Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Weekly Show Picks

TONIGHT
40 Watt
Gift Horse
Hardy Morris and Walker Howle
The Interns
Ruby Kendrick
Z-Dog

Farm 255
New Sound of Numbers
ALAK
Pregnant

Georgia Theatre
Zoso


THURSDAY
Georgia Theatre
Gold Party
of Montreal
Yip Deceiver

New Earth
Funk You
New Sneakers

Go Bar
Dr. Fred's Karaoke


FRIDAY
Little Kings
The Arcs
Mario Speedwagon

Terrapin
Del Yeah Fest


SATURDAY
40 Watt
Modern Skirts
Matrimony
Eastern Block

Caledonia
Space Ghost
Elevation
Tealvox

Georgia Theatre
Corduroy Road


MONDAY
Go Bar
Gripe
The Men
Shaved Christ


TUESDAY
Farm 255  
Deleted Scenes
Pretty Bird
Spiked Punch
Star Slammer

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

P-P-P-Popfest!

There is never NOT an appropriate time to use this.
Dude. Have you seen the new Athens Popfest site? It's way better than the one you're currently on if you are reading this (though we're working overtime to completely revamp but I digress). It's so shiny! And kinda hipster-esque with the fonts and the colors....

Anyway, Popfest has a full lineup of bands for you to check out this year. Some big big names are coming through like Throwing Muses and Bob Mould. But it should be noted that they have paired up with Fluke, The Secret Record Swap, and Indie Craftextravaganzaa over at the Classic Center as well. So this year, you don't get just music, you get crafts and comics too! Yes!

Some notable names on our list of not to miss shows are Oh-Ok, James Husband, the Goons, and Witches. But that's just us. You can check out the current lineup here.

Monday, August 29, 2011

New Addiction: White Violet

 I am a shameless Nate Nelson fan. I am also a shameless Gift Horse fan. And A. Armada. And Tin Cup Prophette... Well, you can probably see where this is going. Basically, Nate has teamed up with some of Athens' finest to create the band White Violet.

I suppose by definition, White Violet would be a super group, especially when you add in producers David Barbe and Andy LeMaster. As far as sound goes, it's as every bit as haunting and heart piercing as Nate's solo stuff. Just take Knobs Have Turned and add a few more years experience and a great backing band and you've got White Violet. The additional players add some needed texture and depth that Nelson's solo work was lacking. The group builds on his documentary of life in Athens writing style and fine tunes it. Highly recommended. Just turn it up and get lost...




Friday, August 26, 2011

Best by A Good Country Mile

Kevn Kinney
I imagine that listening to Kevn Kinney's "MacDougal Blues" for the first time is a lot like discovering Bob Dylan had a younger brother south of the Mason-Dixon line. It's hard to argue with Kinney's straight-forward storytelling, especially when punctuated by such interesting wordplay.

Telling a story is hard. Crafting one to go with music is even harder. But I urge you to take a listen at "Hey Landlord (Meatloaf and Fishsticks)". It's practically the story of every Athens musician ever. Heck, a lot of us non-musician, non-student types have these problems too. Do I pay the rent which is over due by months? Or do I accept the inevitable and just go get drunk? Man, I've got records to buy and gigs to get to. Don't bother me with rent....

So Mr. Kinney has a new record coming out called A Good Country Mile. I'm immediately interested, even though I've only heard snippets from his Athfest show this past June. He's throwing a cd release show SATURDAY at the 40 Watt.

If you're not sure what you're in for, might I recommend taking a trip over to Southern Shelter and listening to his live recordings. You'll be pretty blown away. But if you're the strict audio/visual type, fear not. We've got the video below to tide you over.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Athens Music News Roundup


Have you seen UGA's new TV spot? After the boatloads of shame that were cast upon the school from last year's ad, some Grady alumni decided to create a better video. It features the famous Chapel Bell and a song from R.E.M.

The B-52s' first live album drops Oct. 11. With the Wild Crowd - Live in Athens, GA was recorded and filmed at the Classic Center earlier this year.

A friend of ours, Tim White, recently lost pretty much everything last week in a fire at his home. His buddy and bandmate John Keane has set up a facebook event to take donations. It details what is needed so if you've got some extra stuff, contact John. Thanks.

Vote for Nuci's!

Athens, GA circa 1985 via PARTYLINE, the show.

Tonight Zaxby's is donating 10% of their sales between 5pm & 8pm to help support the Georgia Theatre All Athens locations are participating.

