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SHANNON McMORLAND FOLEY
MUSIC NEWS AND GOSSIP
Our sympathies go out to all who knew Philip
Walden, Jr. who died in a freak car accident
Tuesday, June 7. Walden, the son of Capricorn
Records founder Phil Walden, was instrumen
tal in the careers of several Georgia artists
including Widespread Panic, Hayride and
Pylon. Capricorn, originally based in Macon,
GA and known best as the home of the Allman
Brothers and Southern Rock in general, was
relaunched in the 1990s. Most recently he was
working as an attorney in Atlanta. He was 48
years old and is survived by his wife and four
children. We would like to welcome anyone
who knew Walden and would like to write
a tribute to him to submit such to music@
flagpole.com, and we'll gladly publish these
tributes online at Flagpole.com.
Double Dare: Seasoned noise-'n'-pop maestro
Thom Strickland (Smokedog) has been record
ing himself pretty continually for the past sev
eral years and has compiled nine tracks into
an album titled M Schenker Schledium, which
translates roughly into "the medium-sized
penis of UFO and Scorpions guitarist Michael
Schenker." The curious amalgam of early
Sonic Youth, Suicide and Beefheartian blues
is available as a free download over at www.
thomstrickland.bandcamp.com. In other news,
Strickland has been sorting through hundreds
of hours of his recordings and is reportedly
toying with the idea of releasing, on his home
label CD-AURA, a series of MP3-discs that
would run between 10 and 12 hours each. This
is either a pure outpouring of love or a severe
case of having no internal editor. But, hell,
if Robert Pollard can get away with it why
can't Strickland?
New Old Stock: Local superfans Daniel Peiken
and Hunter Hoskins, via their Analogue
Records label, will release a 7-inch record
from the long-running Bloodkin on June 25.
The two-song release is the first 7-inch record
from the band and is appropriately titled The
Bloodkin 45. Recorded live to two-inch tape by
David Barbe at Chase Park Transduction then
mixed down to half-inch tape, the recording
notably had zero computers involved in its
creation. The A-side is a track named "Mark
Fidrych & Evel Knievel," but fans will likely be
more interested in the B-side, "Henry Parsons
Died." Bloodkin wrote the song about 22
years ago and Widespread Panic covered it on
its 1993 album Everyday, but Bloodkin has
never released its own version until now. The
Bloodkin 45 is available for pre-order now at
www.analoguerecords.com. For more informa
tion, please see www.bloodkin.net.
Book 'em, Vego: Several artists interesting
to local audiences and others will play the
anniversary weekend of Atlanta's Buckhead
Theatre July 29 & 30. The historic Atlanta
location has proven an attractive step up for
local bands that have the ability to rise just
above clubland. Featured performers playing
this weekend include Jason Isbell and the
400 Unit, Jonny Comdawg, Trances Arc,
Little Tybee, Futurebirds, Drivin' N' Cryin',
The District Attorneys, Baby Baby, Witches,
Abby Gogo, Madeline, Gift Horse, The Julia
Dream, Tedo Stone, Turf War and one of my
old favorites, Kitty Snyder. Tickets are $25
for July 29 and $15 for July 30. Schedules and
other information can be found over at www.
thebuckheadtheatre.com.
V All Together Now: The first full-band full-
length release from Efren, Rise on Up and
Melt, comes out June 28, but the band will
toast its release at the group's "unAthFest"
show at the Georgia Bar on Friday, June 24.
Formerly a solo happening by
Scott Leon-O'Day (AKA "Scott
Low"), Efren's popularity soared
after reviews, multiple live shows
and word-of-mouth emboldened
the project following 2009's
Thunder and Moan. For more infor
mation on Athens' sleeper hit,
please see www.efrenmusic.com.
La Violence de L'Oliveras: Local
hard rock band Manray seems to
be quickly shedding its "math
rock" armor in favor of a more
expansive palette of melodic heavy
rock. But, if I'm being totally
honest, this change is probably
only evident to those who've wit
nessed the band since its incep
tion. Newcomers will likely still
hear a slew of "math rock" in its
sound. You can judge for yourself
when the band releases its newly
recorded, as-yet-untitled LP this
September on Hello Sir Records. The band
has been running sessions with engineer Joel
Hatstat (www.joelhatstataudio.com) and Mike
Albanese (Cinemechanica), and after the
album is released Manray plans to hit the road.
For now, find the band over at www.facebook.
com/Manray.band.
Office Blues: For the past four months, The
Shadow Executives have been the house band
and host of the Blues Jam every Thursday
at the Office Lounge at 2245 Jefferson Rd.
