Crib Notes

Tom Cheshire – writer, co-founder of Dry Ink mag and lead singer for All Night Drug Prowling Wolves

My mixtape: “Springtime drive mixtape”

1. “Goin’ Out West” – Tom Waits
2. “Stay Free” – The Clash
3. “Tsunami” – Fiend Without A Face
4. “Springtime” – Leatherface
5. “Can’t Hardly Wait” – The Replacements
6. “Car and Driver” – The Rock*A*Teens
7. “I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down” – Elvis Costello & the Attractions
8. “All I Need Tonight” – Gentleman Jesse & His Men
9. “Howling At The Moon” – The Ramones
10. “Let The Bombs Fall” – The Beltones

My favorite local band?
My favorite Atlanta musician as of lately is Jeffrey Butzer. I really like his songs. He is extremely talented and a witty guy. He also doesn’t drink booze. I’d like to write some songs with him. I feel he may have be a good influence on me.

Check out Mixtape Love: CL Music Issue ‘09

(Photo courtesy Tom Cheshire)

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UPDATE: Read the follow-up post, Sugarhill’s last jam — plus a Shameless Plug for the future of live music in Atlanta.

Next Tuesday will be the last night for Sugarhill — Atlanta’s premier destination for live soul and progressive urban music.

It’s a stunning announcement — but maybe not too surprising considering the obstacles the venue has faced since its inception.

Much of the onus for the club’s closing lies with “Underground [Atlanta] mismanagement,” according to co-owner Richard Dunn, who partnered with Jason Carter (Sol Fusion promoter), Freddy Luster (former co-owner of Yin Yang Café), and Rival Entertainment/Center Stage co-owners Josh Antenucci and Tom Cook to open the venue in September 2006.

(more…)

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Tessa Horehled – Editor of Drive A Faster Car

My mixtape

1. “The Sound” – Human Highway
2. “Oviedo” – Blind Pilot
3. “Two Headed Boy” – Neutral Milk Hotel
4. “Skinny Love” – Bon Iver
5. “Mykonos” – Fleet Foxes
6. “Furr” – Blitzen Trapper
7. “One Red Thread” – Blind Pilot
8. “Hurricane” – Bob Dylan
9. “World Leader Pretend” – R.E.M.
10. “Rebel Prince” – Rufus Wainwright

My favorite local band?
The Black Lips — fantastically raw melodic garage rock who are holding tight to their Atlanta roots and venturing far beyond the constraints of this continent.

Check out Mixtape Love: CL Music Issue ‘09

(Photo courtesy Tessa Horehled)

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It’s true! The Black Lips and the one and only GZA have teamed up on a version of the Black Lips’ song “The Drop I Hold,” which will appear on a forthcoming iTunes EP later this year.

“The Drop I Hold”

(Photo courtesy Dickies)

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Brad Syna – concert promoter for Variety Playhouse’s Windstorm Productions

My mixtape

1. “Riot Act” – Elvis Costello
2. “Pot Kettle Black” – Wilco
3. “Sleep Together” – Porcupine Tree
4. “The Wraith” – E.S.T.
5. “Lie To Me” – Tom Waits
6. “We Laugh Indoors” – Death Cab for Cutie
7. “Going Underground” – The Jam
8. “Idiot Wind” – Bob Dylan
9. “Sexy Sadie” – The Beatles
10. “Station to Station” – David Bowie

My favorite local band?
Anna Kramer and the Lost Cause. A great band that is hard to define.

Check out Mixtape Love: CL Music Issue ‘09

(Photo by Lisa Miller)

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Traveling north on Northside Dr. on my way to work this morning, I was taken aback by a billboard-sized baby photo of Usher smiling back at me near the MLK Jr. Dr. intersection. Turns out he’s the latest celebrity Boys & Girls Clubs’ alumnus enlisted in its “BE GREAT” campaign.

The billboard was unveiled yesterday, according to the press release:

Usher joins the likes of Denzel Washington, Shaquille O’Neal, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Muhammad Ali as part of BGCA’s new advocacy campaign, featuring successful Boys & Girls Club kids and encouraging every American to help young people BE GREAT.

Pictured: (far left) Roxanne Spillett, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, (second from left) Jonnetta Patton, Usher’s mother, (center) Usher, and kids from Boys & Girls Clubs and Usher’s New Look Foundation.

Say what you will, but it beats another malt liquor ad any day.

