Crib Notes

For today’s Roll Call we call out Nikki Darlin, vocalist and Ukelele player for Murfreesboro, Tenn. country trio Those Darlins.

Who are you?
The infamous Nikki Darlin.

Describe yourself in three words.
magic, drunk, smashy.

Who — dead or alive — would most you like to meet?
The Marx Brothers. The best entertainers of all time without a doubt!

Whom would you most like to slap in the face?
There are so many I don’t know where to start, mostly old smart ass men (not in the funny way) who are condescending creeps to young women like myself and the rest of the Darlins.

What song do you wish you had written?
“Awesome” by Nick Lowe

Elvis Costello or Elvis Presley?
Elvis Costello winked at me on a plane, Presley didn’t. I’d rather flirt with Presley. He makes me shake my ass harder than Costello.

LP, CD or MP3?
LP! I throw CDs around like trash and I can’t throw mp3s so I don’t bother with them.

If you could start one trend, what would it be?
Back to the basics. Leather, furs, bones and feathers.

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

With whom would you most like to play a game of spin the bottle?
All the Marx Brothers. It wouldn’t be sexy at all but would probably be the most hilarious spin the bottle ever.

Those Darlins play the Earl w/ O’death and Vortex Park on Tues., Dec. 2nd. $10. 9 p.m. 488 Flat Shoals Rd. 404-522-3950.

(Photo courtesy of Oh Wow Dang Records)

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VAMPIRE WEEKEND: From far away

Overheard at Bonnaroo: “Some guy in VIP was talking about how, like, he got to take free showers, and I was like ‘Well, I shower every four days anyway.’” — Girl behind me in line.

Day one of Bonnaroo started at 4 a.m. and ended at about 1 a.m., and the in-between times were filled with a healthy mix of music, sitting in a car and public urination.
Allow me to explain.

Once we actually got to Bonnaroo and got our tent set up (which only took about seven hours total — proof that God smiles on CL and all its endeavors), the first order of bidness was checking out the opening-day lineup. Superdrag was the first band I caught, which was strangely appropriate — between Metallica, Pearl Jam, Chris Rock and Janeane Garofalo, acts I liked in the 9th grade are making a big comeback at Bonnaroo this year.

I’m not as familiar with Superdrag’s new stuff, which they played a lot of (and which underwhelmed me, frankly), but anything off their 1996 release “Regretfully Yours” was absolute audio gold.

We skipped MGMT and most of Battles (who we heard the last part of while waiting in line, and it sounded awesome and I wish I could have been more adjacent to the stage) for two trips to the comedy tent, which was a hard decision, but one that paid off in two big ways:

1) The comedy tent was air-conditioned.

2) I saw a really drunk guy urinate on two rows of people in front of him. (more…)

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AT SXSW: Michael Stipe of R.E.M. (All photos by Perry Julien.)

Music conference vs. music festival.

Badges vs. wristbands vs. free shows.

Official showcases vs. un-official showcases.

Regardless of your opinions, there is something about 1,700 bands getting together for 24 hours of music.

I was able to see and photograph 49 bands over five days. Fucking rock excess.

Below are photos from: REM, Dark Meat, Ocha La Rocha, Elf Power, Dead Confederate, The Whigs, Von Bondies, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Raveonettes, Vampire Weekend, and X.

R.E.M.

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