The Avett Brothers are all about feeling. On Emotionalism, their last proper full length, the Avetts certainly didn’t shy away from feeling; they celebrated it. The songs from Emotionalism were mostly led by banjo, upright bass, occasional strings and the just-twangy-enough vocals of one or both brothers. Everything about that setup said these guys were playing bluegrass music, but what came out of the speakers felt different.
That element, that unique style of bluegrass that sounded more like an alt-country-influenced indie band, clearly set the Avetts apart from anything I’d ever heard before. But there was more to them than that. There were also those straightforward and heartfelt lyrics, melodies that felt nostalgic and comforting, and an overall sense that these guys grew up loving American music and wanted to make it their own, to take it somewhere new while keeping everything that was great about it intact. Continue reading →
That Summertime Sound is a vivid and memorable document of ’80s-era musical obsession.
Screenwriter Matthew Spector’s debut novel centers around a nineteen-year-old college kid who decides to skip summer back home in L.A. for the comparably more interesting Columbus, Ohio. The narrator (who wishes to remain nameless) seeks new experiences, as well as Lords of Oblivion, his mythical favorite band, so the trip doubles as a hajj to pray at lead singer Nic Devine’s wailing wall of sound. Continue reading →
The prospect of moody singer-songwriter Jonneine Zapata opening up for Mark Lanegan and Soulsavers seemed like a winner.
As it turned out, Redghost, the first act, was probably the highlight of the night. And that should say something, since her solo set consisted of smokey vocals over guitar loops, delivered to an audience that eventually resigned to chatter. She did, however, inspire me to coin a rule—let’s call it Harry’s Law—in which an audience will be politely receptive to solo artists, but if attention isn’t kept rapt, the audience will grow chatty in proportion to the setlist’s length. By song five of Redghost’s set, at least half of the show’s attendees were talking amongst themselves.
I headed from my friend Andi’s pleasant apartment in East Atlanta to Flat Shoals for Thai before the show on a beautiful and surprisingly cool (for Atlanta) summer evening, so we walked around as long as possible, or so we thought. After they let us in, there was a long delay, which turned out to be because the The Dirty Projectors were still en route from Baton Rouge. Finally, Altas Sound opened the show with a five song set that surprised mainly because angel-voiced Bradford Cox (Deerhunter) added a band (three Selmanaires) two days before and they managed to crunch out a fine country-laced set, departing from Bradford’s more electronic Atlas Sound peregrinations. Listen to their set here. We both liked the effort, which I likened to country Radiohead and she compared to early Travis, if that tells you anything. These are definitely worth downloading, even if the band isn’t as polished as it will be by the time they tour in support of the forthcoming Logos EP. Bradford played with the confidence and panache of a salsa champion and the band couldn’t help but follow his lead, even if there was a misstep here and there. Continue reading →
I packed my cross-eyed Hyundai full of people who like good music and we headed to enjoy the sun and sand at Jacksonville Beach and some decent Mexican food before the show at Freebird’s (owned by a former member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, so shout it all you want). It’s an interesting venue, two floors with an atrium, a full bar on either floor, so we headed upstairs to get a good view of the stage. Continue reading →
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