Sound Menu September 26 2001 Wed

CAROLINE AIKEN, GEOFF ACHISON — Aiken, the godmother of Decatur folk, stops by her old hangout tonight to see friends and tell some tales. Expect a few new tunes from her forthcoming album, Unshaken, and plenty of old favorites. Gruff-voiced Achison is an Australian bluesman who's rapidly becoming an Attic favorite. He also teaches guitar at Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch in Ohio. Eddie's Attic (Smith)

BUILT TO SPILL, MODEST MOUSE — In an Atlanta-exclusive double bill, indie-gone-major flagship bands Modest Mouse and Built to Spill converge for two nights of the best college rock has to offer. Both trios, known for their fantastic live shows, surely will offer plenty of off-kilter melodies and excitement. Modest Mouse also has an in-store performance at Criminal Records in Little Five Points at 5 p.m. Variety Playhouse (Jordan)

TRACY BYRD & MARK CHESNUTT — These two countryfied Texans have managed to survive in a genre that has lost almost all connection to its roots. Byrd may be closer to the mainstream, but he's a good singer with decent material. Chesnutt is a honky-tonker in the George Jones mold and knows a good song when he finds it. Let's go to the fair! North Georgia State Fair/Marietta (J. Kelly)

DOOBIE BROTHERS — Call it classic rock or biker boogie, the Doobies have enough hook-heavy, air-guitar strumming, lighter-raising hits to keep their train runnin' as long as they want. By now they're a dependable, well-oiled machine churning through the motions as if they still care. But deep down they're just another oldies act with a new album nobody wants to hear. DeKalb Atlanta Center (Horowitz)

RAINER MARIA — Named after a poet, emo trio Rainer Maria play music both melodic and muscular, with energetic and heartbreakingly enchanting female vocals. Echo Lounge (Ware)

PROCESS ATLANTA — Ain't no half-steppin' to the hard steppin' of the Metalheadz' DJ Lee, who brings that UK drum 'n' bass flava. Locals Mayhem, Simlock, Maze, Brain and MC Race One also get technical on the 1's and 2's. Nitro/Pleasantdale Road (Ware)

X-IMPOSSIBLES, GARGANTUA, BULLY — There's just been a huge change in the X-Imps' lineup, with ubiquitous punk wildman Jim Stacy now stepping in as their frontman. This gig should prove extremely interesting, especially for those who never witnessed any of Stacy's legendary performances leading the LaBrea Stompers. Also on the bill are the mighty metalheads of Gargantua and the heavy-duty rockers of Bully. The Bully boys will be taking time off from live performance after this show to concentrate on a recording project, so catch 'em while you can. Star Bar (Nicoll)

YAYHOOS, STEAMROLLERS — The Dan Baird-led headliners sound like what you'd expect from the ex-Georgia Satellite — cranked up, dumbed down, Stonesy rockin' with boozy Southern swagger and C&W twang. Nothing we haven't heard before, but they'll rock you all night long and score points for playing it straight on ABBA's "Dancing Queen." The openers are grizzled local vets of the same no-frills roots scene, making this a particularly rowdy bill. Smith's Olde Bar (Horowitz)

THE BAYOU ROOM: Tak Attack

THE BLUE RACCOON: Acoustic Open Mic hosted by Andrew black

BLIND WILLIE'S: Housrocker Johnson

BRIDGES: Piano with Bruce

CAJUN KITCHEN: Occam's Razor

CALLANWOLDE: The Clark Atlanta University Jazz Orchestra

CHURCHILL GROUNDS JAZZ CAFE: Pursuance with Lee Hogan & Dan Furman, Joe Grandsen Quartet

CJ'S LANDING: Pre-Tree Showcase with Blindspot, Low-Z

CLUB GENO'S: The Brethern

COTTON CLUB: Will Hoge

COWBOYS: Darrin Robbins, Kickback

CRIMINAL RECORDS:Modest Mouse

DARK HORSE TAVERN: The Snap Dragons, The Velvet Donz, Allison Jarrell

DARWIN'S: Open Blues Jam hosted by Blues Barons

DEKALB ATLANTA CENTRE: Doobie Brothers

DOCK HOLLIDAY'S-BUFORD: Robby Roberson

ECHO LOUNGE: Rainer Maria, guests

ECLIPSE DI LUNA: Bonaventure Quartet

EDDIE'S ATTIC: Caroline Aiken and Geoff Achison

FAT MATT'S RIB SHACK: The Electromatics

FRIENDS SCHOOL OF ATLANTA: Elise Witt

FUZZY'S: Motorcity Josh

GEORGIA THEATRE-ATHENS: Tom Tom Club featuring Tina and Chris from the Talking Heads with Aqualove

THE GRAPE AT VININGS: New South Jazz

KARMA: Cream

KAYA: L.O.A. and DJ Rasta Root

LOCA LUNA: Latin Jam Session hosted by Andre Rievers, featuring Juan Bonini and David Bass.

MASQUERADE: Soundstain, Silence, Slip Agnt, Karma Lingo

METROPOLITAN PIZZA: Metropolitan Wednesdays

MUSIC FARM: Flickerstick with Doosu

9 LIVES SALOON: Bitch, Bang the Union, No Holds Barred

NOMENCLATURE MUSEUM: Reunion - featuring dark wave, ether pop and trance

NORTHSIDE TAVERN: Daniel "Mudcat" Dudeck

NORTH GEORGIA STATE FAIR: Tracy Byrd & Mark Chestnutt

POPPERS: Karaoke

RAY'S ON THE RIVER: Waveform with Doc Samuels, Larry Jackson, Tom Woodruff

RED LIGHT CAFE: Open Mic

SAMBUCA JAZZ CAFE: Mina

SMITH'S OLDE BAR: Yayhoos and Steamrollers

SOMBER REPTILE: TenBall, Cancerstick

STAR BAR-L5P: Gargantua, X-impossibles, Bully

VARIETY PLAYHOUSE: Modest Mouse and Built to Spill

VIOLETTE RESTAURANT: Jus Jazz featuring Dave Wallis, Eddie Taylor, Dan Coy, Shack Lewis, Rita Graham

YA-YA'S CAJUN CUISINE: The Luxury Kings with special guests