Newspaper Page Text
MIKE WHITE deadiydesigns.com
MUSIC NEWS AND GOSSIP
There's a lot to read this week, so get to
reading. No. not this sentence, but the ones
below. Yes, those down there...
No Words: I am quite saddened to report that
former Athens resident and longtime musician
Josh Pitcock passed away from stomach can
cer at 5:15 a.m. on Jan. 26. I first met Josh
in the mid-1990s when he was a freshman at
UGA and was playing music with another for
mer Athenian, Matt Billings, in the impossibly
named noise band Nipples for Days. He went
on to play under other names after the project
fizzled in 2002 and was never just messing
about with his music. He took noise seriously
and, as his old friend D. J. Hammond puts it,
"With him it was all mathematical." My heart
goes out to all who knew and loved him. Most
recently Josh lived in Decatur, GA. He was 34
years old.
I Say It Here, It Comes Out There: It seems
like only three weeks ago I was publicly wish
ing that El Hollin would finish its new record
and, well, now it's done. The 16-track album
titled Hurry Up Already Poppy is a simply
textured and darkly colored bedroom pop
record that will be available for a mere dollar
the American Liszt Society, please visit www.
americanlisztsociety.net.
Bits and Bytes: On-again/off-again Athenian
Robert Gunn, who first came to tiny town
fame via his old band. An Epic at Best, back
in the middle of the last decade, dumped a
bunch of demos onto the Internet a couple of
weeks ago. Although, personally, I prefer his
piano playing to his guitar work (and most
of these songs feature him playing guitar),
it's a decent collection of sketches recorded
over the past couple of years between Athens,
Macon and Aix-en-Provence, France. Give 'em a
listen at www.robertgunn.bandcamp.com.
Y Dawn of New Melodies: Five Eight will
release its long-awaited LP on Mar. 29. Titled
Your God Is Dead to Me Now, it is the first Five
Eight album since 1997's Gasolina to feature
drummer Patrick Ferguson and guitarist Sean
Dunn. Although it's coming out on local label
Iron Horse Records, the band has launched
a fundraising effort via Indie GoGo because,
in the words of the band, "[They've] still got
expenses [they] incurred while recording the
record, as well as the additional expense of
promoting and distributing it." Now, riddle
per download if the Athens Horse Party label
can successfully fund its current Kickstarter
campaign. I suspect, though, that even if the
campaign fails, the record v/ill wind up being
available for download eventually. Until that
download becomes available, you may stream
the entire thing over at www.elhollin.band-
camp.com, and there's a link on that page to
donate to the cause, too.
To Do Liszt: To celebrate the 200th birthday of
Hungarian pianist and comooser Franz Liszt,
the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at UGA will
host the American Liszt Society Bicentennial
Festival. The event will happen Feb. 17-19,
and the school will host approximately 60 dif
ferent performers and lecturers. Headlining the
event is Thomas Hampson. who will perform
a new work by William Bolcom on Feb. 18 at
8 p.m. Bolcom was awarded a Pulitzer Prize
in 1988 for his masterful 12 New Etudes for
Piano. Registration for the festival costs $140
for the general public and includes a schedule
of 23 events. For a full event schedule and
more information, please see www.uga.edu/
music/lisztfest2010. To learn more about
me this: What good is being on a label if they
won't or can't promote and distribute your
record? It probably would have been better if
the band just released the record itself, but if
you're interested in helping out, please visit
www.indiegogo.com/Five-Eight-Your-God-is-
Dead-to-Me-Now.
Make a Thing: Timi Conley (Fuzzy Sprouts,
Kite to the Moon) wants you to be involved
in his newest music video project. You're
gonna have to do more than just show up
somewhere, though. The track, "Soul Mate,"
is self-described as "a shiny, happy, little
super dance jam about being with someone
you love," and Conley wants you to create a
piece of artwork, photo or very short video
(2-10 seconds) that illustrates your concept
of what a "soul mate" is. It's totally open-
ended, so do your thing and send it to him via
kitetothemoon@gmail.com. Any questions?
Ask him via that address. No, you don't get to
hear the song first, so don't ask him that. He's
saving it as a surprise. Seriously.
Gordon Lamb threatsandpromises@flagpole.com
(283 W. Washington St. • Downtown Athens)
Finalists Compete!
NO FINALE EVENTS
Saturday, Feb. 19 th
at the 40 Watt Club
40 Cent - 40 Watt
Clusterphunk - Hendershot's
Gears for Fears - Sunshine Cycles
9:30 Clusterphunk / Hendershot's
10:00 The McCommunists / Flagpole (FINALIST)
10:45 Gear for Fears / Sunshine Cycles
11:00 80# Cougar / Bel-Jean Copy & Print (FINALIST)
11:45 Musician's Warehouse Guitar Raffle
12:00 The One-Hitters / Volo (FINALIST)
12:45 40 Cent / 40 Watt Club
1:00 Presentation of Special Awards
1:30 Announcement of 2011 Athens Business Rocks Winner
a
benefit for Nug's Space
Flagpole Magazine -
The McCommunists
Bel-Jean Copy
& Print Center -
80# Cougar
Volo Trading -
^he One-Hitters
Plus Special Encore Performances ay
SI! ENT AUCTION ITEMS fSOM 908H9 BUSINESSES
MUSICIAN’S WAREHOUSE GUITAR RAFFIE
!!! CROWNING OF THE 2011
ATHENS BUSINESS ROCNS WINNER!
visit our ,website for details
WWW
ocks.com
FEBRUARY 16, 2011 • FLAGPOLE.COM 15
