Sudan is a country of juxtaposition.

Sudan is a country with beautiful natural scenery, high-rise buildings, weddings, universities, commerce, poverty, and of unrest. There are injustices between the working poor and those of the upper-class, a situation not unlike what we've become used to here in the United States. There are brilliant artisans, writers, strife, bloodshed and sound families. At the crux of this juxtaposition is oil and the polarizing nature that a country replete with generous resources and a weak concept of how to manage said resources can be taken advantage of. The proxy war between the West and Chinese/Russo interests in Sudanese oil is as easy to understand as a listing of the country's weapons suppliers which include Britain, former Soviet republics, and China. Both factions want their oil and they want to control who has access to it. Ancient blood fuels are played up as they have been in other emerging countries. Sides are taken, lives are lost. The premeditated mayhem and it's politics are complexed, certainly. But we can make a difference in the war-torn region of Darfur, at least. ATL-based artists like Dj Drama, Anthony David, Spree Wilson, Janelle Monae and Novel will be holding a concert at Emory University to help us do just that, and to do it locally next Friday. Be there.

A few things: Free William Eggleston Documentary

The Contemporary is holding a free screening of Michael Almereyda's inquisitive documentary, "William Eggleston in the Real World". The film is an enlightening look at the enigmatic photographer, known to many as the father of modern color photography. The screening will be followed by a discussion led by Atlanta Celebrates Photography's Amy Miller and Michael David Murphy. The Key words here are FREE, and WILLIAM EGGLESTON. I honestly can't wait. Something else I can't wait for is the new Album from Novel "The Audiobiography". It's sure to be a banger if it's anything like his Green Lantern Mixtape featuring Raphael Saddiq, Joss Stone, Joel Ortiz, Sy Scott, Spree Wilson and others. Speaking of Novel and Spree Wilson (shouts out to Shoden 1, btw) I am also antsy about the ATL group's upcoming Knives Out project. The tracks I've heard have been fantastic.

Don't believe me? Fly Away. Or just check this lil vid clip from Novel introducing his new website.





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Now playing: Battery 5 - Ready To Go (Featuring Muffy)

I'm in love with this Battles Album.

When I saw the video for "Atlas" I was floored. That shit is fucking amazing. The way they work that equipment. I fell in love with their entire flava. I really liked that song. If you haven't seen it, here it is:



I waited patiently for this album.

It's everything I hoped for. It reminds me of the first time I heard Dave Matthews Band ( I know, I know, y'all gonna hate on me for brining up DMB- save all of that). The music is just rich with textures and sounds.

It made me think of avante garde local groups doing their thing in Electronic, Rock and post rock music like Deerhunter, and Snowden- both of which frequently play at Underground LEGEND Bar "Lenny's" in Downtown Atlanta. Another group noone is talking about probrably because they know nothing about them is comprised of former Rawkus label artist Novel, Spree Wilson, and Shoden.

The name of their group is Knives Out.



Check for them.


Another ATL artist doing some thangs Is Le Castle Vania. Folk wanna pidgeon hole the ATL music scene. We bigger than crunk and snap, tho. Get over it. We do it all, and we doin it well (c) LL.


You don't need to look much farther than a group like Proton or an act like Dreamer to see that.





Btw, belated congrats to Cee-Lo on his new label. I can't lie. I'd die to work for that label- for free. I can just tell that they have special things in store for the music scene in the near future.

How can I tell? Guess...

You know what's wild tho? Nevermind. I'll holla at y'all later. It's time to cook dinner before the wife gets home. I'll post with some more random musings later.