Atlanta Music Guide

Live Review: Nigels With Attitude, The REMakes @ The EARL, November 24

By Scott Roberts; photo by Sue Volkert

Tribute bands are fascinating entities to consider. What compels a group of musicians, who generally begin their rock and roll journeys by incorporating their admired influences into their own visions hoping to forge something new and fresh, to throw that idea out the window and decide to exclusively mine the catalog of one band instead of playing their own music? In the cases of Nigels With Attitude, an XTC tribute band led by seasoned Atlanta-and-beyond veterans Tim Smith and Peter Stroud, and The REMakes, well-respected producer/musician Geoff Melkonian’s tribute to the “early catalogue” of R.E.M., the answer is probably that learning and playing the music of these respective bands is a fun and temporary labor of love.

Live Review: Eilen Jewell with Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles @ Eddie's Attic, November 22

By Sam Parvin

When I found out Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles were finally making their way back to Atlanta, I knew I had to plan on going to the show. When I found out they were playing in one of the best-sounding rooms in Atlanta, my presence went from probable to mandatory. On Sunday, November 22, Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles, an Americana/alt-country /rock foursome from Boston, Mass., opened to a packed Eddie’s Attic. 

Tickets for 83rd Annual Spelman-Morehouse Christmas Carol Concert are FREE on Ticket Alternative

You can now get your tickets for the 83rd Annual Spelman-Morehouse Christmas Carol Concert, coming up on December 5, for free on Ticket Alternative. If you don't have an account with Ticket Alternative, you will still have to register for one, but you don't have to give your credit card information or pay for anything. You'll just be insuring your place at the show - which is a good idea since the tickets are going fast.

Hard Rock Cafe Raising Money for Imagine There's No Hunger with John Lennon-Inspired Braclets

The folks at Hard Rock Cafe, with the blessing of Yoko Ono, have created a great charity bracelet to give to those who donate to the Imagine There's No Hunger campaign. Here's the info from the company:

As part of IMAGINE THERE'S NO HUNGER, when you add a donation of $1/£1/€1 or more onto your bill at Hard Rock Cafes, you'll receive a very special charity bracelet. Additionally, the sale of Hard Rock's exclusive Imagine Pin directly benefits WHY charities across our very small world.

Hard Rock is proud to support World Hunger Year (WHY) and its many Global initiatives to help children and the fight against hunger and poverty. WHY's founding in 1975 sought to shine a light on innovative, community-based, grassroots solutions to hunger and poverty. Eight “on the ground” partner organizations will benefit from funds raised through IMAGINE THERE'S NO HUNGER. To find out more about the specific organizations, from Kenya to Nicaragua, please click here. Join us in recognizing the spirit of these organizations and help in finding solutions for feeding those in our own backyards, as well as those around the world.

So the next time you go to a show at the Hard Rock Cafe's Velvet Underground, or just to the restaurant itself, add a dollar (or five!) to your tab to give to a great charity.

Live Review: Heavy Trash, Tiger! Tiger! @ The EARL, November 19

By Jennifer Gibson

I don’t know how old Jon Spencer is, but I do know he started heading up the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion when I was in middle school, which means he’s got to be early- to mid-40s, at least. So it’s no small feat that he’s still able to rake in the crowds, take the stage and rock out like a teenager, but he can and he did November 19 at The EARL with his new outfit, the trashy rockabilly quartet aptly named Heavy Trash. Spencer, no undesirable piece himself, co-fronts the band with the fantastic and delectable Matt Verta-Ray (formerly of Madder Rose and Speedball Baby), who challenged Spencer stomp for sweaty, seamy stomp in this dirty honkytonk game. He may have emerged the victor, but he also most definitely emerged as part of one of the more vivid and entertaining shows to hit The EARL this year. Chances are good if you’re reading this, you’ve heard of Jon Spencer. But if you’re not familiar with Matt Verta-Ray, do yourself a favor and make it so.

