After Dark

It’s a thin line between what we call ballot-stuffing and having a huge, supportive fan base. Every year one band runs away with the reader’s choice in a number of categories, and we scratch our heads wondering how it was done. This year, CRAZY ANGLOS swept three categories: best local new music act, best music video shot in Atlanta and best Georgia-based band MySpace page. The group’s guerilla street-team tactics have earned it a massive local following. But if you’re not convinced by numbers alone, ask yourself how many rap-core bands you know of that won the John Lennon Songwriting Award? Yep, that’s what we thought.

www.myspace.com/crazyanglos

Few DJs work as hard as DJ KLEVER. Some may offer more “exclusive” tracks you can’t hear anywhere else. Others may achieve a smoother-flowing set through tasteful song selection and blends. But Klever actually puts on a show. He cuts, scratches and mashes up pop, rock, R&B, hip-hop and electronic songs into a furious mess. His DJ sets are truly an adventure that can go from cheekily obnoxious to coolly melodic in less than a minute. A former turntable champion who has won awards for his skills, Klever reminds his audience that, at their best, DJs can exhibit as many techniques as a guitarist playing a furious solo.

www.myspace.com/kleverbeats

Some pop phenomena are impossible to ignore, especially when led by a lanky 17-year-old kid named DeAndre Way who calls himself SOULJA BOY. The Chicago-born, Atlanta/Mississippi-bred teen created viral hysteria in a matter of months with his contagious song and dance, “Crank That (Soulja Boy).” His MySpace page has logged over 10 million views in 18 months. The page currently hosts over 130 YouTube videos featuring fans and celebrities such as Lil’ Wayne, Beyonce and Travis Barker replicating his dance. But the best footage is recorded by Soulja Boy’s personal camera man as he documents and YouTubes practically his every waking moment. It’s enabled him to go global from his bedroom with the backing of Interscope Records. Since the label signed him via Atlanta’s own Mr. Collipark, his song has reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and No. 11 on it’s United World chart. And his debut album doesn’t even drop until Oct. 2.

www.myspace.com/souljaboytellem

Music blogs have become the homemade zines of our generation. Everybody has one, and most of them are completely useless. That’s why when a worthwhile music blog such as CABLE & TWEED comes around, we jump on it. Rich Vining at Cable & Tweed has been indulging the music geek in all of us since January ‘06. The blog presents a perfect balance of local and national music coverage. But the real gem is the MP3s Vining posts from concerts performed locally. Where else can you hear the Decemberists performing live with the ASO at Chastain?

cableandtweed.blogspot.com

On stage, THE BLACK LIPS explode with raw power that jitters in a stew of blood, sweat and haunted reverb. Somewhere along the journey from playing shows at local rat holes such as the Somber Reptile (RIP) in 2001, to dominating in Tijuana, Mexico, last year, the group discovered the secret to churning out great rock ‘n’ roll songs. The Black Lips’ garage-rock anthems are bound by nostalgia and spastic rebel abandon. The group’s tales of debauchery are the stuff of legends that forefathers the Rolling Stones, the Sex Pistols and MC5 would smile upon. When the group hangs out around town between tours, Atlanta is a lot more fun — even a little dangerous.

www.myspace.com/theblacklips

When Drew De Man sings about warding off bears on NO RIVER CITY’s second CD, Wolves and Fishes, one can almost see the teeth and claws of his personal demons swatting at his back. De Man leads an alienated procession on a path into country music’s richest, blackest soil. With every character he creates and every twist along the path, the group adapts its dark, bucolic twang to fit the mood. Sometimes songs tumble at a galloping pace, while others move much more slowly. What sets NRC apart from the rural-music masses is a penchant for infusing alt-country songcraft with lost-in-the-moment improvisation. Wielding a nontraditional approach gives a sense of spontaneity to each song, but never at the expense of delivering a genuinely heartbreaking performance.

www.norivercity.com

DAMON “HABERSHAM” FONOONI is typical of Atlanta’s electronic community: loved and appreciated abroad, but mostly ignored at home. As a DJ and producer who has created and licensed tracks to some of the world’s top electronic labels, including Bedrock and Global Underground, Habersham often tours abroad. Here, however, he rarely nets a major gig, playing instead at small nightclubs and cafes. Some may assert that Habersham gets little love in the “A” because his progressive house style is out of fashion. But open-minded music lovers will find much to appreciate in his tracks. His recent Outside the Box EP, issued on U.K. label Audio Therapy, is as sinuous and affecting as any local release this year.

