Crib Notes

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.

Bookmark to:

Photographer Perry Julien caught these shots of Dinosaur Jr playing a free in-store at Criminal Records a couple of weeks back on Sat., Oct. 17.

Bookmark to:

Earlier this week Andy Hopkins of long-defunct acoustic/indie rock/experimental duo FLAP, who is reuniting to play this Friday night (Oct. 23) at 529, checked-in to give us a run down on the band’s history.

-This will be the first FLAP show in over 11 years, so it’s fair to call it a reunion. The band pretty much went dormant when I moved to Chicago in the Fall of 1998.

-FLAP was active between 1989 and 1998, so it would also be fair to call our show the “20th anniversary show.”

-In the early period, between 1989 and 1993, FLAP was primarily just me and Matt Miller, performing as an acoustic duo. We released two cassette albums in this format, Honkey Donkey, and Guitarded.

-In the period between 1993 and 1998 we primarily played as a rock trio, with our drummer Jason Gillis. We released three CDs during this period: PAL, Buldugs Or The Kid Is Hot Tonite, and Flap Am In The House.

-During all periods of FLAP we reserved the right to break away into all kinds of experimental formats, including cheap electronics, and full rock bands with guest singers.

-The reunion show at 529 will focus mostly on the early two-guitar instrumental period of intense jazz-math-grass compositions.

-”Walkin’ The Bug” is from our very first release Honkey Donkey in 1990. Honkey Donkey was recorded quite well by David ‘Zod’ Watkins, and was only (to date) ever released on cassette, the preferred format of the era.

“Walkin’ the Bug” mp3

(Photo courtesy FLAP)

Bookmark to:

Like Michael Jackson when he was alive, R. Kelly is simultaneously worshipped and reviled. Few inspire such widespread curiosity about their private lives, and the intrigue surrounding the pied piper of R&B (great nickname) certainly hasn’t died down since his acquittal on child pornography charges last June.

He recently admitted he was functionally illiterate, and a press tour of his palatial Chicagoland home this summer put his Neverland-like environs on full display. New York radio personality Miss Info reported that the outside of his house looks like a suburban church, the inside looks like a luxury ski lodge, and that he served a punch called “Sex in the Kitchen.” Like his choice of cocktails, his recent music similarly has not shied away from explicitly sexual material.

Continue Reading “R. Kelly recruits Atlantans for new album, Untitled“

(Photo courtesy Parrish Lewis)

Bookmark to:

By B. Knight

Instead of the 106th and Park tour, BET should’ve name it the “Baby Making Tour 2009″ with Trey Songz and Mario, featuring Day 26, Sean Garrett and Richgirl. The energy was sexually charged with a 10-to-1 woman-to-man ratio in the Tabernacle on Oct. 9. Ladies were decked out in the latest trends, from stripper pumps to sequins, and the men they came with quickly became an afterthought once Trey Songz hit the stage.

The anticipation for the “Prince of R&B” — as Songz is now being referred to — built to the rafters as honorable mentions Day 26 performed a brief, unorganized set. (Sidebar: Is it me or is Day 26 succumbing to the Bad Boy curse? Marinate on that…)

(more…)

Bookmark to:

LAST NIGHT'S DJ HERO PREVIEW AT 595 NORTH: Jermaine Dupri channels Ray Charles.

Nobody comes to the BET Hip Hop Awards for the BET Hip Hop Awards. Unless you’re a big rap star or a card-carrying member of the bloggerati — which pretty much includes everybody these days — you probably don’t stand a chance at getting into the actual event.

So here’s a select roundup of some of the parties, after parties and after after parties taking place over the weekend. Get in where you fit in.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Tonight, Fringe Factory Records celebrates their inaugural release at the Star Bar as they host the release party for the “In My Mind” b/w “Going Nowhere” 7-inch single from the Electric Cycles.

Like-minded locals, Atlanta’s Tiger Tiger! and Athens band the Humms open the show, and when all is said and done resident FF DJs Vikki V and Suzy Q will spin a sprawling set of ’60s rock, soul and psychedelic rock records until closing time.

