The Athens Music Scene

[joeyz]

Everyone visiting this thread should check out the offical music mag of Athens the world famous "Flagpole"! Flagpole -- Athens Music Directory!

It's a general guide to Athens, the Athens music scene, and local news!

[method77]

don't forget to put a "Georgia" after Athens

[joeyz]

"Athens, Georgia USA" is part of the subtitle of this thread, therefore I didn't think it was necessary to specify. :gigglin:

[DudeAsInCool]

"Athens, Georgia USA" is part of the subtitle of this thread, therefore I didn't think it was necessary to specify. :gigglin:

lol. I guess that settles that :duck hunt: :shootin: :Here's to you:

[method77]

I was only kidding dude :)

[joeyz]

I am glad to see you have a sense of humor... I wasn't sure................

[method77]

I only have a sence of humour on sundays

:smokin:

[joeyz]

All right all you Indie Rock Junkies ...it time for some Elf Power.... check out their home page @ Elf Power The site is quite out dated but they're still kicking...I saw them at the world famous Georgia Theater in Athens two weekends ago... Boy are these cats crazy! They've been rocking Athens, GEORGIA for years... Athens staple that you must get a taste of. Listen to the mp3's and enjoy! :jammin: :jammintwo: :jammin: :thumpin:

[joeyz]

Here's some more Athens, GEORGIA fun for you guys. Yet another completely different Athens flavor -- JUCIFER!!!!! This band consist of 1) one girl playing speedy distorted electric guitar while she screams like the devil... or worse 2) and a dude pounding the drums so hard that you think his heart is going to explode at any second! The Jokers rock! Everyone must listen...this is got to be some of the craziest stuff out there... but what's really strange is it's so weird that it's good! Check out their site @ JUCIFER

[DudeAsInCool]

JUCIFER!!!!! This band consist of 1) one girl playing speedy distorted electric guitar while she screams like the devil... or worse 2) and a dude pounding the drums so hard that you think his heart is going to explode at any second! T]JUCIFER[/url]

These guys reminded me of early Black Sabbath meets early punk. Very raw... Not my thing, but they do it with conviction. I did kind of like the videos, though

These guys reminded me of early Black Sabbath meets early punk. Very raw... Not my thing, but they do it with conviction. I did kind of like the videos, though

[joeyz]

Yeah, Dude those guys are Koooorazy! with a capital "K"! There are a million different types of music floating around Athens... I am glad I can show you guys a few examples of how diverse the musical culture is here. Gabriel Young and Jucifer are at completely different ends of the musical spectrum but they both have a good home here in Athens, GEORGIA!

[joeyz]

Time for some Jazz... "SQUAT" the premier Jazz band in Athens... and if I may say so, they are the creators of some of the best jazz I have ever heard.

Squat is a three-piece jazz band based in the Athens/Atlanta area. The band formed while taking jazz improvisation classes under Steve Dancz at the University of Georgia in 1994. Originally a quartet, the current lineup includes Trey Wright on guitar and piano; Carl Lindberg on bass, percussion and vocals; and Tommy Somerville on piano, tenor saxophone, percussion, and vocals. Local musicians including percussionist Darren Stanley and trombonist/pianist Kevin Hyde often augment Squat's lineup. Musically, Squat is a mostly instrumental ensemble performing originals and standards inspired by a variety of styles including '60's era Blue Note, Bossa Nova, Afro-Cuban, blues, gospel, hip hop, and New Orleans second line. Check them out at Squat

Carl Lindberg... what can I say about Carl .... one of the most charismatic musicians I have ever come in contact with... this guy collaborates with everyone in town ... from Hip Hop to Rock'n Roll! I'll be sure to post more bands that he is involved with.

[GabrielYoungFan]

Ok I'll check them out.

[joeyz]

BreastFest soon to hit Athens!!!!! Check out this wonderful Festival - the list of artists and events @ BreastFest and the organization @ BreastFest Homepage

"BreastFest is a local fundraising initiative developed to increase breast cancer awareness, health and wellness through music and sport. All proceeds benefit the Athens Regional Breast Health Center and the Tyanna Barre O’Brien Breast Cancer Foundation. BreastFest invites everyone to Celebrate and Remember—celebrate life, celebrate survivors, and remember those who have died."

