Crib Notes

This Friday night (Sept. 26th) Eyedrum hosts the Atlanta premiere of Michael Tully and Matthew Robison’s (We Fun: ATL Inside Out) documentary film Silver Jew. The film follows Silver Jews main man David Berman on a spiritual quest to the Western Wall (A.K.A. the Wailing Wall) in the Old City of Jerusalem to embrace his Jewish roots … And play a few shows. Doors at Eyedrum open at 9 p.m. and the film starts at 10 p.m. Admission is $5.

Proceeds from door sales are being donated to B Jay Womack (a.k.a. Bobby Ubangi) of local bands the Gaye Blades and the Soft Spots, who was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Chad Radford: How did you you come to be involved with making Silver Jew?

Matthew Robison: David and I met in a club where I was playing, and he humbly introduced himself and his (then) girlfriend Cassie. I had read one of his poems in Mean Magazine, but didn’t know much about Silver Jews. I always understood him as an artist, but admittedly never played his records over and over. I do know most of them very well, and for a few months put together a band to be called Walnut Falcons to play Silver Jews covers. So I like the songs very much. The attachment to the music increased when I used some studio tracks in the doc and began to associate them with the work.

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Next Friday night (Sept. 26th) Eyedrum hosts the Atlanta premiere of Michael Tully and Matthew Robison’s (We Fun: ATL Inside Out) documentary film Silver Jew. The film follows Silver Jews main man David Berman on a spiritual quest to the Western Wall (A.K.A. the Wailing Wall) in the Old City of Jerusalem to embrace his Jewish roots… And play a few shows. Doors at Eyedrum open at 9 p.m. and the film starts at 10 p.m. Admission is $5.

Chad Radford: How did you you come to be involved with making Silver Jew?

Matthew Robison: David and I met in a club where I was playing, and he humbly introduced himself and his (then) girlfriend Cassie. I had read one of his poems in Mean Magazine, but didn’t know much about Silver Jews. I always understood him as an artist, but admittedly never played his records over and over. I do know most of them very well, and for a few months put together a band to be called Walnut Falcons to play Silver Jews covers. So I like the songs very much. The attachment to the music increased when I used some studio tracks in the doc and began to associate them with the work.

I knew when David told me about the Israel shows that it would be something remarkable for him whether or not it was documented. In a few moments I went from wanting to go and write about it to my then (and now) preferred medium of video. When I got his blessing to document I promised that he would at the very least have high-quality home movies.

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Monday nights are always a hard sell, but there are a couple of noteworthy shows going on around tonight.

First and foremost Derek Lyn Plastic is playing a 7-inch release party for his brand new She’s Go A U.T.I. 4-song 7-inch EP tonight at 97 Estoria in Cabbagetown.

Who would have thunk a 7-inch EP with a title like She’s Got a U.T.I. would show off major artistic growth for Derek Lyn Plastic? Believe it.

The four songs that make up the latest release from Atlanta’s burgeoning icon of discomfort are cut from the same vampy and paranoid cloth of synth-driven punk jams that made his previous singles so addictive. But there’s an added level of precision and intensity in his delivery that makes it clear Mr. Plastic isn’t just working out his social demons for the sake of it.

To read the rest of the story click here and to stream mp3s from Derek Lyn Plastic’s “She’s Got A U.T.I.” 7-inch click here.

… and if if the avant-garde thing is more your speed, CONNCET 9,  JERKAGRAM and QUR’ANOSAURUS HEX are playing over at Eyedrum. The droning and mysterious ensemble Conncet 9 revels in the dark resonance of real-world sounds and textures but manipulates them to take on a much more cluttered and haunting hue than their naturally occurring order. Jerkagram is a noisy and reactionary improv/psych-rock outfit from Connecticut that bashes out aggressive and ramshackle art-rock clusters of rhythm and dirge. Qur’anosaurus Hex opens the show and there’s a distinct possibility that Atlanta’s very own Duet For Theremin and Lapsteel will perform as well. $5. 9 p.m. Eyedrum. 404-522-0655. www.eyedrum.org.

