Crib Notes

Like the city itself, the music scene in Atlanta often seems fragmented, in search of its identity. And like the city, it is made up of a host of players, and it can sometimes be difficult to find consistency in its frenzied output. That ain’t all bad; smaller, more insular scenes tend to yield a homogeneous result, and the A is nothing if not all over the place. Below, five reasons to hold out hope for music in our fair metropolis.

1. Over in the trendier-by-the-second East Atlanta Village, the newish 529 has been hosting some of the best local and non-local shows in town for several months now with a decided focus on indie rock’s grittier subgenres. The space is nice, too: it’s tiny, but thanks to the outdoor patio, not claustrophobic, and the band area feels more like a house show basement than a rock club. Down the street, the Earl is still the de facto club in the Village, but 529 is quickly becoming a go-to spot.

2. In Grant Park, Eyedrum has brilliantly bridged the gap between D.I.Y. show space and legit music venue for years now. It has long been known as the place to go for experimental and noise; this past year has seen performances from Chicago avant-jazz hotshot Ken Vandermark and sample-driven duo the Books, among others. Earlier this year, they reportedly faced closure due to the high cost of maintaining the space, but it seems they’ve managed to remain solvent enough to continue for now. In addition to live music, the gallery exhibits some interesting stuff from local artists. (more…)

Bookmark to:

Remember that scene from “Chappelle’s Show” when Charlie Murphy recalls the time when the late Rick James came to his brother Eddie’s pad and started jumping up and down all over the leather sofa with his muddy platform boots on, yelling “Fuck yo’ couch, nigga!” Well, that’s HOLLYWEERD to the nth degree. Take the lineup: a self-styled savant who goes by “the Dreamer,” two full-time tat artists (Tuki Carter and Chris “the Love Crusader” McAdoo) from City of Ink, and a jazz-sax journeyman who calls himself the mythical Stagolee. That ain’t no rap group, it’s a band of gypsies. Since materializing out of thin air nearly two years ago, the four-man crew has busily crafted its own unruly narrative. The three mixtapes released in the past 12 months showcase the group’s penchant for combining sweet indie-pop incarnations with self-indulgent fantasy funk. It’s a nutty mix. Yet somehow they’ve managed to turn their wild inconsistencies — from constantly evolving musical influences including OutKast and the Doors to hit-or-miss live performances — into the main attraction. Like a traveling freak show, Hollyweerd piques our curiosity. No matter how odd, we can’t turn away for fear of missing what might happen next. www.myspace.com/hollyweerd.

See the rest of BOA After Dark

(Photo courtesy Joeff Davis)

Bookmark to:

The Cheap Ass Show featuring Hollyweerd, Social Studies, Mach 5, Niko Villamor. $5. 9 p.m. Star Bar, 437 Moreland Ave. 404-681-9018. www.starbar.net.

Download Hollyweerd’s latest mixtape Candy for Kleptos if you haven’t yet.

Bookmark to:

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.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Tonight’s previously scheduled show featuring Deep Cotton, Jaspects, Hollyweerd, Rahbi, Scar, Tendaberry, Brittany Bosco and Jimi Cravity is cancelled.

For more information, call the Rialto box office at 404-413-9849.

See more CL soundmenu picks for shows this weekend, including Random Rabbit, Afro-Cuban Allstars, Michelle Malone, Omar, and the Strange Boys.

Bookmark to:

For this edition of Roll Call, we call out the Dreamer of Hollyweerd.

Who are you?
THE DREAMER aka a visionary

Describe yourself in three words.
Cool. Confused. Focused.

Who — dead or alive — would most you like to meet?
Jesus

What song do you wish you had written?
“The Lady Wants to Know” by Michael Franks

Lil Wayne or Little Walter?
LIttle Walter. I like some Sinbad.

LP, CD or MP3?
8 Traxx

If you could start one trend, what would it be?
The mullet!!

If you could end one trend, what would it be?
Hating

With whom would you most like to play a game of spin the bottle?
Whoppi Goldberg and Shug Avery. LOL

The Clipse, Hollyweerd, Proton, Born Wit It. Feb. 19. 18-and-up. $10. 9:30 p.m. 595 North, 595 North Ave. 404-835-2329. www.595north.com.

