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Show pick of the day: Classic Bastards @ Caledonia Lounge

With their Myspace assuring you “you will literally love us to death” need I say more?

Sure, Classic Bastards are a little…odd —but that’s what makes them so charming. Their funk-metal is captivating; the kind of way watching Jerry Springer is entertaining. You don’t want to admit you’ve spent an hour watching some guy’s babymamma pull the hair out of the another girl’s head, but still found yourself yelling at the TV when the paternity test was announced. The Bastards will be providing their shameless entertainment tomorrow at Caledonia Lounge to welcome in their latest album Literally.

The Who to play Super Bowl XLIV?

There have been a lot of Who/Super Bowl rumors flying lately.  Sources have said that the British rockers will be this year's featured halftime act, but The Who have so far denied any plans to perform.  But Rolling Stone reported yesterday that an anonymous source has confirmed the performance.

Its expected that the official announcement of halftime performers will come from the NFL on Thanksgiving Day.  A show from The Who would fit in with the classic rock trend of recent years; last year's halftime show came courtesy of Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band.

MTV buys rights to "This Is It"

MTV just scored the rights to air the Michael Jackson movie "This Is It" on any of its affiliated networks starting in 2011. "This Is It" features footage of the King of Pop rehearsing for what would have been his comeback tour.

The deal between MTV and Sony Pictures Entertainment will allow "This Is It" to be shown on all MTV, VHI and BET channels for six years.

Open Mic Series 2: THE FINALS!

After several weeks of duking it out, Athens Blur and Rye Bar's Open Mic Series 2 has its finalists: Chris Nekvinda, Cody Hagler, Woody Garrison, Lily of the Suburbs and Michael Ellers.

We're taking a little break for the holidays, but we'll be back on Monday, November 30 when the five finalists will leave it all out on the stage in the battle to be named winner of Open Mic Series 2 and receive the ultimate prize.

So enjoy your thanks-filled holiday and get plenty of rest during your turkey-induced sleep because you'll need it for the party that is going down on finals night!

Jay-Z Cancels Last Leg of Tour

Jigga What?

The Blue Print 3’s innovator, Jay-Z, has abruptly canceled the remainder of his tour across several U.S. college campuses and arenas which was slated to wrap up on November 22 in Austin, Texas.

Other shows scheduled for Tuesday in Lubbock, Texas, Thursday in Alberquerque, N.M. and  Friday in El Paso, Texas have all been erased from Hova’s “to-do” list and here’s the zinger—No explanation for the cancellations have been given except that there was a scheduling conflict.

What exactly this conflict was has not been specified and Mtv reported that Jay-Z’s rep Jana Fleishman nor a spokesperson from Live Nation would comment on the matter.

Velvet Underground to reunite for "Live from the NYPL"

New York City's '60s darlings The Velvet Underground plan to make a very special and highly anticipated joint appearance on Tuesday, Dec. 8 for the "Live from the New York Public Library" series.

The famed band — whose name appears as a musical influence for just about anyone making good music today — will be interviewed about its five year stint atop the NYC rock movement.  Frontman Lou Reed, Maureen "Mo" Tucker, David Fricke and Doug Yule will represent the band for this special appearance.

New venue lives up to name

Some of Athens greatest charms are the quaint restaurants and bars found in itss beautiful downtown. Pick any day of the week and you can stumble upon an open mic night, live bands or just a good spot to have a beer.

But, Athens has just upped the ante. What is soon becoming one of our most notable venues; The Rialto Room has all the ingredients for a great night out. Its classy and ambient atmosphere is a nice change from a rowdy group of college kids, and its friendly staff will leave you feeling pampered all night.

Lady Gaga's Take On A Love Song: "Bad Romance" Video

The music world is having a little bit of Lady Gaga overload. Gaga's collaboration with Beyonce on "Telephone" quickly followed "Bad Romance," and it may be stealing its spotlight. But, Bad Romance is not to be overlooked.

Truth is, the image of a hanging, bloody Lady Gaga at the VMA awards is hard to get out of mind ... but the Gaga has a heart (a real, feeling one) and it looks like she's ready to show it (kind of). Bad Romance seems about as close as Gaga fans are going to get from their beloved disco-pop diva, and I don't see anyone complaining. Had she slowed it down anymore than she did in "Bad Romance," it wouldn't be Gaga-fied and might even — gasp — be boring.

Seeing as The Lady Gaga is NEVER boring — in fact she usually incorporates some kind of shock factor in everyone song, video and musical performance —"Bad Romance's" music video is, for lack of a better word, completely gaga. Artisically done, "Bad Romance" takes a new twist on Gaga's previous electro-hits.

