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EE3I> threats & promises
Happy Cheese’s Soft Beauty
PLUS, MORE MUSIC NEWS AND GOSSIP
By Gordon Lamb threatsandpromises@flagpole.com
NEW CHEESE SPACE: It’s been just over two years since I had
anything to say about indie project Happy Cheese, and
as best I can tell, it’s been about that long since they had
anything to say, as well. The first new collection of Happy
Cheese songs since November 2017 appeared last week,
and it’s named Bellyache. Yet again, the chief songwriter is
mysterious, and the contributing musicians are basically
unidentifiable. Also yet again, this is a really nicely crafted
Happy Cheese
and delivered collection of tunes that are singer-songwriter
oriented but arranged in different styles, from folk to lo-fi
pop to even slight ragtime. This is the kind of turned-in
ward art that feels no need to announce itself, because the
accomplishment is in the doing itself. Musical touchstones
here are slight but recognizable. This is a headphone album
that’s arriving just before the weather is nice enough to sit
on the porch at night listening alone. So, for now, you’ll
have to absorb its soft beauty and sweet/sad lyricism
indoors. Highlights are “Chomper” (“There’s a hole where
his head used to be/ There’s a shoulder she used to keep
company”), “The First Time” and closing instrumental
“Retiredman.” Go get this at happycheese.bandcamp.com.
AVAILABLE NOW: The long-awaited compilation LP Classic
City Wax, Vol. 1 won’t have its official release party until
Feb. 22 at the Caledonia Lounge, but you can go ahead and
grab a copy now. The fresh
mix features tracks by LG,
Motorhead 2x, Ishues, DK,
Cassie Chantel, Squalle,
LB, Kxng Blanco, Caulfield,
The YOD and Linqua
Franqa. The project was
truly a community project,
with costs covered by an
Arts in Community grant
from the Athens Cultural
Affairs Commission.
Manufacturing was handled
by Kindercore Vinyl, Jesse
Mangum did the mastering
work, and the cover art
was done by local graphic
designer Larry Choskey.
Copies are available for
purchase at Wuxtry Records downtown. Hats off and hands
up for everyone involved in bringing this project to life.
THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN: After a furious and successful tour
up the coast, both Georgia Dish Boys and compatriots
The Pink Stones are back in town. On Feb. 7, them Dish
Boys will release their live album Live in Classic Town. It was
recorded way back in December at the Caledonia Lounge by
Sloan Simpson. Live sound was handled by
Gene Woolfolk. In celebration, Georgia Dish
Boys, The Pink Stones and Ohio’s Lindsay
Jordan will play Flicker Theatre and Bar on
Wednesday, Feb. 12. Although it’s not really
billed as a release show or anything like that,
we both know it’d be pretty rude of you to
not give ’em all a big hug of congratulations
and maybe pick up a copy while you’re there.
Get up to speed at georgiadishboys.band
camp.com, thepinkstones.bandcamp.com
and lindsayjordanmusic.com.
SWEEP THE DECKS: In the liner notes for the
new collection from D J and producer Killa
Cabbi, the confession comes hard. To wit,
“It has gone and happened. I have went [sic]
and recorded so much music I can’t even keep
track of it anymore.” So, that means both
the first track (“Unknown”) and last track
(“Unknown 2”) are chalked up to his collabo
ration with a mystery guitarist whose name
can’t be remembered and a recording session
from 2012. In between these casually looped
tunes are four tracks that are really kind of
rough demo-type things recorded, for the
most part, so low that it’s a struggle to try to
enjoy them. The accordion-based “Coushatta”
has some legs, though, and is a cool little
shift from Cabbi’s usual choice of instrumentation. Hear for
yourself at echobassrecords.bandcamp.com.
SING OUT!: Classic City Jazz is hosting open auditions
Wednesday, Feb. 5 (5-7 p.m.) and Thursday, Feb. 6 (6-7
p.m.) at Hodgson Concert Hall. Classic City Jazz is UGA’s
premier—and only—jazz vocal group, and they perform
a cappella as well as accompanied. You need to sign up for
a 15-minute audition slot, and if you’re interested, drop a
line as soon as humanly possible to ugaccj@gmail.com. The
link to their Google Docs form
is so unwieldy it would
take half the page to
print it all. For all
other information,
see facebook.com/
classiccityjazz. ©
radio report
WUOG 90.5 FM's 10 Most-Played Recordings
Jan. 22-28
1. Faye Webster Atlanta Millionaires Club (Secretly Canadian)
2. Glass Beach The First Glass Beach Album (Run for Cover)
3. Men I Trust Oncle Jazz (Independent Release)
4. The Babe Rainbow Today (30th Century)
5. Needle Teeth Expiration Date EP (Independent Release)*
6. Angel Olsen All Mirrors (Jagjaguwar)
7. Blood Orange Angel's Pulse (Domino)
8. Freddie Gibbs and Madlib Bandana (Keep Cool)
9. FKA Twigs Magdalene (Young Turks)
10. Steve Lacy Apollo XXI (3QTR)
* local release • Get the latest WUOG news, including the Live in the Lobby schedule, at wuog.org.
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LAST CHANCE TO VOTE • BALLOT ON PAGE 10
FEBRUARY 5, 2020 | FLAGPOLE.COM 15