www.myspace.com/habergoose

Amid the backdrop of Atlanta’s various fringe electro-noise and experimental acts, TREE CREATURE tests the boundaries of noise, pop and minimalism while diving headlong into a blissfully distinctive world of sound. One could easily file the group under “electronic music,” but Tree Creature never once brings a laptop to the stage. Instead it chooses the analog route to craft spacey and ethereal ambiance. By comparison with the harsh noise of fellow local contender Black Meat, Tree Creature’s long, undulating waves of angelic drones and repeating musical phrases are much more inviting, and always make for a palatable and social backdrop to any of the group’s weekly performances at house parties or low-key venues, such as Eyedrum or 11:11 Teahouse.

www.myspace.com/treecreature

JEFF EVANS, AKA CHICKENS & PIGS, can keep a room wrapped around his little finger by way of his epic, self-effacing tales of hard luck with happy-go-lucky charm. At each and every performance, listeners chuckle on the edge of their seats and wonder: How much more fun can this get? Evans’ lanky presence and limber strum and bark come across like an unholy hybrid of Keith Richards and Captain Kangaroo. His songs are obsessed with food and animals, and usually cover both in each go-around. The more frantically he plays, the more mistakes he makes. But he rolls with them in the most endearing ways. The ramshackle pace of his songs, coupled with his “aw shucks” rural humor is as compelling as it is hilarious.

www.myspace.com/chickensandpigs

This category could be titled “best local hip-hop act since OutKast.” SUPREEME is that good and that original — which is something that has been missing among Atlanta’s snappers and trappers for several years. Negashi Armada, King Self and Tom Cruz, aka Dope Pope, call themselves Supreeme because they’re arrogant little bastards. And they’ll take that as a compliment. With a lyrical style steeped in ‘80s-era braggadocio and in-house production that sounds more worldly than Southern, it’s no surprise that many of the group’s biggest fans live out of state. The former Grady High School classmates recently issued a mixtape, American Badass, while putting the finishing touches on a sophomore release. Word is the group’s label, Warner Brothers, is already digging the output. Hopefully the trio will let it go to their heads.

www.myspace.com/supreemesupreeme

If you ask local concert promoters what they think about SNOWDEN, they’ll praise the band for its professionalism: The quartet turns up for a gig on time, doesn’t cause any problems, draws a capacity audience and puts on a great show. The same could be said of its music. On the band’s 2005 full-length Anti-Anti, the music sounds tight and efficient, producing a wintry atmosphere that revolves around melancholy group leader Jordan Jeffares’ voice without dwelling in it. Despite their economy, the songs are full of odd little twists, from the way Jeffares sings almost haltingly to the fact that many don’t have identifiable choruses. Unlike many of Atlanta’s underground rock bands, Snowden doesn’t try to make a spectacle to get attention. It’s quietly subversive.

www.snowden.info

There’s a story about IKE STUBBLEFIELD when he was 15 years old and doing his first session with the Motown studio band. He knocked over an expensive microphone and made a general nuisance of himself. Afterward, he piled into a car with the other musicians on a cold January day in the middle of a snowstorm. Somewhere on the interstate, the musicians stopped and deposited Stubblefield on the side of the road. “We’ll come back to get you when you’re ready to behave in the studio,” someone told him. Stubblefield apparently got it right, because he went on to play with such luminaries as Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops and Marvin Gaye. Since moving to Atlanta in 2001, he’s established himself as the premier Hammond B-3 organist in the city, with a sound that comes right out of the church. Expect a solo album, with an all-star cast, this fall.

www.myspace.com/ikestubblefieldmusic

The JASPECTS are an innovative musical collective who have mastered the subtle art of code switching. The sextet revels in everything from straight-ahead jazz to heavy hip-hop grooves without losing any cool points. Similar to the buck-the-system aesthetic of Miles Davis, the group’s latest release, Double Consciousness, expands jazz possibilities for a new generation of listeners while simultaneously appeasing older jazz heads. Leave it up to a band of Morehouse graduates to funk up a history lesson.

www.jaspects.com

When Vice magazine came from New York to report on the hottest bands in Atlanta, what label did it seek out? ROB’S HOUSE RECORDS — all because of it’s unyielding dedication to putting Atlanta punk and indie rock on the national map. With 28 7-inch releases under its belt, the label has watched the Black Lips and Deerhunter receive national attention in droves; all the while it has worked diligently to maintain the scene at home. The label shoulders promotion, booking and distribution for its releases. But most importantly, it has hosted 15 free house shows in the last year and a half — all with free beer. Never once has Rob’s House charged anyone anything to hang out and see the best bands in town. That’s Southern hospitality at its finest.

www.robshouserecords.com

No Atlanta mixtape DJ has wielded as much influence as DRAMA, his Aphilliates crew and their Gangsta Grillz brand. Before he and Aphilliates member Don Cannon were busted by local authorities (in conjunction with the RIAA) in January, DJ Drama’s mixtapes had grown so popular that the best installments — particularly his Dedication 2 edition with buzzy rap star Lil Wayne — drew serious critical analysis in newspapers and magazines. Months after the raid, which made national headlines, DJ Drama quietly began pressing up mixtapes again. The difference is his recent mixtapes, such as American Gangsta Part 2: Hood Nigga Diaries featuring Gorilla Zoe, are approved and released in conjunction with the artist’s label, Block Entertainment. Still a player in the game, it’s hard to foresee anyone else having DJ Drama’s unique impact.

www.gangstagrillz.com

THE COATHANGERS understand the raw power of simplicity. In less than a year, these all-female Atlanta post-punks have carved a striking path through the local music scene, leaving boisterous lovers and haters in their wake. The group plays spun-out punk and no-wave pep-rally anthems that are formidable, aggressive and charmingly naive. At any time there are at least a dozen upcoming shows posted on the group’s Myspace page, and its performances are never less than explosive. The Coathangers work hard and play hard. And having fun while playing music is the bottom line. If you’re offended by such signature (and juvenile) songs as “Nestle in My Boobies” and “Shut the Fuck Up,” then maybe it’s time for you to lighten up.

www.myspace.com/fuckthecoathangers

It’s no surprise that 2007 is the year DEERHUNTER blew up. After all the attention the group received from sharing stages with the Liars, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Smashing Pumpkins over the last two years, it was inevitable. Deerhunter is a sneering local art-rock band with more talent, ambition and adventurous ideas than the Perimeter could contain. Where there was once erratic experimentation, primordial noise and lo-fi pop sensibilities, there is now order in the group’s songs — albeit the avant-garde variety, swimming in overdriven tones and distortion. And as the harbinger of cool culture, PitchforkMedia.com, trips over its own tongue to report Deerhunter’s every move, the rest of the country and beyond has learned what we already know: This music is world-class.

www.myspace.com/deerhunter

There are dozens of musical categories that could easily depict ONE HAND LOVES THE OTHER’s many faces. Electronic, R&B, modern classical and experimental music all come to mind. But it’s the group’s ability to blend them all into a seamless pop tapestry that makes it stand out in Atlanta’s alternative music scene. On the group’s self-titled debut CD, vocalist Lou Rodriguez’s dramatic croon billows with dark passion over a deluge of strings and electronic textures. The marriage of laptop precision to the warm, natural tones that emanate from cello and violin strings tussles between red-blooded desire and sparse musical arrangements. Not only is OHLtO’s debut captivating, it introduces to the Atlanta music scene a remarkable new talent — one that has much more to offer.

www.myspace.com/onehandlovestheother

The official talent purchaser for the Drunken Unicorn, RANDY CASTELLO AND TIGHT BROS. NETWORK isn’t the hard-nosed businessman that many promoters fancy themselves. He’s usually found watching the door at the shows he books. And afterward he’s the first one to get the party started with the out-of-town bands. Castello is the winner in this category for the second year in a row because he has a knack for booking cutting-edge underground punk, hip-hop and indie-rock acts to Atlanta — the ones that many Atlanta clubs would pass over — and he’s not afraid to invite newcomers to open his shows. Of Montreal, Prefuse 73, Deerhunter and the Black Lips were all part of the Tight Bros. canon long before anybody else ever heard of them. For that, Atlanta benefits greatly from his presence.

www.tightbros.net

Ever since ALDRIN “DJ” TOOMP produced T.I.’s Grammy-winning hit, “What You Know,” he has been the go-to guy among Atlanta’s scores of hip-hop producers. His fingerprints adorn hits by Young Jeezy (“I Luv It”) and Kanye West (“Can’t Tell Me Nothing”), and his distinctive, orchestral keyboard sound has become a trademark. It’s the unlikeliest of triumphs for a man who got his start back in the ‘80s making bass tracks for MC Shy D. Who could have predicted that, nearly two decades later, he would be poised to become an ATL beat king as ubiquitous as Lil Jon and Organized Noize?

