Thursday, November 30, 2006
Phosphorescent plays one of Matthew's last coupla' shows before shipping off to NY in a few weeks. The also rarely-appearing act The Good Ship will be opening as well as new official up-and-comers Titans Of Filth. It all goes down at the 40 Watt. More here.
Also of interest: Telenovela and Claire Campbell will be challenging people not to shave (yes, I"m serious) over at Transmetropolitan, outta-towner Angela Faye Martin (who I've not heard but who was quick to jump on the TDJ friend wagon on myspace, so props to her) at Flicker, and country songstress Gillian Welch over at the Melting Point. More on the latter here.
UPDATE: Totally forgot about the Christmas Parade tonight! Details here. Thanks for the heads up, Jayne!
One person says: "Oh yes definitely... not only to the US, but to the whole country"
Click here to hear the responses... it's funny stuff.
via Wonkette
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Anyone who has ever liked heavy music in Athens oughta make sure not to miss the article on Mercyland in last week's Flagpole. Other than the Bar-B-Q Killers (who were pretty much the first hardcore band in Athens ever), they're responsible for helping to bring fast, loud music to the ATH, which is pretty cool. Nowadays, Barbe's all slow and melodic... but there was a time he could seriously rock heavy.
Most folks here probably remember all the WUOG hootin' and hollerin' that went down on the Internets and elsewhere a few months back. Well, WUOG's current general manager Erin White quickly responded with a message board on WUOG's site and now also a survey (in partnership with UGA's Business School) - all to take on the complaints and the compliments to make the station better.
Now, months later, we thought we'd catch up with her to see what's going on at the station and to get some insight into how it all works...
To clear it up for everyone once and for all, what is WUOG's philosophy?
Hrm, that's a good first question! WUOG's music philosophy has been historically stated, "if they don't need us, we don't need them", which can be scary and alienating to people who don't know what we're about. Recently we've been retooling the way we explain WUOG's philosophy; it hasn't fundamentally changed in the past ten years, but the way we've talked about it has.
So, to answer your question, WUOG's music philosophy is thus: we have a noncommercial license, so our only obligation is to play the best and most varied music we can, rather than to sell a market to advertisers. We help out the guys/gals who make damn fine music and who aren't getting much help from other media.
So how/why did this recent PR push (the discussion boards, survey, etc.) come about?
This summer, some folks launched an anonymous Myspace site about WUOG and effectively nailed some grievances to our door. Their method left something to be desired, but they had some valid points. WUOGers got the message pretty quickly, hence the discussion board, which I posted within a couple days of the Myspace site going up. Personally, I'd much rather people kvetch to us in person than anonymously through someone else's site! The exec board has used the comments on the message board as a reference during the past months to see what we should be working on.
The current survey is being conducted by some students from the Music Business Program who are externing at the station this semester. We've been wanting to do a marketing survey for a while, so they're doing this for us and suggesting some moves we can make in the next year to promote the station.
What kind of results have you seen so far?
I haven't seen any results from the survey personally; we'll be hearing from the Music Business team in a few weeks. But I can predict what the results will be: not a lot of folks know WUOG's mission statement or philosophy, and we need to get the word out to increase listenership and decrease misunderstandings about what WUOG's doing.
This past year began a slow move toward a more accessible image of WUOG. We're not changing our philosophy, but we're trying to change how the station is perceived. This exec board has been moving in that direction since January, busting a move for WUOG, and the new exec board that's starting in January '07 has already started to make plans about advertising WUOG's mission statement and philosophy like crazy next year. I'm pretty excited about seeing that happen. I'm also pretty excited about this board in general; they've got a lot of potential to do some cool things with WUOG while maintaining the spirit of the station. They'll build on the foundation that this year's board has laid down.
In general, what have most people been saying they liked about the station? What have they disliked?
This summer, there seemed to be a whole lot more dislikes than likes! We had a pretty crappy few weeks dealing with lots of criticism from community members, but it was good to hear this kind of stuff from them and realize that they care about WUOG a lot.
Mostly, the dislikes included our local music request policy, our insufficient back catalog, the RealPlayer stream, us being off the air during the day for a few weeks because of the chemistry debacle, not having community members as DJs, bad telephone courtesy from jocks, and general un-professional-ness over the air (which was both a like and a dislike, for some).
The likes were our specialty programming, all the live shows we've been doing on-air recently, the website, us not sounding like WRAS, our music philosophy...it was smaller words of encouragement like this that kept us all from completely pulling our hair out this summer.
How have things changed, if at all, in reaction to both the likes and dislikes?
We've definitely taken what everyone's said into account. This summer we had a "customer service/phone courtesy" training session for jocks, and we'll most likely have another in a few weeks. We also had a seminar from a former WUOG jock who's gone on to a career in radio, and he talked about how not to sound like you're clueless when you're talking over the air. Now, we're not aiming to sound like professionals (that's what every other station is for!) but it's good when you sound semi-with-it. The message board is still up; we're doing the survey, too. We've incorporated another local music show on Monday nights from 6-7pm, and expanded local rotation.
We also held 'Seize the Airwaves' earlier this year, which allowed community members to DJ for an hour for a donation to a local charity. Next fall, we're gonna do it again, but with lower donations and a hell of a lot more publicity so more people will know and want to participate.
Do the DJ's ever noticeably cringe when hitting 'play' on certain songs? If so, which songs?