(more…)

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Susan Archie – Queen, World of anArchie

My mixtape

1. “Digital” – Joy Division
(I have been watching Joy Division: The Movie)
2. “Use Me” – Bill Withers
(This was a hit when I was a kid, I just got it off iTunes)
3. “Mama Caught a Chicken” – Chickens and Pigs
(I have been playing drums a few times w/ CnP, love his songwriting)
4. “Born Under Punches” – Talking Heads: Live in Rome
(I captured off YouTube Video)
5. “$20″ – M.I.A.
(My favorite artist for awhile now)
6. “Walking Stick” – Golden Gate Quartet
(A classic harmony and rhythm ‘race’ record)
7. “Goin’ Where The Monon Crosses the Yellow Dog” – Scrapper Blackwell off Art of Field Recording Vol. II
(insanely raw primitive blues)
8. “Storms are on The Ocean” – The Carter Family
( I am always listening to the Carter Family)
9. “Brainwash” – The Moaners
(2 pc girl blues out of NC)
10. “Arms Akimbo” – Hugo Largo
(I found some of video of them from the 80s in London. If it had been NYC I would have been in the crowd, I saw them every time they played.)

My favorite local band?
Whatever Kristin Klein at Vacation tells me. Too many to choose: I love Deerhunter, Atlas Sound, Black Lips, HubCap City and Chickens and Pigs.

Check out Mixtape Love: CL Music Issue ‘09

(Photo by Dene Shepherd)

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CL’s Chanté LaGon and Chad Radford chat abut upcoming shows for the weekend, including Carnivores at 529 (Fri., May 1), Herman Hitson at the Drunken Unicorn (Sat., May 2), and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart at the Earl (Sun., May 3).

Check out this week’s Sound Menu for a more comprehensive list of upcoming shows.

Air Loaf is broadcast weekdays on 1690 WMLB-AM at approximately 8:10 a.m., 12:20 p.m. and 6:20 p.m.

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Armando Celentano – supreme keeper of ye olde Drunken Unicorn and Black Lips tour manager.

My mixtape

1. “Waiting Room”- Fugazi
2. “Star Wars Theme” – John Williams
3. Crack the Skye (the whole damn album) – Mastodon
4. “Lexicon Devil”- the Germs
5. “Mouth Breather” – the Jesus Lizard
6. “Two Highways”- Allison Krauss & Union Station
7. “Holland 1945″- Neutral Milk Hotel
8. “Ether”- Gang of Four
9. “Got Your Money”- ol’ Dirty Bastard
10. “Coolidge” – the Decendents

My favorite band?
I’m torn here between Mastodon and Gentleman Jesse and His Men. I think I’ll have to go with GJ though. We just went on tour with them for a month and their songs were totally getting stuck in my head to the point where I was craving seeing their set every night just so I could have some peace of mind. Power pop is the future and Gentleman Jesse and His Men are the Jonahs Brothers of the ATL scene.

Check out Mixtape Love: CL Music Issue ‘09

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Outtakes is a series of blog posts in which CL staff photographer Joeff Davis talks about photo shoots from this week’s Music Issue:

The concept for the Balkans photo was to shoot these kids at a high school because they’re so frickin’ young. We wanted to try to capture some of that young teenage hyperactivity.

When two of them showed up over an hour late for the shoot it seemed like it would be hit or miss. But when they finally parked their car, they sprinted the last block like Olympic athletes so we forgave them. One showed up with four medals around his neck and the other took his shirt off and started blowing his nose into the other’s hand.

At the end of the shoot we accosted a dog that looked like royalty as it was walking down the street with its owner. So we posed the boys with the dog and had each band member hold a piece of the leash. The contrast between the very regal dog and these young crazy kids worked great, but in the end we decided to go with a photo for the CL print version that best captured their youthful energy. — Joeff Davis

See more photos from the Balkans photo shoot.

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There was much speculation about who would emerge victorious in last week’s sale’s battle between pathological fibber/former correctional officer Rick Ross and Atlanta transplant/suburban zeitgeist-capturer Asher Roth. The normally Manhattan-obsessed Gawker even weighed in on Roth, with Pitchfork’s Tom Breihan going so far as to predict Ross would move 300,000 units in his first week out and to speculate that if a second single “manages to stick, he’ll go platinum, easy.”

It doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen. The results are in, and Roth’s Asleep in the Bread Aisle has debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, moving 67,449 copies. (Some have the figure closer to 62,000. Can anyone explain the differential to me?)

Ross moved about 158,000 units and hit the top spot, making Deeper Than Rap his third number one album. Not bad, but indicative of the weak sales climate and, for the record, nowhere near as many copies as his rival 50 Cent tends to sell, even on a bad outing.