“We had talked about starting a label for a while,” says Vikki. “We have lots of bands playing at our Fringe Factory events and we thought it would be cool to record some of them, put out singles, or maybe even do some reissues of some older stuff — ’60s, garage rock and psychedelic stuff. Matt from the Electric Cycles was kind of the catalyst who got it all rolling. They wanted to be affiliated with a label so we decided to do this first record together.”

“In My Mind” mp3

The Show is free and the music will kick off around 9 p.m. Star Bar, 437 Moreland Ave. 404-681-9018.

Bookmark to:

I went to the Wavves show at the Earl and all I got was this crappy iPhone pic

Despite Nathan Williams’ insistence on the phone a couple of weeks back that drummer Zach Hill would not be playing with Wavves when they came through Atlanta, Hill was most definitely holding the sticks last night. The Hella drummer who once broke his hand beating his kit at Echo Lounge several years back still hits with helicopter speed and precision — which makes an unexpectedly brilliant counterpoint to Williams’ loose strumming and ooohhh wwwooo wwwooos.

No, there was no drama at the show, as all parties involved in the Black Lips scuffle from last weekend give off the appearance of having moved on; everyone aside from the meat heads in the audience who pissed and moaned about it after the show.

Precautions had been taken to prevent any sort of incident nonetheless. There was a cop stationed in the parking lot keeping watch over Wavves’ van, and the bartender looked a bit sheepish while pouring bottles of beer into plastic cups saying, “Sorry, but I’m not allowed to serve out any glass bottles tonight because they’re afraid somebody might throw one at one of the bands …”

Really …

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Port O’Brien recently explained the concept behind their latest video for the song “My Will Is Good,” saying:

“The song is very rhythmic and packs some punch. Timbaland inspired us. We wanted a video that could match visually the rhythm in the song,” frontman Van Pierszalowski tells Spinner. “We took the idea of double dutch to [director] Raul Fernandez, and what he created was beyond our expectations. The intensity of the girls — and the one brave boy — in the video match the meaning and intensity behind the song.”

The San Francisco pop tarts are on the road in support of their third album, Threadbare. The record tussles between moods of quietly haunting and more endearing, uptempo indie rock anthems.

Port O’Brien plays the Earl with Seawolf and Sara Lov. Fri., Oct. 23. $10. 9 p.m. 488 Flat Shoals Road. 404-522-3950.

Also on Fri., Oct. 23 at 6 p.m. Port o’Brien will play a free in-store performance at Criminal Records.

Bookmark to:

There comes a time during every HAWKS show where you start to fear for your own safety. Maybe it’s in watching singer Mike Keenan strip naked and do the zombie walk through the crowd, kissing and singing to whomever he can get his hands on. Or maybe it’s seeing him stuff the microphone down some unsuspecting audience member’s pants and then finish the song with his face buried in their crotch. You’ll likely want to move to the safety of the bar and order a drink, but the cacophonous punk/metal melee unfolding on and off stage is just too awesome to miss. www.myspace.com/hawksisaband.

See the rest of BOA After Dark

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

Bookmark to:

Bradford Cox of Deerhunter/Atlas Sound will appear on Fox News’ Red Eye talk show tonight/tomorrow morning. The show airs at 3 a.m.

(Photo courtesy Kranky Records)

Bookmark to:

… AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD comes to Atlanta in support of its latest release, The Century of Self, an indie-rock power chord opus that litters piano interludes and a pulverizing rock bend with images of war, religion and all sorts of heady fodder. Dallas, Texas, trio the Secret Machines open with a set of sprawling and visceral indie-rock chargers. Mon., Sept. 14. $15. 8 p.m. The Masquerade, 695 North Ave. 404-577-8178.

Trail of Dead’s “Inland_Sea” mp3

Bookmark to:

Who are you? Describe yourself in three words.
Charlie Brand guitar/vocals – Water Dog Australia.
Rick – drums/keyboards/vocals – Confused Titty Barber.
Algernon – guitar – Castle Grey Skull.
Alex Gerber – bass – Badass bearded bassist.

Who — dead or alive — would you most like to meet?
Charlie – Steve Martin.
Rick – Larry David.
Algernon – Sun Ra.
Alex – Lady Ga Ga.

Who would you most like to slap in the face?
Charlie – McG.
Rick – Whatever I’m having sex with at the time.
Algernon – Birthers.
Alex – Matthew Lesko.