Ideally, no! The way our rotation used to work, jocks pulled out a card for a new CD and had to spin a track from that CD; we felt like that was the only way that the less, err, "pleasing" music would get played. It also led to some incoherent shifts and a lot of wincing from the DJs who might not've enjoyed twenty-minute free-jazz songs. Now rotation is set up so that the folks who love indie-pop can craft DJ shifts with the more melodic newer CDs in rotation, while the kids who dig noise can pull those records out to play. By all accounts, the new system has done well, DJs have been spinning some coherent, fun shifts, and the weird stuff is still getting played. From what I can figure, most DJs are pretty content with the music they play, unless they don't read the review. Then that's their own damn fault.
How has your time as GM been?
It's been great, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I've been "in office" since January and the term's only a year, so I'm on my way out, sadly. It doesn't feel like I've had enough time to do everything I wanted to do. GM's been a challenge, figuring out how to make the most people happy while maintaining my own sanity. It got a lot easier once I realized that the ship is steering me, instead of the other way around.
I know y'all don't have a real rating system or anything, but what would you say are your most popular features/shows?
Sound of the City (Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8-10pm) is probably our most popular show, since we start off each show with Live in the Lobby and play two solid hours of local stuff. SotC has been a listener favorite for years and years. Number two would be all of Sunday afternoons and evenings--that's when we play folk, bluegrass, blues, americana, and jazz. It's good stuff. Also popular are Who Put the Bomp? (our Friday-night oldies show, 8-10pm), Loud Fast Rules (metal, Tuesdays 10pm-midnight), and Blank Generation (punk and new wave, Wednesdays 8-10pm).
'Course, I think everything's pretty good.
Not to fuel any flames (so you might make this for a job other than WUOG), but what's your favorite way to slack at work?
When I'm up at the station, hanging out with whoever's DJing is fun. Usually me slacking at WUOG means I'm typing a paper that's due in-class in an hour.
Oh! To answer any questions TDJ readers might have: no one at WUOG gets paid, including the exec board. Hardcore staffers will be up at the station between 10 and 20 hours a week, but it ain't all work. Work and play are often the same up here. Aw.
What's it like to work the 3AM shift?
"Hellish euphoria" is probably the best way to describe it. Unless you're a night owl, around 4:30 you hit a lull and your body says, "why are you doing this to me?" But you know, the people who've DJed the 3-6am shift are the folks who stick with WUOG the longest and are some of our best staffers. I came in hearing the legend of Chris Lozo, who DJed a 3-6am shift two semesters in a row because there were tons and tons of DJs. He later became Programming Director, the host of our punk show, and a pretty prominent figure at WUOG.
Just for fun - can you ask around to see who the most often requested local bands are? (Not ones with the one week "get all your friends to call in cause our album just came out" full court press - the ones that stay popular other than say, R.E.M. and Widespread Panic.)
The Drive-By Truckers! They get requested very often. WUOG's number one fan, Richard Worley, calls up several times a day and will usually request the Truckers or Bill Monroe. Of Montreal and Neutral Milk Hotel also get requested pretty frequently. (The running joke at the station is that Jeff Mangum lives on the four-and-a-halfth floor of Memorial Hall in the John Malkovich closet.) I'll sometimes get a call for Hope for agoldensummer, too, or Madeline, or Bill Mallonnee, or Bob Hay and the Jolly Beggars, or Love Tractor...
Some jocks will play local requests, and some won't. Our local request policy is in place to prevent bands from requesting themselves, but jocks exercise good judgment and ultimately make decisions about what gets played based on whether we have it in the archive and whether they feel that song fits into their shift.
That's about it. Thanks for having me/WUOG over. I feel like there's a whole lot more that could've been said, but I didn't want to put anyone to sleep. I just wanted to let all you kind Athenians know that WUOG staffers love getting your phone calls in the DJ booth, because that keeps us going. We appreciate hearing from you at 3am and 3pm.
Also, I personally want to hear directly from you about WUOG, good or bad. Seriously, I'm all ears. If any of you TDJ readers have any questions or anything you'd like to talk to me about, please send me an e-mail. I check my mail a ridiculous amount and am usually pretty quick about getting back with folks. I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks, Erin - both for the input and the work you've done at the station this year!
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Spreading the word:
If you have children, you may want to consider attending the magic show that will be held at Nuci's Space this Friday, December 1 at 7 p.m. It will take place before the Adam's House Cat (Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and Brad Morgan) show. It will be a great activity for kids. The magician is the renowed eco-entertainer Steve Trash (also related to a friend of The Day Jobs) who has performed all over the world.
This benefit will help to provide health care to Sabina Hartley-Burke, a beautiful young girl who has a malignant tumor on her brain stem. Her family is friends with some folks in town, particularly the Drive-By Truckers camp, and we encourage you to read all about her here. There is a suggested donation of $5 and I have it on good word that kids of all ages will love Steve's magic tricks. (I will be there volunteering so please tell your kids to go easy on us.) Either way, the magic show is cheap, early and should be a great activity for the kids, so come on out and help little Sabina out at the same time! If you know other folks with children, please spread the word!
