 |
| Let’s just pretend the flag says “2011” ok? |
Hey guys! Welcome to the second part of the AMJ/EoA Flagpole Music Awards Cross-Over Postathon! You can check out our comments on the first ten categories over on Echoreyn of Athens’ blog.
We hope you like it and remember to vote, vote, vote for your favorite local acts! EoA’s comments are first, followed by mine.
Americana
Favorite: Don Chambers + GOAT
Favored to win:Packway Handle Band
I love Don Chambers. Possibly because he sounds so much like Tom Waits to me. But Packway Handle is, as Echoreyn pointed out, a crowd favorite. They’re a ton of fun and pretty well known to boot.
Favorite: Write in Shitty Candy
Favored to Win: Reeks of Failure
I really don’t understand why everyone seems to avoid Shitty Candy. They’re punk and downright hilarious. A bit lewd as well but hey, it’s punk!
Favorite: Lefty Hathaway Band
Favored to Win: Mama’s Love
Ditto to the above statement. As for the crowd favorite, Mama’s Love is more than capable of launching a voting campaign to win this thing.
Favorite: Futurebirds
Favored to Win: Futurebirds
Yeah.
shows that I’d say their chances aren’t too shabby.
Favored to win: Harvey Milk
Have you heard the Milk’s latest?! I’m not much for metal but even someone like me can get into Harvey Milk. They blow this category away.
Upstart
Favorite: Write in BombsBombsBombs
Favored to Win: PowerKompany
PowerKompany has name recognition behind them but I’m tossing my vote to BombsBombsBombs. Pretty fun rock pop stuff with a hell of a lot of shows played in the past year. They were on the calendar listing almost every other week. Sheer vote for insanity.
Favorite: Write in Misfortune500
Favored to win: Reptar
Who couldn’t see that one coming? When you can work merch for a band for 20 odd concerts and still not be tired of seeing them, that’s a pretty damn good live act. For me anyway. But how does E6 qualify as a single live band? It’s a freakin collective!
Favorite: write in The Humms – Lemonland
Favored to win: Elf Power – Elf Power
The Humms had the best album of the year. Period. Exclamation point. Dead Confederate’s “Sugar” was more like “Splenda” and of Montreal’s latest was pretty weak. I would hope Grape Soda or Five Eight would get a nod for their tight albums but if I have to go with my gut on this one, I think Elf Power will take it away.
My pick for best cover art is Maserati’s Pyramids cover. The structural word design is simple yet intriguing.
It’s really hard to do an album cover right, especially if you have a band member on it. By turning the photo upside down, playing with the saturation, and keeping you looking to both sides instead of the middle, Monahan’s “Stop Saying I” is one of the few photo records you can say is awesome.
Moof. Man, there was a lot of great stuff going on this year. My vote for 2011’s Artist of the Year is for Reptar. The band practically exploded in the past 7 months, going from house parties to SXSW in mere months. The record kicks ass, the shows kick ass, and they kick ass. Great job guys!
athensmusicjunkie.com 