Atlanta Music News: Soul Food Cypher turns 8 + new music from Upchuck, Arbor Labor Union, DKA, and more in the February issue of CL
Since 2012, Soul Food Cypher has convened on the fourth Sunday of each month to showcase the positive and constructive role that rap music can play in shaping daily life. By concentrating on expanding consciousness through the craft and ingenuity of freestyle rap and spoken language, SFC builds structure by facilitating regular cyphers (a group of freestyle rappers rhyming in a cyclical motion, following each other’s lead) that foster creativity and a sense of camaraderie within the city’s underground hip-hop scene.
“Our aim is to provide Atlanta’s lyricist community with a safe and nurturing environment where their voices and artistry can grow,” says SFC’s executive director Alexander Acosta. “We look to solidify the art of freestyling as a genuine aesthetic to the wider artistic community and carry this rich tradition to the next generation.” Continue reading at Creative Loafing.
Arbor Labor Union, Thousandaire, Grand Vapids, and More at the Earl January 30
Arbor Labor Union, Thousandaire, Grand Vapids, and More (featuring members of A Drug Called Tradition) at the Earl on Thursday, January 30. $8. 8:30 p.m. (doors). This is Arbor Labor Union’s New Petal Instants album release party, and the Colonel Records’ leaving Atlanta party. | Buy tickets
Wire at Variety Playhouse Saturday, March 7
Wire + Wire DJs (a different member of Wire DJing each night). $25-$40. 7 p.m. (doors). Sat., March 7 @ Variety Playhouse | Buy tickets
Wire is signing copies of Mind Hive across the street at Criminal Records (1154 Euclid Ave. N.E. A) between 4:30 and 5 p.m. To participate, arrive early and purchase Hive Mind on CD or LP at the shop on the day of show to get a wristband at the cash register. Criminal will have a limited quantity of alternative titles for those who have already bought the new album at the store.
PHOTOS: The Jesus Lizard
On December 28, intrepid photographer Mike White of Deadly Designs made the trek from Athens to Nashville to bring back these 10 photos of the Jesus Lizard live at Marathon Music Works. Frontman David Yow, bass player David Wm. Sims, guitarist Duane Denison, and drummer and Atlanta expat Mac McNeilly tore through a 24-song set that included one previously unreleased number titled “Lord Godiva.”
Setlist
“Puss”
“One Evening”
“Mouth Breather”
“Glamorous”
“Nub”
“My Own Urine”
“If You Had Lips”
“Boilermaker”
“Seasick”
“Killer McHann”
“Chrome” (Chrome cover)
“Bloody Mary”
“Blue Shot”
“7 vs. 8”
“Monkey Trick”
Encore
“Gladiator”
“Blockbuster”
“Lady Shoes”
“Thumbscrews”
“Then Comes Dudley”
Encore 2
“Lord Godiva” (unreleased song)
“Destroy Before Reading”
“Wheelchair Epidemic” (the Dicks cover)
“(Fly) on (the Wall)”
View the complete gallery of photos at Deadly Designs.
CANCELED: Bauhaus plays The Coca-Cola Roxy on Wednesday, September 23
Bauhaus plays The Coca-Cola Roxy on Wednesday, September 23. 6:30 p.m. (doors). 8 p.m. (show). $75 (general admission). $125 (seats) | Buy tickets
Please be advised that this performance is taking place while the Braves are hosting a game. Due to the increase of traffic around the Battery purchasing parking in advance through the Live Nation or The Braves websites is strongly recommended.
Rad/ATL’s Hidden Hand podcast: An interview with Randall Frazier of Orbit Service
Welcome to another episode of Rad/ATL’s Hidden Hand podcast.
The music you’re listening to is “The Coldest Nights,” taken from Orbit Service’s sixth and most recent album titled The Door to the Sky.
Currently based in Bailey, Colorado — a small town in the mountains near Denver — Orbit Service is the name under which Randall Frazier has created music since the early aughts.
Over the years, Frazier has crafted a spacious and drifting sound that’s bound by a singular and textured quietude. His voice blends with atmospheric drones, improvisation, elegant post-rock songwriting, and musique concrete to a psychedelic effect.
I spoke with Frazier on October 16, 2019, shortly before Orbit Service shared the stage with the Legendary Pink Dots at the Masquerade in Atlanta — his fourth tour with the group. For this conversation we talked about creating space with music, life in Colorado, and our shared affinity for the Legendary Pink Dots.
To learn more about Randall Frazier and Orbit Service look online at orbitservice.bandcamp.com.
Thank you for listening.
Rad/ATL’s Hidden Hand podcast: An interview with Thom Fuhrmann of Savage Republic
Savage Republic was born amid the Los Angeles punk scene of the early 1980s, when former UCLA students guitarist Bruce Licher and drummer Mark Erskine formed the band Afrika Corps. Before releasing their 1982 debut LP Tragic Figures, the group’s name changed and a menacing post-industrial clatter took shape around Middle Eastern imagery and surf rock ambiance. Savage Republic’s sound was contemptuous, noisy and politically-charged, settling in with song titles such as “Kill the Fascists!,” “Mobilization,” and “Attempted Coup: Madagascar.” They shared the stage with groups such as Sonic Youth, Public Image Ltd., Swans, Fugazi, and more.
Amid lineup changes, songwriter and guitarist Thom Fuhrmann joined Savage Republic in 1983, and first appeared playing keyboards on the song “Trek” from the group’s 1985 EP, titled Trudge (Play It Again Sam Records).
Over the decades, Fuhrmann has assumed a leadership role in Savage Republic. In 2019, he fronts the group, standing alongside drummer Alan Waddington, bass player Kerry Dowling, and long-standing guitarist and percussionist Ethan Port.
In 2014, the group released a full-length LP, titled Aegean, with songs such as “Arab Spring,” “Victory,” “27 Days,” and “Peloponesia” placing Savage Republic’s original aesthetic into a modern context. A 2018 7-inch single featuring the songs “God & Guns” and “Tranquilo” further sharpen the group’s stance against right-wing influences gaining a stranglehold on modern America.
After wrapping up a late summer Midwestern tour en route to record new material with Steve Albini at Chicago’s Electrical Audio, Fuhrmann made his way to Atlanta where we caught up over breakfast.
For this second part of my breakfast conversation with Savage Republic’s guitarist and frontman Thom Fuhrmann, we talk about the origins, evolutions, and tragic circumstances surrounding the work he’s recorded under the name Autumnfair, and more about what the future holds in store for Savage Republic.
To learn more about Savage Republic and Autumnfair look online at www.mobilization.com.
Rad/ATL 