RadATL Atlanta shows

Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. play The Earl on Tues., May 23

SELF PORTRAIT: Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O.

Rejoice! Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. return to the Earl on Tuesday, May 23.

The last time Japan’s ultimate sorcerers of psychedelic rock delivered a dose of cosmic freakouts to the East Atlanta Village was in the Spring of 2019. Now, the group’s founding guitarists Makoto Kawabata and Higashi Hiroshi are on the road again, traversing the States on the “Metareboot North American Spring Tour 2023.” For these shows the group’s lineup features drummer Satoshima Nani, guitar and bouzouki player Jyonson Tsu, and their latest addition, bass player Ron Anderson (also of PAK). Acid Mothers Temple’s kaleidoscopic stage presence is the stuff of legend—full throttle exploration of inner space while reaching for outer space. Every live show offers a mind-bending portal into unknown realms of the multiverse, where ecstasy and overload collide with searing rhythms and riffs.


The group’s body of work is truly immense. Although no new AMT offerings have materialized since the pandemic shut down the world, the group filled up its official  Bandcamp page with 60+ albums and various unreleased offerings.

ATTENTION COLLECTORS: There will be a full-on mountain of rare reissues on the merch table—LPs, tapes, CDs, hand-drawn artwork, and more. Speaking of which, Austin’s ST 37 will open the show, and there will be a split live cassette of recordings made during their 2015 tour together.

$16 (adv). $20 (doors). 7:30 p.m. (doors open). 8 p.m. (show). The Earl, www.badearl.com.

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RadATL Atlanta shows, New music, Podcasts & Interviews

‘Atlanta Record Stores’ reviews are in: What are the critics saying?

The reviews are in, “Atlanta Record Stores: An Oral History” is a bonafide hit! Check out a list of interviews, reviews, and more. … And click below to get a signed copy of the book delivered to your door.

“‘Atlanta Record Stores: An Oral History,’ is a collection of first-person accounts exploring how vinyl has survived new technology from 8 tracks to CDs to streaming and why the industry continues to thrive.” — “New book ‘Atlanta Record Stores: An Oral History’ explores how vinyl has survived over decades” by Kim Drobes for WABE/NPR’s City Lights

“The new book ‘Atlanta Record Stores: An Oral History’ shares stories of the influence these stores have had over the past half-century.”— “Record stores offer ‘singular take’ on a city’s history” by Peter Biello for Georgia Public Broadcasting/NPR’s All Things Considered

“While Atlanta often operates on the premise that anything not mega-famous must be outdated and worth mercy-killing for profit, Radford’s book is a reminder that—to paraphrase Faulkner—the past isn’t even past. The city’s counterculture is a DIY torch passed to each generation.” — “A new history of Atlanta and Athens record stores meets the subcultural moment” by John Ruch for Saporta Report

“Chad Radford joins Rhythm and Resistance to discuss his new book, Atlanta Record Stores: An Oral History” — An interview with Christopher Hollis 

“Rather than a straight narrative, Radford let the owners, employees past and present, musicians, and shoppers tell the stories of the record stores in a series of oral histories. It’s a breezy, funny, nostalgic read.” — “New book chronicles the history of Atlanta’s record stores” with Collin Kelly for Rough Draft

Press play on a fun and candid conversation about the book with Tom Cheshire and Renée Yaworsky for Cosmos Creative TV’s “Burn It Down!”

More reviews are coming soon!

Click below to purchase a signed copy of Atlanta Record Stores: An Oral History. $25 (postage paid).

Send payment via Venmo to @Chad-Radford-6 or click below to pay via Paypal.

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RadATL Atlanta shows, Podcasts & Interviews

What’s the point of saying destroy? A five-week seminar examining punk as a cultural phenomenon

NEON CHRIST: Photo by Chuck Gill

“All over the country / We want a new direction. I said all over this land / We need a reaction. Well there should be a youth explosion / Inflate creation. But something we can command. What’s the point in saying destroy?”

— The Jam, “All Around The World”

On Wednesday, May 3 at 6 p.m., Randy Gue will kick off the inaugural session of a five-week seminar, titled “What’s the Point of Saying Destroy?’: Punk and the DIY Ethos,” at The Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry at Emory University.

Think of the seminar as Punk 101, an informal class that touches on all things punk, hardcore, and DIY, and how the culture has changed over the decades.

Gue is the Curator of the Political, Cultural, and Social Movements Collection at Emory’s Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. He’s also vocalist and guitar player for the “wordcore” outfit El Matador, a former auxiliary member of Atlanta’s ‘80s hardcore luminaries Neon Christ, and one of the masterminds behind Emory’s “Create Your Own Culture: Art, Punk, and DIY Fest.”

Throughout these hour-long sessions (from 6-7 p.m. every other Wednesday until the end of June), conversations will be guided by listening to songs—by the Ramones and beyond—and reading select texts and news articles from the last 40+ years. Come as you are. Attendees will receive a free copy of Osa Atoe’s recently published “Shotgun Seamstress,” an anthology of the Black punk zine.

