Crib Notes

The Reactionary Records Fest. kicks off tonight (Fri., Nov. 27) at 529 and continues through Sat., Nov. 28 with a sampling of Atlatna’s finest punk and indie rock bands playing for a cause. Help save Reactionary Records from going out of business! Locals acts Predator, Vegan Coke, the Balkans and long-defunct punk foursome the Frantic are playing the show. John Barrett’s Bass Drum of Death from Oxford, Miss., will be performing as well. Pipsqueak is coming from San Francisco, and Cars Can Be Blue is driving in from Athens. All told, 23 bands are playing, and a handful of DJs are spinning records. $8 each night, $15 two-day pass. 8:30 p.m. Fri., Nov. 27, 8:30 p.m. Sat., Nov. 28, 4 p.m. 529, Flat Shoals Ave. 404-228-6769.

Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun, Carnivores, Abby Go Go. $7. 9 p.m. Fri., Nov. 27. The Earl. 404-522-3950.

Fishhawk, Psyche Origami, Teddy & The Bears, Social Ghost. $Call. 9 p.m. Fri., Nov. 27. Star Bar. 437 Moreland Ave. 404-681-9018.

Delta Moon & Joe McGuinness. $10. 8 p.m. Fri., Nov. 27. The Five Spot
1123 Euclid. 404-223-1100.

Gil Mantera’s Party Dream. $8-$10. 9 p.m. Sat., Nov. 28 The Earl. 404-522-3950.

Music Hates You, Gollum, Burden Of Vision. $6. 9 p.m. The Drunken Unicorn. 736 Ponce de Leon Place.

(Photo by Chad Radford)

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CHERISH THE DAY: Soldier of Love drops Feb. 8, 2010.

My wife, excuse me, Sade returns after a decade with the album Soldier of Love scheduled to drop on Feb. 8, 2010.

According to Billboard.com, Sony label mate Maxwell (who has also collaborated with Sade bandmate Stuart Matthewman in the past) has heard a taste of the new project, to which he responded on his Facebook page: “Trust me, it’s so monolithic it’ll shake you in your shoes!”

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“Honest Man” tears open the first single from Atlanta punk trio Predator with a lo-fi whiz and bang that cuts right to the chase. The group channels every ounce of self-loathing it can muster into these three songs driven by three buzz-saw chords. The simple, syncopated guitar, bass, drum and two-part vocal mantras of “DLDD” and “No.” shape themselves out of necessity. By design, the chops, riffs, chants and drum explosions facilitate these short, fast songs that barrel like a freight train. And as primal and minimal as they may be, they may come to serve as Predator’s career cornerstone — the trio’s opening salvo toward hardcore heroism, bearing the torch of Minor Threat, Zero Boys and, closer to home, Carbonas. (Rob’s House Records) 4 stars out of 5

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There was a time in hip-hop when a woman rocking the mic was described, first and foremost, as a woman rocking the mic — as if to say: “she’s good for a female MC.”

But right now in Atlanta, the fact that some of the best MCs happen to be female is almost beside the point.

Almost.

It’s impossible to ignore the combined lyrical assault of StaHHr (formerly StaHHr tha F.E.M.C.E.E.), Khalilah Ali, Rita J, Boog Brown and Sa-Roc — the five MCs collaborating with producer and DJ Sol Messiah for the upcoming album She the Hard Way.

But it’s not like they want you to forget that they’re women, either. Their first single, “Breakdown,” drives the point home with Messiah sampling “Carry That Weight,” from the Beatles classic Abbey Road album.

The above video, edited by Renaylon, features film snippets from blaxploitation-era star and brown bombshell Pam Grier (Coffy, Foxy Brown, and later, Tarantino’s Jackie Brown) whose prototypical ’70s roles featured her seeking revenge — often by using her sex appeal as a double-edged sword to infiltrate prostitution rings before kicking mucho misogynistic, slave-master, pimp ass.

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By Brian Poust

This past Sunday, we lost one of Atlanta’s most well loved, yet under appreciated R&B singers. Helen Thompson may not be a household name, but blues and R&B aficionados will certainly know her hit “Down To Big Mary’s”. That particular song was originally performed by the prolific Atlanta blues man Titus Turner. However, it’s Helen Thompson’s version which became more popular.

