Athens Ear Buds (10-22-09)

Today's Athens Ear Buds requires no introduction... (conveniently, for me!) - Terry Smith, Athens Ear Buds counselor and adviser

Athens' biggest band has hit Billboard. Skeletonwitch, who in their genre, a particularly aggressive sort of metal (which is how it should be), have ample international respect and acclaim, recently hit No. #151 on the Billboard Top 200 and #2 on the magazine's Heatseekers Chart. This was for their new album, "Breathing the Fire." Here's a video from the album.

Barry Wolfe, Athens ex-pat, KALX dj/producer, Berkeley, Calif., occasional music reviewer Blurt on-line mag, Ptolemaic Terrascope magazine: The Byrds, "The Notorious Byrd Brothers" (Columbia, 1986 CD and MP3s). Perhaps one of the more under-valued and over-looked albums by the Byrds, it's certainly one of their most beautiful and psychedelic efforts. I recently realized that I missed hearing it, as I only had an old, battered vinyl copy, so I went and bought the CD. I love how many of the songs flow together, the gorgeous harmonies, and how spacey an album it is, with occasional help from a synthesizer. It dips into what we call alt-country now and was an early contributor to the genre. Not as out-and-out country as "œSweetheart of the Rodeo," it shows the band leaving the jingle-jangle behind and moving in an exploratory direction. It was the last album, besides the '72 reunion album that David Crosby appeared on.

Paul Tescher, local music collector: November... Live... on the Swedish label, Mellotronen. It has excellent sound and includes material from various shows between spring 1970 and fall 1971. This is/was the first issue of these recordings. They made three studio LPs during '70-'72 on the Metronome label. Their music - all original with inventive arrangements - was energetic, exciting hard/heavy rock with plenty of melody, with an occasional more mellow moment or two. The guitarist, Rickard Rolf, obviously listened carefully to Eric Clapton and was a fluid and creative player. The rhythm section, Christer Stahlbrandt, bass/vocals, and Bjorn Inge, drum, was tight and powerful. Christer's singing was strong and expressive Think Cream mixed with early Budgie (another early '70s English heavy hard-rock trio, should you not know them) and you'll get a "sound" picture; bluesy but not as bloozed as Cream. If you like early '70s European hard rock on the heavy side, this will be a welcome addition to your pallet... guaranteed!

John McVicker teaches English as a Second Language at Ohio U; he likes music a whole lot: The Meters, "œRejuvenation" (Reprise 1974; reissued by Sundazed, 2000). "œRejuvenation" is a near-perfect funk album by a group of musicians more revered by their peers than successful in the marketplace. The Meters were the house band for Allen Toussaint, perhaps the foremost New Orleans producer. As a backing band, they graced the work of visitors such as Dr. John, Labelle, Robert Palmer and Paul McCartney, as well as NOLA mainstays such as Lee Dorsey, Chris Kenner, Earl King and Betty Harris. Their solo work in the late 1960s generated a couple of instrumental R&B hits, but none of their albums climbed higher than 108 on the Billboard charts. In the early '70s, the band switched labels to Reprise, keeping Toussaint as their producer. They put out a series of remarkable albums that added vocals (keyboardist Art Neville is credited with the leads) to their usual instrumental fire. Though these Reprise albums were no more successful than earlier work, all are at least solid. Even if you've never heard this band you've heard them sampled (NWA, A Tribe Called Quest, LL Cool J and Public Enemy, among others) and covered (everyone from Jack Johnson, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Les Claypool, Chris Duarte, Buckwheat Zydeco, to jazz guitarist Grant Green and even the Trinidad Steel Band) a gazillion times. "œRejuvenation," their second on Reprise, is a personal favorite. The songs are strong, the rhythms dense, and the guitar work electrifying; the band is in primo form. There's an audio stream of Meters hits at their Web site, http://www.themetersonline.com/, or check out the string <Meters 1974> at your fave video archive and see a live medley of "œLook-Ka Py Py," an earlier hit, and "œJungle Man" from this album.

Dale Francis: electro acoustic dabbler, Long Run Audio, Athens: Now, I know he didn't write one of the songs here - "œRed on Blonde," Tim O'Brien (Sugar Hill, 1996). I have enjoyed this album and have to remind myself that these are not Tim's own Americana songs (he's been a solo artist for many years, but first gained acclaim with Hot Rize). He sure has done a marvelous job of intertwining the composer's genius and his own musical identity. He takes the songs of Bob Dylan and rearranges them into contemporary new grass. Tim has remained true to the composer, playing on the humor and jest that Bob applied in the original but playing some hot American folk jazz in the old-time/bluegrass sensibility. In the rearrangement, Mr. O'Brien has taken ownership of the song, and this album has 13 songs whose soul Tim has brought fresh life to. (Editor's note: We couldn't find a video with O'Brien doing the Dylan stuff, but here's a great clip -- Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers were the swinging honky-tonk alter-egos of O'Brien's hip bluegrass project Hot Rize.)

Dave Alexander, Athens' resident trainspotter and Dave Rave promoter: The xx, "œxx" (Young Turks, 209). The xx is a foursome from South London who makes sexy indie music. Their innovative debut album is made up of dark, hushed male and female vocals intertwined over guitar, soft beats and baselines. The tracks blend together to make the perfect down-tempo soundtrack for a lazy weekend morning. The sound is somewhere between Mazzy Star and Tricky's "œMaxinquaye," but with a smoother, stripped-down sound and hip-hop influences. For me, this is one of the best debut albums of 2009 and possibly one of the best albums of the year.

Dan Dreifort is working on new tracks with Martizatic! and Indelible Beancurd. He plays with Vellumn in Athens in November: Harvey Danger, "œLittle by Little" (Kill Rock Stars 2006). Hoppy melodic piano rock isn't exactly a new genre, but its principals don't seem to linger long in the limelight. Remember when Ben Folds was the successful piano pinup boy? That didn't last too long. Is Harvey Danger the heir apparent? Or does a band like Field Music take the piano rock throne? I prefer the latter's recent work more than this album, and apparently Harvey Danger broke up a few months ago so the point isn't exactly moot, huh? But "œLittle by Little" is a great collection nonetheless. Some songs ("œCream and Bastards," "œCool James") don't even feature piano-ish instruments in the forefront. And for what it's worth, these guys apparently got some serious airplay in 1998, albeit with a far less pianolicious sound. Color me previously oblivious.