After Dark

MySpace is the 21st-century equivalent of a Trapper Keeper binder — it’s covered in unicorns, dragons, notes from friends, and rock ‘n’ roll fantasies. Except now you don’t just scratch “MASTODON Rulez!” in red ink, you can also link to the band’s profile, make a logo background or embed a song. Fittingly, heavy music fans have embraced MySpace, and CL deems the logo worthiest of being scrawled in the biggest block letters to be our own local metal leviathans. Over the summer months, Mastodon’s profile became a compulsory click for previews of Blood Mountain, the epic album from arguably Atlanta’s sickest act. The page also features links to behind-the-scenes videos, old photos and more. Though seemingly incessant road warriors, Mastodon always maintains a home on the Net.
www.myspace.com/mastodon.

Local drag celebrity NICOLE PAIGE BROOKS is like one big “Mindfreak” episode storming through town, taking the art of illusion to a level that Criss Angel can’t even touch. Just ask the countless number of straight men and lesbians how they felt after finding out the hottie they were hitting on was actually a dude. Even the RGs (real girls) envy Nicole’s killer legs. Beyond being a hot piece of ass, Nicole works with YouthPride, an organization that creates a safe haven for young homosexuals. And speaking of homosexuals, this year Ms. Brooks also graced the cover of David magazine. She’s also become an in-demand host for all the best gay events across the country.
www.nicolepaigebrooks.com.

When word spread that A FIR-JU WELL was playing its “last show ever,” rumors of the band’s death were greatly exaggerated. Of equal exaggeration was the local music scene’s reaction when the group re-emerged under the name Gringo Star. What’s in a name, anyway? An awful lot. A Fir-Ju Well was a classy, mysterious moniker that hinted at the group’s swirling palette of sweat-soaked and baroque psych rock; it was miles away from a side-stabbing Beatles pun. Whether Gringo Star invokes a smile and a groan or just bewilderment, it’s certainly infused the group’s public image with a whole new sense of mystery. Hey, it worked out for Brian Jonestown Massacre, but not so well for John Cougar Concentration Camp.
www.myspace.com/thegringostars.

The glow sticks and UFOs may have matured into iPods and Diesels, but the party still rocks whenever Liquid Groove — ahem, LIQUIFIED, in its middle age — is throwing it. For 12 years now, powerhouse promoter Devin Walkley and his team have brought everyone from progressive king Sasha to drum and bass triumvirate Dieselboy, Dara and AK 1200 to venues all over town — though Liquified now calls Eleven50 home base for most of its events. While other promoters have slowed down or faded away, Walkley’s crew not only has survived but has improved with time.
www.liquified.com.

As club promotion crew TIGHT BROS. NETWORK knows all too well, rock and roll is a messy thing. Randy Castello and Nisa Asokan mostly operate out of Drunken Unicorn, where Castello is the booking agent. Since 2001, Tight Bros. has been shepherding the world’s fringe-dwellers — from well-known auteurs like Diplo, Acid Mothers Temple and Wolf Eyes to local dissidents like Deerhunter and Untied States — to successful Atlanta shows and blown minds.
www.tightbros.net/tightbros.html.

CARTEL’s music is big: beefy hooks, a ringing voice in group leader Will Pugh, and an ambition to become one of the country’s best emo bands. Thanks to its workaholic ethic, the band’s fizzy lead single “Honestly” has become an MTV favorite. Its second album, Chroma, nestled on the national charts nearly a year after its fall 2005 release. The best way to hear Cartel, however, is live, where Pugh’s generous, melodic voice shines brightest.
www.cartelrocks.com.

GHOST TOUR is an indie-rock band with country influences, not vice versa. The group’s jangle-pop chops bare the burdens of working man’s music but there’s more My Bloody Valentine than Gram Parsons in the mix. Featuring singer/guitarist Craig Gates, bassist John Naismith and drummer Greg Stevens, Ghost Tour forgoes showboating to adopt a stoic approach to the art of song. Their thirtysomething angle adds post-hipster substance to Ghost Tour’s sound, but the group still rocks. Songs like “Brown Guitar” and “Craig #1” swell with a well-tempered exuberance that embraces a lineage of respectable artists, from Wilco to the Minutemen and Pavement to the Pretty Things. Ghost Tour offers something for the critics and the kids to sink their teeth into.
www.myspace.com/ghosttour.