In the early 1950s, Helen was performing regularly at the Zanzibar Night Club in Atlanta, where she would sometimes perform with Tommy Brown. Helen met a talent agent named Al Green (not the singer) who arranged a recording session for Helen in Detroit for August 31, 1953. Helen’s first record was “Down To Big Mary’s” backed with “All By Myself” (States S-126) written by Helen and Detroit band leader Maurice King. “Down To Big Mary’s” became a pretty big hit, and was mentioned as an up and coming record in the November 21 issue of Billboard Magazine in 1953. Helen began touring America and released a follow up single, “Troubled Woman” backed with “My Baby’s Gone” (States S-138).  Unfortunately, these four sides are not commercially available in one place, but “Down To Big Mary’s” can at least be heard at YouTube.

While Helen’s singing career seemed to be hitting on all cylinders, she was dealt a heavy personal setback when her mother died. Helen returned home to Atlanta to care for her family. While she made only occasional local appearances as a singer after returning to Atlanta, she kept herself familiar with other local singers coming up and was known to throw parties where some of Atlanta’s most talented singers would perform. Helen’s daughter Barbara specifically remembers Tommy Brown and Barbara Hall performing at her mother’s parties. It is as if when Helen returned to Atlanta, she didn’t just take care of her own family, but the local family of musicians as well. While her singing career was cut short, Helen continued to work very hard in a supportive role behind the scenes.

In her latest years, Helen suffered from heart problems and other ailments, which she eventually succumbed to on Sunday.

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From the first strangulated “aaargh” to its final, rumbling growl 16 songs and 73 minutes later, Tom Waits’ first official live album since 1988’s Big Time captures every oblique aspect of the singer/songwriter’s funhouse mirror persona. This 2008 tour document cherry-picks superb performances from his European and American dates (with two tracks recorded at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre on July 5, 2008) as Waits’ gargled-with-razor-blades voice slices through highlights and obscurities predominantly derived from his more recent catalog. A multitalented, five-piece band brings ragged yet sophisticated energy as the singer ignites audiences with his edgy carnival barker/drunken pirate vocals and tattered ballads of humanity’s forgotten everyman wandering down life’s darkened, seedy backstreets. While a DVD of his very visual style would have been a most appreciated addition, a bonus 40-minute disc of hilarious spoken patter helps provide a fuller representation of a typical Waits show in all its magnificently loopy glory. (Anti-) 5 out of 5 stars

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No longer shall he walk softly and carry a big pick:

Due to the current U.S. Economic Recession Atlanta emcee Señor Kaos is forced to cut off all his hair to save money.

Welcome to the “Funeral Of The Fro.”

Follow along as friends share their favorite “Fro Memories” and witness as the man who’s fro ruled in 09 (and for the past 7 years), cuts it all off.

Also Señor Kaos performs with 4-Ize the fans get the see the new hair cut live and direct for the first time. Check for Señor Kaos on the new 4-Ize project “Illuminated Animals.” (Available for Free Download at www.4ize.com starting TODAY) Also make sure you download SK’s latest project “Walk Softly & Carry A Big Brick”

Filmed And Edited By B Price. Haircut by Harold (Classics Barber Shop Atlanta, Ga).

Download Walk Softly & Carry a Big Brick.

Señor Kaos performs with Raekwon, and Capone N Noreaga. $18. 8 p.m. Sat., Dec. 5. Masquerade, 695 North Ave. 404-577-8178. www.masq.com. Stay tuned to win free tickets from Creative Loafing.

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The folks over at Merge Records have released some great recordings over the years, almost none of which* have sold as many copies as the locally-brewed, universally-lauded Neutral Milk Hotel classic In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. To put a yummy little cherry on top of their recent 180-gram vinyl reissues of both of that band’s albums (!), they recently posted two live videos of an exuberant Jeff Mangum tearing through two great NMH jams – Aeroplane’s “Two-Headed Boy” and “April 8th” from the underrated On Avery Island. The video was apparently shot way back in 1998 during a show at NYC’s famed Knitting Factory.

Alls I gotta say is what basically everyone has to say, which is where you at, Mangum?

