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Thursday, July 10, 2008
Deerhunter sets a date, R.E.M. live set on iTunes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta’s self-described “ambient punk” outfit Deerhunter has announced a date for new album “Microcastle.” According to a post at Pitchfork, the album will be released on Oct. 28. There’s also a link at the bottom of the post to a stream of one of the album’s tracks, “Never Stops.” “Microcastle” follows last year’s critically acclaimed “Cryptograms,” and like that predecessor, the new one will be released by Chicago-based label Kranky. Pitchfork reports that neither new guitarist Whitney Petty nor former guitarist Colin Mee were in on the recording of the album. Before the album hits stores, Deerhunter will open some Nine Inch Nails dates, including the Aug. 13 show at the Gwinnett Arena.
R.E.M. continues its current rejuvenating run with an exclusive live set available exclusively via iTunes. Nine songs were captured on tape at the band’s appearance at the Apple Store on London’s Regent Street back in March. The set includes “Auctioneer” (from “Fables of the Reconstruction”) and “West of the Fields” (from “Murmur”) along with old favorites “Man on the Moon” and “Fall On Me” and several tracks from the recent “Accelerate.”
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Atlanta’s Cartel gets a new home
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cartel. Photo: Rodney Ho/Staff
Atlanta’s band in a bubble has landed in a new home.
Cartel, the pop-punk quintet that recorded its last album in an glass-encased studio sponsored by MTV and Dr. Pepper, has been signed by Wind-Up Records (home of Evanescence, Seether, Finger Eleven and the late Creed).
The press release announcing the new deal included this from frontman Will Pugh: “The overwhelmingly positive familial atmosphere of the label has us looking forward to what is certain to be a lasting and successful relationship. We’re extremely eager to begin this new chapter in the life of Cartel. All five of us sincerely appreciate and thank our fans for their continuous heartfelt support throughout the lifetime of the band, especially over the last nine months or so. With a new label home firmly secured and fresh winds filling our sails we foresee bigger and better opportunities for us to continue to grow and thrive as a band, while building off the same foundational elements that we have always embraced: hard work, endless touring, good vibes and fantastic fan-friendly relations.”
The band will begin work on its third album soon, following an August-September co-headlining tour with fellow Atlantan Yung Joc.
Wind-Up is the band’s third label. The group’s first album, 2005’s “Chroma,” was released by the Militia Group. Sony/BMG affiliate Epic Records then signed the band for the self-titled follow-up (that’s the one they recorded in the glass bubble). Epic also re-issued “Chroma.”
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Tom Petty’s Wayback Machine
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“We got a song here from 1979,” Tom Petty said, introducing “Even the Losers” from his “Damn the Torpedoes” album.
A young woman in the audience turned to her boyfriend and piped up: “We weren’t even born then!”
In a typical Tom Petty crowd, people who can’t legally drink yet stand and dance alongside people who could legally drink when Petty and his Heartbreakers had their first hit in 1977.
And every one of them sings every single word of “Free Fallin’.”
Petty, a touring machine, plays Atlanta with the regularity of ozone alerts, but Wednesday was his first time at Alpharetta’s new super shed, Encore Park. The evening started with a downpour that soaked early arrivers; some women who had dressed to impress instead had knee-high mud spatters, and many people stayed hunkered down in their ponchos even when the weather cleared.
Steve Winwood, who was a star even before some of the crowd’s elders were radio-aware, opened with a very strong jazz-rock backing band, sampling hits from throughout his long career: “I’m a Man,” “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” “Higher Love.”
Petty brought Winwood back partway through his headlining set to sing a high, feathery “Can’t Find My Way Home,” the biggest hit for his supergroup, Blind Faith, back in 1969. Then they set the Wayback Machine even further, for 1966, and launched into “Gimme Some Lovin’,” with Winwood on keyboards. Petty and his band turned into the world’s highest paid frat-house party band for about five minutes, chewing on that song’s great, greasy riff while the audience went nuts.
When it comes together, on a damp cloudy night with a couple of classic rockers having fun, a little geezer rock is a beautiful thing.