Garbled garagists THE BLACK LIPS are a beautiful disaster spreading bruised pop like a social disease. Like everything about the Brian Jonestown Massacre, everything about the Black Lips music (and the band’s venue and label, Die Slaughterhaus) is DIY and art-damaged — frayed or faded — yet takes on supersaturated supersonics. This is surf rock clawing from a froth of psychedelic phlegm dripping from Spanish moss. On stage, the chaos is fluid — and may even spread some fluids. The Black Lips may not technically play rock best, but they will rock you best.
www.myspace.com/theblacklips.

What sets ANNA KRAMER apart from the troubadour masses isn’t just the honesty in her songs, but her ability to wander through an array of musical styles while maintaining her own identity. Kramer’s voice is more honest-to-goodness human than seductress. Rather wielding feelings like a club, she confronts highs and lows with authentic emotions that bend to expose the subtleties in her songs. Kramer’s modest presence breathes realism into her performances whether she’s traversing country-music desolation and Kinks-style Brit rock, or simply covering Buck Owens, Buddy Holly or Carl Perkins. Sweet melancholy is as much her calling card as is her rockabilly twang.
www.annakramer.net.

Mix together a hypnotic five-key piano melody played like an arpeggio, and a growled, perfectly timed chorus. What do you get? YUNG JOC’s “IT’S GOIN’ DOWN,” a brash club anthem that you heard seemingly everywhere. How did this snap music/crunk hybrid become a catchphrase among mallrats and dope boys alike? It’s all in Yung Joc’s pronunciation, as he says the title like a country-fried Fonzie: “It’s goin’ dowwwwn.”
www.yungjoc.com.

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Oliver Wood enjoys a sizable following for his heavy blues band, King Johnson. So it’s no surprise that Ways Not to Lose, his album with younger brother Chris Wood (bassist for Medeski, Martin & Wood), turned out to be an engaging and incisive folk-blues delight. THE WOOD BROTHERS strip Oliver’s songs down to the chords, with nothing but the two strumming away on their instruments. The numbers are piercing and stark, unveiling a lifetime of hard-won victories and hard-earned lessons.
www.thewoodbrothers.com.

NO RIVER CITY is a rustic combo that sure has somethin’ flowin’. The actively touring quintet can range from twangy rue to resolute roots stomp, or it can marry the two. Equal parts the Band, Jon Brion, Will Oldham and Blue Rodeo, No River City plays from a wavering foundation of dusky folk as expansive as a Big Sky sunset, multihued and quietly heartbreaking. An upcoming full-length album — sessions of which are previewed on MySpace — exhibits artfully faded Americana and bucolic vistas. And a fertile No River City runs through it.
www.myspace.com/norivercity.

Perhaps mashing drum ‘n’ bass troupe EVOL INTENT should change its name to “Evol Knievol.” After all, the Evol Intent trio has leapt some prodigious hurdles in the worldwide drum ‘n’ bass arena. Producing for labels such as Renegade Hardware, Human, and the group’s own Evol Intent Recordings, Evol Intent has placed grit-etched drum ‘n’ bass into DJs’ boxes worldwide. That’s not even when the three are DJing around the world, taking sounds inspired from gun-metal gray gangsta rap and grindcore, but never forsaking melody. A full-length album, as well as collaborations with locally based Ewun, Mayhem and Adult Swim are scheduled.
www.myspace.com/evolintent.

Having lived his entire life in the ever-increasing bulge that we call Atlanta (we know this ‘cause his mom was once a Loafer), DJ DREW VAN ATTEN knows controlled mess, which could help explain his affinity for dropping scuffed, skuzzy tech- and electro-house. Around these parts, industrial and industrious mutation is a way of life — iconic buildings leap up overnight. Same goes for Van Atten’s turntable trajectory. It’s almost like one minute he’s a fist in the crowd, and next thing, he’s got the crowds in his fist — on all the haute bills opening for the likes of Damian Lazarus, Uffie and other Cleaning Up the Dirty South events. It all adds up to a metallic-meets-melody, bleepin’ good time. Exhibiting a savvy sense of selection, Van Atten is hopefully an ear to stay.
www.myspace.com/drewvanatten.

