into the context of the album, what you’ve got is the references transposed such that they’re rendered more as a recognizable, common language than anything working from a checklist. This is quite enjoyable, and you can find it at quentinlove.bandcamp.com.
MIRROR MOVES: Punk vanguards Beat Up have a new three-song EP, No Great Progress, of songs that didn’t fit on other recent releases. I was warned in advance that these songs were a stylistic departure for the band but, hoo boy, do they fit in well. The first song, the title track, is probably the most spectacular departure, and I’m really enjoying how much this could be an unreleased Leatherface song. Then there’s the street-punk-with-swagger of “Turn Up the Heat” before the whole thing closes with the nearly anthemic “Sound of Revolt,” which turns up its own heat by virtue of its smoldering Dead Kennedys’ guitar-style action. Find this at beatup.bandcamp.com.
Like what you just read? Support Flagpole by making a donation today. Every dollar you give helps fund our ongoing mission to provide Athens with quality, independent journalism.