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Real Estate is the latest of the delightfully fey and arty indie-rock darlings to charm the pants off of the blog world — and with good reason. The self-titled, debut full-length from these New Jersey newcomers is rife with instant nostalgia that colors the wilting melodies of such songs as “Pool Swimmers,” “Atlantic City” and the album’s lead number, “Beach Comber.” From beginning to end, the album swells with a languid pace, loose arrangements, and the kind of muffled silence that fills the blanks between each billowing guitar string and low-fi, lyrical echo. The über-easy listening experience is arresting but requires some patience. Or maybe a handful of Klonopin. Either way, it’s a pleasant ride. (Woodsist) 4 stars out of 5

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ALEX KNOEL (from left) works to save his favorite record store with co-owner Paul Tilghmon

Times are tough and the business of selling records is a rollercoaster ride that rises and falls with the floundering economy. But when Alex Knoel learned that his favorite record shop, Reactionary Records, was in danger of going out of business, he decided to do something about it. Reactionary co-owner Paul Tilghmon was already putting together a festival, the first of an annual punk rock blowout. But as soon as Knoel caught wind of it he grabbed the reins. “Reactionary is the only place where I can see my old band’s sticker stuck on the counter by the register,” Knoel says as he taps the Barberries sticker on the glass case that shows off a spread of CDs and collectible odds and ends from the Saints, Minor Threat and Bonnie “Prince” Billy. “It’s a great record store and I’m kind of a workaholic, so I wanted to help out.”

Knoel agreed to book some bands for the festival and use it as a benefit for the store. He sent e-mails to 20-plus bands. “I hoped to hear back from 10 of them, but I started getting one confirmation after another,” he adds. And not all of the confirmations were from Atlanta bands.

Continue Reading “The community bands together to save Reactionary Records”

(Photo by Chad Radford)

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On Sun., Nov. 29, several local musicians are gathering at Smith’s Olde Bar to hold a benefit concert for the Shanghai Gesture’s drummer David Hulsey who was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Acts scheduled to perform include Hulsey’s former band the Shards, Mojo Filter, the Biggie Rats, Geisha Hit Squad, Burning Angles and, of course the Shanghai Gesture.

$12 (adv). $16 (door). Show starts at 7 p.m. Smith’s Olde Bar, 1578 Piedmont Ave. 404-875-1522.

Donations are also being accepted via PayPal.

(Photo courtesy myspace.com/theshanghaigesture)

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BOBBY CREEKWATER: The rapper reintroduces himself.

Atlanta is in an interesting space right now. With the mayoral race up for grabs, the unemployment rate more than 10 percent and the elimination of the city’s housing projects, it’s fair to say the proverbial pendulum is swinging in a new direction. Insiders are quickly becoming outsiders. Outsiders have moved inside. And somewhere in the middle of the mayhem sits Bobby Creekwater.

Although he has yet to release an official solo album, the Atlanta native isn’t a newcomer by any means. In the early aughts, he signed to Loud Records as one half of the group Jatis.

“The label didn’t really know what to do with a Southern rap group at the time,” Creek recalls. Eventually, he signed with Eminem’s Shady Records/Interscope in 2005, though his solo album would never see the light of day. After the industry took a nosedive, the label needed its cash cows (namely Em and 50 Cent) to drop more records. Creek’s album was inevitably pushed to the side. After a brief stint in New York, he returned to Atlanta and amicably split from the label a few months ago.

Continue Reading “Bobby Creekwater makes Sense of independence”

(Photo Courtesy BGOV Inc.)

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According to AllMusic.com, Cartel is an “emo” band, but it’s impossible to glean any emotional response from a group that’s so vanilla-bland that there’s no way to discern one song from the next. Cycles is the Conyers quintet’s third album — the one that’s supposed to restore its cred after that ill-advised MTV reality stunt in which they lived in a bubble for 20 days. Sure, they’re an easy target, but the soul-less whining and compression that coats every sugary surface of “Let’s Go,” “Faster Ride” and “Deep South” — not to mention the computer-generated vocal harmonies that bind them all together — ring out with the grace of a leaf blower. The only thing that separates the group from the Avril Lavignes and Ashlee Simpsons of the world is gender. (Wind-Up) 1 star out of 5

Win tickets to Cartel’s Friday show at Masquerade.

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Atlanta’s Connect crew, holding down the designated spot for deep house Thursdays is joined tonight by Alex Barck of the German collective Jazzanova. Navigating the boundaries between traditional jazz and the more contemporary electronic, chill-out and downtempo genres with a bit of a deep house vibe,  Jazzanova has an extensive list of remix credits and a couple of full-length releases, including last year’s Of All the Things.