Not even sure if I'm on time to allow anyone to get copies of this who didn't already know about it, but Athens' own Superfluous Umlaut Records has finally released the oft-rumored Harvey Milk/Hayride split. Here's the info:
Superfluous Umlaut Records is proud to announce the release on Tuesday, November 7 of F*#k You Guys, a 7" split featuring previously-unreleased songs by Harvey Milk and Hayride. This will be available in extremely limited quantities.Also, FYI: there's 300 copies being released and the site claims they're "going fast" (mostly to Scandanavians, I'm sure), so order soon if you want one.
"Hell Toupee" is classic Harvey Milk, clocking in at just under 6 minutes and recorded at home in the early 90's. "In Bottles" comes from Hayride's final recording session with former drummer Ballard Lesemann. This record marks the first split release by these bands since 1992's Pals Forever.
To order, contact us and be sure to include your address and how many copies you'd like. We'll get back to you with shipping and payment options as soon as possible.
(Thanks to Vet Pharmacist.)
Monday, November 27, 2006
Patterson Hood, William Tonks, Don Chambers, and a buncha other folks are at the 40 Watt tonight as part of a fundraiser for Mayor Heidi Davison for next week's run-off election. Not exactly sure what any money raised one week before a local election can do and also not exactly sure why she'd need the money (wasn't she WAY in the lead?), but it's a good excuse for a show anyway.
The Tasty World's giving the Watt a run for its money in great line-ups though, as it hosts two shows with a pretty fun arrangement of acts. Downstairs, you can catch local legend the 8-Track Gorilla opening for (amongst others) awesome relative-newcomers Sleepy Horses (you have to be here like years before you're not a relative newcomer) - who just released their new album Somewhere Out West, Lonesome For You during a chaotic CD release show in the same venue. Tonight's show should be more stable. More here.
Meanwhile, upstairs the Renegadez continue their "Versus" tradition by challenging other local rappers and bands to battles. The performer with a better crowd reaction than the Renegadez themselves wins the door money. Our friends in Thunderchief happen to be one of this week's challenging bands. See that picture? They're awesome (okay, maybe just drunk... but pretty entertaining).
Very happy to see the mix-up in sounds all around tonight.
Hey y'all! Long time no see. Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was great. While you're gettin' though that first Monday back, drop us a line in the comments and let us know what was good over the break. We could all use a bit more fun in our lives.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Finally, some time off... y'all enjoy your turkeys!
TUES: Our friends in Thunderchief, who recently added a new vocalist (to replace a guitarist and bassist taking turns singing when neither wanted to) and finished recording their debut LP, take the stage of Tasty World to bring the rock. I mean - Queen covers - what else do you want?
WED: In a time-honored Athens tradition, the Normaltown Flyers come out of semi-retirement annually to perform their Thanksgiving show at Foxz. Expect their usualy laid-back Americana style rock with a possible bonus set of Stones covers. It's good times and good drinkin' music if you're in town and looking for something fun to do.
THURS: Happy Thanksgiving! If you've got any great turkey eating tips, share 'em. Here's a big page of recipes for turkey leftovers. Or you can do like my family and make turkey gumbo outta the leftovers.
FRI: William Tonks plays a solo set over at Flicker. Undoubtedly some friends'll show up to play as well, as is most often the case.
SAT: Don Chambers brings that creepy backwoods thing to the Caledonia, or for more staight-ahead rock, Drivin' N' Cryin' perform at the Georgia Theatre.
SUN: Peter Alvanos (of Fabulous Bird) performs upstairs at Transmetropolitan - as good a place as any to get beer on Sunday.
See y'all next week!
TUES: Our friends in Thunderchief, who recently added a new vocalist (to replace a guitarist and bassist taking turns singing when neither wanted to) and finished recording their debut LP, take the stage of Tasty World to bring the rock. I mean - Queen covers - what else do you want?
WED: In a time-honored Athens tradition, the Normaltown Flyers come out of semi-retirement annually to perform their Thanksgiving show at Foxz. Expect their usualy laid-back Americana style rock with a possible bonus set of Stones covers. It's good times and good drinkin' music if you're in town and looking for something fun to do.
THURS: Happy Thanksgiving! If you've got any great turkey eating tips, share 'em. Here's a big page of recipes for turkey leftovers. Or you can do like my family and make turkey gumbo outta the leftovers.
FRI: William Tonks plays a solo set over at Flicker. Undoubtedly some friends'll show up to play as well, as is most often the case.
SAT: Don Chambers brings that creepy backwoods thing to the Caledonia, or for more staight-ahead rock, Drivin' N' Cryin' perform at the Georgia Theatre.
SUN: Peter Alvanos (of Fabulous Bird) performs upstairs at Transmetropolitan - as good a place as any to get beer on Sunday.
See y'all next week!
Monday, November 20, 2006
If you haven't picked up the new Summer Hymns LP, Pitchfork's got a coupla' reasons why you should.
Just in case you missed it, someone somewhere just did a study that they presented to the government that said that only 1% of the Internets is pornographic. I'm thinking either they made that up, their standards for what counts are real low, or they're counting things that no one ever uses (i.e. research databases) as part of "the Internet".
The Renegadez again continue their Monday night rap-battle tradition at Tasty World, "The Renegadez Vs. ?". Who knows who will be the challenger MC's tonight, but I hope it's the Ice Cream Socialists who will be appearing in the same venue. Won't some of these alt rock bands show some guts and start rapping? Tha' FF did. The Scoldjah did. 'Brah did. Who's next? More here.
