WHAT the crap ... on Fox News!!!!!!!

Article on Fox news about racist music being sold on Itunes, Amazon and other sites. So they mention names of bands ie Skr***iver and now that the media made a story out of it these bands will see sales go up! Sick. I am not saying that these bands don't have a right to sell their music, they do. I am saying that by Fox News making a front page story about it the sales will go up for all these types of bands and that plain out SUX. Fox is just helping to spread the word!


I remember being about 15 or 16 years old back in '85 or so. I had a friend that thought of himself as a "skin" and would always try to play his crappy oi music in my car. One day he had a tape in, which i later found out to be Skrewdriver, and the lyrics appalled me! I straight out told my friend that I wouldn't allow that music in my car or around me at all. Even at that young age the words angered me to no end! Ignorance and that whole better than everyone else attitude.

Sorry for the rant but the news story just pissed me off.

And You Will Know Us ....

Last night after work I headed over to Criminal Records for an in store performance by And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead. I have been familiar with their name for many years now but have listened to very little of their music. Seems like every time they come through Atlanta I never end up seeing them. Always one excuse or another.
So last night when they were doing the in store I thought, no excuses this time! It's free and early!
They played about 5 or 6 songs. The first 2 were amazing, the next few were so so and the last one was as good as the first ones. Sorry I don't know the song names as i couldn't get a good look at the short set list. Of course, I didn't expect a full set as they had a show later that night at The Earl over in E Atlanta. So below are some photos I took last night at Criminal Records ... enjoy!

Die Kreuzen

One of my most favorite bands from the past would have to be Die Kreuzen. The first time I ever heard them was way back in '85. I used to listen to a few different "punk" shows on WREK, WRAS and WRFG here in the ATL. Of course I would record the whole shows to cassette and listen back for years afterwords. Die Kreuzen has always stood out to me.
The first 2 Touch & Go releases are my favorite. I actually lost interest a bit after October File and thought they went a bit metal for my taste. I belive all the main records are still available.


October File Review


Discog


Amazon Buy

Thank You, Interview

The 405 has an interview up with Baltimore band Thank You. They are currently on tour and will hit Atlanta on March 6th with MiAmi. Playing at 529 (529 Flat Shoals Rd Atlanta GA)


Thank You - Empty Legs

Touch & Go Rumor Alert

UPDATE ....
1. Chicago Tribune


2.CMJ


3. Pitchfork


Is Touch and Go records moving to a catalog only format? Reports have been moving around the web as to this fact. Anyone else hear about this? Touch and Go has for years put out some amazing music. Lately noteworthy acts are MiAmi and Crystal Antlers.

Dollar Tacos, Round 1

So the past year or so I have been visiting a great taco place every Tuesday. Located in an old Hardee's building, Don Taco on Buford hwy has the best tacos at the very best deal. $1 tacos every Tuesday. Choice of flour or corn tortilla. About 1/2 mile outside the perimeter this taco place has one of the best salsa bars to boot! Different types of red and green sauce, guacamole, onion, cilantro and limes, all for the taking.
I usually opt for the carne asada. The pork (carnitas) are awesome as well but can be a little greasy sometimes. The flavour is out of this world good. Chorizo and pastor are also great options. Everything I have eaten here has been great.


So, running on the $1 taco theme ... Blue Frog Cantina, in East Atlanta Village, has started to offer $1 tacos on Monday & Tuesday nights. A friend and I decided to give it a try, being so close to home. We were told we had a choice of corn or flour tortillas. We both asked for flour but received corn. No biggie i thought. Pretty run of the mill options, chicken, ground beef, steak, veggie and pork. All for dine in only, no take out. Don Taco lets you take as many as you want to go for a $1! The amount of meat on these tacos is laughable. They dress them with lettuce, a little cheese and a little tomato. Really bland and nothing special tacos. No where near the size, taste or sauce selection that Don Taco has to offer.
When comparing the two places I have come up with this description.


1. Don Taco for the taste and value.


2. Don Taco for the friendly service.
S**t, Blue Frog wait staff is too busy being social with each other to care about the customers. Typical E Atl establishment where the staff is too cool to work.


3. Don Taco for the consistency of their food and service. Don't forget the new jukebox at the Buford Hwy location that is chocked full of metal music.


4. Blue Frog Cantina for mediocre food and crappy staff. They do serve liquor!
Don Taco serves cervasa!


SAUCES I LIKE



Pastor Taco



My Carne Asada Burrito

Ken Vandermark in the ATL

Ab Baars Trio & Ken Vandermark:

Ab Baars - tenorsax, clarinet & shakuhachi

Ken Vandermark - tenorsax & clarinet

Wilbert de Joode - bass, Martin van Duynhoven - drums

April 15 2009 @ Eyedrum, doors 7:30pm

Scion Schedule is Up

Scion Fest schedule is here.

OUTDOOR STAGE
1:00-1:40pm Kylesa
2:00-2:40pm Torche
3:00-3:40pm Baroness
4:00-4:50pm Boris
5:10-5:40pm Pig Destroyer
6:00-7:00pm High On Fire
7:30pm-9:00pm Neurosis
9:30pm-11:00pm Mastodon


HEAVEN
1:10pm-1:55pm Evil Army
2:15pm-2:40pm Trash Talk
3:00pm-3:45pm Skeletonwitch
4:10pm-5:00pm Toxic Holocaust
5:20pm-6:05pm Warbringer
6:30pm-7:30pm Septic Flesh
8:30pm-9:30pm Cryptopsy
11:00pm-midnight Converge


HELL
1:15pm-2:00pm Apocalyptic Visions
2:20pm-3:05pm Salome
3:25pm-4:10pm US Christmas
4:30pm-5:15pm Withered
5:35pm-6:25pm Krallice
6:45pm-7:45pm Wolves In The Throne Room
8:15pm-9:15pm Nachtmystium
10:25pm-11:25pm 1349


PURGATORY
1:00pm-1:35pm Gaylord
1:55pm-2:30pm Suidakra
2:50pm-3:35pm Alestorm
3:55pm-4:40pm A Storm Of Light
5:00pm-5:45pm Harvey Milk
6:05pm-6:50pm Rwake
7:20pm-8:05pm Tyr
8:45pm-9:30pm Coalesce
10:00pm-11:00pm Zoroaster


Thanks to HydraHead

Antony & The Johnsons ATL 2.08.09

Photo by Michael Alan Goldberg


This is going to be my attempt to write a short review of the Antony & The Johnsons show at Variety Playhouse in Atlanta on Feb 8 2009.
I am going to be honest, before attending the show I was not very familiar with his music. A good friend had an extra ticket and persuaded me to go. The whole time telling me that I would really enjoy the show and that Antony is an amazing songwriter and vocalist. Unfortunately we arrived about 10-15 minutes into his set. The show started really early at we got there about 8:40. We headed straight upstairs to the balcony area to get a good view.
Antony was seated at a grand piano with an awesome band. Cello, violin, guitar, bass, drums and horns. I was a bit familiar with the Cello player Julia Kent who has played with Angels of Light and Devendra Banhart, among many others. From the time I sat down I was mesmerized by his voice. Trying to put his music in a category is useless to me. You just have to take it for what it is. Emotional music with ups and downs that can take you to faraway places in your mind.
There was some great banter between the audience and Antony with proposals of marriage, talk of authors, crushes and playing in ATL.
They played until about 10pm with 1 encore. Seems like he played everything the audience wanted to hear and even threw in a Beyonce cover, Crazy in Love, which was really good in my opinion. The starfish song was another highlight for me.
All in all I will say it was a great show and I wish more artists could keep my attention for 1.5 hours like Antony did with his amazing music. I definitely recommend trying to catch one of his shows on this short tour.


Tour Dates Here

I Like

Today I want to share a few sites that i have been checking daily. Most of you probably already are familiar with them but for those who aren't, ENJOY.


1. Experimental ETC - Everything from Muslimgauze to Brainiac, Naked City to Sightings.


2. The Dust Bowl - Great site "For all things loud." Most recent post with Cop Shoot Cop. Most recent turn me on to a new band, "The Rabbits."


3. Beyond Failure - This site hits home for me. Based out of Atlanta and headed up by the drummer from one of my most favorite Atlanta bands ever, The Hal Al Shedad. He posts great stories and band info for lots of 90's Atlanta hotties. Including Bob, Fiddlehead, Car vs Driver and more. Updated quite a bit with downloads and video links.


4. COD Music - Lydia Lunch, Boredoms, The Swans all have been covered here. Good site that I need to check daily!


5. Sucka Pants - Tod Seelie has an awesome eye for photography! His photos from live shows and traveling round are incredible. Check em out NOW. Lots of Matt & Kim, CSS and Team Robespierre.

But I don't feel old!

So I have actually been leaving the house a lot more this year. Making an attempt to be social, have a good time, meet new people and see some great music. I find it funny that I am staying out later these days than when I was playing in bands and actually enjoyed going out. Crazy .... I can honestly say 3 of the 4 times I have been out lately we are usually the last ones in the bar for last call.

So Sat night we headed over to the Drunken Unicorn for night 2 of a local fest. Had some drinks at the bar Bookhouse in the same parking lot. (I believe it is owned by the same guy who owns MJQ.) Nice enough little place I would definitely go back for drinks. No smoking though which is not that common in ATL. So the plan was to see Brass Castle at Unicorn then head over to Highland Inn for "Fringe Factory night." Thanks to my friend John we were on the list at Unicorn so when we found out that Brass Castle was off the bill we still went and checked it out for a little while.

Drunken Unicorn was dark as usual and actually smelled a bit stale that night. There was a band playing when we arrived, we watched for approx 2 minutes then headed to next room for the bar. The DJ was playing pretty dealable music in the bar so it was nice to just hang there for a while. Gave the next band a few minutes of out time then decided we were outa there. It was billed as a "punk" fest but it the bands seemed to lean toward the metal/hardcore side of it all. I will say there was a pretty good turnout for a local show at the unicorn.

We headed over to The Highland Inn next for their "Fringe Factory" night. Seemed like a huge collection of "coolio" types out and wanting to be seen. I am not knocking it, I remember being in my early 20's and wanting to be out everynight where the action was. haha It was nice to run into some old friends that I hadn't seen in years. Mostly people that were also in bands during the 90's. I will say it was a bit crowded for my taste and the "smoking alley" sucked in the cold weather!
So again another 4am night. I guess "Fringe Factory" is 60's music ... Not really my thing but I would go back for some good DJ's.

So far my favorite newer bar in ATL is the 529. It is @ 529 Flat Shoals in East Atlanta Village. It is really small but for some reason I have taken to it. Can't wait to see Thank You & Mi Ami there in march. Should be a great show.