Joining Barck will be CaZ Atlanta, a new collaboration between local DJs and producers Mike Zarin and Chris Nicholson.

Listen in as Alex Barck sits in with Jamal Ahmed on WCLK 91.9FM today Thursday at 3:45pm EST. Listen live at www.wclk.com.

Alex Barck of Jazzanova w/ CaZ Atlanta and Karl Injex. $5-$10. Thurs. Nov. 19. 10 p.m. Lava Lounge. 57 13th Street. www.cosmolava.com

(Photo courtesy Mike Zarin)

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You’re from Dahlonega, correct?

Yeah, I’m home and I’m sitting here with this huge view of the Appalachian mountains and it’s great and there are church bells singing some Southern hymn. I was born in Memphis and then I lived in Atlanta for 5 or 6 years — Grant Park. My dad was an Appalachian fiddler and he wanted to learn from a teach who lives up here, named Bruce Molsky. We moved here so he could be closer to the fiddle and banjo people.

Does he still play?

Yeah, his name is John Grimm and he’s in a band called the Georgia Potlickers and he has a music store up here called Vintage Music on the Dahlonega square.

Did your interest in music stem from growing up watching your father play?

Definitely, it’s kind of all he does. He’s always worked like 16 hours a day teaching lessons, doing repairs and selling instruments. In the evenings he’s either playing a show himself or working with a recording engineer or sound engineer somewhere. If I was hanging out with my dad it was always at a concert or at his shop. I used to walk home from school and he would give me a nickel to tune all of the guitars in the shop.

He’s really into Eastern music as well — he was a hippie — so he was trying to give me a classical Indian kind of training where you have to spend years tuning an instrument before you can actually play it.

“Ride That Cyclone” mp3

Larkin Grimm plays Variety Playhouse Sat., Nov. 21 with the Mountain Goats and Final Fantasy. $17.50. 9 p.m. 1099 Euclid Ave. 404-524-7354.

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GUCCI MANE: The Atlanta rapper keeps it way too real on the cover of upcoming album, The State vs. Radric Davis.

With Gucci Mane once again headed back to jail, his new song, “My Own Worst Enemy,” feels particularly apropos. Over a melancholy synth beat from Drumma Boy, Gucci touches on his near-deadly beef with Young Jeezy, his conversations with the currently incarcerated T.I., and his own frequent brushes with the law: “Me, Jeezy and T.I. share one thing in common/All are poets/Role models to young people/Though at times man we still ignore it.”

On Nov. 12, Gucci (née Radric Davis) was sentenced to 12 months behind bars for violating his probation and was removed from a Fulton County courtroom in handcuffs. He is expected to serve about half of that time. A judge ruled that he had not completed community service requirements, that he failed drug tests and that he did not secure permission to travel. The case dates back to a 2005 conviction for attacking a club promoter, and this is the second time he has failed to meet the terms of his probation – the first time last year, sent him to jail for seven months.

The setback seems to come at a bad time for him. The Atlanta-bred rapper is more popular than ever, and his highly anticipated new album, The State vs. Radric Davis, is due Dec. 8. But it has already caused chaos with fans and concert promoters around the country. His past incarceration and probation terms have led to the cancellation of about a dozen shows this year. His absences have left promoters squabbling with his manager and booking agent — and threatening to file lawsuits.

But beyond the allegations lies the allegory. If Gucci is the frog prince of Atlanta trap-rap, impatiently waiting as he has for the better half of a decade to take his turn on the throne, he doesn’t need anything else to stunt his growth. Despite collaborating in 2009 with the likes of Mariah Carey, Black Eyed Peas, Mario and Usher – who’s featured in the current single “Spotlight” from his upcoming album – Gucci’s transition from ‘hood star to pop star remains fraught with hiccups. It’s something the industry may have to come to terms with, warts and all.

Continue Reading “The case of the canceled Gucci Mane concerts”

(Photo Courtesy So Icey/Asylum/Warner Bros)

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Desiree Williams, aka That Retail Chick, is Atlanta’s go-to-girl when it comes to all things retail in urban music. As the manager of Sound Shop in the Mall West End, she makes it her business to break down the business to independent artists desperate to get their grind on.