Hey y'all... just a coupla' days to bear with it this week, then it's time to eat some turkey, which is gonna be awesome. Let us know what was cool this past week in your lives and if you have any cool Thanksgiving ideas that other people can do too, let us hear 'em. Rawk.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Anyone interested in purchasing a Sony Playstation 3? I think this is a pretty good deal, no?
Our friend Mike recently posted his review of The Twilight Singers' show in D.C. Mike's a great writer, so the fun is in the reading of the review, not the newsbits themselves, but if you just want the meat:
You may not have heard of him but Greg Dulli is a legend among rock snobs. You know those internet lists about Chuck Norris? You could make a list like that about Dulli's rocknroll cred except everything would be true (or as close as such claims tend to be).Much more great stuff before and after that section though. Thanks, Mike!
For example: Greg Dulli once drank so much while on stage that, after cryptically announcing, "The white boys won't let me be funky," he passed out in the middle of a set. Greg Dulli was once beaten within an inch of his life by a Texas bouncer named Tiny. Greg Dulli used his Afghan Whigs money to buy a seedy LA bar where a shy drinker came in every week who eventually introduced himself as Elliott Smith.
His voice has been in bad shape this tour. It sounded rougher than normal for the first song and a half but then sounded fine. I don't know if it was because he was saving his voice for singing, but there was less banter than usual from him. He didn't tell his usual DC-related Marvin Gaye stories and he didn't do his shtick about how the latest hit song is a rip-off of one of his songs.
Can't believe I missed this news item, but it seems the Drive-By Truckers will be taking it back to the old school. Specifically, Patterson & Cooley are gonna get together and perform songs by their old band, Adam's House Cat, at Nuci's Space on December first to benefit friends of theirs who are burdened with heavy medical costs. Should be a great night of music. Of course, if you check your calendars, there's like 100 great shows that night. So you're gonna have to pick and choose and commit to something.
Oh, and for any of y'all that missed DBT's 40 Watt shows, Sloan's got 'em up at Southern Shelter. I'd also like back him in once again calling for Cooley to do a solo album. Seriously.
Countdown till weekend...
FRI: A wonderful triple bill is happening at the Tasty World tonight with Still, Small Voice & The Joyful Noise, Sleepy Horses and Don Chambers (performing a mostly solo set). Not sure how the sonic awesomeness of Sleepy Horses is gonna play in that big resonant room, but we'll see. In any case, you've got three great songwriting bands in one room. It's also a CD release party for the new Sleepy Horses LP, Somewhere out West, lonesome for you. Good night.
However, there's a particularly great live band over at the Caledonia as well as Now It's Overhead returns from tour. I like to see bands roll in from the road because more than likely by that time the show is as sharp as can be and rocks completely. More here.
If that's not enough for you, you can catch The 63 Crayons and Diet Rockstar amongst others over at the Secret Squirrel. Of if you wanna dance, you can do so hipster style with "Bitch Switch" at Go Bar or college style with Krush Girls at the 40 Watt.
SAT: Chan, Chan, Chan... what is there to say? How much money are y'all putting down that this'll be one of the legendary "good" shows? Its was put forth on this site a few days back that the presence of a backing band will make her actually play the damn songs. We'll see. Anyway, Cat Power's at the 40 Watt. More here.
For those who like it MUCH louder, Music Hates You will definitely be playing their songs at Repent. The Dumps will be too. This marks the first live show for the new bar and I'm glad to hear it cause last time I walked by there, there was nothing but horrible gothy-techno-y crap streaming out of the door with sad looking punk rockers mingling about. Also, people are s'posed to be brining something to decorate the place with. I guess it's kinda like the patrons of the Lunch Paper taking the place back or something. I don't know. But the music's gonna rock. Plus, MHY doesn't play nearly as much as they used to. More here.
Finally, there's some experimentaly and songwritery stuff at Flicker as Craig Lieske & Jeff Chasteen perform (the experimentaly stuff), and Patrick Hargon (of Goat) opens (the songwritery stuff).
FRI: A wonderful triple bill is happening at the Tasty World tonight with Still, Small Voice & The Joyful Noise, Sleepy Horses and Don Chambers (performing a mostly solo set). Not sure how the sonic awesomeness of Sleepy Horses is gonna play in that big resonant room, but we'll see. In any case, you've got three great songwriting bands in one room. It's also a CD release party for the new Sleepy Horses LP, Somewhere out West, lonesome for you. Good night.
However, there's a particularly great live band over at the Caledonia as well as Now It's Overhead returns from tour. I like to see bands roll in from the road because more than likely by that time the show is as sharp as can be and rocks completely. More here.
If that's not enough for you, you can catch The 63 Crayons and Diet Rockstar amongst others over at the Secret Squirrel. Of if you wanna dance, you can do so hipster style with "Bitch Switch" at Go Bar or college style with Krush Girls at the 40 Watt.
SAT: Chan, Chan, Chan... what is there to say? How much money are y'all putting down that this'll be one of the legendary "good" shows? Its was put forth on this site a few days back that the presence of a backing band will make her actually play the damn songs. We'll see. Anyway, Cat Power's at the 40 Watt. More here.