What song do you wish you had written?
Charlie – “Ram On”
Rick – “Old Folks at Home”/”Ol’ Man River”
Algernon – “Butterfly Kisses”
Alex – “Back To Pooh Corner”

Elvis Costello or Elvis Presley?
All – Elvis Costello.

LP, CD or MP3?
Charlie – .Wav
Rick – .AIFF
Algernon – .OGG
Alex – LP

If you could start one trend, what would it be?
Charlie – More exotic pets in public.
Rick – Baggy cordury pants.
Algernon – T-shirt and jeans.
Alex – Nail Bitting.

If you could end one trend, what would it be?
Charlie – Vampires.
Rick – Water Beds.
Algernon – Hummers.
Alex – Michael Bay.

With whom would you most like to play a game of spin the bottle?
Charlie – Diane Keaton.
Rick – Audrey Tatou.
Algernon – Rosario Dawson.
Alex – Natalie Portman.

“Tell It to the Volcano” mp3

Miniature Tigers and Fun play the Drunken Unicorn Sun., Sept. 20. $10 (adv). $12 (door).

(Photo courtesy of Daffodil Publicity)

Bookmark to:

In the secret history of American punk and hardcore, the Effigies played a key role in leading Chicago’s strain of the energetic and reactionary sounds that defined disaffection in the Reagan era. The group’s 2007 CD, Reside – its first in 21 years – is a return to the lashing chops that made them such a formidable band in the early ’80s. With this one-off show, they’re playing at The Earl on Fri., Sept. 11 the group will show that the razor-sharp songwriting and political righteousness that gave the Effigies so much power in the early days of punk rock on American soil, still rings loud and clear.

Chad Radford:  I never thought of the Effigies, or the Chicago hardcore sound of the ’80s as having much in common with “Hardcore” (with a capital H), like bands from Boston or D.C.
John Kezdy:  If I were to describe what the Chicago sound was, with bands like us and Naked Raygun — we tried to write real songs but they had the punk energy. Our influences were a lot different from hardcore and I cringe whenever anyone calls us a hardcore band.

You don’t like being called a hardcore band?
It’s not that I don’t like it, but I think it’s an error. This may come as a surprise to you, but a lot of the hardcore crowd is kind of bigoted and has a very strict definition for what passes as hardcore.  If you don’t meet it you’re not hardcore. When our last album, Reside came out in 2007 we saw all of these hardcore blogs out there that hated it, and that’s as it should be because we’re not a hardcore band. I don’t mind if people call us a punk band because that’s what we’ve always been. I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but the lineage of the Effigies has always been more along the lines of the Sex Pistols, the Stranglers, the Ruts and that kind of stuff, as opposed to thrash metal or heavy metal which is what a lot of hardcore bands are. People forget that the term hardcore was actually a pejorative.

The Effigies play The Earl on Fri., Sept. 11 with Customers and Poison Arrows. $10. 9 p.m. , 488 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-522-3950.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Chad Radford:  How did the Perez Hilton Presents tour come about?
Perez Hilton:  The tour is like my baby who has been in gestation for several years now. I’ve wanted to do this for quite some time, and it’s finally happening all at once: the tour, my record label Perezcious Music through Warner Bros., my first signing, Sliimy, who’s releasing his debut on Sept. 15. It’s a very exciting time for me and it all feels very natural and organic. The tour is a natural progression of what I’ve already been doing — I’ve put on events all over the world, from SXSW to CMJ to events in Toronto and Liverpool, and I’ve had varied people perform: Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, N.E.R.D., Eric Hutchinson … a lot of the acts on this tour as well. Those events have mainly been invite only or where people could win tickets. Now I’ve taken the concept of a a cool mini-festival, taken it on the road, made it all ages and made it affordable, which were very important to me.

Is there a cross-over with your audience between your blog and what you’re doing with the label and tour?
The audience for the label is a lot more varied from my traditional reader, which is a young female in her twenties. But for the music I couldn’t pinpoint the demographic that specifically. Out of the events I’ve thrown everybody goes and everybody has a good time.