Many rockers are heavily inked with colorful tattoos, but look closely at the Swear’s intense but beguilingly beautiful ELIZABETH ELKINS. You’ll notice self-inflicted graffiti, scrawled in punky black ink on her arm or chest. Yep, right there on her otherwise creamy skin, you’ll find an intriguing array of cryptic or self-referential words or phrases. An hour or so before each show, the roaring rocker takes Sharpie in hand and scribbles an impromptu message: “I draw from various song lyrics of my own and from my favorite writers, books, poetry or anything tongue-in-cheek, vaguely self-depreciating or whatever fits my state of mind that night.”
www.theswear.com.

It took damn-near forever, but local soul vocalist ALGEBRA finally broke onto the national scene. Born and raised in Atlanta, Algebra has been kicking around locally for years. She signed to Dallas Austin’s Rowdy Records while still a student at North Atlanta High School, then spent a year on Motown Records — all without releasing an album. But check VH1 Soul or BET-J and you’ll see her video, “U Do It for Me,” in heavy rotation — and that’s a rare feat for A-town soul folks. Expect to hear much more of her Southern rap-meets-soul stylings after her debut album drops sometime this fall on Kedar Entertainment.
www.myspace.com/algebrablessett.

Laughter can cure almost anything — just ask the countless number of people whom BUBBA D’LICIOUS has helped over the years. Then, you’ll understand the power of a man in a dress. Since 1989, Jim Mark’s alter-ego has helped raise more than $3.5 million for HIV/AIDS resources. And for the last 10 years, Bubba has presided over bingo every second Thursday to raise money for PALS (Pets Are Loving Support). Even corporate America has fallen under the spell of Bubba’s over-the-top slapstick humor: Volkswagen uses his mug to sell cars, and Miller Lite’s created a Bubba bobblehead doll.
www.bubbadlicious.net.

Ever since Jerry faded into the psychedelic sunset, followers of the Dead have been searching for a new groove. Fortunately, before the drugs wore off, Deadheads latched onto the music of BLUEGROUND UNDERGRASS, led by local banjoman the Rev. Jeff Mosier. The group’s finely crafted blend of bluegrass and boogie is both listenable and motivates some major butt-shaking. The Undergrass took a bit of a hiatus for a couple of years but came back in a big way with a powerful new release, Faces. It’s got a good beat, and you can Sufi-dance to it.
www.bluegroundundergrass.com.

Local DJ, promoter and band manager Preston Craig launched KISSATLANTA.COM in March 2005, according to its first post, “so that people might gain a better understanding as to what the driving force is behind the music and venues in Atlanta.” In just over a year, it’s made impressive strides toward that goal, from chatting up new cultural obsessions to disseminating information on hot new local bands. The blog now features several local writers alongside Craig’s acerbic yet enthusiastic prose, all dedicated to chronicling Atlanta’s indie-rock scene.
www.kissatlanta.com.

DEERHUNTER’s most compelling asset is its penchant for unpredictability. No two performances are the same, yet the group’s cerebral fingerprint shines through its constantly morphing presentations. Deerhunter balances earth-rattling drones with angelic cadences that dwell on the borders of coherent song structure, and it utilizes the blank spaces inside the notes, which leaves plenty of room to roam around inside a wash of graceful guitar noise, clutter and kraut-rock rhythms. Its competent take on less-than-orthodox sounds blossomed in only a few short years from lo-fi, “kitchen avant-garde” home recordings to a viable tenant of the pop avant-garde that gives a nod to everyone from Rhys Chatham to Stereolab.
www.notownsound.net.

It’s been a big year for big butts, particularly for Big Boi’s PURPLE RIBBON ALL-STARS. Every rap label has its token white boy, and Purp’s Bubba Sparxxx paid dividends with his smash hit, “Ms. New Booty.” Aside from that, the Purple Ribbon All-Stars created the best of the many Atlanta theme songs this year with their radio and club banger, “Kryptonite.” Superman ain’t got shit on that. The crew pulled off a successful and productive year, all while reppin’ our city: “Pimp if you want them, you can find them in the A.”
www.purpleribbonallstars.com.