[joeyz]

Beatking meet the Drive By Truckers! yet another great Athens staple!

"Hit the road in 1998, played over 400 shows in 2 1/2 years while recording and releasing (independently) 3 albums. Took six months off to fight, mix and raise the money to release their 4th album. Put out Southern Rock Opera themselves (September 12,2001) and hit the road again, playing over 250 shows in 14 months. Was one of the few independent bands in recent memory to receive a 4-star review from Rolling Stone." Yet another Athens band to hit the big time!

Check out their website for music and such at DRIVE BY TRUCKERS

[Umma]

Drive by Truckers... lol .... that's a great name.

[Umma]

WOW... big pic.... it'd be easier to see if it was cropped down a bit or resized...

[joeyz]

There is that better Umma? I like to make all my Athens music supporters happy! :D

[Umma]

yes thanks :)... I'm just lazy... hate having to scroll to see all of a pic.

[joeyz]

Time for some dirty Athens redneck punk rock!!!!! Check out CommunityChaos @ www.communitychaos.com

[joeyz]

Time for some friends of Beatking favorites Gabriel Young. The Divine Maggees. Gabriel Young has been playing shows with these two talented ladies for nearly 2 months. The Maggees are not originally from Athens... but like many bands they have come to Athens to make a name for themselves in the music world ... Check them out @ Divinemaggees.com Check out "white" it's a pretty catchy tune (I'd like to see a hip hop artist sample some of that violin work).

Also these two made the trip to that big music Festival in Austin! I am almost certain there was a thread on BK about it. :D

Edited March 30, 2004 by joeyz

[Umma]

they have a pretty good sound from what I could hear....

buffer buffer

my connection is chronic... :(

[joeyz]

Yet another friend of Gabriel Young... Heidi Hensley... Gabe refers to her as the sweetest little lady ever... and she really is.. plus she and her band are doing pretty well and put on a great live show... check her and her band out at heidihensley.com Give one of her hit songs a listen sweetness

2003 - The Bands Latest - The E.P. - Recorded and produced by John Keane.

That may mean something to some......

P.S. Thanks for your interest in Athens music Umma... and others who are checking it out. Maybe all that new high speed net stuff that they're working on in Ireland will be avalible to you soon, Umma... so you can actually hear all this good music in Athens! ;)

Edited March 30, 2004 by joeyz

[GabrielYoungFan]

Dang boy, slow down and let the rest of us catch up. Elf Power was weird but kind of cool though. Different brand of indie rock I guess.

[joeyz]

Here's an Athens band that has had much success. Really good stuff.. I'll try to find some mp3s.

m u s i c

I AM THE WORLD TRADE CENTER

The Tight Connection

(Kindercore)

US release date: 9 July 2002

UK release date: available as US import

by Jason Damas

PopMatters Music Critic

e-mail this article

Pop Culture has a rule of 20s: take a pop phenomenon (music, book, movie, you name it) and in 20 years it stands a great chance of coming back. So — surprise — we're in the midst of a massive '80s revival, where keyboards (which, except for dance music, were almost extinct in the grunge-saturated mid-'90s) have come back to the forefront in music. I Am the World Trade Center, basically the project of Kindercore Records co-founder Dan Geller and vocalist Amy Dykes, are one of the most popular and most visible acts of this current wave of synth-pop revisionists (others include Freezepop, Lifestyle, and newer Bis).

The Tight Connection is I Am the World Trade Center's second album, following their debut Out of the Loop, which was released just a year ago! Now HERE is a trend that needs to stay!. Much like many of their peers, they take the synth-pop aesthetic to the extreme; I Am the World Trade Center don't use any instruments BUT synthesizers on this album. Geller puts together all of the arrangements, loops, samples, etc. on his laptop (which is rather amusingly pictured inside the album jacket, almost as if it's considered a band member) and Dykes piles some mildly ethereal, girlish vocals on top of it all. That's not much different from a band like Freezepop, who rely solely on the sonics of their Yamaha QY-70 and sound similarly flat on the course of the disc. And that's of course the common drawback to these nuevo-synthers; most of them are so strict, so hardcore that they create soundscapes even more bland than the less interesting half of early '80s new wave. Sometimes this loses and confuses people. But there's a difference between the authentically uninspired "vintage" synth-pop and the "inspired boredom" of these new bands. I'm sure that this sounds like a load of bull, but these new bands have history on their side and realize why new wave stays fun AND why it dated itself. And with that knowledge, many of them make entertaining if unremarkable records, sort of a "time capsule" that recreates old trends for fun and nothing more. What's wrong with that?

Well, The Tight Connection, like almost any record fundamentally rooted in the past, can easily be compared to its predecessors. The most common (and most accurate) comparison is to Saint Etienne, whose lush dance soundscapes were more complex and calculated than anything by I Am the World Trade Center, even though there are notable sonic and vocal similarities: for one, Amy Dykes is a vocal dead-ringer for Etienne's Sarah Cracknell. But once again — "meticulous" is a word that doesn't even begin to describe the craftsmanship on a Saint Etienne record, while I Am the World Trade Center make records that sound glossy, superficial, plastiscene, and a little tossed-off (this is intentional, by the way, and I don't mean any of it as a bad thing). Saint Etienne's hooks are also sublime but very, very infectuous: some of them don't reveal themselves until after dozens of listens.

The Tight Connection, however, is about surface and sound. The songwriting is almost intentionally thinner, as if the vocals were very much an afterthought to the bopping synthesizers that form the base of the songs. And Dykes' vocals retain more of the detached boredom of '80s new wave than Cracknell's, making her sound closer to Debbie Harry or even Nena (yes, really). In fact, I Am the World Trade Center do a very literal (though guitarless) cover of Blondie's "Call Me" here — you'd swear it's a karaoke version — as well as the more unconventional choice of the Stone Roses' "Shoot You Down". "Call Me" may have been too obvious a choice, really — since it's no leap of logic to compare Dykes to Harry, listeners don't need to be clubbed over the head with their similarities — but keep in mind again that I Am the World Trade Center are not to be taken fully seriously. This is a fun, lightweight side project. And it sounds like the ear candy that it is.

Now, with that, one might find it suspicious that this article has not yet analyzed the band's name, which brings to mind the creepy images of last September 11th and the World Trade Center's collapse. Inevitably, I Am the World Trade Center (who did choose their name long before September 11th, and, in my opinion, have no real reason to change it) will garner most of their attention from the media and listeners because of their name, and many of them will be shocked — shocked, I tell you! — that the band didn't change their name out of respect for the victims. And most other reviews of The Tight Connection will probably mention this connection with a mixture of surprise and disgust in the opening few paragraphs. One particularly clueless reviewer said that "those looking for some sort of response to September 11 will doubtless be surprised by the group's failure to address the tragedy in any way. In place of catharsis, I Am the World Trade Center offers up simple pop melodies sung with very little conviction over 1980s-style Casio electronica." Uh, yeah. Since the band — who are really as much an art project as a pop band — have been thrust into a much brighter spotlight than expected or intended, there will undoubtedly be countless masses who don't "get" them, people who think their name is a tacky, commercialistic play on a massive tragedy, and midwestern soccer moms will wonder "what this world has come to". But I disagree with what our clueless reviewer stated; I Am the World Trade Center do not — and should not, even — have made a direct response to the September 11th attacks. That would be lying about what they are about, altering the concept of their art project to then pander to the masses and, in effect, that would be the greatest sell-out/cash-in that they could've possibly concocted. For I Am the World Trade Center to stick with their sound and put out a solid sophomore record is in line with George Dubya's request for U.S citizens to go about our lives as normal, as opposed to if I Am the World Trade Center had named the album "Tribute to Heroes" and tossed in a cover of "Won't Get Fooled Again". Or something.

I would interested in hearing BK members' opinions on the issues mentioned in last paragraph.

Edited April 3, 2004 by joeyz