Crib Notes

After Kate Hudson stopped being Chris Robinson’s real-life Penny Lane, Robinson retreated to the place he felt most comfortable: THE BLACK CROWES. The band’s comeback album, Warpaint, got an unexpected PR push earlier this year when Maxim magazine was put in the embarrassing position of admitting it had panned the new record without having heard it. Turns out they should have listened. Warpaint proved to be the band’s most successful album in more than a decade, and it was followed by a tour on which the Crowes reclaimed their elevated position in America’s rock ‘n’ roll hierarchy. Rock on. www.blackcrowes.com. — Scott Freeman

Click here to view CL’s complete 2008 Best of Atlanta/After Dark critics’ and readers’ picks.

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Killer Mike in Kirkwood

KILLER MIKE is a rapper with an agenda, and usually those make for the most focused MCs. In Mike’s case, it makes him one of the best – both in Atlanta and beyond. Representing for the working class, his latest release, I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind II, is a precise continuation of the street knowledge he branded on the first installment. Songs such as “Good Bye (City of Dope),” “Pressure” (featuring Ice Cube) and “God in the Building” elevate his standing in hip-hop’s lyrical hierarchy. Killer Kill from Adamsville (as he’s affectionately known) has the storytelling, nonirritating braggadocio and metaphors to make even the most noted lyricist brush up his pen game. www.myspace.com/grindtimeonline. — Jacinta Howard

To view the complete 2008 Best of Atlanta/After Dark critics’ and readers picks, click here.

Photo by Maurice Garland

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