Athens Ear Buds (10-15-09)

We've got a pile of Athens Ear Buds today, and actually had to postpone several till next week. It's a gol-darned embarrassment of riches, that's what it is.

You can find a lot of this stuff at Haffa's on West Union Street in Athens. - deadline-frazzled Terry Smith, your AEB compiler

Mike Ludwig, Athens NEWS contributor: I saw Evil Robot Us for the first (and last) time at their final show in this huge antique warehouse-turned-DIY venue in Buffalo in late September. What a show! Circle pits, pumping fists, hundreds of punks, a giant, glowing red sign on the wall reading "PYNUS." Good thing Evil Robot Us got on before the cops shut the place down (right before Mischief Brew was to play). Evil Robot Us (not to be confused with the annoying Canadian pop-punk outfit Evil Robot Us's) does folk-punk right. Their wailing vocals and pounding drum and guitar riffs make you want to feel like folk-punk should - like drinking too much, living out of a backpack and howling at the moon with all your best friends. They remind me of old Against Me! without the anarcho-elitism (anarcho-sell outs?) and O' Haste Annihilation without annoying anti-civilization political undertones. Check 'em out at myspace.com/evilrobotus. Up the drunx!

John McVicker teaches English as a Second Language at Ohio U; he likes music a whole lot: Michael Hurley with Ida, "Ida con Snock" (Gnomonsong, 2009). You can think of Michael Hurley as sort of the Thelonious Monk of singer-songwriters. Like Monk, each time out he shares a few new tunes along with some revisited classics from his songbook and a couple of tunes from just about everywhere. And like Monk, Hurley's magic lies both in what one of the great pianist's song titles termed the "Ugly Beauty" of his music as well as in the unique way he turns your ears inside-out each time he re-imagines part of his own repertoire. "Ida Con Snock" pairs Hurley with Ida, a six-piece alt-folk outfit. Ida's harmony vocals and instrumentation (guitar, steel guitar, fiddle, harmonium, bass, drums) create a rich, airy sparkle that's a perfect foil for Hurley's rough voice and a lovely setting for Hurley's songs. The songs? Think of Molly Malone selling cockles and mussels on the banks of Loch Lomand or the Valley of Tears while hoot owls howl, wild geese honk, and the hog of the forsaken chews the angels fallen from on high while baking woeful pie and going steady when you're ready. Imagine William Blake in a funny cap. Oh, and the recorded sound - from Levon Helm's "The Barn" studio in Woodstock - is lovely. Check him out on the usual Web video archives by searching: Ida con Snock

Josh Antonuccio, owner/producer of 3 Elliott Studio in Athens: Wilco, "A Ghost Is Born" (Nonesuch, 2004). Everyone talks about "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" in glowing terms as one of the best albums of the decade, as they should. As far as the creative benchmarks a band could achieve, Wilco pretty much nailed them all with YHF. However, "A Ghost Is Born" is an album of shadows, subtlety and a curious uncertainty. In the wake of critical success and the loss of longtime collaborator Jay Bennett, as well as a strained battle with painkillers, Jeff Tweedy was obviously writing from a much different place than ever before. Much like the heralded "Third/Sister Lovers" by Big Star, "A Ghost Is Born" is an album that is shrouded in the breakdown of personal relations and a sidestep from the vast arrangements found on the previous two albums. Songs are menacingly simple in their approach, and the writing feels haunted and desperate. Tracks like "Hell Is Chrome" and "Wishful Thinking" are eerily transparent while primal rockers like "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" and "I'm A Wheel" invariably became show staples. Tweedy also branched out in his approach as an "anti-guitarist" on this album, with results of staggering intensity, as witnessed on his panic-attack guitar solo on "At Least That's What You Said" and his Crazy Horse/Television guitar work on such tracks as "Theologians" and "Hand Shake Drugs." A Ghost Is Born seemed to be unappreciated by some critics at its release. It is certainly unlike anything that came before or after it. However, five years out, it stands as one of Tweedy's most daring adventures in personal revelation and transcendent songwriting.

Terry Smith, Athens NEWS editor and Athens Ear Buds undertaker, er, I mean caretaker: Yarn, "Empty Pockets" (Ardsley Music, 2008). I got turned on to this alt.country/bluegrass band in early July, as my family was driving through Meigs County on the way home from the Outer Banks. WOUB-FM was broadcasting "Mountain Stage," with Yarn as one of the musical guests, and they knocked me out. (They're playing the first show at Jackie O's Saturday night.) I quickly got both their LPs. Over the next several weeks, I played the virtual grooves right off of "Empty Pockets" especially, as well as spending ample time playing their videos on YouTube, and the dozen or so concerts available on their Web site (www.yarnmusic.net). Lead singer Blake Christiana has the sort of soulful alt.country voice and songwriting chops that Ryan Adams thought he had a monopoly on, and the tightness of the playing and singing seems more appropriate for a real bluegrass band than one that resembles about a million scruffy college-rock bands. But judging from their live shows, and occasional presence on the jam-band circuit, they're not averse to jamming it up when it suits them. Bottom line, though, if you like mandolin-driven country-rock, you'll probably love this band.

Andy Vogel is a freelance writer for ACRN and a student at OU: Just in time for the month of ghouls and ghosts comes a new band that bags up a bouncy nightmare-before-Christmas sound. Dommin is like a back-alley fight between Danzig and the nerds of Type O Negative. If you're frightened by that sort of thing, that's understandable. Dommin is an acquired taste to the happy side of the darkness. The haunting keyboard gets swept away from plucked-bass string, blending the humble sound of a apocalyptic dance party. I wouldn't dare write it off as love-metal like the group H.I.M., but it's a close comparison. The single "My Heart Your Hands" showcases a rougher edge than what the band really is. Few tracks are just in same tear-jerking formula as Depeche Mode. The album is full of fun hooks and dramatic vocals. While they're not the first to play with the Goth rock opera, they certainly are putting their own spin on it. Dommin's full-length album, "Love is Gone," won't hit stores till February, but their four-song EP is available at www.shockhound.com.

Christopher Pyle, owner of Donkey Coffee and 3 Elliott Studio, plays in the local band The Jarts: Big Star, "Keep An Eye On The Sky" (Rhino Records, 2009). Finally! I've waited a long time for this box, and it does not disappoint. All of the songs from their three albums are on here but they have all been remixed (including many Chris Bell songs). They have also included more than 50 unreleased songs, most of which are acoustic demos. The packaging and photos are amazing. For the uninitiated, Big Star made three records between 1972-1975. They barely sold any records at the time but since then have built a rabid cult following. They just sounded too Beatle-esque during the heyday of the Allman Brothers band and 20-minute guitar solos. If you are new to Big Star, you probably want to grab one of their proper records first or check them out online, but if you're a already a fan, this box is worth every cent and is a must-have collection.

Barry Wolfe, Athens ex-pat, KALX DJ/producer, Berkeley, Calif., occasional music reviewer Blurt online mag, Ptolemaic Terrascope magazine: The Clean, "Mister Pop" (Merge Records, 2009 all formats). The Clean predate The Bats, whom I wrote about last week, by four years and share one member, bass player Robert Scott. This is their first new release in nine years and has sent reviewers and critics writhing in giddy joy. These godfathers of the Kiwi pop and punk scene are often compared to the Velvet Underground, like the Feelies, but their music is slightly more trance-y and fluid. Another outstanding album that's been receiving regular play since its release two weeks ago. Outstanding tunes: "Moonjumper" and "In the Dreamlife You Need a Rubber Soul."