(Homewood Hills Shopping Center). Typically,
the band performs a 30-40 minute opening
set at 8:30 p.m. and then invites musicians
from the audience to come up and showcase
their stuff. The Shadow Executives (Kenneth
"KB" Brawner, Adam Funk, Paul Scales and
Brett Tatnall) specialize in "electric Chicago-
style blues and shuffle tunes," and, so f3r,
each week has seen a good amount of audi
ence participation. The weekly event is free,
and you can grab more information over at
www.facebook.com/theshadowexecutives and
www.facebook.com/OfficeAthens.
Gordon Lamb threatsandpromises@flagpole.com
Sprockets 2011
ATHens’ ou/n music video
comPETinon RETUROS
fSSflflffli Sprockets, Athens'annual
flaUllai music video competition,
holds its inaugural screening. 2005: YouTube
is launched. This is what is commonly referred
to as being "ahead of the curve."
While they have played a major part
in popular culture since MTV first began
brainwashing young people in earnest, the
democratization of music videos in the 21st
century has been explosive. With the pro
liferation of computer editing software, the
budget required to produce your own "Thriller"
(or "Friday" for that matter) has dwindled
significantly. And so, even though Athens'
do-it-yourself ethos remains a guiding factor
in all aspects of the local arts culture, it's no
surprise that both
quality and quan
tity were in ample
supply throughout
Sprockets' call for
entries this year.
"We got about
50 [submissions],"
says Danielle
Robarge, Sprockets'
longtime organizer
and Film Athens co-
founder/co-direc
tor. "The response
is great, but there
was only room for
about 25 videos. It
was stressful pick
ing what went into
the show; I wasn't
on that committee,
but I know it was a
very fair, very long discussion. I want people
to know that there were good videos that
didn't get in; I wouldn't want to discourage
anyone from continuing to make videos."
While AthFest obviously focuses on live
music, in 2004 the organization charged Film
Athens with supplying a music video quotient
to the event. The result, traditionally held
each year at the 40 Watt Club, has a vibe akin
to a popcorn-throwing high school gathering
in a darkened basement to screen the fruits
of a weekend's worth of goofing around town
with a video camera. Except that in the case
of Sprockets, the videos are actually good,
many of them surprisingly so. From the home
grown animation of (sadly disbanded) indie-
pop quartet The Buddy System to hardworking
local rap emcee Elite tha Showstoppa's truly
show-stopping audience favorite "Liquor,"
Sprockets is an absurdist show-and-tell for the
audio-visual component of local music.
While the videos featured are, says
Rcbarge, "90 percent Athens and Atlanta
entries," Sprockets doesn't discount any sub
missions based on location, leading to a few
odd clips from far-flung bands from beyond
our regional borders, such as eclectic space-
cadet rockers Akron/Family. However, Robarge
says, "a lot of them are related in some sense
to Athens." For example, director Alan Tanner
spent time tending bar at the Manhattan
before decamping to Los Angeles; his con
tributions this year include videos for Jenny
Lewis, Conor Oberst and others—underscoring
the longtime connection between the scene
surrounding Omaha's Saddle Creek Records and
our own. (Don't forget Clay Leverett played
drums for Bright Eyes! That shit was on "Jay
Leno"!)
Another parallel between Sprockets and
YouTube is that, really, no one at either
organization is making a profit off of their
respective ventures. Sprockets is a true labor
of love for local cinephiles who seek the
opportunity to showcase Athens artists in an
increasingly important medium. One unfortu
nate consequence of that is Sprockets' status
as an enterprise where the event itself is its
sole reward. Film Athens—with its focus on
bringing film production to Athens and sup
porting filmmakers who are already local, in
addition to maintaining an online production
directory, the popular Project TeenScreen pro
gram, etc.—is a demanding enough beast on
its own, and so Sprockets fell to the wayside
in 2009 and 2010. "And then I just missed it,
really," says Robarge.
The task of making Sprockets happen with
an all-volunteer cast of characters appears
to be plenty daunting. Contributions in the
realm of editing came from Joey Foreman and
Richard Fosthauer; graphic design help came
from Ryan Lewis and Transmission Graphics.
A pre-screening committee, a panel of judges
and all-around go-to guy Chisolm Thompson
all came together to help make it happen
after the two-year absence. For their part, the
videos this year look to be a typically diverse
array, ranging from high-quality blow-outs
(The Orkids' "What Is It with Me") to fun-
focused fare featuring plenty of familiar faces
(Jay Gonzalez's "Punch of Love"). But quality
is assuredly on the rise, so you'd be well-
advised to stay ahead of the curve and come
in and check them out for yourself. Make sure
to vote for your favorite clip; the winner of
the Audience Choice Award will be announced
at the Flagpole Athens Music Awards at the
Morton Theatre on Thursday, June 23.
Jeff Tobias
WHAT: Sprockets 2011
WHERE: 40 Watt Club
WHEN: Saturday, June 18,9 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $4 (w/AthFest wristband),
$5 (21+), $7 (18+)
V J
Reeks of Failure
12 FLAGPOLE.COM JUNE 15,2011