Among other Atlanta artists, Keri Hilson’s In A Perfect World… continues to defy industry expectations, moving 23K this week to put it over 200,000 all told. Looks like the album’s long delay didn’t kill it after all, although who knows how high she could have flown if the thing had dropped last year. As it stands, Hip Hop DX notes its “considerable radio and video play” and calls her “Interscope’s present R&B flagship artist.”

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Originally making a name for himself as part of Philadelphia’s Hollertronix music collective, Diplo has gone on to become a sought-after solo DJ and producer. He’s worked with and remixed the likes of M.I.A., Gwen Stefani, Kanye West, Radiohead, Britney Spears and Atlanta’s own Black Lips. He also toured as a member of Santigold’s band, opening for Bjork.

This weekend, however, Diplo — who also owns the Mad Decent record label — brings his mix of funk, electro, dub, drum-n-bass and South American beats to town for a headlining set at Lenny’s. Known for providing sets that are equal parts psychedelia, hip-hop, reggae and alterna-rock mash-up, Diplo has already impressed local crowds numerous times and established himself as a tastemaker for indie and electro fans across the nation.

Expect an eclectically energetic set of manipulative blips and heavy beats from one of the biggest stars in the underground dance music scene. Not many DJs can bring a punk rock attitude to turntablism and knob-twiddling the way Diplo does.

Diplo with Hollyweerd and Muffy. $15. 9 p.m. Fri., May 1. Lenny’s Bar, 486 Decatur St. 404-577-7721.

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Holly Lang – Founding editor of Pine Magazine

My mixtape:

Brigette Bardot “Ça Pourrait Changer” Best of Bardot
Blackalicious “Chemical Calisthenics” Blazing Arrow
Les Savy Fav “Wake Up” The Cat and the Cobra
Galt MacDermot “Coffee Cold” Shapes of Rhythm
Serge Gainsbourg “Ballade de Melody Nelson” L’Histoire De Melody Nelson
Margo Guryan “Someone I Know” Take a Picture
Neutral Milk Hotel “Aeroplane Over the Sea” In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Toshack Highway “The Sounds and the Times”
Magnetic Morning (split with Sianspheric/Aspirin Age)
Deerhunter “Rainwater Cassette Exchange” Rainwater Cassette Exchange
Dr. Dog “Little Bird” Passed Away, Vol. 1

My favorite Atlanta band? I’d have to say Club Awesome. Easily one of the more fun bands around, they tend to go ridiculously balls out at their shows, complete with weird outfits and strange showmanship. But while many bands who use props and costumes during shows tend to lack in skill and talent, Club Awesome is actually pretty good. Their new album Dynamos is as energetic as the band, and features that atypical style of pop that separates them from most the other bands ‘round these here parts. Plus they sometimes have pool parties at their shows. Who doesn’t like to get half-naked and wet while watching a band play?

Check out Mixtape Love: CL Music Issue ‘09

(Photo by Justin Sias)

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To celebrate CL’s annual music issue we asked a random mix of Atlanta tastemakers, critics and promoters to share their greatest playlists.

Lance Ledbetter, founder of Dust-to-Digital

1. Rev. Johnny L. Jones “God Specializes”
2. Omar Souleyman “Leh Jani”
3. Chubby Parker “Bib-a-Lollie-Boo”
4. Andy Iona and His Islanders “Ta-hu-wa-hu-wa-i”
5. Cecil Barfield “Georgia Blues”
6. Brother Claude Ely “There Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down”
7. Chrissy Zebby Tembo and Ngozi Family “Trouble Maker”
8. Marika Papagika “Smyrneiko Minore”
9. Group Bombino “Imuhar”
10. John Fahey “Desperate Man Blues”

My favorite Atlanta-based artists is Rev. Johnny L. Jones of Second Mount Olive Baptist Church. His nickname is the Hurricane, and after you hear some of his songs and sermons you’ll know why. The music is supplied by organ and tambourine with the congregation backing Johnny, and the result is some of the most ecstatic sounds I’ve ever heard. Check him out on WYZE 1480AM every other Saturday at 11a.m.

Check out Mixtape Love: CL Music Issue ‘09

(Photo by Chad Radford)

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To celebrate CL’s annual music issue we asked a random mix of Atlanta tastemakers, critics and promoters to share their greatest playlists.