For those who like it MUCH louder, Music Hates You will definitely be playing their songs at Repent. The Dumps will be too. This marks the first live show for the new bar and I'm glad to hear it cause last time I walked by there, there was nothing but horrible gothy-techno-y crap streaming out of the door with sad looking punk rockers mingling about. Also, people are s'posed to be brining something to decorate the place with. I guess it's kinda like the patrons of the Lunch Paper taking the place back or something. I don't know. But the music's gonna rock. Plus, MHY doesn't play nearly as much as they used to. More here.
Finally, there's some experimentaly and songwritery stuff at Flicker as Craig Lieske & Jeff Chasteen perform (the experimentaly stuff), and Patrick Hargon (of Goat) opens (the songwritery stuff).
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Some very depressing news came my way this past weekend, as it seems that Brown Frown's New Year's eve show will double as both their CD Release party and their final show. Due to something like "irreconcilable differences", the band members will be parting ways, though surely reforming in some grouping with some new name to continue something along the same lines someday soon, I hope.
On a personal note, this is the second time in as many years that my favorite band broke up AND released a CD simultaneously at a New Year's show. I'm taking nominations for my new favorite band - if anyone has any band they'd like to limit to a year's lifespan, let me know. We'll start the countdown January 1st, 2007.
It's a post-CMJ mathfest at the Caledonia tonight. The heavily-precise (no, I don't know that means) Cinemechanica performs much from their LP The Martial Arts - which has been said by more than a few folks around here to be fantastic. Also performing will be We Versus The Shark who are all hopefully feeling better than the pre-Halloween cancelled show a few weeks back. No word on rescheduling the video shoot yet, but maybe Jeff'll let us know. Needless to say that WVTS is awesome and if you've never caught 'em, you NEED to.
Btw, Jeff, Chinese Democracy seems a week away... where's the next WVTS LP? (Only time will tell, I guess.)
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Looking for more music sites with streamable music?
Here's a good one. Bill Graham's complete concert archive can be streamed over at Wolfgang's Vault. This place has tons of amazing live shows, including Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Atlanta Rhythm Section, The Band, Black Sabbath, The Cure, Crowded House, the list goes on. The brand new Neil Young cd that was coming out this week (Live from The Fillmore) is currently available for streaming here. The site also contains a huge poster archive, etc. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
Here's a good one. Bill Graham's complete concert archive can be streamed over at Wolfgang's Vault. This place has tons of amazing live shows, including Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Atlanta Rhythm Section, The Band, Black Sabbath, The Cure, Crowded House, the list goes on. The brand new Neil Young cd that was coming out this week (Live from The Fillmore) is currently available for streaming here. The site also contains a huge poster archive, etc. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
The Mountain Stage show that was recorded in Athens a few months ago will be featured for 10 days on various radio stations around the country, starting Friday, Nov. 17. Since it appears that Georgia radio does not have the Mountain Stage show, we'll have to listen online. From what I can tell, we won't be able to do that for another 2 weeks. This particular Mountain Stage show features local acts Vic Chesnutt (performing new songs!), Tin Cup Prophette, and Modern Skirts, among other non-local acts. Here's the playlist for the show.
Update: Thanks to Pedro, I've been informed that we get it at 2:00 p.m. on Sundays on WUGA. I'll put the crack pipe down now folks.
India: Land of eunuch tax collectors and 51 slaps.
Oh, and this headline was probably my favorite ever - way too good for me to risk anyone meddling with it before I could post it (hence the screen capture instead of link).
Oh, and this headline was probably my favorite ever - way too good for me to risk anyone meddling with it before I could post it (hence the screen capture instead of link).
A couple of newer bands around town perform shows worth catching tonight. For your more Americana-ish stuff (yeah, I used to two days in a row, so what?), check out The Help over at Tasty World. Or for something decidedly different, Magic Missile's playing at the Caledonia.
UPDATE: Just a note on times for the Caledonia show. Thanks to DJ Other Voices, Other Rooms for tippin' us off about the early show:
"Magic Missle will be an early show, doors open at 5:30(!) at the Caledonia for happy hour. Blank Faces at 7:30, Magic Missle between 8:30 and 9."
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Exactly one week from today, it is likely that you'll be able to walk into a record store near you and pick up new albums by Jay-Z and Guns N' Roses. How weird is that? Past their primes? You judge:
Jay-Z's new video for "Show Me What You Got".
GN'R fan-made video for what is possibly a demo or possibly a release version of a song that may or may not be on Chinese Democracy.
Jay-Z's new video for "Show Me What You Got".
GN'R fan-made video for what is possibly a demo or possibly a release version of a song that may or may not be on Chinese Democracy.
Those who love Americana would do good to go down to the Georgia Bar tonight to see Danny Hutchens & Eric Carter, William Tonks, and Dodd Ferrelle perform sets. It's good ole' fashioned American songwriting. Damnit. Also, for the second night in a row, The Renegadez perform, this time doing a set of their own material (rather than an emcee battle) down at the 40 Watt.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Refunds available at Schoolkids.
UPDATE: Fool me once... well, you know how it goes. The once-reputable source of this rumor has now been wrong twice over. No more will I post these things based on this person's word (which, like I said, was once always right about these sorta things). Lee (from Summers Kiss) clears things up:
I talked to Greg Dulli day before the show, and believe me, he was in no position to sing. His voice was shredded and sorely needed a night off.So, my big apologies to y'all (readers) and to Dulli and the crew for feeding a rumor (once again, we're not really "journalists", but more like "rumor mongers"). If they come back, we'll definitely publicize the hell out of it.
