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.
Here at Criminal we love Halloween. What with monsters, ghosts, scary movies, adult costume (*cough* Eric knows what I’m talking about) parties, and all things creepy and ghoulish, Halloween is the top of the most. So to help us celebrate in spooky fashion, we thought we’d turn the store over to Professor Morte’s Silver Sream Spookshow. Prof.Morte.
On Sunday, October 25 at 2:30pm, Professor Morte and his cast of goblins and monsters will “Atomic Stomp” Criminal by performing hits off their brand new CD Building the Perfect Monster. Thrill to classics like “Witch Doctor” and soon to be classics “Surfin’ in the Black Lagoon” and “Lon Chaney” (What!? No Lugosi?) and many more. Morte, Wretch & Pandora are expecting you. You had better be here or suffer the consequences. Bwah ha ha ha!! Hot damn! That’s entertainment.
Watch for an interview with the abominable Professor Morte next week.
Murph., J., Lou.
Before Dinosaur Jr. heads over to play at Variety Playhouse tomorrow night (Sat. Oct. 17), J., Lou and Murph will play a free, acoustic in-store set at Criminal Records at 6:30 p.m.
The neighborhood is already preparing for the madness of the annual L5P Halloween parade. Beer and vendor tents are up and there’s a seasonal chill in the air. Could there be better atmosphere to take in an acoustic Dinosaur Jr. set of classics and Jams from their brilliant second post-reformation album, Farm?
NPR caught up with DINOSAUR JR. for their recent show at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. The result? A complete recording of the concert including an opening solo set from Lou Barlow. The set includes selections from the band’s latest release, Farm, and a few old favorites.
Criminal Records is located at 1154-A Euclid Ave. 404-215-9511.
(Photo courtesy Jagjaguwar)
By Elliott Garstin
Wednesday night Phoenix rolled into Atlanta with the wind in their sails. This band’s had the luxury of a hard working promotions team inundating you with their music and presence since the release of their latest album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix back in May. It’s been hard to miss ‘em. Car commercials, radio, in-flight music, satellite, in-stores, magazines and every blog going bananas over some suave French dudes that play music that sounds of the moment. And while most media savvy music lovers have a sort of cognitive dissonance to this type of over-exposure, this time the band cut right through to win their hearts.
400 plus Phoenix fans packed Criminal Records earlier in the day to munch on some za and get a little taste of what they were probably missing later on that night. The show at the Variety had been sold out for months. There was an exciting feeling in the air and it carried over to the show later in the evening.
Phoenix hit the stage about 9:15, an incredibly early start time for a generally less than punctual Atlanta crowd, but no matter. From the opening notes of “Lisztomania,” Phoenix had the crowd eating out of their hand. The set was wisely new album heavy, playing every song, but one with a smattering of choice cuts off their first three albums. The last time Phoenix played Atlanta touring in support of It’s Never Been Like That there were maybe fifty people at the Roxy. The band remembered as well, making note of it at one point, but they didn’t seem to mind. They were on top of the world and are shooting for the stars. The show was arena ready and in a few months time don’t be surprised to see Phoenix headlining Madison Square Garden.
(Photo by Perry Julien)
The Sunny Day Real Estate show at Center Stage this Saturday has been sold out for months, but there are plenty of other great shows on which to spend your hard-earned dollars this week. Here’s a list of nine shows going on between tonight and Wed., Oct. 6 that I wholeheartedly endorse, in order of priority.
Of course the smart money is on the Wavves show at the Earl on Sunday night. Recent drama with Black Lips aside, the Wavves kid puts on a fun show of sweetly damaged California pop melodies ravaged by noise in the most brain-pleasing way. According to singer/guitar player Nathan Williams, the idea behind the group was to create songs that resembled something like Beatles-esque pop filtered through the dissonance of Sonic Youth’s guitar sounds, but due to his lack of skills when it came to recording, the resulting songs more closely resemble something like a mashup of Pavement circa Slanted & Enchanted and the Jesus & Mary Chain circa Psychochandy, wrapped in a Zoloft haze — can’t go wring there. Ganglians and Facehugger open. $10. 8 p.m. Sun., Oct. 4. 404-522-3950. www.badearl.com.
Grizzly Bear needs no introduction, so I won’t waste your time, other than to say that they’re bringing their brand of fey and lofty art pop to Variety Playhouse on Mon., Oct. 5. The show is currently sold out, but keep on eye on the Variety Playhouse’s Twitter page as more tickets are rumored to be made available this week. 8 p.m. Variety Playhouse. 404-524-7354.
Photo by Dale Heise
Tonight Digital Leather plays 529. I’ve yet to hear a recording from this one-time Jay Reatard cohort that I can fully endorse, although word on the street is that the Sorcerer album on Goner is the one to get. Regardless, Digital Leather played 529 a couple of months back and the full-band treatment of what’s mostly the one-man studio project of Omaha resident Shawn Foree, gave sort of a dark, Buzcocks pop edge to these synth-heavy no wave numbers, adding some much needed girth. Thee Crucials and the F’n Heartbreaks open. $7. 9 p.m. 529, 529 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-228-6769.