Bean Summer
Video artist/Lenny’s promoter

Top 10 Playlist
1. Roger Miller “Chug-a-lug” Golden Hits
2. Talking Heads “Once in a Lifetime” Best of the Talking Heads
3. Summer Hymns “Trouble” Clemency
4. God Speed You Black Emperor “The Dead Flag Blues” F# A# (Infinity)
5. Alejandro Jodorowsky “Psychedelic Weapons” From the Holy Mountain soundtrack.
6. Beck “Hollywood Freaks” Midnight Vultures
7. John Oswald “Power” 69 Plunderphonics 96
8. Johnny Cash “Busted” Blood, Sweat and Tears
9. Throbbing Gristle-everything they ever did!
10. Thurston Howl III “Still Lives with my Moms,” Featuring: Master Fuol-Skillionaire.

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All right, I admit it. I was wrong about Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em. Since writing him off as a one-hit wonder and giving his latest album iSouljaBoyTellem two stars, I have played that thing more often then I’d like to admit. Especially the banger “Turn My Swag On” and his shockingly innocent/surprisingly tender ballad, “Kiss Me Thru The Phone.”

No, I don’t cry during the video when those old people start smooching each other remotely. Okay, maybe I do, but not that often. Okay, maybe often.

Both tracks are on Billboard’s top 40 right now — “Kiss Me” peaked at number three — and the songs are finding success on iTunes as well.

In defense of my rating — I’d give it 3, maybe even 4 stars if I had it to do over — I’m far from the only critic who has recently seen the light about Soulja Boy. In fact, suddenly SBT’E is turning into a bona fide critic’s darling.

“He writes unbelievably effective hooks, which he rattles off as if he were seeing them for the first time on a teleprompter,” gushed Village Voice writer Zach Baron recently. All of the sudden the word “genius” is being bandied around to describe someone whom critics had absolutely no patience for during “Crank That (Soulja Boy)”’s peak.

(more…)

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ALMOST FAMOUS: Danny!

He’s dropped 10 albums, including three instrumentals and a Best Of — just to “be funny,” says the MC. He’s been on the shortlist for the Grammys, charted on Billboard, retired, and inevitably returned.

Yet, South Carolina-reared, Atlanta-based MC/producer Danny Swain, aka Danny!, still considers his upcoming show opening for rap phenom Drake on May 2 as his “official coming-out party.”

When Danny! emerged in 2004 with his debut, The College Kicked-Out, after being expelled from Claflin University following an alleged cheating scandal, he didn’t expect his career to move so slowly. His above-average, sample-heavy production and sometimes self-deprecating lyrics should’ve landed him on every blogger’s hit list with the cyber rappers of the day. It didn’t.

Continue reading “Danny! is something like a phenomenon”

(Photo courtesy Danny Swain)

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Read about the making of the homemade video at dallaspenn.com.

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INCESTUOUS: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

With a cringe-worthy moniker and musical restraint that makes Belle & Sebastian sound like Quiet Riot, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart are not for the casual indie-pop listener. But for fans of fuzzy-guitar-drenched melodies, melancholy songwriting and well-crafted shoegaze, they don’t come any finer.

Formed in 2007, the New York quartet has rocketed to the top of the pops (or at least the top of the blogosphere) through its ’90s-throwback, wall of sound stylings, which have drawn comparisons to bands like My Bloody Valentine and the Jesus and Mary Chain. After releasing a string of singles and EPs and being hyped by outlets such as Stereogum, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart released its self-titled debut in February. The album quickly won praises from the likes of the New York Times and Pitchfork, which named it “Best New Music.” The album “mixes sparkling melodies with an undercurrent of sad bastard mopery,” Pitchfork’s Ian Cohen wrote, castigating critics who peg the band as derivative. “You’re just being a dick if you think the past has some kind of patent on that. That’s just the way good pop music works.”

Continue reading “The Pains of Being Pure at Heart wear it on their sleeves”

(Photo by Pavla Kopecna)

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Who are you?
Rhys Webb, the Horrors.

Describe yourself in three words.
No-thank-you.

Who — dead or alive — would you most like to meet?
Joe Meek.

Who would you most like to slap in the face?
You!

What song do you wish you had written?
“Johnny Remember Me” – John Leyton.

Elvis Costello or Elvis Presley?
Presley.

LP, CD or MP3?
LP always.

If you could start one trend, what would it be?
The French Anarchist look circa 1789.

If you could end one trend, what would it be?
Kill all hippies.

With whom would you most like to play a game of spin the bottle?
Genesis P. Orridge.

The Horrors play Lenny’s with the Kills and Magic Wands on Mon., April 27. $15. 9 p.m. Lenny’s Bar, 486 Decatur St. 404-577-7721.

(Photo courtesy of the Horrors)

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