Hopefully, they'll make it to Athens when they tour on their next album in a year or two.
I do however, have a bit of local news for later in the week that is true. So, worthwhile stuff's on the way. Thanks to Lee for clearing this up!
Nuci's Space Auction... Get to biddin'!
(The image to the right is click-able.)
A couple of very different acts tonight. Classical guitarist with many other cool influences Kyle Dawkins performs as part of "The Hoot" at Little Kings. While across town local MC's The Renegadez challenge other local rappers to rap battles at Tasty World. How awesome would it be if Kyle Dawkins accepted that challenge?
How was the freakin' weekend, y'all? Drop a line in the comments and let us know what's the haps around here that's good that other people can do to enjoy themselves if and when they have any free time. Rawk.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Thanks to Will at Nuci's Space for the information. Please help Nuci's Space if you can!
The Nuçi’s Space Rock Auction is up and running – now through Nov. 13th!
Check it out at the Nuçi’s Space homepage.
100% of the proceeds benefit the nonprofit mission of Nuçi’s Space – helping local musicians and artists get low-cost professional counseling for depression.
Featuring signed memorabilia from:
David Byrne, David Bowie, Wilco, R.E.M., Widespread Panic, Drive-By Truckers, John Mayer, Ben Folds, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Counting Crows, Ani DiFranco, Dashboard Confessional, Mark Richt, Vince Dooley, Arctic Monkeys and more!
FOR MORE INFO CONTACT:
Will Kiser
Director of Development
Nuçi's Space
will@nuci.org
www.nuci.org
(706) 227-1515
I might be asking for trouble with this topic, but as I get older and start to view less and less as "essential listening", I was wondering y'all's opinions as to which artists' catalogs cannot be condensed to one or two discs worth of essential material that would satisfy most music fans' cravings (not just the tastes of people with a casual interest in music, mind you). That could mean either that the artist has too many good songs or that their ability at making integral 'albums' defies breaking them apart.
Let's go ahead and say The Beatles and Dylan as artists whose catalogs CANNOT be broken down like that. And I'll go ahead and volunteer Tom Petty as an example of someone whose essential catalog COULD be captured in one or two discs. Someone else can take it from there (I'm more interested in the "cannots" here).
FRI: Murder Beach plays at the Caledonia in what's becoming a rare appearance for them these days. Once upon a time, there were rumblings of a new album complete or nearly so. What's become of this album - nobody knows. But hopefully they'll drop more great new material at the show. Push! opens. Should be a great and catchy show.
Earlier on, you can catch Venice Is Sinking at Farm 255. Technically it's a free show... I don't know the rules of if you have to pay for food and stuff to get a seat outside or whatever, but you could certainly listen for free. If you haven't seen 'em, this is a good opportunity - and an outdoor show like I've been harping on them to do for a long time now. More here.
Other than all that, you can catch Tin Cup Prophette at the 40 Watt, the ever-creepy Unknown Hinson at Tasty World, and the catchy folkish-bluegrass of Trunkfire at Foxz (those guys are seriously good).
SAT: Summer Hymns headlines the 40 Watt for the release party for their new album, Backward Masks, which I've heard nothing but great things about. But they're not the only ones releasing an album as M Coast performs as well in celebration of their new album, Say It In Slang, which I've also heard is fantastic - new life and a new sound for the band. Telenovela opens the show. More here and here and here. (Afterparty at the Secret Squirrel.)
Also of interest would be Lake City and the Shut Ups at the Caledonia, and the Workhorses of the Entertainment/Recreational Industry at the Melting Point.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Worst e-mail subject line of the day:
Subject: Twilight singers show has been cancelled due to illness
Have no other news other than that. Just spreading the word.
Subject: Twilight singers show has been cancelled due to illness
Have no other news other than that. Just spreading the word.
Thanks to the anonymous person who sent us this clip. In his or her words, "07/19/06 Caledonia Lounge... After Liz forgets the words to 'Cup On The Counter', Jim Willingham (of Ham1) improvises some of his own...":
I bet Liz is pretty jealous she didn't think of that version first.
I bet Liz is pretty jealous she didn't think of that version first.
We're the latest about this but pretty sound in our results as we just use ABH's results (and photo). Looks like there's some run-offs. Kinda. Did anyone vote? Just wondering. Felt obligated to mention it.
Big ups to the new Speaker of the House. Guess someone's spent all that "capital" they gained in the last election, huh? As you can imagine, Wonkette's having a lot of fun with it (did Ana start writing again? - cause it's gotten funny again lately).
The Twilight Singers play the Watt! I'm not sure, but I think this is a first. Is Dulli past his prime? Probably. Are the Singers anywhere near as good as the Whigs? No way. Am I still going to see this show and enjoy the hell out of it? You bet. Way back when, I bought every Afghan Whigs album day and date starting with Congregation - they're like the one cool band I can claim O.G. for. Totally gonna be there and it's gonna rock. More here.
So what could make the night better than rehashing awesome high school music fanboyishness? How 'bout if one of the best comedians in the country performed a set early enough to catch that AND the Singers. And that's gonna happen too. Cause Nick Swardson's performing at Georgia Hall (in the Tate Student Center) at 8PM. More info on that here.
This is the most L.A. I ever want to see in one night.
UPDATE: Twilight Singers show cancelled. See post above.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
So, it appears that Faith Hill pulled a Kanye at the CMA awards with this reaction when they announced that she was not the winner of the Female Country Artist Award. Too funny. Today her PR team is saying saying that she was just joking around.
I usually assume anyone wasting time here has already wasted their time on The Onion, so we don't usually post stuff from them, but this was too good to resist.
An awesome triple-bill at the 40 Watt tonight featuring the fresh-off-the road supergroup Dark Meat - all 1400 members. Horns, funny outfits, tambourines, background singers. You know the drill. It's like the white P-Funk. Minus the funk. Plus much rock. Probably some dreads in there somewhere too. Ham 1 and The Ginger Envelope open.
Also, there's a fundraiser to give much-needed renovation money to the Georgia Theatre. Summer Hymns is playing. Expect lotsa new stuff from their awesome upcoming album Backward Masks. Hopefully they'll raise at least enough to clean out or replace the beer-dispensing machinery and get rid of the stale urine smell in the bathrooms. One can only hope.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
The Drive-By Truckers' song "Goodbye" from their latest album A Blessing and a Curse will be featured on tonight's episode of Friday Night Lights. The show comes on at 8 p.m. EST on NBC. (And my 2 cents: If you've never heard the song, it's a really good somber kind of tune, with some very cool and subtle bass playing in the background. And I also must admit that I've watched this show all season and think it's well-done and its music well-placed.)
The reviews are great so far. Personally, I could give a crap about all the boo-hooing over some kinda grandiose national free speech issue... what's way more interesting about it (and why I'm definitely gonna go see it) is the state of the music industry and more specifically the country music industry. I'm sure many of you feel differently to one side or another. Anyone seen it yet?
According to the Secret Squirrel's myspace page, Brown Frown will apparently be releaseing their new LP Courage To The Gap there on New Year's Eve. Dark Meat, Music Hates You, and Rorshak will also play. How awesome is that? And you thought a Sunday night New Years was gonna suck. (We're all going to enter 2007 deaf.)
By the way, that album is indescribably awesome. And no, that is not the actual cover. It's way too good a cover for them.
Happy election day. To celebrate or ease your woes or just to ignore it all, there's a coupla' good singer-songwriter shows. Kimberly Morgan opens things up at the 40 Watt tonight with her old-time-ish country tunes. Sweet and catchy both. Or, on the folkier edge of things, Stereo Campbell performs at the Caledonia. According to their site, their new album was scheduled to be done a while back. Anyone got any news on that?
Monday, November 06, 2006
A few scattered choices around town... the punk-ness of The Dumps at the Caledonia (despite that pick, Jeff's probably one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet), the strangeness of Ghost Dad The Robot at Tasty World, or at the same venue, the rapness of The Renegadez (who used to have a web presence but damned if I can't find 'em anymore). Up to you, really.
Mornin' everyone. Hope your weekends were grand. I kept it low-key in hopes of avoiding the craziness of the last few weekends. Let's not even talk football. How was everyone else's weekends otherwise? Drop us a line in the comments to let us know what's around that's worth doing. Especially indoors now that it's getting cold.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Since I've gone to my "once in a blue moon" reading schedule with Pitchfork, I almost missed the new ("exclusive") BP Helium track and some acoustic Of Montreal performances.
FRI: The Drive-By Truckers storm back into town after another long year of hittin' the road to play their annual stint at the Watt to benefit Nuci's Space. Really cool thing of them to do, when you think about it. In addition this is one of the last full-band Athens appearances you can expect from the band for a while - they're taking an "extended hiatus" next year, as solo albums by Patterson and Jason hit the stores. One can only hope this motivates Cooley to get his butt in gear on a solo record - how great would that be?. And in a further sign that my musical knowledge extends only to the area inside the Athens loop (and not very deep there, as it were), I have no idea who Be Your Own Pet is, but apparently they're big. More here.
Or, if you just wanna chill and/or cut a rug, DJs Kurtwood and Grrtch (sp?) will be spinnin' down at the Go Bar fresh off their latest record sale that we totally forgot to announce.
SAT: During the day, something called the "Acoustic Eclectic Festival" is happening at the newly re-opened 106 West in Winder. It features our friends in Bob Hay & The Jolly Beggars amongst a slew of acts I don't recognize. I drove past that place the other day, though, and it looks cool, so I thought I'd post it.
Meanwhile, in town, The Truckers continue their stint at the Watt, this time tearin' it up with The Great Horned Owls (the newly-christened act formerly known as "David Barbe & The Quick Hooks"... sorta). Rumor has it that Barbe & the crew will be playing a few Koncak songs, as it is a benefit for Nuci's Space and all. That's gonna be great. Get your tix ahead of time, folks!
Across town, in almost a sure bet for anyone who doesn't get into DBT or doesn't like the crowds, Goat is performing over at Tasty World. And for something different from all of the above, Ham 1 is performing over at Flicker. More on that here.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
A new Harris Poll about religion had some curious findings...
How is it that 7% of people could claim to be a "born-again Christian", yet not be absolutely certain that there is a God?
10% say "both male and female"? 1 outta 10 think God is some sort of celestial hermaphrodite?
The survey was interesting and funny... but it didn't ask the questions I'm most curious about.
