Crib Notes

In the liner notes to Vic Chesnutt’s ’07 full-length, North Star Deserter, Jem Cohen writes, “I make films, I’m no record producer. But I needed to bring these particular people together in this particular place… I thought they might hit it off.”
Cohen’s instincts served him well. North Star Deserter added wholly new dimensions to Chesnutt’s already vast body of songs, and by joining forces with Guy Picciotto (Fugazi) and members of A Silver Mt. Zion and God Speed You! Black Emperor, Chesnutt’s grim, avant-folk tendencies were pushed to maximum overdrive in squals of distortion and dramatic, symphonic majesty. But North Star Deserter was very much a construct of Jem Cohen — a personal vision of what Chesnutt’s albums should be, where songs, musicians and arrangements were put together like actors in a film. Chesnutt’s latest album, At the Cut, finds the same players who made North Star Deserter so bold and beautiful returning, this time to operate as a band sans Cohen’s direction.

Chad Radford:  Was the lineup for North Star Deserter really all part of Jem Cohen’s grand plan, or were you playing together before the idea for the album came about?

Guy Picciotto: That’s really how it all came together. I’ve actually known Vic since 1988. He was playing bass in a band that opened for the band I used to play in, Fugazi, at The 40 Watt Club. And actually, the other three guys in Fugazi played with Vic — maybe 10 years ago. They did an Olivia Newton-John cover together for a tribute project. They played “Have You Ever Been Mellow,” but I was out of town at the time, so I wasn’t part of that.

Before the North Star record I had never actually played with Vic, but I knew him and saw him every time we played in Athens. I was a huge fan of his records and always saw him when he came through town.

“Flirted With You All My Life”

“Philip Guston”

“Chain”

“Chinaberry Tree”

Vic Chesnutt (w/ Guy Picciotto of Fugazi and members of A Silver Mt. Zion, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Witchies, and Clare & the Reasons play the Earl on Sun. Nov. 1 $15. 8:00 p.m. 488 Flat Shoals Rd. 404-522-3950.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

CL’s Chante LaGon and Chad Radford chat about upcoming shows around Atlanta, including Hand of Doom at 529, Why? at Lenny’s and Vic Chesnutt at the Earl.

Check out Sound Menu for a more comprehensive list of local concerts.

Air Loaf is broadcast weekdays on 1690 WMLB-AM at approximately 8:10 a.m., 12:20 p.m. and 6:20 p.m.

Download

Subscribe to the Air Loaf RSS feed to download each new episode automatically

Bookmark to:

Mon., Oct. 26 Future of the Left, Hawks and Predator. $7. 9 p.m. 529, 529 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-228-6769.

Future of the Left consists of singer/guitarist Andy “Falco” Falkous and drummer Jack Egglestone, both previously of Cardiff band mclusky, alongside singer/bassist Kelson Mathias, formerly of the Ammanford-based group Jarcrew. … The band were signed to Too Pure who had also signed Mclusky, however the umbrella company Beggars Group disbanded Too Pure transferring the band to 4AD; most famous for signing the Pixies in the mid eighties.

Wed., Oct. 28 Lead by saxophone player Julian Julien, Fractale is a Parisian five-piece jazz/electro ensemble that melds traditional jazz and rock ideas with improvisation and a computer-generated bent to arrive at a simple, melodic sound. The music is cinematic in scope, and vastly experimental. $8. 9 p.m. Eyedrum. 404-522-0655.

Wed., Oct 28 Cocktoberfest featuring:  Stolen Hearts, Pillow Talk DJ’s (in bikinis) with Misty Waters and the return of the Star Bar Dating Game. $5. 9 p.m.  Star Bar, 437 Moreland Ave. 404-681-9018.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Much like ’07’s North Star Deserter, Vic Chesnutt’s At the Cut finds Athens’ grim folkie still soaring beyond the devices of a traditional singer/songwriter. Many of the players who made North Star Deserter so bold and beautiful, including members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and former Fugazi vocalist/guitarist Guy Picciotto, have returned. But whereas North Star crystallized Chesnutt’s stark visions into swirls of strings, rhythms and dissonance, here the expansive sound feels natural. “Coward” opens with epic drama, and Picciotto’s guitar adds terse immediacy to “Phillip Guston,” while “Granny” wilts with somber remembrance. Riding these peaks and valleys is emotionally exhausting, but if you’re a fan you already know the kind of pain you’re in for. At the Cut doesn’t hold North Star’s surprises, but it’s a stunning companion album. (Constellation Records) 4 stars out of 5

“Flirted With You All My Life”

“Philip Guston”

“Chain”

(Photo Courtesy Constellation Records)

Bookmark to:

Vic Chesnutt’s new record, At The Cut is due out Sept. 22 via Constellation records. The album features contributions from Guy Picciotto (Fugazi) as well as members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

At the Cut is the follow-up to Chesnutt’s 2007 release, North Star Deserter,  and was recorded by former Arcade Fire member Howard Bilerman.

This fall Chesnutt and Co. will be embarking on a tour that will bring the group through Georgia, making stops at the Earl in Atlanta on Sun., Nov. 1, and at the 40 Watt in Athens on Mon., Nov. 2.

In the meantime, here for your enjoyment are three songs from the forthcoming album.

“Flirted With You All My Life”

“Philip Guston”

“Chain”

Bookmark to:

This fall Vic Chesnutt will embark on a North American tour along with Guy Picciotto (Fugazi) as well members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor in support of his new record, At The Cut, due out Sept. 22 via Constellation records.

At the Cut is the follow-up to Chesnutt’s 2007 release, North Star Deserter,  and was recorded by former Arcade Fire member Howard Bilerman.