If you made the mistake, as I did, of assuming you’d be able to get tickets a few weeks prior to the Phoenix show at the Variety Playhouse Wednesday, you’d be crying in your cereal – the thing got sold out a full 30 days in advance. Fortunately for you, the good people at Criminal Records keep their booking fingers busy and have for you a Phoenix in-store Wednesday at noon. Do yourself a favor and stop by.
And if it’s any consolation, here’s an mp3 of the Neighbours Remix of “Rome,” from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, featuring Devendra Banhart:
Phoenix, “Rome (Neighbours Remix f. Devendra Banhart) [via the Fader]
(Photo courtesy Glass Note Music)
Criminal Records announced today that Yo La Tengo will play a free in-store performance on Sat., Sept. 19 at 4 p.m., which just happens to coincide with the Other Sound Fest.
Yo La Tengo plays Variety Playhouse Sept. 1. $20. 8:30 p.m. Endless Boogie opens. 1099 Euclid Ave. 404-524-7354.
Stream Yo La Tengo’s Popular Songs.
(Photo courtesy Matador Records)
“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.”
- Sun Tzu, the Art of War
In every war there comes a time to call a truce, and when the members of Attractive Eighties Women declared war on me after giving their latest CD, The Ancient Cry of the Tyrannosaur, a measly 1 out of 5 stars, it was time to meet face-to-face on a battlefield of their choosing. Guitarist Christie Brinkley and frontman Phoebe Cates chose Octane Coffee. In the past I have described AEW as being equal parts Lenny Bruce impious humor-made-local, and the power-trash jams of the Replacements circa ‘83, but the first part isn’t quite right. These guys are more like Andy Kaufman meets the Mats at the dog end of a three-day amphetamine-fueled performance art bender. They don’t mind speaking their minds about their disdain for rock critics, communists and worst of all pandas.
Chad Radford: Thank you for meeting me today.
Christie Brinkley: Thank you. I brought you this statue of a King-Fu Master out of respect for what you do, and for meeting us here today. It’s a gift from us as a gesture of respect for you meeting us. But I also cut of his left hand as a warning and to remind you of our disapproval of the album review that you wrote of our new record.
Phoebe Cates: We do that for critics who give us bad reviews. We even wrote a song about the coward Jeff Clark, but it’s not a nice song. You made the right decision to come and speak with us today. I looked at your review of our new record online and it had 17 comments. The only other thing that had any comments was something about Dallas Austin, and he only had two comments. That’s a pretty accurate percentage of how much more popular we are than Dallas Austin, which if you do the math it works out to about 13,000% more popular. So as you see we are a band that gets people talking and that gets people excited.
Chad Radford: I heard your song about Jeff Clark …
PC: You mean “the coward Jeff Clark” of Stomp & Stammer?
CR: What did he do to you?
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.
Tiny Vipers’ sole songstress, Jesy Fortino, has a voice so strong and captivating it softens her existential quandaries, but resolves nothing. Life on Earth takes a heavy-duty trip into candle-lit depression via songs more concerned with asking questions than providing answers. In “Time Takes,” Fortino muses “am I crazy for feeling this way?” while strumming into a void of loneliness amid booming layers of texture. “Dreamer” climaxes with a slow, rhythmic gallop filled with dark intonations and a plea: “I’m dying for a way out.” But as each song bleeds into the next, there’s no sanctuary. The 10-minute title track is an ominous testament affirming that the only way out of hell is to tread right through it, and it’s a long, dreary ride indeed. 3 stars out of 5 stars.
Tiny Vipers plays a Criminal Records in-store at 7 p.m. and later at 529 with Balmorhea and Ben Trickey. $7. 9 p.m.
The brothers Carney, Jennings (bass), Lain (drums) and Van (guitar) of the rural, Blue Ridge area of Virginia make an awful lot happen in the small spaces occupied by the songs on Pontiak’s second full-length, Maker (Thrill Jockey). There’s a substantial dose of psychedelic freak-out here, but aside from the album’s 13-minute title track opus, most of the songs don’t go on for much longer than three minutes. The stuttering “Laywayed,” the noisy bursts of “Heat Pleasure,” and the hyper-manic clusters of guitar and drums in “Headless Conference” come together like pop fodder fitted with deep, dark grooves and warrior crooning. As such, Maker can certainly be filed under “stoner rock.” But the short, concise nature of each song makes it a jam for ADD listeners and inward journeymen alike.
Pontiak is playing a free in-store at Criminal Records on Sat., June 13 at 5:30 p.m.
Pontiak – Laywayed from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.
(Photo courtesy Thrill Jockey Records)
On Sun., May 10 Creative Loafing celebrates the second of two record release parties for our 12-inch LP compilation the Mixt A Vol 1 at Criminal Records at 3:30 p.m.
