Look, we know we throw a lot of new music at you. We also know that not everyone who comes to this site has the time to be as involved with or informed about the local scene as maybe they’d like to be. So for those casual readers who either can’t or have no interest in keeping up with the parade of artists we try to cover, who may not know the difference between Bitter and Biters, we have created our TRIPLE THREAT feature. The premise is simple: Every Friday our writers will put their heads together and come up with three tracks that grabbed our attention over that week. Then we tell you why the songs are great and worth listening to. That’s it. Maybe some weeks we’ll have a guest commentator come in and share their favorites, but the format will always remain the same: three songs, some words, and we out. Enjoy.
Warning Light – “Gloworming Through the Southern Skies”
From the upcoming LP, At the End of the Road
Composer Drew Haddon has been recording and releasing music as Warning Light with unnerving consistency since 2003, and it really makes you wonder what the Atlanta musical landscape would look and sound like without his nebulous drones and pulsing motorik beats. His upcoming LP is titled At the End of the Road, which has an ominous tinge to it, especially when Haddon cops to the album being about the “inevitability of endings, and how those endings create space for something new.” Hopefully this is all metaphorical rather than a gleam of the not so distant future, but regardless let’s all take some time to revel in the brooding tension and static hum of “Gloworming Through the Southern Skies.” For the uninitiated, it’s perhaps the ideal balance of Warning Light’s sublime yet shadowy sensibilities—half neurotic electronica, half silver-streaked dreamscape. – Guillermo Castro
At the End of the Road is out Oct. 26 via Stickfigure Recordings.
More Info
Bandcamp: warninglight.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @warninglight
SoundCloud: @warning-light
The Compartmentalizationalists – “Cover Me in Your Filth”
Written and recorded for an upcoming feature film
To an outsider, the oeuvre of composer and multi-instrumentalist Jeffrey Bützer unfolds like the contents of a dusty trunk in the attic. Each object speaks of a different phase in the owner’s life—ticket stubs to art museums, crushed hats, wrinkly souvenir tees, broken sunglasses, overdeveloped rolls of film. Even Bützer’s revolving band the Compartmentalizationalists leaves a mixed trail of detritus, although busted guitars and sepia tones suit them in most cases. But “Cover Me in Your Filth” roars out of the clutter like a refurnished hot rod — definitely old, definitely prone to sputter and stall, and yet still definitely new. The fresh blood might stem from guest vocalist Scotty Hoffman and Sean Zearfoss, aka one half of the mirror maze horrors Small Reactions; Bützer’s dust and the duo’s gasoline combine and combust into a volatile romp, the sort of turbulent pop songs that Frank Black could once pen with ease as Black Francis. The Bandcamp page hints at an upcoming movie as the chassis for this jet engine, so who knows if Bützer will rocket forward on this vibe. But I’d gladly catch that ride, if this form of the Compartmentalizationalists comes around again. – Lee Adcock
More Info
Bandcamp: jeffreybutzer.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @jeffrey.butzer
Tony Shhnow – “All White”
From the standalone single
Oh, you were waiting for some sort of introduction? Nah, son. Tony Shhnow is just going to backflip into this beat right off the jump. Dude sounds so casual and cool, you half expect to turn and find him right behind you, whispering these bars into your ear. Everything about this joint—Shhnow’s effortless demeanor, the relentlessly catchy sing-song verses, SensaiATL’s woozy yet methodical production—reeks of late-night blunt smoke and half-cocked studio sessions that somehow result in a cut that’s magically low-key yet spry. Over flashing synths and hard-knocking beats, Shhnow raps about everything from Terry Crews to Kris Kross, but it’s those all white diamonds that remain foremost in his mind. – Avery Shepherd
More Info
Instagram: @tonyshhnow
SoundCloud: @tonyshhnow
Twitter: @tonyshhnow