Atlanta Music Guide

Dates and On-Sale Dates for The Great Decatur Craft Beer Festival Announced!

The Great Decatur Craft Beer Festival is coming this fall on October 17, and tickets will go on sale for the event on August 24 at Ticket Alternative.

 As usual, patrons will be able to sample from over a hundred beers from the best local, national and international breweries, and you'll be tasting in style with your commemorative glass, which comes with your ticket purchase.

Oh and if that wasn't reason enough to have a taste or two, festival proceeds support community projects and organizations, so you'll be drinking for a good cause.

Chairlift, A Place To Bury Strangers and Juliette Lewis Coming To Drunken Unicorn

We just some great announcements for Drunken Unicorn's fall shows. First up is the utterly delightful Chairlift, who will be coming to Atlanta with Micachu & the Shapes on September 9. Many of us know the band from their sweet-as-pie song "Bruises," which was used in the colorful iPod Nano commercial a little while back, but they go above and beyond that with quite a bit of odd atmospheric loveliness. Tickets are available now at Ticket Alternative.

Kooky actress Juliette Lewis is bringing her band over to Atlanta on September 24, just before the release of her latest flick Whip It, about roller derby girls. Get your tickets at Ticket Alternative.

Lastly, A Place To Bury Strangers play with Darker My Love on October 7. Tickets are available now at Ticket Alternative.

CD Review: Bat For Lashes -- Two Suns; Playing The Loft August 17

Bat for Lashes
Two Suns
Astralwerks

By Micah McLain

Natasha Khan used to love telling fairy tales to her students as a nursery-school teacher. Things have not changed much; now she simply goes by the name Bat for Lashes and tells her stories to a growing number of older kids, albeit with a wide range of musical accompaniment.

Wavves, Broadcast and The Vic Chesnutt Band Coming to The EARL This Fall!

We've got three pretty rad announcements for The EARL. First up is Wavves, the notoriously notorious bunch of indie darlings who somewhat imploded on their last tour. Sounds like the cracks have been mended and this time around they'll be doing it right. Check them out at their Atlanta stop on October 4 to see what happens. Tickets are available now at Ticket Alternative.

Next up is British "space lullaby" creators Broadcast, who will be headlining an amazing lineup with Atlanta's own Atlas Sound and The Selmanaires on October 28. Should be a very trippy, groovy evening. Get your tickets now at Ticket Alternative.

Lastly, we have The Vic Chesnutt Band, which features Guy Picciotto (Fugazi) and members of Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Witchies. Phew. Basically any self-respecting music geek's dream right? 'Nuff said. So get those tickets now at Ticket Alternative for their November 1 show.

Win Tickets to fun. @ Drunken Unicorn, September 20!

We have a couple of tickets for the upcoming fun. show at Drunken Unicorn on September 20. All you have to do is email win@ticketalternative.com with "fun." in the subject line and we'll pick someone out in the days coming up to the show. Or, if you don't feel so lucky, you can buy the tickets at Ticket Alternative.

AsianCajuns and Whynatte Host Clermont Lounge Redesign Competition and Party July 30

In an attempt to save the Atlanta institution known as The Clermont Lounge, local fashion lasses AsianCajuns will be joining yummy coffee drink folks Whynatte to host a party to announce the winners for a competition aimed at redesigning part of the hotel, whether it be the lobby, rooms or even the roof! Winners will be announced at the party, and we're very excited to see what these creative types have come up with. And, to top it off, Ledfoot Messiah will be playing!

CD Review: CKY -- Carver City; Playing The Loft July 31

CKY
Carver City
Roadrunner Records

By Eileen Tilson

It was only last year that the future for CKY (Camp Kill Yourself) was left uncertain. After a major feud between band mates, there seemed to be no silver lining for these Pennsylvania boys. Luckily for their fans, they reignited the passion and dedication they have had for all these years, and channeled their energy into a project that was left dormant, their fourth studio album, Carver City.

CD Review: Kava Kava -- Forwards

Kava Kava
Forwards
Midnight Swimming

By Al Kaufman

Michael Hutchence has been gone for almost 12 years now, but his ability to intertwine pop with club has never been duplicated. While Hutchence leaned more toward his pop tendencies, Kava Kava, a six-piece Britpop band making its US debut, tend to start in the club/electronica camp and sprinkle in just enough pop to make themselves accessible.

CD Review: Drug Rug -- Paint The Fence Invisible

Drug Rug

Paint The Fence Invisible

Tell All Your Friends Records

By Scott Roberts

The press release for Paint The Fence Invisible, the second release from Cambridge, Mass.’ Drug Rug, wants you to know that the CD was mostly recorded in a house in the Catskills, but not just any old house — a haunted house. And there is a bit of a ghostly flavor on the brief album opener “Follow,” with its lo-fi drum machine, vintage ‘80s-sounding keyboards and lushly-layered, indistinguishable vocals, but the songs that follow are mostly of the upbeat, melodic variety and are not scary at all, but instead filled with gloriously group-huggy optimism.

Music Man--The Splinter Groups

I spent the week at home in Atlanta re-building a fence in my front yard that was recently crushed by a 150 year-old oak tree. Thankfully, as far as my property is concerned it was just the fence that was ruined. My neighbor, as well as my neighbor’s neighbor on the other hand, had major damage to their houses and have spent a lot of time and money re-building. Anyway, while in my yard re-building said fence, I thought a lot about the state of music and the music industry of which I’m a part, and from which I derive my living. The thought that kept coming back to me is, who are the rock stars of today, and where is music headed, what does it sound like?