Adieu to Lenny's, Eyedrum, and Lyonnais' Lee Tesche
All hail broke loose in Atlanta's music scene as 2010 drew to a close
by Chad Radford
SMALL WORLD: Collective Efforts' J-Mil (left) goes D.I.T.C. with legendary Bronx, New York, producer Diamond D.
As 2010 drew to a close, Atlanta's music scene witnessed its share of send-offs. Lenny's shuttered its doors for good after a raucous NYE show. At 529, Lyonnais guitarist Lee Tesche played his last show with the band before he heads out to study at the London College of Communication. And Eyedrum hosted its final show at 290 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, with performances from Deerhunter, Black Lips, and local newcomer Lucy Dream, the band formerly known as Buffalo Buffalo.
While Eyedrum will live on, the experimental art gallery and music venue's proposed new location — 930 Mauldin St. in Reynoldstown — still hasn't been finalized. But the terms of the new lease are still coming together, according to Eyedrum's board chair Robby Kee, and the deal should be sealed within two weeks. In the meantime, Eyedrum's furnishings and sound system are being stored in the Mauldin Street warehouse — a tell-tale sign that it will soon serve as Eyedrum's permanent digs. In the meantime, the first Thursday open mic improv night scheduled for Jan. 6 has been moved to the Five Spot in Little Five Points.
After producing one song ("I Get Down") on underground Atlanta hip-hop outfit Collective Efforts' last album (Freezing World, 2010), legendary Bronx producer Diamond D — of New York's Digging in the Crates (D.I.T.C.) crew — will be crafting all of the beats for CE's next release.
"I met Diamond D with my homie Spearhead X [of Mass Influence] at Dallas Austin's studio," says member J-Mil. "Spearhead X was doing PR work there and I stopped by to say, 'Peace.' Diamond D was there and we started chopping it up and playing video games and shit. After we shared some music we decided that it had to be done."
The tone of Diamond D's production guides the feel and lyrical content into darker, harder-edged terrain than most of CE's previous offerings, while still embodying the Collective Efforts sound. Thus far, there is no title for the record, and the release date is still up in the air.
In new release news, Blair Crimmins will celebrate his birthday Feb. 4 with the release of a new two-song, 10-inch single featuring the song "State Hotel." "It's a haunted jail song that feels like a cross between 'Folsom Prison Blues' and 'Hotel California,' but it's a slower, Dixieland dirge, too," Crimmins says.
Hawks' second full-length LP, Rub, is due in mid-February on the group's self-run Trans Ruin Records, and will be followed by a live split record with Athens' Chrissakes, released on Charlotte, N.C.'s experimental metal label Forgotten Empire.
GG King recently finished recording a full-length LP, titled Esoteric Lore. The record is being mastered by Dave Rahn (Carbonas, Gentleman Jesse and His Men) whose production credits include Jay Reatard's Blood Visions as well as several independent releases from Ex Humans,Baby Shakes and more. The record is scheduled for release in March/April and will be split betweenRob's House Records and Scavenger of Death — a new label started by Greg (GG) King andBukkake Boys' bass player Ryan Bell.
Scavenger of Death will also release the debut EP by local punk band Ralph, possibly by the end of January. The record is a fast-paced platter of explosive punk numbers — seven songs squeezed onto 7-inches of vinyl — and it's bound to be an instant classic.
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