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Karaoke Tue-Sat Nights 128 College Ave. 706-543-1433 Hfil I /. ■ l 2* ». ' 2007 FLAGPOLE ATHENS MUSIC AWARDS M w f' v WATCH THE SHOW ONLINE AT Flagpole.com/Awards beer pong \2 HtGHUFE PITCHERS 2 WELL DRINKS .LADIES NIGHT BS§& 2 wcu mm t wmt m notes DAA/Ce PARTY POWER HOUR 8pm-f0pm 2 WELL DR/NKS • 2 DOMESTIC BEER mil Jnyj msm j p t j 1 *! jjg il m '114; • Wm • IE •j m Lnihm* 1 m EVERY 1 [night J OF MONTREAL Icons Abstract Thee EP Polyvinyl Kevin Barnes used to write songs mat shrouded reality in Roald Daft- style indie rock fairytales but the pressures of marriage and tathertiood have manifested themselves in very dark and personal ways with the five songs that make up Icons. Abstract Thee At times, he surpasses the threshold ot comfortable listening But it is human nature to hold rapt attention over such drama and Barnes beautiful tram wreck of a tailed domestic life has become fantastical pop fodder An air of tabloid obsession churns m ‘Du Og Meg' as he lays out what could have been an ideal family life But as 'Derailments in a Place of Our Own' and "Miss Blonde Your Papa is Failing’ untold, the good life turns bad The arrangements are sparse and plodding by comparison *c OMs heretofore quirky presence and the effects are chilling These outtakes from January’s Hissing Fauna album were available at the band's shows and online before but only now released to stores they fit together with voyeuristic mtngue The flawed protagonist tells his story with the same damning lens that captures Britney. Pans, TomKat and Brangelma in the supermarket check-out line The only difference here is that the teii-ali exposes on Icons. Abstract Thee ate autobiographical Barnes rakes his own muck to turn his shortcomings into sensationalism The percussive weight ot 'No Conclusion’ brings everything to a close with bleak revelation Barnes sings. "I've never been honest with anyone' before erupting with bleeding- m heart emotions He announces that heS being disingenuous, but the songs are so seduct-ve that it’s impossible not to be sucked in. Chad Radford ONI HAND LOVES THE OTHER One Hand Loves the Other Stickfigure What the hell? Where did this band come from? Ah well. One Hand Loves the Other is a foursome sure to raise some eyebrows and open some ears. Take some Final Fantasy-type simple classical-flavored pop. sprinkle some Muse on (I know. I know. Muse sucks. but there is a vocal similarly) then process it through crunchy Wop effects Soaring cacophony like this is hard to actually do well but tors mostly-Atlanta-based band (vocalist Lou Rodriguez. though lives here m Athens) hits the mark far more than it misses Opener ‘Interpret a Poem* spelts out the band's M 0 veer from girtched-out tMt-masftng to Sat«- iite piano then sweeping cello and violin then btam*—electro/organ/ horns That there s no way the group can ascend to such great heights isn’t whafs important the fact that these guys are even trying is the point 'Burden of Barnacles' marries 0M0 synth-pop with LFO creativity The record trips over itseft many times, however I d be utterly amazed if it didn’t, with such an amalgamation of styles Slow mournful choral movements are a bit tough to throw in the mix with fuzzy breakbeats The payoff is the exuberance and toy on display here the epitome of a young band reveling in sound impressive m spite of its mistakes Tortoise' inventively clips and chops Nancy Shim’s vocats over bleeps and wheezes while the piano and strings get another starring role Give One Hand Loves the Other a little while to work out the kmks. and not invite so many genres to the orgy and Atlanta will have another reason to beat its chest Michael Wehunf One Hand Loves the Other is playing at the Caledonia L ounge on Friday. July 20 THE SEA AND CAKE Everybody Thnll Jockey There are those bands that are an industry unto themselves They put out records and people buy them because they enioy the music, sure, but more significantly because they know what they're getting The Ramones were never going to put out a zydeco album or veer off into dark ambient or black metal There are the Radioheads of the world, respected because ot the sheer breadth of their sonics and vision, their unpredictability And then there s The Sea and Cake Several albums into the groups long career, there's only been a minor and very gradual shift in motive and expression My task here is to compare the subtle nuances that grace the progression from 2003$ One Bedroom and just-out Everybody But you know. it$ the Sea and Cake It is what it is And if you re a fan. you're already perfectly okay with that, or you’d have passed on the band after Oui, if not long before The Chicago boys are still as precise as ever. Sam Prekop’s still singing doo-doo-doo and sighing a lot in his inimitable feathery voice. 