www.myspace.com/djtoomp

Combine equal parts peace-punk intellect, street poet and world-weary traveler with an outsider complex, and you have JUJU B. SOLOMON: a post-Dylan songwriting enigma. To his friends he is Benjamin, but on stage “JuJu” takes over as his songs wander through a whimsical terrain of ennui and sexual discovery tamed only by a unique sense of humor. His rich tales reveal much about his personality; in “The Only American in Coimbatore,” he combs through the intimate and emotional exploits of an American making sense of the peculiar ways of social life in India. His songs bend the boundaries of comfort, but that’s what makes them so alluring.

www.myspace.com/jujubsolomon

Radio was the last thing on MISS SOPHIA’s mind when the cross-dressing comedian moved here from Houston to further her stage career. But since taking over the entertainment-report duties on V-103’s “Frank and Wanda Morning Show,” she has become a show staple and a listener favorite. Her trademark “Girl Talk” is full of brash, balls-to-the-wall humor and unruly commentary. She gets away with saying things other people can’t — even when the people she’s saying those things about are the sacred cows of Atlanta’s entertainment community. Far from a traditional drag queen, Miss Sophia’s intent isn’t to fool you with her cheap wigs and ill-fitting church-lady dresses. Rather, she’s out to make you laugh — with her or at her. Just don’t have too much fun at her expense, because Miss Sophia always gets the last laugh.

www.sophiamcintosh.com

RIP stands for rest in peace, and ISP stands for Industrial Strength Promo. ISP was like an open-till-whenever convenience store for edgy music, art and activism. The unassuming storefront location was started more than a year ago by former Athenians Eric Holder and Justin Sias to serve as a communal hub for all things noncommercial. You didn’t see any overhyped, overpriced Live Nation Presents-type concerts here. And for that promise alone, we loved the place. In many ways, it’s like the Earl’s little brother has passed away just as it was making a local name for itself with an impressive list of unconventional performers and clever, attention-getting stunts — remember the great tour-bus race? RIP, ISP. We’ll miss you.

494 Flat Shoals Ave. www.industrialstrengthpromo.com

Not since Francine Reed settled here 25 years ago has a singer new to the Atlanta scene made such an indelible first impression as BERNADETTE SEACREST. The irony is that the jazz chanteuse is more popular in Europe than in her adopted city, but don’t expect that to last long. Seacrest sings torch songs with a fragile and haunting voice that is Billie Holiday cross-pollinated with Madeleine Peyroux. Both members of her two-piece band are alumni of Col. Bruce Hampton — former Aquarium Rescue Unit guitarist Charlie Williams and current Quark Alliance bassist Chris Dale. Seacrest, who moved to Atlanta from Albuquerque in 2006, didn’t even take up singing until six years ago. Catch her now before Atlanta finally discovers her. You’ll be struck first by her tattoos, then you’ll be captivated by her voice.

www.bernadetteseacrest.com

The blues is a universal feeling that transcends languages, social status and the constraints of musical genre. DANNY “MUDCAT” DUDECK knows that feeling intimately. He travels the globe spreading his version of the blues gospel and regularly works with a number of international blues-preservation organizations. Lucky for us, he gets back to town most weeks to play the tiny Northside Tavern. Whether performing solo, leading a smokin’ band or a tight, one-off jam session with a founding father or a group of novices, his soulful and emotive delivery evokes images of the hard times that fed the early blues pioneers. And Mudcat’s Bayou-baked, chicken-party revues can make even the most jaded music fan happy to be blue.

www.mudcatblues.com

When RAHBI takes the stage with a swagger that’s part pimp, part drag queen, it’s obvious why his arrival has caused such a stir among Atlanta’s staid soul scene. The background singer for Donnie stepped out of the shadows this year to unleash his own brand of “glamour soul.” It bears no resemblance to the singer/songwriter school of thought most of his Atlanta-based peers graduated from. Instead, Rahbi takes his cues from Prince — lace glove and all. During his “Strange Fruit” show in early 2007, he employed a pole dancer and stripper pole in his act. Yet his flamboyant stage show doesn’t overshadow the dramatic vocal ability he honed singing at his granddaddy’s Pentecostal church as a youngster. His appropriately titled live album, Rahbi-Raw, is scheduled for a fall release.

www.myspace.com/rahbi