A Kate Bush cover by Bambara!

Gigworn: Final Sale: 90% off everything. Get to it!

The FourCoursemen encounter bison..

Athens Popfest has announced its full lineup...

And finally, the Humms, our pick for best album of the year last year, released this:




Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Weekly Show Picks

TONIGHT
Georgia Theatre
Dank Sinatra
The Heavy Pets

40 Watt
Gift Horse
Eddie the Wheel
David Barbe and the Quick Hooks
Ansley Rushing



THURSDAY
No Where Bar
Jazz Chronic
The Suex Effect

Little Kings
Chrissakes
Trophy Wives
Vincas



FRIDAY
40 Watt
Turquoise Jeep Records Showcase
Excalibrah and Swamp Thang
uRbN tRbN

Farm 255
Reptar
Bubbly Mommy Gun
Quiet Hooves

Go Bar
Harouki Zombie



SATURDAY
40 Watt
The HEAP
Kevn Kinney Band
Some Dark Holler

Melting Point
Deja Vu

Nuci's Space
Sparkle Song

Go Bar
Reeks of Failure
The Fuzzlers
Kater Mass
So It Goes



MONDAY
Go Bar
Madeline
Why Are We Building Such a Large Ship?
Zumm Zumm



TUESDAY
Little Kings
Cold Ones
Kater Mass
Punk DJ Night
Reverse the Curse

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Earthquake

Most people would post the R.E.M. video right now. But noooooooooo. We have to go a bit more obscure, don't we? So here's our favorite shaky type local music.

Monday, August 22, 2011

The Adopt a Clueless Student Program

Because nothing says sketchy like a Believe sign on a drum.
So I was clicking around Facebook when I saw one of my friends (the lovely Kay) post this status:

"I just heard a student say to another student, "have you ever heard of the Caledonia Lounge? It's really sketchy."

Needless to say, the Yoo-hoo I was drinking nearly went up my nose as I laughed. Oh children of the university. The things they say. Heck, there's an entire website built on the things we overhear people say while we're around. The above status naturally ended up with a bunch of us joking about how "sketchy" Caledonia is and how we're all terrified of the door guy. Poor Gordon.

But the more I got to thinking about it, the more I understood the confusion about Caledonia. It's FAR from sketchy. But it's pretty hard to find. Especially if you're not sure where you're going. I remember walking around that block several times before it occurred to me that maybe that gate type thing over there was the venue entrance.

I wonder what students think about these venues around town, especially if they're not the typical music type. Does the Georgia Theatre seem like a good place to party? The 40 Watt look like it sounds? Is the Caledonia sketch? Is this kind of rumor-mongering the reason we were voted a Top Hipster Town (despite a serious lack of hipsters)? Strange.

But it's all in how you look at it, I suppose. So all you music scene veterans, for the sake of the children, find a clueless student, be nice, and teach them about our fair town. Tell them how to get a gig at WUOG or how to find Little Kings. Show them a Flagpole or the like and bring in some fresh blood. Now if you'll excuse me, all my sketchy friends and I will be at the Caledonia

Friday, August 19, 2011

Athens Music News Roundup

Our brand new logo
Sorry to hear that Peter Buck is having such back trouble that he's having to miss out on the Baseball Project tour. This man hasn't missed a gig in 31 years according to REMHQ, so it must be pretty doggone bad. Best wishes for a quick recovery Pete!

Gigworn's sale is still going on. Everything is 80% off now and t-shirts are $1. My friends and I managed to snag some awesome necklaces, vests, and belt buckles for basically change. Highly recommend you run down there.

Flagpole gives tips to all you bands out there looking for gigs...

Want music from past years of Athens Popfest? Here ya go.

Our friend Matt from Athens GA Weather breaks down what happened at the Indiana State Fair where the stage collapsed.

Widespread Panic are playing the GA Theatre as part of their Tunes for Tots fundraiser.

Chunklet is reissuing two albums from Olivia Tremor Control. Sweet!

And that's about it. Besides our new logo designed by Chisolm Thompson.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

UGA MBUS/ATHFEST Turtle Jam Saturday

It's been said that Athens is a drinking town with a music problem and boy, is that ever true. So why not take the best of both worlds and combine them for the good of mankind? Well, wait no longer because this Saturday, the Turtle Jam will answer all your booze-soaked musical prayers at Terrapin Brewery.