'Crossing Line* is probably the simplest pop song the band has ever written, and the same can be said for the album which almost feels as light as air Prekop s fwo solo records give you a good idea of whats m store on these 10 tracks John McEntire (from Tortoise) is still the most capable drummer m the post-everyttung world and Archer Prewitt still gwefty rocks Really it’s the Sea and Cake Vknow Mtchae Wehunt KATE MORRISSEY Nobody. Too independent Release Relatively new Athenian Kate Mornssey has drawn comparisons to Tori Amos Sarah McLacftan and Alans Monssette Duf please don't let any of mat scare you off Shes less dramatic than all three and more interesting than me latter two Realty, if there’s anyone Momssey sounds like it's Regina Spekfor whose last album you might have heard as me very least in OW Navy shopping for discount T-shirts Relying on rippling piano. nes that make good use of me sound- altering pedals below and interesting vocal phrasmgs that play coy and direct m alternating verses she seems connected to her instrument in the way that pianists tend to be more than other musicians She also has a nee habit of singing from deep m her throat coloring her tone with a vaguely swallowed soft darkness that shows more commitment to the songs than silly runs up and down the scale Also like Spektor Morrissey is willing to experiment The last two songs on Nobody Too— Nagasaki (Remix)’ and ‘The Happiest Baby Dinosaur ot Them Alt'—are credited as collaborations with DJ Apocakious. utilizing many a bleep and a bioop and while they don’t fully work (the pianos much more charming by itself), Morrissey's lack of conservatism is appreciated This is pretty stuff Hillary Brown THE CLIENTELE God Save the Clientele Merge God. the Clientele rules I can still remember the first time I ever heard the London quartet (how s that tor a • cliche review opener?) It wasn't raining the day I bought the debut release, a compilation called Suburban Light.; but somehow that did little to dampen the impact the record had on me I readily acknowledge the effect weather as on now mus*. <s absorbed But rtf listen to ftack netai «mt)e driving on me sunm«J afternoon and Murder Beach m a thunderstorm The Clientele however is me exception It needs to be dreary and the windows need to be ram-streaked so that when you gaze through me panes me world is blurred into a soft hart Just like me bands muse Suburban tight was me perfect record. MM with perfect songs of stately grace and observations of me mundane world that could break your heart Strange Geometry was more or less m the same vem. and perhaps l was so let down merely because of my mmense love tor the debut A bit odd, then that I'm already close to wearing out God Save the Clientele Yes it$ a step up from Strange Geometry buf 4$ afso a step •nto decidedly brighter territory losing much of the rainy gauze that made the group completely irresistible There are hard edges now comparatively speaking In a nutshell the band now reminds me ot fellow British pop band The Beautiful South jazzy yet melancholy Oh and there s a violinist now so svwet strings splash all over the canvas But shinier and happier or not. the songwriting’s stilt breathtaking The tempos are just overall peppier the drums crisper the vocals a little more awake Make no rrisake Tins i$ not Suburban Light-camber Nearly nothing is But its a fresh and welcome change Michael Wehunt PATRICK WOLF The Magic Position Low Altitude Britain's current role is as a test market tor artists that mix retro- ieamng inventiveness with Adult Contemporary-friendly accessibility like Phil Colims with enough artistic integrity to allow people who idolize the 60s not to be embarrassed about liking him Eogiands newest offering is Patrick Wotf theatrical but committed classically trained but street-level experimental (he busksh. and about 80 percent consumed by this fl^mograpbicaily-mandated search tor 'espedabi..ty At his best Wolf s music is one of the few examples of a pop artist truly absorbing the lessons of latter- day Radiohead On 'Overture ’ he successtoily integrates violin aid a straightforward vocal melody with digital cut-outs and sampled claltets and clanks But he also has a tendency to go with pianos and strings and bland yearning, as on the unfortunately Marianne Faithfull-assisted 'Magpie' The title track is what happens when all this goes right, with drums beating against a fully-orchestrated song-and-dance number that both describes and conjures the gtones of love But one track later, he's gone wrong again, trying awkwardly to mainstream the chirpy glitch of former patron Chicks on Speed, ending up instead with an arcshronistic mess The experimental juota reached, the rest leans heavily on the AC with sad. vaguely folky songs barely worth a mention on another album. Success may doom Wolf to more ot this, so let’s cross our fingers and hope he fails Michael Barthei 28 FLAGPOLE.COM -JUNE 27,2007 NEWS & FEATURES I ARTS & EVENTS I MOVIES I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS