By Matt Jarrard

Formerly of Athens GA, Great Lakes now reside in Brooklyn and have given us a taste of their October 12th release. Great Lakes is Ben Crum (Ladybug Transistor) and lyricist Dan Donahue, with multi-instrumentalist Jamey Huggins (Of Montreal), the sound of the this first single gives an indication of a departure from the brighter, janglier sound of their earlier releases. 

The additional players on Ways of Escape are ridiculously steeped: Kevin Shea (Talibam!) on drums, David Lerner (ex-Ted Leo & the Pharmacists) on bass, Jay Israelson (Mice Parade) on piano, Joe McGinty (Psychedelic Furs) on electric piano and organ, Jon Natchez (Beruit, Bishop Allen) on bass clarinet and saxophones, Heather McIntosh (Circulatory System, The Instruments, Gnarls Barkley) on cello, Linda Rosenbury on violin, Philip Sterk on pedal steel, and Suzanne Nienaber (The Ladybug Transistor) singing backing vocals.

Here’s the incredible single:

Great Lakes – Summer Fruit

Oh, Look Out You Rock N’ Rollers

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes. Turn to face the stranger. Ch-ch-changes.

Things might even change here at the A-List. Maybe a new email (so you can unsubscribe without offending). Maybe that long rumored website (is it a rumor if you start it yourself?) to replace atlantasalist.blogspot.com. Maybe even more content on records and show reviews (how long have I been promising that?).

One thing won’t change though – every week, once a week you’ll get the A-List. You’ll know about Of Montreal (and their Tabernacle show) before the band is featured on the cover of that free paper that you might pick up on Thursday or Friday night (before it changed the cover anyway – no wonder they’re in bankruptcy). You’ll get moments of honesty when a drunk and delirious Manchester Orchestra disappoints us here in town right before launching a semi-national tour. You’ll get moments of awe when Gnarls Barkley proves that the short round man with the tall skinny guy are indeed deserving of the hype. You’ll even find out about events off the beaten path and outside the realm of live music like the The Garbageman and his gang supershort story readers. For all the change, the A-List will stay the same: arbitrary, alternative and almost annoyingly regular.

This Week in New Atlanta

On Friday night Conor Oberst will be at my favorite Euclid Ave haunt…The Variety Playhouse. So much has been written about this guy there isn’t a whole lot for me to add here. He emerged on the scene as a high schooler and is probably best known for his work with the band Bright Eyes. At 28, he has released his first “solo” record despite being the driving force behind every band he has been in. He is in the traditional singer-songwriter mold, not the modern version of that type, which is to say he is not over produced drivel like John Mayer or Gavin Degraw, but something closer to Paul Westerberg or even Bob Dylan. He’s a darling of the critics, if not Dave FM. I will be in Manhattan on Friday, but that is the only reason I will be missing this show.

Another show that I will be missing this week due to the demands of the job that pays the bills, is The Del McCoury Band at Georgia Tech’s Ferst Center on Saturday night. This is a sit down in your assigned seat kind of venue (which is usually not my style) but this is also one of the best bluegrass acts that I’ve heard, so you take it as you get it. If you need an indication of the cred they have among the traditionalists they will be coming off a show at the Grand Ole Opry when they hit Atlanta. My first exposure to this North Carolina born and Pennsyltuckey bred gentleman was 1999′s The Family but my favorite is 2003′s It’s Just the Night and the single off that record “My Love Will Not Change.” Described by some as the bridge between traditional bluegrass and the future of the genre, he is firmly rooted in fiddles and banjos but can entertain with the best of them.

Saturday night, 90′s indie rock holdovers Local H will be at Lenny’s. I find this show remarkable in a number of ways. First, this Chicago duo have been making records on a fairly frequent basis in the 12 years since their huge alternative radio hit “Bound for the Floor” (who knew?) with its undeniable hook and near perfect angst (note also that this myspace clip has been played almost half a million times). Second, despite that huge hit, the best gig they can get in this town is a Saturday night at Lenny’s (sorry Lenny’s fans, but while I love our Decatur street dive it is not where I expect to see a band that had a top 10 single!). Third, I actually heard a review of the new album Twelve Angry Months (maybe from a Chicago radio show I listen to) that said this may be their best effort since 1997′s Pack Up the Cats. Seems like it might be worth 12 bucks at the door. Finally, they are not even headlining – that will be Electric Six. From headlining arenas to a venue with more pool tables than fixed seats, how’s that for change?

Pocket Change

A few locals who will be playing locally (duh) this week. Yelawolf is rappin’ (does anybody call it that anymore?) at Smith’s Olde Bar on Saturday night. Selmanaires will be crashing the Star Bar on Friday. The Earl will be featuring the Carbonas on Friday and Gentleman Jesse on Saturday.

That’s another A-List and my love will not change, it’s as steady the rhythm of the pouring rain.

Election Eve

In case you haven’t caught Saturday Night Live recently, there apparently is this election thing going on. Well we’re not immune to the vagaries of pop culture here at the A-List. In fact, I think that’s what we do (this week anyway – look for the the A-List to review our favorite Valdosta knitting circles next week…) so anyway we’re on the political bandwagon this week.

In the spirit of all things political, or at least commercial, let’s start with an invitation to Political Party 2008 tomorrow night at the brand new and not yet open to the public Aja in Buckhead. For those of you who need a reminder about how this thing works, click the underlined purple letters above to get the details. When you get there, type in “JL” (stands for Jungle Love) for your ticket and get a special discount courtesy of the A-List. GObama!

This Week in the Little Blue Island in the Big Red Sea of this State

Now, what may be the live music event of the week – Of Montreal at the Tabernacle on Saturday night. I think I first heard Of Montreal about 10 years ago (Clinton years) on a sampler and they could not have sounded more like the very worst of the Kink’s shtick rock (Nixon administration). Check out “One of a Very Few of a Kind” here and you will know what I mean. In the interim, the sound of this band has changed several times. The creative force behind the band, Kevin Barnes, describes himself as a boring guy “who watches ESPN” but transforms himself into something else on stage. One of the more infamous transformations occurred at the Langerado Music Festival where Kevin emerged from a coffin almost entirely naked but covered in shaving cream to perform “The Past is a Grotesque Animal“. (Feel free to do the side by side comparison to the earlier track and understand that every band matures). Decatur’s own Paste Magazine just put Kevin on the cover and proclaimed him “Heir to Bowie”, so the weirdness is now fully incorporated into the act and the art – expect multi-colored face paint, scarves, and other extravaganza to complement the music- which still has a decidedly psychedelic feel. An offshoot of Athen’s Elephant 6 Collective, Of Montreal may yet become the band you will wish you told could tell your kids you saw – sort of the way I wish my parents could have told me they saw Ziggy Stardust (instead I think they once saw The Everly Brothers- we all have scars momma).

In a little bit of a departure from our normal venues, let me mention one of Atlanta’s few remaining true blues clubs – Blind Willie’s. It can become a tight space quickly, because it is one of the few places in town where you can catch the real blues, and it will be like that on Thursday night, when Magic Slim & the Teardrops will drop in on Blind Willie’s stage. I first heard Magic Slim about 15 years ago (Bush one) when I went through the second step of what would become a twelve step program with me and the blues (I think I am on step 7), but he is one of those blues stalwarts that has been doing it for a lifetime, though without the same hype as Buddy Guy or B.B. King. There are not many guys left like this and at 71, you can’t imagine Magic will be around much longer. He’s been making his living on the road for about 50 years now (Eisenhower was president then) and you can help him continue do that, and get a taste of the real blues, for only three lincolns on Thursday night.

Friday night’s best choice is Oliver Woods at Eddie’s Attic. He’s sort of a folk/old school country sound and if you like Robert Earl Keen, the Band, or even the soundtrack to Oh Brother Where Art Thou?, you should enjoy Oliver. He will performing tracks from his new record, Loaded, which was published under the Wood Brothers moniker and includes accompaniment by his brother, Chris, who is best known as the rhythm section of the jazz trio Medeski, Martin and Wood. Oliver is a local boy and he and brother Chris brought a strong following to the Variety recently and I would not be surprised if Friday’s show sells out (will it be the Obama era by then?).

Hanging Chads & Butterfly Ballots

It occurs to me that I haven’t mentioned a show at Smith’s Olde Bar in a couple of weeks and that is a shame because it is always a solid venue for live music, so let me take a moment to skip ahead into next week and mention that Tim Reynolds & TR3 will be at Smith’s next Tuesday night. Most of you should know Tim from the live album he recorded with Dave Matthews a few years ago, but this OBX (think oval sticker on the back of a mini-van) guitar master is always a great show and no two performances are the same. When you’re there remember to give my heart to Brittany.

If you can’t catch Of Montreal on Saturday night, you might want to step back into the past and catch post-punk legends (yeah, that’s what they call themselves now) For Against at the Earl. In all honesty, like Elf Power and the Silver Jews (see 09/09 archive at atlantasalist.blogspot.com), this is a band that you should have seen about a decade ago (Clinton Era), but this show is for charity and that is something that the A-List always believes in.

Finally, thank you to the A-Listers who joined me (and those who came up to say hello) at Saturday night’s The Hold Steady/Drive By Truckers show…Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World.