In Memoriam: Our deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends and loved ones of longtime Athens musician Paul Hammond who passed away Tuesday, June 5. Hammond was an integral member of numerous bands over the past 30-odd years, including Time Toy, Little Tigers, Greenhouse, The Athens Alto Association and Bang. His passing touches, literally, generations of Athens musicians, and his contributions and participation will not soon be forgotten.
We Are All Made of Stars: FilmAthens will host the 2012 Sprockets Music Video Competition at the 40 Watt Saturday, June 16. This event will determine who wins the “Audience Choice Award” for best video, which will be announced at the Flagpole Athens Music Awards the following week. Featured videos this year include clips from Easter Island, Eddie the Wheel, Jason the Kid, Katër Mass, Kishi Bashi, Madeline, Electrophoria, Fractal Farm, Jay Gonzalez, The Candy Runts, Patterson Hood, Powerkompany, Telstar, Mona, The Ginger Envelope and others. For more information, please see www.filmathens.net/sprockets.
Put on Your Boots: Efren has changed a lot since its days of hollerin' in a hollow. Now it's a full-fledged group of shit-kickers whose music bears absolutely zero resemblance to the first releases bearing this name. I dunno. Admittedly my ear for the project started to wander once it went past being a one-man band, but now everything is so utterly different I think a new name is in order. What can I say? I have a soft spot for lonely cabin dwellers but tend to reflexively bristle at trope-driven bar rock even when the clichés are relevant. All of which is to say the band should be happy they didn't consult me before kicking out the jams on the brand new Efren album, titled Write a New Song, that comes out June 19 via the band's own Slo Pro Records. They'll play AthFest at 5:45 p.m., Friday, June 22 on the Hull Street Stage.
The Seasons That Have Passed Were Dramatic: Athens' own NES enthusiasts Bit Brigade, the guys behind popular live video game groups Contraband and Ninja Gaiden Band, have finished a new record. The Mega Band album contains 25 tracks, most from Mega Man 2, and is being manufactured as we speak. Here's where you come in: you can pre-order the album right now and instantly receive a free digital download while you're waiting for your CD to be delivered. I can't begin to tell you how much attention to detail a project like this requires. But I know for a fact that it took several months, and the sessions, both recording and mixing, were each several hours long. You and I both know that the only person who could possibly complain about any imagined inaccuracies is some cartridge hoarder that spent way too much time chugging Mountain Dew in the basement every weekend night of high school. I'd challenge anyone of this stripe to go head-to-head with Bit Brigade and let Dr. Light himself determine the loser. The other 99.9 percent of you can just head over to www.hellosirrecords.com to pre-order and listen to samples. Bit Brigade next plays live at the Caledonia Lounge during AthFest on Saturday, June 23.
Zoo Music: Atlanta label Douchemaster Records is doing a re-release of the Vincas LP Blood Bleeds. The really good looking screen-printed covers the band made for the first 100 copies are pretty long gone, unless they've got some they've been hiding away. But the good news is, the run of LPs totals 500 copies, so you're sure to be able to get one. This limited re-pressing comes out this week. Oh, haven't heard it yet? It's a bogglingly good record that will flatten all your summer fun with its Birthday Party vibes. For more information, please see www.douchemasterrecords.blogspot.com.
Beat on the Brat: Local retro-punks SheHeHe have a few songs posted online now that you can go download. The band (Jeff Hannan, Jason Fusco, Nicole Bechill, Noelle Shuck and Michael Paumgardhen) has been around for just about a year-and-a-half and specializes, really, in '70s-inspired punk à la New York Dolls, Stooges, Ramones, et al. Significantly, though, they sound like none of them. But the touchstones are there, and they straddle the line between a comfortable familiarity and newness. I'm not crazy about the outta control guitar solos, but, you know, there's no accounting for taste. Go grab the songs at www.reverbnation.com/shehehe and visit the band online at www.facebook.com/sheheheband.
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