The record includes 10 songs from the likes of Predator, Grip Playaz, the Balkans, the N.E.C., A. Leon Craft, Anna Kramer & the Lost Cause, Mums F.P., Stanza, Carnivores and Zoroaster featuring Brent Hinds from Mastodon.
The record is strictly limited to 500 copies. The first show happens at Eyedrum on Thursday night. The $10 cover the door gets you into the show as well as a copy of the record. The N.E.C., Grip Playaz, the Balkans and A.Leon Craft are all scheduled to perform. Doors open at 7 p.m. Music starts at 8 p.m.
The second record release party goes down at Criminal Records on the afternoon of Sun., May 10. The Carnivores, Stanza, Mums F.P. and Predator are on the bill. There is no cover charge to attend the show. LPs will be on sale at the store for $10 and the music starts at 3:30 p.m.
In addition to the 10 songs on the LP, dozens of bonus tracks will be included in a free download that includes songs by Abby Go Go, All Night Drug Prowling Wolves, Batata Doce, the 4th Ward Afro-Klezmer Orchestra, the Coathangers, Danny!, Pill and many more.
CL’s Chanté LaGon and Chad Radford discuss the first of two record release parties celebrating our 12-inch LP compilation Mixt A, Vol. 1, taking place tonight, May 7, at Eyedrum. The N.E.C., Grip Plyaz, the Balkans and A. Leon Craft all perform. Cover is $10 and includes a copy of the limited-edition vinyl. Doors open at 7 p.m. Music starts at 8 p.m.
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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Judi Chicagos’ Ben Coleman breaks out in a hot sweat over James Brown’s 1967 LP Cold Sweat while performing at Criminal Records for Record Store Day on Sat., April 18.
(Photo by Joe Choy)
Peep the full photo gallery of the Coathangers’ April 7 performance at Atlanta’s Criminal Records.
On March 24, two very different Atlanta bands celebrated their record releases at Criminal Records with in-store performances just hours apart. Grammy Award-winning folk duo the Indigo Girls celebrated the release of their new record Poseidon and the Bitter Bug playing a six-song set at 4:30 p.m. followed by a 40-minute 8:30 p.m. set by Grammy-nominated metal band Mastodon. The latter was celebrating the release of its record Crack the Skye. The appearance of the two bands was Criminal’s second busiest day in its 18 years in Little 5 Points (the first was last year’s Record Store Day). “This kind of pairing is extraordinarily out of the ordinary, but at Criminal it made perfect sense,” said Criminal Records owner Eric Levine.
See more photos of the Indigo Girls and Mastodon at Criminal here.
(Mastodon photo by Perry Julien, Indigo Girls photo by Joeff Davis)
Stax legend, Booker T. Jones (of Booker T and the MGs fame) will be at Criminal Records for a meet and greet/signing from 6:45pm-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1 prior to his show at the Variety Playhouse, where he will be appearing with the Drive-by Truckers.
Booker T fans will be able to pre-order his new CD, Potato Hole, which features the Drive-by Truckers as his back-up band (as well as Neil Young on several tracks). Those who pre-order on Wednesday will receive a signed copy of the CD which is slated for release on May 19.
Tuesday will be an historic day for Criminal Records as two of Atlanta’s greatest musical exports, the Indigo Girls and Mastodon, both take the stage to celebrate the release of their respective albums.
First up, the Indigo Girls take the stage at 4:30 p.m. to play songs from their brand new CD, Poseidon and the Bitter Bug.
From the IG press release:
It’s been two decades since the Indigo Girls launched their career with their independently released debut album, 1987’s Strange Fire. Now, after entertaining millions of fans with their 10 major-label studio albums (nine on Epic Records and one, 2006’s Despite Our Differences, on Hollywood Records), Emily Saliers and Amy Ray have come full circle with the independent release of their new 2-CD album, Poseidon And The Bitter Bug, on their new label IG Recordings, distributed through Vanguard Records.
Indigo Girls’ “What Are you Like?” mp3
Then at 8 p.m. Criminal Records is closing its doors early to clear a path for the destructive force that is Mastodon who will be playing at 8:30 p.m. Upon re-opening, customers that have a Criminal Records receipt from purchase of Crack The Skye will be given priority to enter. Due to space constraints and security concerns the number of people allowed in the store for the show is limited to 300.
Club Awesome is playing a record release party for their first full-length album, Dynamos at Criminal Records on Sat., March 21, along with Thy Mighty Contract. To celebrate the album’s release, there will be free beer provided, and the group has decided to turn the store into a miniature-golf course. Rumor has it that the last hole of the course will be the kick-drum on-stage with the band.
When asked why they’re going with a miniature golf theme, guitar player Rick Kemp explains it’s because they are insecure. “It’s not enough that we are giving people free beer to drink while they walk around the store and look at records. We need to give them something else to keep their minds occupied while we play.”
The music and the golfing begin at 4 p.m.
CL’s Chanté LaGon and Chad Radford chat about Mastodon’s latest release Crack the Skye, a concept album slated to drop on March 24. Mastodon will play an in-store performance at Criminal Records on that same day.
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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