The Best Damn Un-Christmas Song You'll Hear This Week

Oh, Drive-By Truckers. You gave us "Hope Santa's Outta Rehab By Christmas," but can anything ever compare to the sheer raunchiness of "Mrs. Claus' Kimono"? I think not.


Mrs. Claus' Kimono by DriveByTruckers

More Warm and Fuzzy Christmas Tunes

In continuing our sudden discovery of local Christmas albums this year, I present to you Merry Christmas from Davey and Meredith. Davey drums for the Warm Fuzzies and Meredith is his wife. Together, they make an awesome duo with a unique take on some traditional holiday tunes.

If you'd like a sample of what they're up to, I suggest heading over to the duo's bandcamp page and getting the free download. Or just listen to the player below. Whichever. I suggest the download though. It's good listening when you're baking cookies.

It Came Upon A Midnight

I am a complete and utter fan of pretty much anything Bill Mallonee's ever recorded so it should come as no surprise to you consistent readers (all 3 of you) that I'm drooling over his Christmas tracks.

Check out the rest of the goodness on his bandcamp page and sample the lovely tunes and toss some money his way for the full album.

Love Shack Bus Stop

I guess this is a pic of the "Evil" B-52s?

My good friend Rebecca can't stop giggling about the fact that the Athens bus system is called "The Bus." She's from somewhere north of the Mason-Dixon line so I always get a kick out of her love for our silly little bus name and our awesome bus stops.

But this new design takes the cake. Seriously. It's a bus stop based on the B-52s' (or is it 's'?)Love Shack. The kickstarter for the project is here. The artist is looking to raise $2,500 by Jan. 2nd and has already gotten $1,700 as of this post. So help get this project finished so we can all go sit in the shack and hum to ourselves!

Peachy Keane Christmas

You gotta admit, you probably would wish that John Keane were your dad too. Grammy nominated, works with all these famous musicians, a kick-ass studio... For Paige and Rachel, he's just dad. And, ok, this one time he's their record producer too.

O Christmas, Where Art Thou? is the Keane family project (under the groan-worthy pun name We Three Keanes). It's holiday fare, naturally, but John and his daughters took special care in choosing which songs the merry-makers would perform.

"I didn't want anything too sappy on there but just songs that their voices sounded good on and some favorites," says John.

John admits that it's a tiny bit harder to work with his daughters in the studio than it is with other musicians. Mainly, it's about finding enough time, he says. The girls are often busy with after-school activities, leaving precious little time for the studio. It suits them fine, however. The girls are in the midst of college preparations. The record is a fun little way to raise some money for their soon to be out of state tuition.

So give it a listen over on John Keane's official site. Buy it and help the girls out with college and get a nifty Christmas cd to boot.

We Three Keanes, TONIGHT at the Georgia Theatre with The Darnell Boys, Whiskey Gentry, High Strung String Band

Weekly Show Picks

TONIGHT

Caledonia

Turf War

VG Minus

Little Kings

Boycycle

Erin Lovett

Vespolina

THURSDAY

Caledonia

Pig Man

Thomas Hardy Morris and the Outfit

Hank Sullivant

Georgia Theatre

We Three Keanes

The Darnell Boys

High Strung String Band

The Whiskey Gentry

FRIDAY

40 Watt

Jon Guthrie: Living the Dream III

See Flagpole for Listing

The Melting Point

Abbey Road Live

SATURDAY

Caledonia

Dead Fingers

Kalen Nash

White Violet

40 Watt

Jon Guthrie: Living the Dream III

Athens Music News Roundup

Don't forget that Jon Guthrie Tribute Living the Dream will be coming up this weekend. It's always awesome so plan to go!

Also happening soon, White Violet playing on Saturday. *drool*

So the B-52s are coming back to Athens (hit me like a ton of bricks). Not only that but they're offering special VIP packages at $175 and $125. The gang rolls back into town on February 9th at the Classic Center.