The sessions are free to attend but space is limited. Send an email to foxcenter@emory.edu. to RSVP. 1635 N Decatur Rd., Atlanta, GA 30322

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RadATL Atlanta shows, New music, Podcasts & Interviews, Uncategorized

Atlanta Record Stores: An Oral History

Why write a book about Atlanta record stores? The truth is that you get a singularly unique perspective on a city’s history, its culture, and its personality when viewed through the lens of a record store’s front window. I have often said that if you want to understand a society or a culture, just take a look at its pop culture, and music has always remained right there on the frontlines.

Atlanta is world-renowned as a hip-hop mecca, but a rich underground rock scene has been thriving here for decades. The hub of that world is the city’s record stores. Featuring decades-old institutions to shops that existed just long enough to leave an impact, Atlanta Record Stores is a rock-centric take on a hip-hop town, unfurling the secret history of music underdogs—outliers living among outliers—telling their stories in their native tongue. From Jarboe of SWANS to William DuVall of Alice in Chains and Neon Christ to Kelly Hogan, Gentleman Jesse Smith, Atlanta Braves organist Matthew Kaminski, and those surly characters behind the counter at Wuxtry, Wax ‘n’ Facts, Criminal, Ella Guru, Fantasyland, and more, all were drawn by the irresistible lure of vinyl records—all found their communities and their own identities, leaving an indelible mark on the culture of Atlanta.

Click below to purchase a signed copy of Atlanta Record Stores: An Oral History. $25 (postage paid).

– Send payment via Venmo to @Chad-Radford-6 or click below to pay via Paypal.

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RadATL Atlanta shows

Bill Orcutt plays Eyedrum Sunday, February 19

Bill Orcutt Herrhanz

Fresh off of releasing his brilliant 2022 album Music For Four Guitars (Palilalia), punk-blues and no wave-inspired improv guitarist Bill Orcutt returns to play a solo set at Eyedrum Art & Music Gallery on Sunday, February 19.

Opening act(s) to be determined in the new year. $15 (adv). $18 (door). 7 p.m. (all ages).



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RadATL Atlanta shows

POSTPONED: Off! and Zulu play Terminal West on Wednesday, November 2

Off! Photo by Jeff Forney.

THIS SHOW HAS BEEN POSTPONED: Keep your eyes peeled for a rescheduled date to be announced soon.

Off! and Zulu play Terminal West on Wednesday, November 2. $22 (advance). $25 (day of show). 7 p.m.


With a new lineup in place and functioning like a well-oiled machine, OFF! is back on the road supporting the group’s first album in eight years, Free LSD (Fat Possum Records).

With Free LSD, Circle Jerks’ frontman Keith Morris, guitar player Dimitri Coats, bass player and Atlanta expat Autry Fulbright II (…And You Will Know Us By The Trail of the Dead), and drummer Justin Brown (Herbie Hancock, Thundercat) have crafted a vibrant and essential art-punk rumination on the end times.

Earlier this year, I spoke with Keith Morris while he was passing through town with the Circle Jerks. This is what he had to say about the new album:

“We listened to a lot of Throbbing Gristle, Hunting Lodge, Can, Einstürzende Neubauten, Herbie Hancock’s Head Hunters, Miles Davis. We spent time with a character named Enid Snarb who was in Bastard Noise and Man Is the Bastard. He turned us on to some of George Harrison’s work after he visited India.

Our engineer mixer guy worked with Kyuss and he mixed over half of Spiritualized’s Ladies and Gentlemen We’re Floating In Space. We went to a lot of different places, rather than the Bad Brains, Blue Öyster Cult, and Stiff Little Fingers.

Autry Fulbright is playing bass, and he co-manages Thundercat. Our drummer Justin Brown plays drums with Thundercat, so now we’ve got a jazz drummer playing rock, and you’ll hear it. There are times when he’s all over the place, and we really have to pay attention to what he’s doing to play what we’re playing. 

If your mind is free enough, and you’re able to see all of the different colors that we’re using, you’ll get it. There’ll be a lot of people that don’t, but we have no control over that.”

Read the full interview with Keith Morris.

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RadATL Atlanta shows

Gallery 992 Improv. Jam, every Sunday evening

Photo by Chad Radford

Gallery 992‘s Sunday night free improv jams are back!

For the time being, every Sunday evening from 6-10 p.m., the weekly jam has moved just a few doors down to the lot near the corner of Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. and Peeples Street, where there’s plenty of space to get spaced out. Under the direction of alto saxophone player Quinn Mason and percussionist Dallas Dawson, an assemblage of the city’s finest players lock into each other for a massive and seemingly telepathic group improv blast before opening up the stage. They’ll play for as long as the law allows—the noise ordinance kicks in at 10 p.m.

In this new, temporary outdoor setting, the weekly jam has taken on a whole new vibe, summoning a rejuvenated sense of community spirit in the West End. These performances are about catharsis, purgation, and finding mental and spiritual balance in the shadow of a world in turmoil.

Witnessing so much energy, and engaging with live music on such visceral and cerebral levels, after so many months spent in lock down is a powerful and emotionally riveting experience that’s not to be taken lightly—you need it more than you know.

Bring a lawn chair—it’s outside, but wearing a mask and maintaining that six-feet of social distance makes everyone feel a safer, and little more comfortable.