Artist of the Day: The Shaky Hands

Portland, Ore. is a breeding grounds for indie bands — scruffy-faced, guitar-playing dudes in flannel abound.  So what about The Shaky Hands sets them apart from the rest of the pack? It's a mixture of frontman Nicholas Delffs' rattly vocals and the band's lo-fi, upbeat tunes that makes you want to listen to The Shaky Hand's on repeat.

Formed in Portland in 2003, the group self-released its first album, The Skidmore Days. The album was recorded in a basement and was the first step in making a name for The Shaky Hands in the Portland music scene.

Flash Mob Does Janet Jackson

Okay, in all honesty, this is a less than awesome flash mob. The numbers are small, the element of surprise is lost in the set up, and some of the dancers are down right scary (read: flailing, large men). But besides the failed attempt at being an awesome flash mob, they did grab the attention of the lady of the day, Janet Jackson.

A medley of Janet dance moves put to some of Janet's greatest hits completed the flash mob in The Grove in Los Angeles. The only impressive thing about this particular flash mob is the smile that plastered Janet's face as she watched the entire thing from a balcony on the street.

Watch the Janet Jackson flash mob below:

The Strokes Top NME's Best of Decade List

The UK’s popular music magazine NME or New Musical Express have released their picks for the top 100 albums of the decade. 

The Strokes’ debut album Is This It (2001) took the top spot while The Libertines’ Up the Bracket and Primal Scream’s XTRMNTR took the second and third spot.

The albums were decided on by a panel of different music experts that included musicians, producers, writers and bosses of record labels. 

Beyonce and Lady Gaga's 'Video Phone' (parental discretion advised)

What happens when two of the most entertaining divas in popular music get together for a music video? Apparenty, a whole lotta booty shakin’.


But if you can see past Beyonce’s erotic dance moves, Video Phone (directed by Hype Williams) has some impressive references. Beyonce’s slow walk forward in the beginning is a obvious homage to Reservoir Dogs.

Norah Jones in new form

Norah Jones’ latest release The Fall shows the sultry singer, guitarist and pianist in a new light, one that's quite flattering.

The new album showcases a new band—without bass player and ex- boyfriend Lee Alexander. It also depicts a different piano playing style than Jones is known for—a style a little less present.

Bob Dylan debuts "Must Be Santa" video

Bob Dylan's first ever holiday album, Christmas in the Heart, may seem a little out of character for the historically anti-establishment musician, but he's putting his own spin on December 25th.  The video for the song "Must be Santa" is not the traditional heart warming holiday scene. You can watch it here and see for yourself.

Featuring Dylan in a long blonde wig and top hat, the video is a raucous polka party.  The partygoers dance to accordion music in a house full of disheveled decorations and a bartending Dylan.  But there's no sign of Santa amidst all this yuletide revelry until the very end of the video. 

Oasis returning under new name & without Noel Gallagher

Remember back in August when Noel Gallagher shocked no one by finally quitting Oasis? Noel and his brother Liam — notorious for bickering and airing their grievances with each other in the media — fronted a band known as much for its music as for its feuding. A pre-show argument over a guitar was the straw that finally broke Oasis' back.

Not one to stay out of the news for long, Liam announced on an Italian radio show last week that he is still working with all of Oasis' members, excluding Noel, and the band will soon be back performing live under a new name.

Open Mic TONIGHT!!

The second round of The Athens Blur Magazine and Rye Bar's Epic Open Mic Night continues tonight! The five week series takes place at Rye Bar at 140 Clayton St. downtown (below Helix). Tonight's show starts at 9:30.

Six solo and duo acts will perform three-song sets and duke it out for a chance to move on to the finals. Each act will be scored by three judges from the Athens music community. The scores depend on vocal ability, instrumental ability, songwriting and performance. The winner will be awarded with a final 30 minute victory set and a chance to compete in the finals.

So come out to Rye Bar and support local musicians. Entry is free and there will be lots of good music!

See you there!

Dan Deacon hospitalized, cancels shows

Dan Deacon, known for his crowd-participation-centric live shows, has canceled the last five dates on his North American tour due to back problems.  Deacon was hospitalized and diagnosed with acute sciatica last week.

Live Show Review: Minus the Bear

With a penchant for weird song and album titles "You Kill Bugs Good, Man", They Make Beer Commercials Like This), you might expect Minus the Bear's live show to be a little quirky. This wasn't the case when the five piece indie rockers played the 40 Watt on Thursday night.

The band played its guitar-driven, electo-tinged with no gimmicks.  The consistently good music needed no help to take the crowd by storm. After taking the stage, MTB broke into "Knight" from its 2007 album Planet Ice, and the concertgoers' fists starting pumping. 