Community Action Meeting re: Selig development on Armstromg & Dobbs - Tues, Dec 13th, 7:30 pm East Athens Community Center, 400 McKinley Dr. - via Twitter

And finally, 25 possible reasons no one is going to see your band.

And one more from College Humor for the final exam crowd.

Spring Interns Needed

Well hey there all you people looking to flesh out your resumes! Looking for a low impact, high entertainment internship to while away the hours? Dig listening to new music, researching old music, going to shows, designing web apps, and using "social media?" Then have I got the thing for you!

We're looking for interns from Jan 1 until Mayish. If you want to help us out with our (soon to be expanded) Youtube channel, photo streams, record reviews, live reviews, and other debauchery, just email athensmusicjunkie@gmail.com.

Michael Stipe is Christmas

bwaaaaaahahahahahahaha *breath* hahahahahahah

I've been really stressed out lately between an interesting living situation, life in general, and trying to update this website (which is awesome but taxing). So I decided to watch some of my favorite Christmas movies to make me feel better. Naturally, I turned to two of my most favorite R.E.M./Christmas clips ever. Enjoy!

Michael Stipe as Blitzen's cousin, a flightless reindeer.



Skip to 3:22 if you, like I, can't really stand Chris Kattan but want to see Michael Stipe in a skintight fairy outfit.

New Addiction: The Shoal Creek Stranglers & THE ICE CREAMS

I have repeatedly professed my love for the Humms on this here bit of Internet space. So I was very very happy when not one but two separate emails floated my way from Gypsy Farm. It seems that those guys have been pretty busy as of late

The Ice Creams sound like the good old fashion rock pop of the late 50s. The tunes, which you can listen to here, are catchy and lack the overly distorted production that marks the Humms. But the similarities between the sounds are obvious. If you like the Humms, you'll love The Ice Creams. They're like the vanilla with sprinkles to the Humms' rocky road.

The Shoal Creek Stranglers are a lot more folk oriented. If you want nothing but straight up vocals, guitar, and bass, you'll find it here. Zeke's voice, of course, is instantly recognizable but it takes on a sweeter tone, melding with the peaceful instrumentation. Take a listen here.



And of course, if you just want the Humms, here's one of their awesome songs from Lemonland.


So, in closing *DROOL*

One Press Place Sold: Home of the Banner-Herald

 Look, I'm one of those folk who believe local news should be covered by local people. I'm also one of those people who have looked at their ABJs (in newspapers no less) and sighed as the near-inevitable crash of journalism as we know it came to our front doors.

It's really no surprise to me that One Press Place was sold. That building was a friggin' palace. And Morris has been on my list for quite a while as.....what's the term?..... insane. Newspapers frustrate me. I am no professional reporter and at this point have no desire to be. Why work for an industry that deliberately ignores the advent of the Internet unless the paper's owners need to complain about how it's stolen all their readers. Dude, "news" is reactionary by nature. But ignoring technology, firing almost every good employee you have, and trying to centralize things that need to be local will not serve you well.  Anywho, here's the press release.


From the ABH:
"Augusta, Ga. - December 7, 2011 - Morris Publishing Group, LLC, the owner of the Athens Banner-Herald, has agreed to sell One Press Place in Athens, Georgia to Lulscal, LLC, a Colorado company.

The Banner-Herald may remain in the building under lease arrangements with Lulscal, allowing the paper to utilize significantly less space as it transitions to a digital first model, which places a premium on rapid deployment of news and interactive features while requiring significantly less physical space.

The closing of the sale is expected within the next several months after a due diligence period is met. Once the sale is completed, the new owner plans to secure additional tenants to fill up the building.

Nichols Land & Investment Company brokered the purchase of the property and will manage the building on behalf of the buyer. The facility has approximately 103,000 rentable square feet and is situated on 3.1 acres in downtown Athens.