Whether leaping burning Led Zeppelin riffs or standing still enough to balance a bar glass on his head while zooming through a Pagannini, violinist BOBBY YANG has gotten noticed in Atlanta during the few short years since moving here from Aspen, Colo. A musician of genuine range and depth, Yang is fully engaged in his performance, whether rock or classical. Some critics may dis violin as a delicate instrument with itty-bitty strings, but Yang makes it rock true with a signature style in live concert, without the tepid pablum that comes from so many billed as “crossover” artists and without merely throttling your brain with sheer volume.
www.bobbyyang.com.

Pianist TAKANA MIYAMOTO is probably the hardest-working lady in the Atlanta jazz scene. She plays weekly at local clubs; records and performs solo and with collaborators such as Julie Dexter and Lizz Wright; fronts two divergent bands (the Takana Miyamoto Trio and the ATLove Project); runs a music festival in Japan; and even finds time to teach piano lessons. With a musical style that skews from straight-ahead to acid jazz, Miyamoto expects to release a slew of recordings in the coming months.
www.myspace.com/takananet.

In May, ARC THE FINGER RECORDS celebrated its fourth anniversary. Its dedication to quality hip-hop and sound business practices ensures plenty more birthdays to come. A refreshingly real alternative to ATL’s love for snappin’-and-rappin,’ the label continues expanding its highly anticipated A3C Independent Hip-Hop Festival, scheduling another for April 2007. With label leaders like Psyche Origami, a national release from Intellekt and Dirty Digits coming this month, a showcase of ATF artists at Atlantis Music Conference, and co-production of shows like Jurassic 5, the Boot Camp Clik and DJ Krush, Arc the Finger is constantly on (see its blog, ConstantlyOn.com), and the true heads are so glad it is.
130 Boulevard. 404-339-0051. www.arcthefinger.com.

T.I. calls himself “king of the South” with some justification. Much like Jay-Z, he takes commercial rap to its zenith. On each of four albums, the native Atlantan assembles glittery, infectious beats as a canvas for smooth and effortless flows, resulting in inescapably accessible hits. After its spring release, his latest album, King, dominated Atlanta’s urban radio and nightclubs by drawing together a cavalcade of sharply defined bangers like “What You Know” and “Why You Wanna.”
www.trapmuzik.com.

Gasp! Pop-culture guru Jon Waterhouse leads a double life. By day, he’s a mild-mannered, erudite raconteur, lady charmer and astute wordsmith with a penchant for all things kitsch. By night, he wears wigs and spandex, dons the rock-and-roll persona of David Lee Roth, and leads the circus sideshow known as VAN HEINEKEN. In a tepid pool of tribute bands, Waterhouse and his buddies’ homage to Van Halen is king. Tongue firmly in cheek, they re-create a snarky salute to the Roth-era VH, complete with dancers, assorted freaks and, oh yeah, the songs that make us all hot for teacher.
www.vanheineken.com.

Mention the name INDIA.ARIE and you’ll conjure images of ever-changing hairstyles, sweet-smelling incense and colorful headwraps. But bug all that: The lady can sing, as she proves on her latest album, the recently released Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship. Employing a range that rivals Stevie Wonder, her deep, rich tone and complex — yet accessible — arrangements add soul to any tune she chooses to grace.
www.indiaarie.com.

In the capital of the Southern hip-hop movement, the APHILLIATES DJ camp (Don Cannon, Drama, Sense, Jamad, Ox Banga, and Jaycee) speaks loudly. You can hear them on “Gangsta Grillz,” a popular Saturday night show on Hot 107.9 FM that peppers the airwaves with phrases like “trendsetter” and “cannon!” But the crew is best known for its mix CDs. The mixes, from DJ Drama’s Gangsta Grillz series to DJ Jamad’s soul-oriented Afromentals, are hotly collected and dissected by rap fans and major media outlets. They know the Aphilliates trumpets up-and-coming artists well before the rest of the country. Young Jeezy and T.I. are two major examples.
www.theaphilliates.com.

The ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA & CHORUS should be counted as one of the city’s true major-league teams, alongside the Braves. With more than 100 CDs and 23 Grammys among its members, the 95-member orchestra and its allied 200-member volunteer chorus have long shaken the foundations of that old-fashioned assumption that anything truly worthwhile in American classical music must come from New York City. The Braves have Turner Field, and the Falcons have the Georgia Dome. Now, the question is whether the community will pony up the cash to build the symphony a new hall designed by Santiago Calatrava.
www.atlantasymphony.org.