Catching Up With... America the Beautiful's Darryl Roberts
When filmmaker Darryl Roberts began his exploration of the definition of "real beauty," he intended the project to take six months. What it turned into was a five-year pursuit... read more
Skeletons, Sarah Palin star in annual Little Five Points Halloween Parade
[Above: Skeletons created by the Krewe of Grateful Gluttons march in the parade.]Growing up, I always thought it was strange that the Little Five Points Halloween Parade didn’t happen at night. And now I wonder why it takes place on an early Saturday (this year, Oct. 18) and not on the actual holiday. Either way, the early date and daylight time-slot are really the least strange things about this cult event.... read more
Live Review: The Renegades (Black Lips), The Stolen Minks, Goodnight Loving, Jack of Heart @ The Earl 10/16/08
“The last time we played these songs, I couldn’t grow facial hair,” bassist Jared Swilley joked as PBR cans flew over the heads of the packed house at the Earl, where he and his Black Lips bandmates reconvened as The Renegades for a somewhat-secret show last Thursday night.... read more
Informer:Atlanta 10/21/08
Welcome to Informer:Atlanta! Each Tuesday, we bring you the very best in the coming week's music, film and culture events in and around Atlanta. Think we missed something? Wanna tip us off to something cool over the horizon? Let us know! All events are recommended, but italics indicate an editor's pick. (L) indicates local artists.... read more
Watershed Restaurant celebrates 10th anniversary Southern style
Co-owned by the Indigo Girls' Emily Sailers and award-winning chef Scott Peacock, Decatur's Watershed Restaurant has become a hallmark of gourmet Southern charm over the past decade. And on Monday, Oct. 27, Watershed will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a traditional Southern barbecue helmed by Pitmaster Jimmy Hagood of Charleston, S.C.'s BlackJack Barbecue. It'll be like an old-fashioned harvest festival with games and bluegrass entertainment, not to mention Chef Peacock's own legendary victuals.... read more
Live Review: Manchester Orchestra, Lowry @ Star Bar 10/16/08
[Above: Manchester Orchestra's Andy Hull]Onstage, Manchester Orchestra mixes the captivating vocals and compelling arrangements of its records with hardcore guitar and screaming, as lead singer Andy Hull abandons his sweet, high tenor for larynx-wrenching wails. I could listen to his on-record singing voice for hours and be happier for it, but last night all I could think was what a shame it was.... read more
Win $5 tickets to see Ryan Adams & the Cardinals at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre tomorrow night!
Update: We still have a few more pairs left! Email atlanta@pastemagazine.com before 2:45 p.m. today (Friday, Oct. 17) to claim yours.Paste:Local has 15 pairs of $5 tickets to give away for tomorrow night's Cardinals show (featuring Ryan Adams, Neal Casal, Chris Feinstein, Jon Graboff and Brad Pemberton) at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park. The Paste cover guy and his crew are passing through on tour in support of their new album, Cardinology, out later this month. Details after the jump.... read more
Superlative scarecrows take over Atlanta Botanical Garden
[Above: Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” as a scarecrow.]It’s fall in Atlanta. Do you know how I know? I’ve been drinking a lot of high-gravity beer, soup seems more appetizing and thousands of Atlanta-based University of Georgia grads spend Saturdays drunk in the Classic City. Also, there are scarecrows in the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Yeah, I buried the lead. Say something.... read more
Black Lips to play The Earl as The Renegades tonight
It's rare for the The Earl's calendar page to sport no description whatsoever for a particular night's event. But the listing for tonight's show doesn't explain anything because, by all rights, the headlining band doesn't exist. That's right: The Renegades, a semi-fictional band portrayed by the members of Black Lips in the forthcoming Athens-centric film Let It Be, will put on a show tonight, accompanied by Jack of Heart, The Goodnight Loving and The Stolen Minks. (According to some, a few Black Lips folks briefly played in a local Atlanta band called the Renegades, but whether that act has any... read more
Live Photos: All Night Drug Prowling Wolves, Giant Tiger, The Weight @ Star Bar 10/10/08
On the verge of making their trip to CMJ in New York, Atlanta's All Night Drug Prowling Wolves celebrated the release of their CD Friday night at the Star Bar. They were joined by the Chattanooga, Tenn., rockers Giant Tiger, as well as by Brooklyn band The Weight. Affection abounded (apparently). Catch All Night Drug Prowling Wolves at the Star Bar again on Saturday, when they play a free, outdoors show at 5 p.m. during the Little Five Points Halloween Parade.... read more
Live Photos: Say Hi, Jukebox the Ghost, Sleep Therapy @ Drunken Unicorn 10/8/08
[Above: Sleep Therapy]Atlanta's own Sleep Therapy opened for Washington, D.C.'s Jukebox the Ghost and Seattle's Say Hi (formerly Say Hi To Your Mom) when they passed through town last week, and our photographer was on the scene.... read more
Informer:Atlanta 10/14/08
Welcome to Informer:Atlanta! Each Tuesday, we bring you the very best in the coming week's music, film and culture events in and around Atlanta. Think we missed something? Wanna tip us off to something cool over the horizon? Let us know! All events are recommended, but italics indicate an editor's pick. (L) indicates local artists.... read more
See the Magnetic Fields live at Paste this Friday!