Bookmark to:

Spotted at The Smoking Section.

Bookmark to:

Download Hollyweerd’s new mixtape: Electricity Showroom

I must admit, I’m one of those people who felt ambivalent about Hollyweerd a year ago for some of the same reasons that were expressed on Crib Notes and elsewhere at the time. Their eclectic combination of MCs the Dreamer, Tuki, the Love Crusader, and sax man Staggo Lee was dope, as was that irrestibly pop-worthy track “Have You Ever Made Love to a Weirdo.”

But the stage show was a bit throwed-off; they lacked cohesion and seemed as if they were still trying to figure out their respective roles. As I’m sure they were since the underground super group was barely a couple of months old at the time.

“Just think a year ago we were considered music infants…,” Tuki raps on “Mandatory Mandate,” a standout track on the group’s new mixtape, Electricity Showroom. Needless to say, the babies of Atlanta’s underground new wave have come a long way.

Electricity Showroom is Hollyweerd’s second mixtape released in five months. Like Edible Phat before it, Electricity expands on the group’s arty collage of film clip interludes, ’80s-inspired R&B/funk, and stank-love wrapped around catchy-as-hell hooks.

If it sounds like a cheezy combo, it’s supposed to — at least half the time. You get the feeling that the Dreamer lays down his vocals with his tongue firmly planted in cheek. (If Snoop Dogg got away with “Sensual Seduction,” I say the Dreamer’s song, “Karl Tutymer” — which sounded like a parody of Alexander O’Neal spittin’ game to Cherelle — was the sleeper hit on Edible Phat.) Tuki still rhymes with that something-to-prove, nothing-to-lose attitude that gives the group its burst of edgy energy, especially live. Staggo Lee’s expanded MC/spoken word/vocal role extends his jazzy vibe beyond the limitations of his alto sax. And the Love Crusader seems less like the fifth wheel than the quiet, mysterious guy in a boy band full of brashness.

They’re still big flirts, attending to the ladies on such cuts as “Spend the Night pt. 2″ and “All in Your Smile.” But for all the OutKast comparisons they received early on, Hollyweerd’s found its own HOV lane. By the sound of it, I’d say they’re sandwiched somewhere between the Pharcyde and Rick James.

Hollyweerd’s making fun music with more pop potential than anything coming out of Atlanta’s underground rap scene right now, as their fans can attest. Even the guys seem conspicuously aware of their growing prowess on “Day N Nite (Wiimix)” when one of them raps: “’Cause in ’09/ there shouldn’t be a reason why we ain’t signed.”

Whether or not that happens amid the current industry climate is anyone’s guess, but Hollyweerd should be fun to watch in 2009, regardless — stage show and all.

Bookmark to:

SEE MORE PHOTOS OF ATLANTA INDIE MUSIC FESTIVAL @ SIDESHOWATLANTA.COM

Saturday, Oct. 8

Near the end of the scheduled seven-hour Atlanta Indie Music Festival on Saturday night, I experienced an epiphany: Hipster girls have zero booty meat.

No, that ain’t it. Just one observation among many made as I stood in the half-full parking lot adjacent to the Bench, watching trains crawl by at 5 mph in the backdrop while some of Atlanta’s finest took the stage in 40 degree weather.

Soon after the smell of hot skunk wafted into the crowd from the fire set in an industrial-strength drum by a member of Mach 5, it struck me. Hip-hop needs air to breathe. Never before had Supreeme seemed so precocious, as Shaka performed “The Best Years” shirtless. And Hollyweerd celebrated its one-year anniversary by striking a balance between controlled and chaotic, perhaps for the first time.

Still, the music (Gripplyaz, Jaspects, Mike Flo, Señor Kaos, Yelawolf, Newberry Jam, Flyy Academy, Kidz in the Hall, Brittany Bosco, etc.) was secondary to the family reunion vibe. For all the talk of Atlanta’s emerging rap scene being too trendy, it was inspiring to see the next generation lose its cool.