The fall tour will bring Chesnutt and Co. through Georgia, making stops at the Earl in Atlanta on Sun., Nov. 1, and at the 40 Watt in Athens on Mon., Nov. 2. In the meantime, click below to hear “Chain,” the first song to be released from the album.

“Chain” mp3

(Photo courtesy Constellation Records)

Bookmark to:

Lynch, Sparklehorse, Danger Mouse collaboration in limbo?

Though he’s been out of state for a while now, Danger Mouse has kept his Georgia roots well… um, watered? Sure, that works. The prolific producer’s newest project has been long in the works, but the collaboration between him and ecstatic songcrafter Mark Linkous — Sparklehorse to the rest of y’all — seems to be in a bit of limbo.

On the same day that NPR posted a stream of the collaborative album Dark Night of the Soul, Billboard.com reported that the release has been presently… abandoned? Things look a little muddy, though, as the site for Dark Night of the Soul still exists, and the album remains somewhat for sale. Here’s the thing: you’re still able to purchase the album and its accompanying book of 100+ photos by David Lynch, and it’ll come complete with a poster and all the artwork, but it’ll lack one thing — the music.

Per the site:

“Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse is unable to include music on the CD without fear of legal entanglement. Therefore, he has included a blank CD-R as an artifact to use however you see fit.”

There’s not mention, naturally, of the fact that the music leaked in early May, and is readily downloadable. So, y’know…

The Sparklehorse album Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain saw the first collaboration between Linkous and Danger Mouse, and the mish-mash and cooperative nature continues; Athens artists like Heather McIntosh, Scott Spillane and Vic Chesnutt show up alongside Iggy Pop, Frank Black, Julian Casablancas and Nina Persson, among others.

Bookmark to:

The pairing of Athens stalwarts Vic Chesnutt and Elf Power yields lingering, autumnal melodies and songs that elude expectation. Dark Developments sways with a natural and stylistic drift toward the melancholy side of Chesnutt’s allegorical songwriting. But the buoyant pop rhythms and mellow psychedelic textures of each number tussle with nihilism, culminating in a gray and wintry body of songs. “We Are Mean” is the album’s Rosetta Stone, laying out the tensions that arise when these vibrant songs are brought to a point by such a dreary narrator. “The Mad Passion of the Stoic” and “Phil the Fiddler” unfold at the lumbering and difficult pace of the greatest Southern authors. As such, Dark Developments is as spectral and haunting as William Faulkner when he was on point, or Flannery O’Connor when just skirting the dark side.

Dark Developments is an album where indeed the sum is greater than its parts, and the album’s cover art bestows just as much meaning on the release as the music itself. The cover features a painting, titled Through the Garden, by sometimes Athens resident Terry Rowlett.

Rowlett’s images are lush and allegorical scenes that depict both strange and all-too-familiar characters traversing all sorts of scenarios that exist in their own time and place.

Chad Radford: How Did your painting end up on the cover of Dark Developments?

Terry Rowlett: Andrew Rieger wanted to use it for the front cover of it and I eagerly jumped at the chance to be on the cover of one of Vic’s album’s. I have always liked his music. Andrew had been thinking about the image and the music for a while and everyone agreed. The painting is seven or eight years old.

Did you go to college in Athens?

Yeah, I got a Masters in 1995. I showed up here in ‘92 and have been around town since then. I’ve spent some time in New York. I was living in Woodstock until January 1st. Right now I’m living on Orange Twin, on this little farm compound.

Who are the character in the painting?

Metaphorically speaking I think the guy in the red robe is us, you and me at the end of our lives … People going through life and then all of the sudden you’re dead. He’s everybody, generic people. I tried to put a real tranquil spin on it. It looks to me like he’s in a Purgatory moment, that kind of quasi real world moment, but not really in the real world.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Athens’ psych-damaged melody makers Ham1 are preparing to release their third full-length, The Underground Stream, due out  this fall, with an LP slated for an early 2009 release on Infinity Cat Records.

The entire album is available as a free download here.

Several of the group’s members (which include principle songwriter Jim Willingham, Christopher Sugiuchi, Eric Harris of Olivia Tremor Control, and Jacob Morris) spent the summer touring with Vic Chesnutt throughout Europe, later spent time on the road with Elf Power, and appeared as Liz Durrett’s backing band on her latest release, Outside Our Gates.

Through it all the group found time to go into the studio with engineer Jason Nesmith of Casper & the Cookies to record The Underground Stream.

Each song on the album hangs in a balance of instrumental melancholy, lazy/nasally crooning and acid-drenched textures that take shape in a cerebral, psychedelic pastiche.

“Toothless Frontlines” and “Thylacine” portray an element of concrete songwriting that’s bound by a greater sense of chemistry than any of the group’s previous offerings, but it is not at the expense of their more experimental leanings. “Potato Gun” is a short and seemingly insignificant piano/grumbling-noise interlude, but is perhaps the most haunting 30 seconds on the record. The Underground Stream is filled with these obscure little enclaves, but not all of them exist outside the more refined songs.

“Will You Ever See Me Again” opens the recording with a soft burst of vocal harmonies that carry a warm, autumnal tone that expands throughout the record. “Mel Bay” is a grainy dose of distorted easy listening that offers a counterbalance to the introspective pace of “Begonia.”

“I Wave Back” changes the tone with a Lou Reed swagger-and-strum that embodies an unmistakable reverence for straight-forward collegetown rock and roll.

It is precisely this balance comfortable atmospheric fugues, lingering melodies and a noisy take on traditional songwriting that give the record so much character. 5 Stars

Bookmark to: