Home is Where the Hot(lanta) Is

So I just got back from Atlanta for Thanksgiving, where I meant to do this update, but as my parent's computer has none of my mp3s, that wasn't possible. I really thought ahead on that one......anyway, going home is a stranger and stranger task these days, as the city I grew up in is changing so rapidly that it's sometimes hard to recognize it. Within the past five years, Atlanta has grown exponentially in size and in subcultures. Little Five Points has gone from being the punk area of town where the weird kids would go to an American Apparel-approved hipster haven, Inman Park has gone from a neighborhood of historical landmarks and unused warehouses to a loft-condo stuffed artistic hub, and Atlantic Station has literally come from thin air, a new zip code created just for it. While I should probably be bitching about all this and talking about the good old days, I'm more excited than anything by these changes. Atlanta remains the fastest growing city in the country for young artists & professionals, and when combined with Athens, also has one of the hottest music scenes in the entire country. While this has been the case for a while now, what's new is the diversity on display:

Possibly the most celebrated Atlantan in music this year, and certainly the busiest, has to be Bradford James Cox, who's released about five years' work in one. As frontman for Deerhunter, he's released two seperate (though, eventually released as one) LPs, and through his solo project, Atlas Sound, he's released a whopping six EPs, one official LP, and another, half-finished leaked one. While not every song he's been attached to has been a knockout, the amount of musical innovation that's come from one man in one year is nothing less than staggering. Without question, Cox is one of the most exciting artists working in music right now, and one gets the impression that the guy is just beginning to flex his muscles.


Atlas Sound - "Activation"

Similarly washed away in reverb, yet spiked with a dark, grungy element is Atlanta (by way of Alabama) threepiece, All The Saints. They've become known around town for touring with the more popular Black Lips, but there's something about their music which intrigues me more. The group separates itself from the rest of the shoegazy acts that have begun to take over Atlanta rock by giving a violent edge to many of their tracks, simultaneously invoking Nirvana and Black Sabbath. The band plays the Drunken Unicorn (in Atlanta; sorry Angelinos) in a couple weeks, and their LP, Fire on Corridor X, is out now.


All The Saints - "Sheffield"

While the rock scene in the city is red hot right now, it's impossible to forget what put the city on the music world's map in the first place: hip hop. While it's true that hits are no longer being cranked out like they were back in the glory days of the Dungeon (Outkast, Goodie Mobb, Kilo Ali), there's still a hell of a lot more life left in the scene here than anywhere else in the country, save perhaps Philadelphia or Brooklyn. Proof of this is rapper B.O.B., who's been making waves lately with some pretty innovative mixtapes, which combine electro, 80s pop & even 50's doo-wop. Wednesday night, the rapper showed up as a special guest at the 3Oh!3 show. Typical to my luck, after having missed 3Oh!3 twice before in LA, I finally catch them in my hometown.........only to learn that Sean Foreman (the half of the duo that generally sings & has my favorite raps) has torn his vocal chords & can't perform. While temptation to leave was high (especially since we were at the Masquerade, which always scares the shit out of me-it's essentially a wooden platform on stilts that can't possibly be safe to treat as a mass trampoline), the show ended up being pretty awesome. Sean came out and danced his ass off, while the crowd sang all of his parts, and I ended up getting to know the assisting B.O.B. a lot better than I did before. What he showcased at the 3Oh!3 show was suitably up-tempo electro stompers, but there's a lot more diversity in his catalogue. BTW, to all the Atlantans who weren't there, 3Oh!3 have scheduled a make-up show for Dec 15th, and based on how good they were operating at 75%, the fully Foreman-ed show should be one to clear your schedule for. But enough about those dudes; check out B.O.B. below:


B.O.B. - "Generation Lost"

I could go on for a few more entries about all the great talent swirling around the ATL these days, but I'd rather close the post with the song I couldn't escape from once I got into town, so let's knock it out. Matt & Kim are in love. And I'm in love with their new song. While I first heard it when the video premiered on Stereogum a few weeks ago, it took hearing it on my parents' XM radio a few billion tiems within the span of a couple days for it to hit me how fucking great it is. For those unaware, Matt & Kim are like the White Stripes of indie pop(a paradox of a term, but you know what I mean), except that Kim is un-ironically awesome at playing the drums, and they're not pretending to be brother and sister. That being said, their first LP never blew me away. It wasn't without its charms, but it did little to distinguish the duo from the glut of similar acts in Brooklyn, other than the rather remarkable fact that so much music could come from only two people. If their new single, "Daylight", is any indication, however, the couple's next album could be something very special. In fact, in a traditional advertising sense, this may just be the best single of 2008, as now I've got Grand on top of my 2009 wish list. I have a feeling this song will be stuck in my head until it comes out.


------------------------Song of the Week-----------------------------

Matt and Kim - "Daylight"



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