Featuring music from Chromazone, Juice Box, and Bodega Roja, The Turtle Jam promises a great time for all and (with purchase of a $12 commemorative glass) a free brewery tour. Sweet! And all of this goes to Athfest's music education programs. Couldn't ask for much more. Except for maybe a video of an actual turtle. With a kitten on its back.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Weekly Show Picks

TONIGHT
Georgia Theatre
Free Mountain
Stockholm Syndrome
Ume

Caledonia
Tunabunny
Hug Abuse
Orca Team
Eureka California
Roberta & Charlene


40 Watt
Gift Horse
Phillip Brantley
White Violet



THURSDAY
Melting Point
Jim Lauderdale
Lera Lynn

Bolton Dining Hall
Chris McKay and the Critical Darlings

Caledonia
Monahan
Ruby Kendrick
Gabriel Miller Phillips
Cicada Rhythm

Farm 255
Corduroy Road
Darnell Boys

FRIDAY
Farm 255
Grape Soda
Green Thrift Grocery
Nutritional Peace

Boar's Head
Connor Pledger Trio

Terrapin
Catherine Kimbo



SATURDAY
40 Watt
Back to School 80s Bash
BombsBombsBombs
Deadbeat DJs
Velvet Runway

Terrapin
UGA Music Biz Turtle Jam

Caledonia
Gold Party
Spring Tigers
Native Nomads
Easter Island



MONDAY
Melting Point
Adam Klein
Whisper Kiss

Caledonia
(ALL AGES)
The Independents
Karbomb
Los Meesfits
The Queers



TUESDAY
No Where Bar
The Broadcast

Caledonia
The Skipperdees
Suspect Raptor
Ghost Lights

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Good Luck Julie!

The old Paste-Up dept at ABH, Not Julie's Office
We got word yesterday that Julie Phillips, longtime arts and entertainment editor at the Athens Banner-Herald, is departing. It's a heck of a blow to an already struggling news outlet (but let's not go there). She's been a champion of all things Athens for quite a while and you've more than likely read some of her work. R.E.M. fans certainly have, especially her interviews and release updates.

Julie's also active on Tumblr, posting updates of local events, shows, and other random goodies like the destruction of the ABH paste up department seen above. For us at AMJ, it means missing reading the work that partially inspired the creation of this blog type website thing. But no worries, Julie's already got another career started up and we're all looking forward to seeing where it goes.

So Julie, BEST OF LUCK and THANKS! You're an incredible person and awesome writer. Athens couldn't have asked for a better champion.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Welcome Back!


Well hi there all you UGA students! Glad to see you back from your summer vacations. Not so glad to see all the insane traffic this morning but oh well. We don't think you missed too too much. You only missed...everything? Nah. There's still time to catch up.

Rye Bar was closed, GA Theatre reopened. Athfest came with lightning. Reptar went boom, Schoolkids Records and Gig Worn went boom in a bad way. Girls Rock Camp, Slopfest, and on and on...

But no worries. We've got a ton of great stuff coming your way this Fall so you won't have to miss a thing

Friday, August 12, 2011

Free Studio Time From Small House

Our good friends over at Small House Creative are celebrating 2 years of being here in Athens by giving away a full day in their studio FOR FREE. Room FiftyThree has been a great place for many locals, including Dr Squid, Leaving Araby, The Warm Fuzzies, Yo Soybean and more.

You could lay down a few scratch tracks, polish up that EP worthy song, maybe even just mess around for a bit. There's no limit to what you could do. All you have to do is enter.


How to Win:
Just send a brief e-mail (with HAPPY BIRTHDAY in the subject line) to smallhousecreative@gmail.com, telling us something about yourself (or your band) and what you'd use the time for if you won. We'll be choosing the winner and notifying them in 2 weeks.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Reptar Thursday

Because we can. And they made the Rolling Stone site.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Weekly Show Picks


TONIGHT
40 Watt
Gift Horse
CoCo Rico
DJ Z-dog
Hank Sullivant


THURSDAY
Flicker
Adam Klein
Nutria

The Roadhouse
JB and the Comeback Boys


FRIDAY
Farm 255
The K-Macks
Tumbleweed Stampede

Go Bar
Eddie the Wheel
Fabulous Bird
Twin Powers


SATURDAY
40 Watt
Block Party
Sunny 100
Monahan
Tedo Stone
Twin Tigers

New Earth
The Constellations


TUESDAY
Little Kings
Vinyl Strangers

Caledonia
Timmy Tumble and the Tumblers
Never
Zebras
IfIHadaHiFi