Now that y’all who are new to town have had a couple of weeks to settle in, I wanted to welcome you to your new home. Some of you will spend a few years here in Athens and then bounce to somewhere else. Others will never leave. No matter which group you fall into, I’d encourage all of you to spend some time exploring our music scene, form some bands, put out some records and make some noise. Oh, yeah, and pick up Flagpole every week. Your experience of the Athens music scene will be largely what you make of it, and we’re here to help.
FOUR FROM THE FLOOR: In advance of last month’s Threats and Promises, no relation, event at the 40 Watt Club, longtime scene contributor and participant Al Daglis composed one original track for his project Rauncher. This quickly grew to a four-track EP named WW3. He pushed his own envelope with this one, too, as his dark yet danceable electronic compositions rock even harder on this than they have before. Each song follows a logical sequence of titles and these are “I,” “II,” “III” and “IV.” The initial destructo-wave of “I” leads directly into the heartbeat-type beat of the second, which employs news samples in an unsettling way. The next two, “III” and “IV,” are slightly more melodically driven, but not by much. If anything, the big change with these is the switch to straight up hardcore rhythm instrumentation with Gabber-style speed that is much less happy than the tradition from which it comes. Not bad for an EP that wasn’t even planned, right? Find this at rauncher.bandcamp.com.
SPEND THE NIGHT: Folk/jazz/pop/bluegrass combo Grassland (aka Grassland String Band) will host, along with Aubrey Entertainment, its 3rd Annual “Evening With…” event at Hendershot’s on Saturday, Aug. 23. Videographer Travis Ward is going to be on site tonight, too, so maybe you’ll wind up famous somewhere. Advance tickets are $12, and they’ll be $15 at the door (10 bucks with a college ID, though). For tickets, please see bit.ly/GrasslandAug23. For all other information, please see grasslandstringband.com.
THE ADULTS ARE TALKING: The next instance of the always well-curated Sonic Space at ATHICA happens Saturday, Aug. 23. Doors open at 7 p.m., and music starts at 8 p.m. Featured artists this night are Support Group and Smoggo. Support Group is a solo project by Steve Houston (Unus Mundus, radio:Tahiti, et al), and he’ll be joined this night by Mux Blank (Rat Babies, JOKERJOKERtv) and longtime Athens musician Rob Fluhr. Smoggo is a long-running project by Jay Domingo (Go Public, The Dignity of Labor, et al). The artists are self-described, respectively, as “…often noisy, improvisational, ambient and/or industrial, but Steve and company have also emitted rock n’ roll, free jazz, psychedelic, blues, easy listening, and gameshow theme songs” and “..expect droning modulated oscillators, minimal techno, and harsh electronic rhythms.” The suggested donation this night is $10 and, since I have you here, let me strongly suggest that. ATHICA is located at 675 Pulaski St. STE 1200.
LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE BOY: Attaboy Tapes has released the swell two-song single named Sticky by Jake Brower. The title song is a lovely indie-pop tune that reminds me of the type of thing that used to arrive on our shores completely unexpected from a place like, say, New Zealand, but more for its guitar tradition than its psych leanings. The second song, “Both/and,” is quite similar and the same superlatives can be applied. Honestly, this is a nice little treat. Word is that cassette tapes of this currently-digital release will happen sometime relatively soon. Find this at attaboytapes.bandcamp.com.
ALL THAT JAZZ: The accurately self-described “genre-defying jazz ensemble” Kenosha Kid will celebrate its 20th anniversary at Hendershot’s on Thursday, Sept. 18. I’m telling you this now because it will absolutely sell out. And when it does, a second show will be added for the next night. Advance tickets are $10. They’re supposed to be $15 at the door but, like I said, the chances of there being any available at the door are slim to none. For tickets, please see hendershotsathens.com, and for all other information, please see kenoshakid.com.
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