Are you curious to see if Stephin Merritt's voice resonates in a small room with no amplification? Do you live within driving distance of Decatur, Ga.? Then enter to win a chance for you and a guest to sit in on a recording session with Magnetic Fields frontman Merritt, live in the Paste Studio this Friday, Oct. 17 at 2:15 p.m.... read more
Catching Up With... P is For Panda's Chad Pearson
[Above: Artist Brian Manley at P is For Panda's launch party at the Highland Inn Ballroom July 25.]In a climate of falling record sales and shifting industry standards, starting a new record label can be quite a gamble. But upstart Atlanta indie label (and t-shirt company) P Is For Panda is doing just that with a new business model that balances giving back to the community with artist and label profit. Panda founder Chad Pearson, a native of Papua New Guinea, spent a short time at Seattle’s Tooth and Nail Records and co-founded Militia Group before relocating to Atlanta. He... read more
Criminal Records on the move in L5P
Hot on the heels of Ella Guru's relocation from North Druid Hills to Inman Park, Criminal Records, one of Paste's best record stores in America, is calling it quits on Moreland Ave. and moving a whopping two-tenths of a mile away (according to Google Maps) to a larger space on Euclid Avenue. No more stumbling right out of Aurora Coffee or Junkman's Daughter into Casa Crim, it seems. Oh well. To celebrate its lengthy journey, Criminal will host its last in-store performance tonight at 7 p.m. with It's Casual. The event is free and all-ages.... read more
Sopo Bike Co-op celebrates three years of pedal mettle
Atlanta’s Sopo Bicycle Cooperative turns three years old this month, an accomplishment that is in no way unrelated to the friendly, educational and economical services the shop offers for local bicycle freaks and fools alike. They'll celebrate in style at their Cogtail Party Saturday, Oct. 11, at WonderRoot with local musical acts The Thieves and Herman Put Down the Gun, and Brooklyn’s The Shondes. I visited Sopo for the first time a few weeks ago after mulling over the idea of adopting the bike for several weeks. Since my commute to work is less than two miles, the time seemed... read more
Gringo Star: All Y'all
Atlanta band captures spirit of live act on debut LPThe phrase "all y'all," like the opposite of the royal "we," suggests an inclusive universality in a distinctly Southern manner. In the same way, Gringo Star (the recent reformulation of longtime local favorites A Fir-Ju Well) manages something much greater than the sum of its parts on All Y'all, its full-length debut, which builds upon the reputation of its explosive live performances and boasts nothing but promise.... read more
Informer:Atlanta 10/7/08
Welcome to Informer:Atlanta! Each Tuesday, we bring you the very best in the coming week's music, film and culture events in and around Atlanta. Think we missed something? Wanna tip us off to something cool over the horizon? Let us know! All events are recommended, but italics indicate an editor's pick. (L) indicates local artists.... read more
Live Review: Atlanta Eighties Punk Reunion @ The Masquerade 10/4/08
[Above: The Swimming Pool Q's, shown here playing in downtown Atlanta in the early '80s, performed at the Masquerade Saturday night.] Full disclosure: I am not the city’s leading expert in the ways of punk. I discovered punk as a seventh grader in the early 1980s, first through new wave bands like Blondie and Devo, then later through a local Macon band called Vex. As high schoolers, my friends and I moved on to shows by local Atlanta and Athens bands, and then to records by more established national bands: Black Flag, Social Distortion, The Ramones, Dead Kennedys. And though... read more
My Night as Simon Cowell: Judging the Disc Makers Independent Music World Series
[Above: Act of Congress, one of the evening's performers.] Last month I served as a judge at the Southeast Regional Finals of Disc Makers’ Independent Music World Series, and if there’s one thing I can report to you from the trenches of Unsignedbandville, population 100 gazillion, it’s that optimism reigns supreme.... read more

Download Harper Blynn's "Centrifugal Motion"