(Photo courtesy of Derek Lyn Plastic).

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The sound of ecstatically beaten drums was what greeted me on my first trip to Eyedrum and the energy of a happy throng of art and music lovers is the feeling that stays with me. Rising Appalachia played Concrete Pandemonium III, a collection of music, art, poetry and activism meant to unite a community and inspire a little joyful communing. The duo will soon be taking separate trips to far-flung countries and will return with a new name (R.I.S.E) and a new feeling (revived).

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(Photos by Tara-Lynne Pixley)

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If you want edgy, talk to Randy Castello. He’s earned a rep for nurturing emergent sounds and scenes as the talent buyer for Drunken Unicorn and the man behind Tight Bros Network promotions company. When he announced his split from Drunken Unicorn last week (due to undisclosed, irreconcilable differences), it sounded like the perfect time to talk to him about his evolution and how he has, in turn, affected Atlanta’s.

Continue reading Spotlight.

(Photo by Megan Macksey)

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TIMES NEW VIKING: Who needs a keyboard stand when you’ve got a bucket of paint and a box of vinyl records? (All photos by Chad Radford.)

From the days of Pere Ubu and Devo on through Brainiac and Guided By Voices, middle Ohio has long been a fertile breeding ground for skewed hybrids of art-damaged punk and pop sounds.

Two trios from Columbus, Oh., Psychedelic Horseshit and Times New Viking passed through town last night to uphold the Buckeye state’s tradition at Eyedrum. After opening sets from Atlanta acts Tree Creature and Gold Painted Nails, as well as Sydney, Australia-based duo Naked On the Vague, Psychedelic Horseshit played a ramshackle set with drums and keyboards balanced on paint-splattered buckets.

On record, both Psychedelic Horseshit and Times New Viking shroud their respectively short, lobbed songwriting in a haze of lo-fi fuzz. At Eyedrum, the noise factor was an equalizer that served as a booster for both bands’ secretly catchy melodies.

Most notable was the transformation that came over TNV. The group’s recently released third full-length (and first for Matador Records), titled Rip It Off, sounds like it was recorded on a boom box. But when played live, the scratchy fidelity of each song melts away to reveal a wealth of rapid fire drumming and immediately catchy hooks.

The album is by no means a hard sell, but live the songs are propulsive, fun and much more compelling.

PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT

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(Photo courtesy http://duetonline.net)

We’re pleased to announce more reasons for folks to come check out our annual Fiction Contest party at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10, at Eyedrum. Not only were we blessed with a record number of submissions this year, but we’ve also got some cool sponsors (Café Intermezzo, Chattahoochee Review) and cool judges (David Fulmer, Joshilyn Jackson, Fiona Zedde).

Now we’re a bit geeked to have confirmed one of the more mood-enhancing musical acts in town in the form of Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel. Featuring Scott Burland (pictured, at right) on theremin and Frank Schultz on lap steel, this duet is often described as experimental, ambient and minimalist — their music seems to come more in surges and streaks, strains and swoops, with stops and starts thrown in for good measure. You might call it sonic! It’s intoxicating stuff that stands on its own or as a heady soundtrack behind the winning entries, which will be read by the winners at the end of the evening.

Check out this U.K. appearance …

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(photo by Brian Crumb)

Georgia State University’s acclaimed college station Album 88 (WRAS-FM 88.5) caps another year of programming with the musical showcase WRASFEST. Previous editions have featured buzz bands such as the Selmanaires and Deerhunter. The 2007 installment ventures outside of Album 88’s traditional indie-rock pastures for a more eclectic lineup featuring avant-garde soul starlet Janelle Monae, funky-breaks ensemble Cadillac Jones (pictured), experimental punk trio Chopper, rap group Clan Destined and organic-electronic crew Random Rabbit, among others, Fri., DEC. 14. $8. 7 p.m. Eyedrum, 290 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Suite 8. 404-522-0655. www.eyedrum.org.

For more See & Do, click here.

For the Sound Menu, click here.

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