Crib Notes

For today’s Roll Call we call out Tommy Chung of the Selmanaires.

Who are you?
Tommy Chung to my friends, Thomas Chung to the government and creditors.

Describe yourself in three words.
Hungry Renaissance Man.

Who — dead or alive — would most you like to meet?
Ernest Hemingway, so he can divulge his secrets to success. He did blow his brains out though, so I suppose success is relative.

Who would you most like to slap in the face?
People who infect my world with their negativity. I usually don’t let the hateful attitudes of others get to me, but there are a handful of people and personality types who really know how to get under my skin. You fuckers know who you are.

What song do you wish you had written?
“Mother Sky” by Can. Coolest song ever.

Elvis Costello or Elvis Presley?
Wow. I can’t believe you’re making me choose. I’ll go with the skinny, “Mystery Train”-era King.

LP, CD or MP3?
LPs, but only because you didn’t list cassettes as a choice.

If you could start one trend, what would it be?
Fish on Fridays for protein-deficient vegans and non-Catholics.

If you could end one trend, what would it be?
Ironic mustaches.

With whom would you most like to play a game of spin the bottle?
Anna Karina circa 1967. However, with my luck, the bottle would probably land on her husband Jean-Luc Godard. I respect him and all, but I’m only mildly interested in kissing him.

The Selmanaires play the Earl on Sat., Jan. 31st with the Features and Carnivores. $8. 9 p.m. 488 Flat Shoals Rd. 404-522-3950.

(Photo by Chad Radford)

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Local fixture ANNA KRAMER has secretly dominated Atlanta’s country, folk and under-ground rock scenes for the last decade via her various solo and band efforts. With her current trio, the Lost Cause, featuring Shannon Mulvaney (upright bass) and Adam Renshaw (drums), she has perfected a body of songs that captures the true spirit of an urbane Southern troubadour. There’s more dang than twang on her 2008 release, The Rustic Contemporary Sounds of Anna Kramer and the Lost Cause (International Hits). And you can’t call it alt-country without giving equal props to the palette of ’70s Brit invasion and ’90s indie rock that gives just as much kick to her strut. www.myspace.com/annakramer. — Chad Radford

Click here to view CL’s complete 2008 Best of Atlanta/After Dark critics’ and readers’ picks.

Photo by Joeff Davis

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Now that Noot ‘d Noot’s much anticipated proper debut full-length Goofer Dust (International Hits) has hit the streets the world is getting its first real look at just what Atlanta’s premier party band is all about. Drummer Mathis Hunter (A.K.A. Bimbi Smoofus) and keyboard player Rich Morris (Dream Sanitation) took time out of their day to talk about the atmosphere surrounding the record, and where it’s going from here.

Chad Radford: Did Noot ‘d Noot start as a joke hip-hop band or something like that?

Bimbi Smoofus: No, there was never really a joke. It started as a side project to Good Friday Experiment. We were learning to make beats on the MPC and were trying to use our own music as a sample source. We were using records too, but we were trying to sample ourselves.

CR: Were you doing this because you wanted to sell beats to people?

Dream Sanitation: We were doing it mostly to have fun and make music on Friday nights because the clubs in town weren’t playing the kind of music that we wanted to hear.

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Atlanta’s premier space-funk party band, Noot ‘d Noot features members of the Selmanaires, Good Friday Experiment, and too many other forgotten local bands to name.

The Noots create an a cosmic blend of electro and organic beats, that expand the mind and get the party started with deep, psychedelic jams.

The group’s 2006 self-produced, self-released Goofer Dust Mix Tape, has been stepped up to legitimate LP/CD release via International Hits.

According to I-Hits co-owner Shannon Mulvaney the records and CDs should be in stores and available for purchase this evening, hopefully by 6 p.m., and the packaging of the LP is said to be lavish.

Stay tuned for more.

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(Photo by Stevie Brown)

In this week’s issue of CL, I covered International Hits and two of its artists, the Selmanaires and Anna Kramer & the Lost Cause. But the story ended up being more about the record label than the music. Regrettably, I didn’t have much space to talk about the Selmanaires and its ambitious new album, The Air Salesmen, even though I had a great conversation with the band at Manuel’s Tavern beforehand.

So on Monday, Feb. 4, I’ll post a two-part excerpt of my interview with the Selmanaires. Tommy Chung and the Harris brothers, Herb and Jason (Mathis Hunter was AWOL that afternoon), had an insightful take on their new album as well as the Atlanta scene in general. It was a conversation that gave me a better appreciation of their music.

To tide you over until then, here’s a video of “Broken Mirrors in the Mud” that the Selmanaires posted on YouTube. The quality is pretty low-fi but imaginative, with a lot of odd puppets and stuff.

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BALLS TO THE WALL: Anna Kramer (left) and Shannon Mulvaney of Anna Kramer & the Lost Cause celebrate the release of The Rustic, Contemporary Sounds of Anna Kramer & the Lost Cause at Criminal Records Tues., Jan. 22.

(All kick-ass photos by Joeff Davis. See more below the jump.)

The Selmanaires and Anna Kramer & the Lost Cause throw a joint CD-release gig at the Earl Sat., Jan. 26. 9:30 p.m. $10. The Roy Owens Jr. and Noot D’ Noot will also perform as part of a label showcase for International Hits.

Stay tuned for Mosi Reeves’ story on International Hits in next week’s issue.

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