Perez Hilton presents Ladyhawke, Ida Maria and Semi Precious Weapons. $22-$24. Variety Playhouse, 1099 Euclid Ave. 404-524-7354.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Helado Negro – “Dahum” from Asthmatic Kitty on Vimeo.

Helado Negro’s musical compositions are an amalgamation of improv performances and happy accidents that are captured, manipulated and molded into final products of hypnotic, post-beat psychedelia via Loops, computers, MPC, samples and live instruments. The man at the center of it all is Roberto Carlos Lange, a producer/visual artist who has collaborated with other artists such as David Ellis, Prefuse 73 and Savath and Savalas, School of Seven Bells, Paul Duncan, Bear in Heaven and more.

“Deja” mp3

Adron, Helado Negro, Jason Ajemian and Social Studies play 529 tonight (Wed., Sept. 9). $7. 9 p.m.

Bookmark to:

Faith & the Muse play the Hyatt Centennial Ballroom as part of Dragon*Con on Sun., Sept. 6 at midnight.

After meeting on tour while William Faith was performing with Rozz Williams in a resurrected incarnation of Christian Death, Faith and Monica Richards formed Faith & the Muse in 1993 to explore a more ethereal side of their dark punk roots. Over the years the LA-based duo have  fostered something of an Elizabethan approach to their dramatic and multilayered songcraft. For Sunday’s show Faith and Richards have filled-out the lineup to to a nine-piece ensemble to add a bit of a Japanese bent to their mystique.

Does the word “goth” bother you when talking about Faith & the Muse?
Does it bother me? No. It at least gives you an inkling as to the style of the music. When people use that as a limitation on what you do it’s another thing. There are certain things about the goth genre that apply, and the music has a darker style to it;  there is a romantic quality to what we do. Also, when people see the word goth they know that you’re not Garth Brooks or something like that. It’s useful in that capacity, but because we employ so much other stuff into what we do, goth is part of it, but it’s not the whole thing. To me it’s all born out of punk rock.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Lead by former Neutral Milk Hotel drummer Jeremy Barnes, A Hawk & A Hacksaw explores various enclaves of Eastern European and American folk music with an accordion and something of a surreal bent. The group is touring in support of their latest release, Délivrance (Leaf). Jeffrey Butzer and Damon & Naomi open.

$10. 9 p.m. The Earl. 488 Flat Shoals Rd. 404-522-3950.

Bookmark to:

“Seeing the Dark” and “Spirit Molecule,” the first two cuts from Zoroaster’s The Voice of Saturn, have materialized on the B-side of a split 7-inch with Portland, Oregon’s Aldebaran (Kreation Records).

Both acts are cut from a similar cloth of slow, doom-laden metal riffs, and the vinyl treatment really blows out the bottom end of the dirge. The bass-heavy mix draws out the rich and blackened qualities, and as a teaser to the forthcoming vinyl version of The Voice of Saturn, it definitely leaves you wanting more.

Aldebaran’s side is a growly voiced anthem called “Aldebaran Red,” which fits smoldering guitars and war drums over dueling high/low godlike grumbles. There’s less of a psychedelic bent to Aldebaran’s side of the record. Instead, these Portland tormentors summon a maelstrom of teeth-gnashing, scorched-earth vitriol. 900 copies pressed on black vinyl, 100 on clear/”black haze” vinyl.

Zoroaster’s “Spirit Molecule” mp3

Zoroaster plays the Masquerade Thurs., Sept. Sep 24 with Gojira and Burst and Scale the Summit.  $13. 8 p.m. 695 North Ave. 404-577-8178.

Bookmark to:

To celebrate the release of the Beatles’ monolithic stereo CD box set, Criminal Records has declared Wed., Sept. 9 to be Beatles Day — all day.

Sadly the store has already stopped taking pre-orders for the super limited CD box set of mono recordings, and the remastered LPs won’t see the light of day until sometime next year.

But if you must have to have it, the stereo box is available for pre-order now at a reduced cost of $199.99. As of Sept. 9 they will shoot up to $239.99 when a series of individual remasters will also be released and sold for $9.99 each. But if you don’t have the dough and want to just hang out and listen to some top notch Beatles reissues, they’ll be playing the remasters all day long from the main stage through some kind of high-tech, two-channel stereo system that comes courtesy of local experts The Art of Noise.

Bookmark to: