Newspaper Page Text
MUSIC NEWS AND GOSSIP
Hello, friends. Hell, for that matter, hello fiends. Now that you've
decided to spend your time reading this page, you might as well be
warned that choosing to spend your time here can lead to addic
tion. Seriously. I've even heard of people that read this page first
every week. It all starts with that first paragraph. Check out the
gateway drugs below...
Not Sinking, Rising: One of my absolute favorite Athens bands of
the past few years, Venice is Sinking, will see their T released
early next month via Atlanta label One Percent
Press. The record is a split release with Atlanta
band What We Do Is Secret. In other news,
the band has finally completed the recording
of the debut album and is in the process of
tweaking the last little bit of perfection into
the tunes. They have already begun shopping
the project to labels. .
Even If It's A Joke It Rules: Athens duo No
Such Thing will return after a five-month
hiatus to perform on May 16 at Tasty World.
The band also will release its debut album It
Sounded Good Yesterday, which was recorded in
a single night this past February' over at Chris
Bishop's Radium Recording. Comprised of two
dudes named Sketch and Greazy D, it's quite
easy to dismiss this entire thing as a complete
joke... until you actually hear them. Although
all the music is made by just drums and a
single guitar, the recorded stuff, at least,
sounds like a full band. Their tunes are a mix
of Stooges-ish sludginess and Some Velvet
Sidewalk-like guitar pop. In the end, it would
probably be most fair to gauge them as a band
that's not a joke, but rather one with a big
sense of humor. Check them out, go to the
show and tell them I sent you. Listen up over
at www.myspace.com/nst.
See 'Em For Real, Yo!: Sometimes you just start
to wonder if a band is a rumor or not Well,
Virgin Boxset is no rumor, they just got inad
vertently left on the backbumer for, like, for
ever, while bandmember Jimmy Taylor recov
ered from injuries following a car wreck last FalL Taylor and the
other members (Gabe Vodicka, Winston Parker and Justin Rowers)
also all split their time between two other local bands: Iron Hero
and Erutrevo. Anyway, Virgin Boxset is a completely different
animal from either of those bands; catch them and their new four-
song EP Is The Cat Having Fun? at Tasty World show on Wednesday,
June 1.
► Onward!: Athens management/ promotion guy Troy Aubrey of
Nomad Artists, home to acts like Left Front Tire
and Modem Skirts, sees some promise in 17-
year-old local singer-songwriter Nate Nelson and
now represents him. See nomadartists.com.
Bicycle Curious: In other big news, the 40 Watt
club will host the Twilight Criterium outdoor
concert on Friday, Apr. 29, Cracker, the Weight
and the aforementioned Nate Nelson perform.
That show gets cranked up right outside the club
at 6:30 p.m., so be on time. For more informa
tion on all this stuff and where to find tickets,
ptease see www.40watt.com.
I've Got France In My Pants: Those masters of
suspended adolescence Je Suis France are up to
more hijinks as the spring progresses. This past
week they were out in San Francisco, CA playing
the Mind Zap Festival and sharing the bill with
acts as disparate as Erase Errata and Still Flyin'
(a 17-member reggae band formed by Sean
Rawls, formerly of Masters of the Hemisphere).
On Friday, Apr. 29, the band will be hosting, but
not playing "Frilight" (as in 'Friday before
Twilight") at Little Kings, and the bill features
DJ Mahogany, Lil' Rip Scoldjah, Triple Velcro, Nate Nelson
Cocaine Bref and Timber. On Saturday, Apr. 30
the band will play the sixth annual 'Twilight Delirium" show at the
40 Watt along with Iron Hero, Guided By Voices tribute act King
Shit & The Golden Boys, and Rump Posse [see interview on p. 33].
For your edification, the band has prepared three separate EPs (on
three different formats!): 7' Temperate Icehole, featuring one new
song and three b-sides; a CD-R featuring acoustic versions of Je Suis
France songs recorded in the middle of the woods; a 3' CD-R of
Frank Zappa covers which the band learned by looking at Zappa
tablature, although the band has never actually heard Zappa and
has no idea what these songs are supposed to sound like. The
band is also finishing up its third fiill-lenglh album Afiikan Mafik.
Nope: That Shins show at the 40 Watt on Monday, May 2 is so very,
very sold out Tickets went fester than the Olivia Tremor Control's,
Flash to Bang Time
and fester than the Flaming Lips shows do whenever they swing
through town, meaning there'll probably be a lot of out-o'-towners
at the show. Gotta stay on the baU. /alL
Hello Chicago!: Athens guitar pop wonder The High Caliber is in
Chicago this week to perform at the International Pop Overthrow
FestivaL After Chicago, the multi-city event travels to Liverpool,
England and then to Los Angeles. Distributor and mail-order house
Not Lame Recording Company has already sold out of the band's
most recent recording, The Apricots EP, but copies should be avail
able through the band directly until Not Lame gets restocked.
Boots, Made For. Back-on-the-air University of Georgia radio station
WUOG 90.5 FM is hosting a charity 'walk-off* at the Memorial Hall
Ballroom on campus on Thursday, Apr. 28 at 8 p.m. It'll be a 'com
petitive fashion show* taking inspiration from die Ben Stiller movie
Zoobnder. "Walkers' are on their own to come up with unique
styles, since this is all a little tongue-in-cheek. Tickets cost S5 or
$2 if you're a participant* all proceeds benefit Community
Connection. A dance party hosted by Twin Powers follows the
event. To participate, call WUOG Public Affairs Director Natalie White
at 542-8473 or at 678-907-8480. [Chris Hassiotis]
Sometimes They Come Back: Athens/ Chicago band The Capricorns
will release a new 7" recording on New York label Sound Virus. The
label, which also features releases from DFA 1979, Pretty Girts
Make Graves and the Blood Brothers, should drop the record soon.
The band should fit in just fine with that crowd with their infec
tious, fun synth-pop. Capricorns leader Heather Lynn will spend her
summer here in Athens, so expect a couple of shows from them. The
group is also working on completing their newest (and rumored to
be final) full-length album.
Not Just A Band Anymore: The guys in local
band Beijing, while taking an indefinite hiatus
from being a band, have formed new label Soft
Magic Records. The first release, available in
early May, will be a split T between electo-
pop band Touchdown! And Atari-musicians
Ordinary Germans Like Yourselves. There will
be a free kickoff party for the record and label
on Thursday, Apr. 28 at the old Habitat For
Humanity bam located at 7.44 Barber St.
Performers include Fabulous Bird, Ordinary
Germans Like Yourselves [see interview on p.
36], Touchdown!, Artless (not to be confused
with the classic punk band of the same name)
and Annie & Her Guns.
< Explode!: Dramatic local chamber-pop outfit
Flash to Bang Time will record live tracks of
enchanting new material at the Go Bar on
Friday, Apr. 29, for a possible future release.
Jason NeSmith (Casper & the Cookies, Of
Montreal) will handle the soundboard/
recording devices. 'Bring your throats around
10 p.m.,' says the band. [CH]
This Butterfly Has Flown: Local musician, pro
moter and label head Erik Hinds has
announced that he will no longer be promoting
his three-year running concert series the
Butterfly Effect He is taking this time off to
work on his own music and, presumably, to
continue the business of running his label
SolponticeUo, which focuses on fmprovisa-
tional and classical music. Hinds definitely deserves some off time,
and our town should be thankful for all the wonderful musicians and
shows tie's been responsible for bringing to town over the years. For
more information, please see www.solponticello.com.
Action Action: The second year of the Sprockets Music and Video
Competition is approaching; local film foundation RlmnAthens will
screen local musk videos at the 40 Watt Club this summer and pre
sent awards at the Flagpole Athens Music Awards on Thursday, June
23. The deadline for entries is Saturday, Apr. 30.
Applications and more information available at
www.athensfilmfoundation.org.
Hotcakes: Local rockers Psychic Hearts sent in
notification saying that the upcoming show
Tasty World on Saturday, Apr. 30 is the last time
the band's free three-song EP is available. "We
have run through 1000 copies," says the band,
'and availability after this show will be
extremely limited. We are currently writing new
songs for an LP due out later this year. The EP
will not be re-pressed."
a
Great Ideas: Phosphorescent driving force
Matthew Houck (also a Flagpole delivery driver)
has pledged that the band's Tuesday, May 3, per
formance will be an early show designed specifi
cally for those who can't do the late-night
shuffle. Musk starts promptly at 9 p.m., and
Houck says that to celebrate the upcoming
release of Aw Come Aw Wry, Phosphorescent will
perform the album start-to-finish in its entirety.
See ABC section on p. 24 for more info.
Please keep your news coming in regularly.
* Always mention either me or Threats & Promises
in the subject line of all emails. Pack your things and go via email
at music@flagpole.com, voicemail at 549-9523, ext. 203; or by post
at P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603.
Gordon Lamb
APRIL 27, 2005 • FLAGPOLE.COM 41