ATL MUSIC NEWS: A3C and Afropunk touch down

Festival season is still in full swing for Atlanta, as the A3C Conference & Festival looms large on the horizon. The Conference, now co-owned by 2 Chainz, takes over the Atlanta Convention Center at AmericasMart and Hotel Indigo Downtown from October 8-13, with festival performances taking place in various locations throughout the city, including Center Stage, Masquerade, 529, the Earl, and the Tabernacle. Highlights from this year’s five-day hip-hop pilgrimage include Yasiin Bey, aka Mos Def, performing the Black on Both Sides 20th-anniversary show in Heaven at Masquerade on Tuesday, October 8. The Ladies First party takes over Vinyl on Wednesday, October 9. On Thursday, October 10, Lil Keed, Lil Gotit, Childish Major, Eearz, GRIP, Landstrip Chip, and more play Center Stage. And last, but not least, A3C Afrobeats party featuring performances by Burna Boy, Mr. Eazi, Afro B, Teni, and more take over the Tabernacle on Saturday, October 12. For a comprehensive list of conference and festival happenings, performers, parties, and more information, look online at www.a3cfestival.com/festival.

As A3C comes to a head, Afropunk Atlanta fires up at 787 Windsor October 12-13. This year’s list of highlights includes performances by Danny Brown, FKA Twigs, Anderson .Paak, and the real star of the show, A-town’s very own hardcore skatepunk outfit, the almighty Upchuck.

Tickets can be purchased and tickets can be earned by joining the Afropunk Army — the volunteer arm of the Afropunk global initiative. Check out www.afropunk.com/festival/atlanta for all the info you need and more.

October is Pride month! To celebrate, Deep South ATL and Kudzu are collaborating to put on what’s sure to be the edgiest dance party in town, October 12 at the Bakery. Guest DJs include Shaun J. Wright (Chicago), Dee Diggs (Brooklyn), Father Figure (NOLA), and Club Morph staple JSPORT from right here in Atlanta. Fellow locals and resident DJs Ash Lauryn and Vicki Powell keep the party moving. Party starts at 10 p.m. More info can be found at www.theBakeryATL.com.

The Marquee Club at the Fabulous Fox Theatre is hosting VIEW, a Pride parade viewing party from the top of the Fox Theatre on October 13, starting at noon. The party features a performance by and a meet-and-greet with Tatianna from RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars. Other performers scheduled throughout the day include Melissa Coffey, Michael Robinson, Diego Serna, Orchid, Molly Rimswell, and former CL intern Iv Fischer. For more information look online at www.foxtheatre.org.

Mammal Gallery co-founder and former Hello Ocho guitarist and songwriter Chris Yonker has a new self-titled album with his project Greenscreen arriving October 18. 

The album was completed two years ago when Yonker was still writing songs using the name Morning Mouth. The first single, titled “Food,” is available now on Spotify.

Greenscreen plays an album release party at the Food Court that same night with True Blossom and Partials.

Magnapop, Atlanta’s storied post-alternative pop/proto grunge punk songwriting machine is back with a brand new LP, titled The Circle Is Round.

The album arrived September 27 via Athens-based indie label Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records, and sports a mix of newer numbers blended with older songs — some are even among the first songs the group’s founding members Linda Hopper and Ruthie Morris ever wrote together.

According to Hopper, the group is also hard at work reissuing Magnapop’s 1992 self-titled Michael Stipe/Ed Burdell-produced debut album. No further details are available as of press time, but stay tuned for more information.

In the meantime, after touring Belgium and the Netherlands, Magnapop plays a homecoming album release show at 529 on Friday, October 25. The band has returned to its original lineup, with singer Hopper on vocals and Morris playing guitar, alongside bass player Shannon Mulvaney and drummer David McNair.

For this show, Magnapop is joined by opening acts Nikki & the Phantom Callers, Tiger! Tiger!, and Young Antiques.

William DuVall, the former guitarist for Atlanta’s Reagan-era hardcore legends Neon Christ, and current frontman with Seattle grunge rock outfit Alice In Chains, takes the stage as a one-man act at City Winery October 21. DuVall is playing songs from his recently released solo debut, One Alone. The album is a sparse, intimate affair that expands upon the blueprint laid out by its first single, “’Til the Light Guides Me Home.”

Before Bob Glassley succumbed to cancer in October of 2017, the Atlanta-based lineup of the reignited West Coast punk and hardcore outfit the Cheifs — featuring Glassley on bass and vocals, drummer James Joyce, vocalist Brad Castlen, and guitarist Scott Hedeen — went into the studio to record a four-song 7-inch EP featuring new recordings of both older and newer material.

The 7-inch is finally off to the pressing plant and is slated for an October release via Missing Fink Records. On the A-side, “1988” and “Heart In Chains” were originally written by Glassley’s pre-Cheifs band, Portland, Oregon’s the Rubbers. “Alienated” is a brand new song, and “Mechanical Man” is loosely based on a forgotten early Cheifs number, partially reconstructed from memory, and reenvisioned by the Atlanta-based Cheifs. Bill Stevenson of the Descendents mixed the songs, and the Descendents’ cover artist Chris Shary created the cover art. Full disclosure: CL Music Editor Chad Radford wrote the liner notes for the Cheifs’ 7-inch.

Insignificant Whip the follow-up to Shepherds’ 2016’s debut LP  Exit Youth is out October 18 via Arrowhawk Records. To celebrate, the group winds up a two-week tour with an October 26 record-release party at 529, with Lowtown, Krystal V, and Riboflavin.

Check out a podcast Q&A with Shepherds frontman and guitarist Jonathan Merenivitch.  -CL-

Send local music news to chad.radford@creativeloafing.com.