Tonight, she’s inviting the city to eavesdrop on her conversation with record exec. Rico Brooks. It takes place at 7 p.m. at Desserts by Latrell, 581 Edgewood Ave. 678-705-3409. dessertsbylatrell.com.

For a preview of the conversation, check out this snippet from her recent blog post, The Death of Music Retail and its Effect on Hip-Hop Music:

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Original release date:  Jan. 21, 2003

One-time Georgia boy and former Archers of Loaf frontman Eric Bachmann has a one-of-a-kind voice. On the best moments of Red Devil Dawn, the second album from Bachmann’s Crooked Fingers, his voice soothes like a sedated Tom Waits; on those few cringe-worthier ones he channels Cookie Monster on an oatmeal raisin binge. Thankfully, those latter moments come few and far between. Red Devil Dawn is one of those records which incongruously pairs music and lyrics to great effect — the instrumentation heard here is upbeat, lavish, even orchestral at times, but Bachmann’s lyrics serve to contrast. The sparse “Bad Man Coming” warns of some sort of impending doom, but manages to sound like a love song; “Big Darkness” prays for change in a dying “town where nothing moves,” where “even the vultures have moved on.”

Of course, Red Devil Dawn contains its fair share of actual love songs, and the better ones are simply outstanding. “You Can Never Leave,” despite its creepy title (what gives, Bachmann?), contains some beautiful lines. “You are no father’s daughter,” Bachmann croons. “No man has this much to offer.” And later, it becomes “You are fire, you are water/ When you dance, it is torture.” Further along in the album, though, that love turns to inevitable bitterness, and on the bouncy, horn-kissed “You Threw a Spark,” all that earlier adoration has become accusation and resentment. “So don’t you go claiming that I did you wrong,” Cookie Mon- er, Bachmann, spits, “When you were the one doing nothing at all.” (more…)

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From March 26-28, Knoxville, Tenn., is hosting the second annual Big Ears festival of “visionary music, exploratory art, and southern hospitality.”

Terry Riley will serve as this year’s Artist in Residence for the weekend with a series of concerts celebrating his 75th year on this planet.

The Daily Swarm says,

“One of the most influential musicians and composers of the past century, Terry Riley’s impact and influence on contemporary music and art cannot be overstated. In 1964, his revolutionary composition, In C, launched the Minimalist movement in music and his influence is still heard today in the work of Philip Glass, Steve Reich, John Adams and other classical composers. His subsequent early works, A Rainbow in Curved Air and Poppy Nogood, with their kaleidoscopic, psychedelic atmospheres, sent waves across the musical worlds of the 1960s, strongly reflected in the music of the Who, Pink Floyd, and other rock bands of the time. That influence continues today in the music of Radiohead and Animal Collective and even the National and Bon Iver. It’s no surprise that Terry Riley was recently selected by the London Times as one of the ‘1000 Makers of the 20th Century.’”

(Photo courtesy The Daily Swarm)

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Jon Spencer of Pussy Galore, Boss Hog and Blues Explosion fame rolls through town fronting a new duo, dubbed Heavy Trash, to play the Earl this Thurs., Nov. 19 at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10 (adv). $12 (door).

… and if that’s past your bedtime, you can catch an early free show at Criminal Records the same day at 6:30 p.m.

Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray are… Heavy Trash! On stage and in the studio, Jon Spencer has destroyed and rebuilt American roots music with such ferocity and wild abandon it is hard to believe that there is anything left. The trail of musical destruction in the wake of his groovy hate-fuck combo Pussy Galore still smolders with the stench of avant punk trash and nasty garage ooze and grind, while his towering work with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion remains an indelible totem to his enormous mojo spirit and red-hot power of deliverance. He is Daddy Boss Hog! He is the Blues Exploder and Microphone Destroyer! A Gibson Brother! The man who shared a Chicken Dog with Rufus Thomas, got Soul with R.L. Burnside, and enjoyed a greasy Lap Dance with Andre Williams! He is The Man Who Loved too Much!!! Now, with his pal Matt Verta-Ray, he has become Heavy Trash, and is inviting you to a Midnight Soul Serenade.

“Gee, I Really Love You” mp3

(Photo courtesy Press Here Publicity)

Video for Heavy Trash’s “(Sometime You Gotta Be) Gentle” below.

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