New Releases

Atlanta psych metal trio Zoroaster has completed its third album, Voice of Saturn, due out on March 10th via the group-run Terminal Doom Records.

Voice of Saturn was recorded at The Living Room with Ed Rawls, and carries Zoroaster's hallucinogenic hybrid of doom-laden metal, drone and dirge to bombastic new places, and even features a guest appearance from Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds on the song "White Dwarf."

Sometimes Atlanta's new wave of underground hip-hop seems like a motherless child. Or an alien that lost contact with the mothership.

In a galaxy far away from the finger snaps that made Bankhead go pop and the traps that turned T.I. and Young Jeezy into hot commodities, there exists an alternate universe where beats are measured by the blogosphere instead of the bump produced in your trunk.

Over the past year, an emerging underworld (filled with hipster-leaning hoppers, second-generation ATLiens, and otherwise unidentifiable but fly MCs) seemed poised to forsake an authentic Dirty South sound for more of the same cocaine-laced synth lines and recycled computer love à la Kanye West. It became a desperate state of affairs.

But the new compilation The 808 Experiment, Vol. 1 from SMKA Productions proves there's still hope. By bridging the city's slicker, hipster derivative and its indigenous red clay swagger, the album may bring Atlanta's rap legacy back to the future. And a burgeoning scene could get the chance to redefine itself before some random blogger does.

The 808 Experiment features more than 25 MCs, including Gripplyaz, one of the artists on the standout track "Caddys." Once he says with a laugh, "I am not a fucking hipster" for the umpteenth time during a recent telephone interview, it becomes clear not only how frustrated he is with the label but also how much he embodies the sentiment behind the compilation. Grip, like a growing class of local acts, occupies that rare, hard-to-define space within Atlanta's underground between straight-up hood and hipster-hop.

When otherwise respectable bands cash-in on the holiday season with a Christmas album, nine times out of 10, it's a travesty of forced sentiment and seasonal classics ripped to shreds. The Fleshtones' Stocking Stuffer rises above the typical schmaltz with a fun Christmas album that's tacky in its own right.

The Deal: Gregg Gillis, aka Girl Talk, releases latest mash-up creation featuring more than 300 samples/"snippets."

The Good: It's amazing this guy hasn't been sued - he uses more than 300 other songs to create his songs that generally blend from one into the next. It's a walk through just about everyone's CD collection - Nirvana, Kelly Clarkson, Pearl Jam, Jay-Z, Spencer Davis Group, Twisted Sister, Sly and the Family Stone, Public Enemy, Steve Miller Band, Jimi Hendrix, Flo-Rida, Metallica, LL Cool J and the list goes on. The "fun" part is listening to the disc and trying to recognize the lyrics, beats and sounds.

For years, rock and rap had largely forged an unholy alliance thanks to such clown acts as Limp Bizkit. But that's changed (thanks God!) with forward-thinking young groups like Gym Class Heroes and the most brilliant new hip-hop act of 2008, The Knux. Comprised of brothers Krispy Kream and Rah Al Millio, the sibling duo was born and raised in New Orleans but their sound, style and ethos has more in common with Atlanta stalwarts Outkast than anything to emerge from under the Cash Money umbrella.

So, this is my last post for Listen.com. I figured I'd wrap this up with that staple of the nerdy music journalist: the year end list!

I was in my car this morning, and the radio was turned to KFOG, the local AAA radio station. The morning host was going on about Los Lonely Boys' new Christmas album, and I thought, "Who the fuck is going to buy that?"

And then I thought, "Who the fuck buys any kind of Christmas album?" I mean, I have to admit that they've gotten better in recent years. There was the John Waters Christmas disc, with rude and crude ditties like the Black Power anthem "Santa Claus Is a Black Man," and BADD Santa, Peanut Butter Wolf's collection of holiday rap, funk, and oddness (Bruce Haack is god). And, sure, I'd rather hear Sufjan Stevens, Willie Nelson, Weezer, the Hives, Lady Gaga, or Lemmy Kilmeister (see the recent We Wish You a Metal XMAS and a Headbanging New Year) yowl about yule logs when I go into a department store. But usually Christmas music seems to sap the good cheer out of the "most wonderful time of the year."

"Lots to report from the world according to RZA," the rapper/actor's publicist notes. "New album, Wu-Tang tour, and a role in the new Judd Apatow film [Funny People]. Caught some of the filming and it was hilarious! [RZA] appears alongside Seth Rogen and Adam Sandler in one of the scenes - great look!"

Here's the press release:

WU MUSIC GROUP ISSUES SECOND RELEASE / FOLLOW UP TO WU-TANG CLAN'S "8 DIAGRAMS":

THE RZA TO PRESENT "AFRO SAMURAI: RESURRECTION" OUT JANUARY 27, 2009, APPEAR IN NEW JUDD APATOW FILM

Wu Music Group, the new label ran by the administrative mind of Mitchell "Divine" Diggs and the creative force of Wu-Tang Clan's chief architect, "The RZA", will release their second album, Afro Samurai: The Resurrection, on January 27th, 2009.

The Damned's vampire-faced frontman David Vanian is a hard nut to crack. It's impossible to tell where he draws the line between hammy and sincere. Therein lies the mystique of the Damned - a band that participated in punk's earliest days and went with the flow well into the new wave '80s. So, Who's Paranoid? is a refreshingly catchy album that draws from a lifetime spent crafting gorgeous melodies, punk jitters and baroque romanticism.