“We are excited about the possibility of managing another iconic property in downtown Athens,” said Ed Nichols of Nichols Land. “The unique spaces and floor plan of One Press Place provide a number of options for creative uses that may encourage additional businesses to locate downtown. Reinvigorating One Press Place with a new mix of tenants while allowing the Athens Banner-Herald to find just the space it needs is a win for both parties.”

Nichols has previously managed and redeveloped other downtown buildings, including the historic Hodgson Oil Building and the MacDonald Building.

“We remain fully committed to Athens’ daily print edition and are exploring options that could improve our print production capabilities,” stated Billy Morris, Chairman of Morris Publishing. “Our goal is to continue to provide timely and relevant information for our print and digital readers and exemplary service to our advertisers.”

Morris Publishing is a privately held media company based in Augusta, Ga., which owns and operates 12 daily newspapers as well as nondaily newspapers, city magazines and free community publications in the Southeast, Midwest, Southwest and Alaska. For more information, visit its Web site, http://www.morris.com/."

WIN Modern Skirts Tix

 Yup, you read right. We've got a pair of tickets to the Modern Skirts/Lera Lynn/Easter Island show at the Georgia Theatre this Friday night! All you have to do is answer the following question by sending your response to athensmusicjunkie@gmail.com.

Question: Lera Lynn recently did a cover version of what TV on the Radio Song?

First email with correct answer gets 2 tickets! Get on it!

Secret Santa Secret Record Swap Press Release Theatre

From the page:

Hello fellow music lovers!

The upcoming Secret Record Swap will be December 3rd at the 40 Watt and is naturally sponsored by Low Yo Yo Stuff Records!
The 40 Watt Club
285 W. Washington Street, Athens, GA 30601

www.40watt.com
Please don’t forget to like, share & invite your friends to the Secret Record Swap facebook page and event page:
http://www.facebook.com/secretrecordswap
Remember anyone can sell their music related stuff at this event. It is perfect for bands, record dealers, stores, record labels, and the average collector to come out to buy, sell or trade some music related items. At the previous record swaps we have seen records, videos, CDs, tapes, posters, guitars, radios, t-shirts, stereo equipment, horns, rock photographs, whoopee pies, and more changing hands!
Tables at this event are:
$5 for 2’ includes one admission
$15 for 4’ includes one admission
$22 for 6’ includes two admissions
$30 for 8’ includes two admissions
This is the best value around for record fair table space! We are keeping the 2’ space as cheap as possible to allow the average music fan to come with a box or two of records and/or CD’s. The table costs basically cover the advertising and table rental fees.
Table reservations will be made first come first served upon receipt of payment:
please email chris@chrisrazz.com or call 706-206-0766 with :
1. The amount of space you desire.
2. Your name, mailing address, phone, & email.
3. A brief description of what you will be selling.

Three ways to pay for your tables!
• Stop in Low Yo Yo Stuff Records Monday – Thursday to give Chris a check or cash!
• or mail a check or well concealed cash payable to:
Chris Rasmussen
PO Box 1227 Athens, GA 30603
• or paypal your payment to chris@chrisrazz.com
Please use the personal “gift” option so Paypal will not deduct any fees.

This event is not happening during a football home game weekend! So no worries about any of that madness/nonsense!
The students will still be here for another week or more before the Christmas break begins.

Thanks for your interest and participation in the Secret Record Swap!

Chris Razzzzzzzzzz
The Secret Record Swap

PS - As always, dealers are responsible for the collection and payment of any applicable local, state and federal taxes on their sales.

Christmas Parade Time!

I seriously look forward to this every single year. It's not the holiday season until the Downtown Athens Parade of Lights comes floating by. It starts roughly around 7 p.m. and ends with the lighting of the Christmas tree by a certain North Pole resident in red. This year we'll see high school bands and cute little doggies and what Occupy North Pole might look like. Seriously, come on out and have some fun with us!