Live Show Review: The Antlers

It's not all that often that concertgoers go to a show to see the opening band. But at the 40 Watt last night, that was the case. While people were excited to see headliners Minus the Bear, there was also a big crowd looking forward to the performance from Brooklyn trio The Antlers. 

The Antlers went on at 11 o'clock, following local band Twin Tigers. "Kettering" from The Antlers' latest release Hospice opened the set, starting out as quiet keys and vocals showcase of frontman Peter Silberman's delicate voice and meandering through about five minutes of The Antler's indie rock instrumentals.  With fellow Antlers Michael Lerner (drums, percussion) and Darby Cicci (keys, trumpet, banjo), Silberman pumped out well-crafted songs to support his captivating songwriting.

Look Who's in the Studio!

They released their fourteenth studio album in 2008 entitled, Accelerate, they released a live album, Live at The Olympia, in 2009 and they even made their own documentary. Now, Athens-bred superstars R.E.M. have been reported as being back in the studio working on their follow-up to Accelerate, or their fifteenth studio album . . wow.

R.E.M. will work again with Grammy Award winning producer Jacknife Lee who also collaborated on Accelerate.

Live Music in the Classic City: Friday, Nov. 13 and Saturday, Nov. 14

Friday the 13th:

40 Watt
www.40watt.com
A. Armada, Melt-Banana
Doors: 9 PM

Caledonia Lounge
www.caledonialounge.com 
The Black Hollies, Bryan Scary, Hallelujah the Hills
Doors: 10 PM

Tasty World Uptown
www.myspace.com/tastyworlduptown
Blackbelt Patriots, Moon Taxi
Doors: 10 PM

Rye Bar
www.myspace.com/ryebarathens
Blues Affliction
Doors: 10 PM

Flicker Theatre & Bar
www.myspace.com/flickerbar
Nate Nelson, Thayer Sarrano
Doors: 9 PM

Rialto Room
www.therialtoroom.com
Shawn Mullins
Doors: 7 PM

Go Bar
www.myspace.com/gobar
Night Nurses, Summer Hymns, The Visitations
Doors: 10 PM

The Melting Point
www.meltingpointathens.com
Stewart & Winfield Band
Doors: 9 PM

Little Kings Shuffle Club 
www.myspace.com/littlekingsshuffleclub
Timi Conley: CD Release Party for Nerd Sexy
Doors: 8 PM

New Earth Music Hall 
www.newearthmusichall.com
Pigs on the Wing (Pink Floyd Cover Band)
Doors: 9 PM

Slots Available For Monday, Nov 16 OPEN MIC SERIES!

There are still slots available in this coming Monday, November 16, Open Mic. This is the last week in the series and spots are filling up fast. So what are you waiting for? This is your opportunity to get heard, so don’t let it pass you by! Information on how to be a part of Athens Blur Magazine and Rye Bar's Open Mic Night below. 

Interested? Send the following:
1. Name
2. Phone #
3. Email 
4. Name of your act
5. Instrumentation
6. One sentence description of your music 
to The Athens Blur Magazine at athensblur@gmail.com. There will also be a $5 submission fee collected on the night of your performance. 

Each act will play a three song set and based on the judges scores, a winner will be announced at the end of the night. Winners from Nov 16 and the previous weeks will battle for the overall winners spot in finals week. The finals winner will receive:

- A $200 cash prize

- A 3 track EP recorded at Sugarbuzz Studios

- Weekend headline show at Rye Bar

- Coverage in The Athens Blur Magazine

 ---Not a musician? That’s ok. Come to support your fellow Athenians and spread the word to your friends. You never know---There might be a hidden rockstar sitting right next to you!

This content is solely the property of The Athens Blur Magazine and may not be re-produced without expressed written consent. The Athens Blur Magazine is an 8 issue/year music & variety publication proud to be based in the Classic City of Athens, Ga. For more information, please contact editorial@athensblur.com

Artist of the Day: Sydney Wayser

Just 23 years old , Sydney Wayser’s talent is way beyond her years. The multi-instrumentalist, who rendezvoused in Paris during the summers growing up, brings her cultured experience to her music.

Her French father and American mother encouraged the singer/songwriter to investigate her creativity , and introduced her to some of Paris’ finest. Her knowledge and appreciation of French and American way of life bloomed into a multitude of interests, including film, ballet and literature. Her music, however, was always steadfast.

Show Pick of the Day: Minus the Bear at the 40 Watt Club

Musician Brian Eno described ambience as music that is "actively listened to with attention or as easily ignored, depending on the choice of the listener", and exists on the "cusp between melody and texture."

If you want to know exactly what Mr. Eno is talking about, then check out Minus the Bear tonight at the 40 Watt Club.  Hailing from Seattle, Washington, these guys are a perfect example of ambience in the 21^st Century and create an atmosphere of intriguing electronic blends.