Now somebody please feed those skinny girls some chicken.

(Photo by Alan Friedman)

Bookmark to:

NEW DISCLAIMER!!!!!
Remember in my first blog when I said I’d try to express my opinions without getting beat up by some gangster rapper I might run into someday? Well now I’m gonna try and do that without getting beat up by some Hipster rapper that I def will, and HAVE, run into. I know some of y’all are waaaay more hood than hipster and are just trying to get paid, but if any of you all have a problem with my words it’s not Creative Loafing, crib notes, Godney Starmichael, RAD BADFORD, Supreeme, or any of them. It’s me and my rants again. And white people, I know you’re really sensitive about race these days…so this one’s not about race or gender or sex….Its just about music!!!

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: HIPSTER HOP, THE SUB-GENRE THAT I’M NOT SURE EXISTS
Being a skinny rapper who isn’t “socially conscious” or dealing coke on record (in real life I’m a Huey P. Newton idolizing Tony Montana), I had a deep seated fear of being lumped into what is now called Hipster Hop. It seems as if anyone whose clothing fits and doesn’t rap about the struggle or the hustle gets lumped into that scategory. For those of you who don’t know, the term hipster no longer only applies to white kids who did psychedelic drugs and listened to Miles Davis. Now it applies to Filipino dudes in exclusive Japanese tees and sneakers, cokehead art student chix who only like “dance music” (cocaine robot remixes), gender ambiguous dudes with fancy haircuts and American Apparel shirts, weird black guys with messy perms who AREN’T hairdressers, and pretty much most people @ DSC, Sloppy blah, Cinespace (LA), Silent Barn (NYC), Sway (NYC), Broke n…Bang Bang blah blah blah.

The term is used almost haphazardly to describe people who often don’t have that much in common. A wave of rappers are coming out of this 238 BPM fashion-cocaine-Macbook-Japan-MySpace-based miniverse who are being called Hipster Hop. My friends and I debate if this subgenre has any signifying sonic markers. I am going to attempt to pinpoint what separates hipster hop from the rest of rap.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

YOUNG, BLACK AND WEIRD: Hollyweerd rocks the Drunken Unicorn.

(Photos by Hannibal M.)

“We on some black hipster shit in here!” announced Wil May, host for the hip-hop showcase “Perfect Attendance.” Yes, it’s true: Atlanta’s black hipsters are back and in full force. For the past several months, they’ve been organizing concerts and parties with the fervor of punk rock bands. Rarely a week goes by without a show featuring either Proton, Gripplyaz or Hollyweerd. Typically, all three were on the Perfect Attendance lineup.

Perfect Attendance was held at the Drunken Unicorn Friday, Feb. 8. It was presented by Fadia Kader’s Come Up Kids crew, and much of the two-hour showcase featured Jaspects as both lead performer and backing band. Several of the scene’s players were either performing or were in the audience, including Battery 5, Kid Kaos and others. Perfect Attendance was just the latest of dozens of events seeking to inflate the ATL hip-hop buzz to record levels, but it was as good an opportunity as any to see what the hype was all about.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

HIP TO BE WEIRD: Hollyweerd

(Photo by Hannibal M.)

It may sound reminiscent of OutKast, but Hollyweerd is definitely unique, and the group is creating a huge buzz in the Atlanta underground hip-hip world.

The group has just been added to the list of artists competing for Urb magazine’s “Next 100″ list of 2008. Urb.com says:

“The great thing about Holly Weerd is that they have the perfect balance of familiarity and expansion. There spaceship travels upon breathing synth melodies and staple drum patterns have gotten them much love on local radio and an average of three hundred myspace plays a day! Not bad for a group of atliens who don’t even belong to a label.”

You can check them out with Yelawolf, Rita J, Fiona Simone, Gripplyaz, and DJ Mafioso at the Drunken Unicorn on Saturday, Feb. 2. Doors open at 9 p.m. $5 before 11 p.m., $10 after.

Also, look for Maurice Garland’s story on Hollyweerd to run in next week’s print edition.

Bookmark to: