CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH: Electro-dance outfit Nightout is the first group I’ve ever seen parse its residence as being Athens, Atlanta and Milledgeville. Its debut EP, Temper, came out a few days ago, and the band will celebrate its release at Flicker Theatre and Bar on Friday, Aug. 9. These four tracks—all written and performed by the semi-anonymous Angel A.B. and Jackie W.—are, generally speaking, pretty sweet decent in the recent local pop canon. Opening song “Metal Pill” begins with some tastefully chime-y keys before carrying on with itself and moving its sung-spoken vocal fry lead across a drum-and-bass arrangement that’s full of rich elements. Closing song, “Riviera,” has a laid back vocal across a bouncy beat and a similarly rich arrangement. The two in the middle, “Easyx2” and “Metro,” are in the same vein but, the thing is, each of these is pretty distinct but clearly from the same group. This isn’t an easy accomplishment, and the dance/electropop/garage/EDM space is one in which it’s very difficult to distinguish oneself. Nightout may not be one hundred percent there yet, but seems like it’s on its way. Find this on major streaming services as well as nightout.blog.
SKETCHBOOK: Televised By Ghosts just released something of a follow-up, but not really, to 2020’s Distance Learning Demo. This new collection, which the release notes mention contains “demos, song concepts, and B-sides” is titled “Eigenlicht” and, yes, that includes the quotation marks. The opening instrumental, “See-ya-lailor-boy: Flirty Days of Night,” is an aggressive progressive jazz number. The next, “Lovely Wubbles (Remix),” though, shows how much of a workbook these tracks really are. It’s credited to SaintsXBeasts & TVBG, and is a coolly reclined song with killer electronic underpinning. The whole collection is a neat peek under the hood, and other specific highlights here are “Le Deluge (Early Draft),” the vocal test version of the first song and the pastoral “The Glacier Mill (Concept).” Find this at televisedbyghosts.bandcamp.com, and follow along at instagram.com/televisedbyghosts.
BOOMERANG: If you missed the album release show but, since you’re a dedicated reader of this column, were intrigued to learn about the new album A Daily Reminder by Check The Signs last week, you can catch ‘em this week. The band will play Athentic Brewing Co. Friday, Aug. 8. The event runs from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. For more information, please see facebook.com/CheckTheSigns.
IT’S CLOBBERIN’ TIME: Propeller Sound Recordings continues to plumb the Kilkenny Cats catalog and, to this end, is on deck to re-release the group’s 1988 EP Hammer. This time around it’s being titled Hammer + Echo because the original release will sit on one side, and the “Echo” side will feature previously unreleased material. There’s also an exclusive bonus track, “Heaven,” on the compact disc and digital download versions. Preorders are being accepted now for both of those plus the vinyl version. The record is slated for release Sept. 26. For more information, and to throw your bucks their way, please see propellersoundrecordings.com.
EBB AND FLOW: OK, this next one is special. It’s a live album simply titled Trio Improvisation Live from Athens, GA 08/05/2023, and it’s performed by the knockout lineup of LeeAnn Peppers, Lydian Brambila and Rachel Evans. It was recorded at performance space BoloBolo, was completely unplanned, and has Brambila on electric cello, Peppers on vocals—which are always manipulated and often barely perceptible—and Evans on synthesizer. This is a single-track, 24-minute recording. For those accustomed to improvisational performances and recording, perhaps you’ll be as drawn in by the sympathetic and complimentary playing as I am. Quite often, improv records feel like a battle between the players, but this one feels like a prayer. Just minute after minute of singularly uplifting melody played at a snail’s pace and tethered only by its humanity. This is available as a digital download, a limited edition cassette tape, and a limited edition 3-inch compact disc. Listen in at hookervision.bandcamp.com.
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