Does God wear boxers or briefs? Is he an Elvis man or a Beatles man? Dogs or cats? Coke or Pepsi? "Stay the course" or "Cut-n-run"? Star Wars or Star Trek? Mac or PC?
If God read TDJ, what would his alias be? Creator? Boss? Big Brother?
Is he a sports fan? If so, why does he hate the Hawks?
Only 76 percent of Protestants, 64 percent of Catholics, and 30 percent of Jews said they are 'absolutely certain' there is a God. However, most Christians who described themselves as 'born-again' (93 percent) said they are absolutely certain there is a God.
How is it that 7% of people could claim to be a "born-again Christian", yet not be absolutely certain that there is a God?
The public is almost equally divided between those who think of God as male (36 percent) and "neither male nor female" (37 percent), with 10 percent saying "both male and female." Only 1 percent thinks of God as a female.
10% say "both male and female"? 1 outta 10 think God is some sort of celestial hermaphrodite?
The survey was interesting and funny... but it didn't ask the questions I'm most curious about.
Does God wear boxers or briefs? Is he an Elvis man or a Beatles man? Dogs or cats? Coke or Pepsi? "Stay the course" or "Cut-n-run"? Star Wars or Star Trek? Mac or PC?
If God read TDJ, what would his alias be? Creator? Boss? Big Brother?
Is he a sports fan? If so, why does he hate the Hawks?
Producto comes back out of recording-only performance hiatus to do a show at the 40 Watt. I'd hope and expect lotsa plenty from the new album (they haven't been too shy about that in the past), but can't be sure. Anyway, good to see them out again. Oh, and in keeping with yesterday's theme: if you post it on your myspace site, I reserve the right to use it here. Also, Frank is an awesome guitarist.
Also, Peter Alvanos & Friends perform a set over at the Mercury Lounge. F'pole lists him as, "French toast connoisseur, Christopher Walken impressionist and full-time troubadour..." isn't that alone worth seeing? Speaking of, anyone got a bet on best French toast in town? Personally, I like the DePalma's Sunday brunch French toast, but I'm no connoisseur.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
A few sights from around town last night A bit more subdued than usual, I found, but maybe it was cause I was sober this time. Sorry the pics might take a bit to load. I tried to scale 'em down, but I don't think it worked. Anyway...
Without a doubt the greatest costume I saw all night were our friends BJ & Chance as the Bounty Hunter couple. It's rare that I know the people whose costumes I'm most impressed with, but that was the case. Hand made, too!
As rumored, Michael McDonald did in fact show up to the Caledonia covers show. (Believe it or not, that's not a costume. That is a fact.)
Later, McD wowed the audience by stepping out from behind the keyboard for the first time in his history of Athens shows and performing an impromptu version of "What A Fool Believes" with the Shut-Ups.
Heavy Petty brought the house down. Seriously - totally spot-on early Tom Petty stuff. If you missed 'em and they play again (and if you like Tom Petty), you really oughta check 'em out.
Patterson Hood would later perform great covers of his own - Flaming Lips songs as a bloodied Wayne Coyne.
Griggs' Weird Al was hilarious. (Would you expect any less?)
But even better than the costume itself was his performance of "I Lost On Jeopardy" with the Shut-Ups.
Finally, I snapped this pic while our friend Kyle wasn't looking. He just looked like the loneliest crack ho.
Happy Halloween, everyone! Hope y'all had a great time out. Spotted seems to be a little messed up, but if/when it's working, more pics should be here. If you've uploaded any anywhere, please share links in the comments.
Without a doubt the greatest costume I saw all night were our friends BJ & Chance as the Bounty Hunter couple. It's rare that I know the people whose costumes I'm most impressed with, but that was the case. Hand made, too!
As rumored, Michael McDonald did in fact show up to the Caledonia covers show. (Believe it or not, that's not a costume. That is a fact.)
Later, McD wowed the audience by stepping out from behind the keyboard for the first time in his history of Athens shows and performing an impromptu version of "What A Fool Believes" with the Shut-Ups.
Heavy Petty brought the house down. Seriously - totally spot-on early Tom Petty stuff. If you missed 'em and they play again (and if you like Tom Petty), you really oughta check 'em out.
Patterson Hood would later perform great covers of his own - Flaming Lips songs as a bloodied Wayne Coyne.
Griggs' Weird Al was hilarious. (Would you expect any less?)
But even better than the costume itself was his performance of "I Lost On Jeopardy" with the Shut-Ups.
Finally, I snapped this pic while our friend Kyle wasn't looking. He just looked like the loneliest crack ho.
Happy Halloween, everyone! Hope y'all had a great time out. Spotted seems to be a little messed up, but if/when it's working, more pics should be here. If you've uploaded any anywhere, please share links in the comments.
A wide variety tonight. Firstly, our friends in Big Gray and the new crowd favorite Titans of Filth perform at the Caledonia. It's a great double line-up of catchy rock songs and the perfect thing to get you past that Halloween hangover, I'm sure.
If it's not your style, though, you can see Claire Campbell performing an acoustic solo set of her folk-ish tunes at Farm 255, the off-color Texan Robert Earl Keen at the Georgia Theatre for country-ish stuff (more on that here), and of course another side of Texas as Chamillionaire brings some hard rap to the white and nerdy crowd of a college campus at Legion Field.
UPDATE: My bad, Chamillionaire's at Georgia Hall (in the Tate Student Center). Thanks to Chris for the heads up.
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