CD Review: Steph Jones -- Gravity

Steph Jones

Gravity

Independent Release 

By Jennifer Gibson

If Janelle Monae has been described as the female version of Prince or Andre 3000 (and she has), then Steph Jones can easily be interpreted as the male version of Janelle Monae. He doesn’t quite dial up the freak factor like she does, but he does open his new record, Gravity, with a futuristic, fatalistic shout out, and he commands some seriously catchy, almost old school hooks, all without making himself sound dated or tired. Where Monae sports a level of funky eccentricity akin to early Michael Jackson, Jones occupies a plane of chill weirdness like, say, PM Dawn, and both manage to pull it off as a modern-day invention.

The EARL Announces Dead Confederate, The Constellations and Movits Shows for January

Believe it or not, but the new year is fast approaching, and The EARL already has some stellar stuff lined up for January. They just announced three more great shows too.

Georgia's Dead Confederate will be making a stop on January 8. Tickets are on sale at Ticket Alternative.

The Constellations play a hometown gig on January 9. Get your tickets now at Ticket Alternative.

And lastly, Swedish hip-hop/50's swing group Movits perform on January 17. Check out the video above and then buy your tickets at Ticket Alternative.

Leila's Three Picks of the Week

From our sister site TA Live - and sorry for the Groove Armada repetition!

******

In video form again!

Bowerbirds - North Carolina's Bowerbirds may seem like pretty sleepy music but they put on a stellar show. They're coming to Washington D.C.'s Rock and Roll Hotel on December 2 and Atlanta's EARL allll the way into next year on February 12. Tickets are available at Ticket Alternative.

Bowerbirds - New Music - More Music Videos

Groove Armada - They're back with an incredible video "I Won't Kneel," with the stunning voice of Saint Savour. We can't wait for the new record to drop in February.

Robbie Williams - We're pretty Brit-centric around here, and are pretty excited to see that Robbie is finally making that big comeback, at least over in the UK. Let's see if we can make a bit of a wave for him over here too... 

Video of the Day: Groove Armada - I Won't Kneel

Incredible Queen-borrowed drums, the stunningly electric voice of Saint Saviour, wicked lighting effects - we love this video! Can't wait for Groove Armada's new record (which this is from) to drop in February.

Music Man--The Nasal Tone

I partially blame Christopher Carrabba (aka Dashboard Confessional). He had a large hand in starting the whole thing that has since become entirely too common and even predictable in so much of the new music that’s coming out these days, especially among the scene crowd. Nine out of ten demos I receive have it. The thing with Christopher though, is that he, while certainly not the first to sing almost entirely through his nose, connected with fans on such a personal level that they totally overlooked it. His timing was perfect, his lyrics struck a chord, and his word of mouth cult status helped get him to the point where the nasally tone of his voice became his signature sound, it was cool for its time (sorta). The truth is, if you were to see him live back in 2001, you would see a show where the entire audience sang every word to every song, Christopher literally didn’t have to sing, and it was pretty remarkable to be honest. Admittedly I own, and occasionally still listen to “The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most” (I didn’t go much further back then that). It’s a solid album for it’s time.
My problem is that since then, it seems every up-and-coming singer to grab a mic has followed suit in the vocal department and wow is it grating. What used to be the exception, has now become the rule. When I come across new music in my daily pursuit, I’m actually relieved when the singer can sing, I mean, come on, shouldn’t that be expected? It’s not. People complain about auto-tune’s over usage in pop music today, which is a topic for another time, but what about the kids who sound like their mouths were sewn shut and their nose was their only outlet?  The minute I hear a singer crooning through the ol’ schaunze, I’m turned off because it sounds (a) contrived and lazy, and (b) like every other kid who discovered a microphone and Garageband and decided to make a record. Carrabba was singing through his nose, but at least it seemed like it was coming from his heart.

*note-in the past two or three weeks I’ve actually come across some pretty great non-nasal singers, all of whom will at some point be mentioned in this blog.

-Jay Harren

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