Month: October 2021

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

The Grizzlies Fall to the Blazers in Portland

Second year guard Desmond Bane (photo courtesy of Memphis Grizzlies Twitter account)

There was rain in Memphis on Wednesday night, and it disrupted the Memphis Grizzlies’ game in Portland, Oregon.

There was no flow to the Grizzlies offense; Steven Adams and Jaren Jackson Jr. were both in foul trouble. To make matters worse, Portland did a great job of keeping Ja Morant out of the paint where he’s most efficient.

Morant broke down why there was a lack of execution on both ends of the court. He said, “They were blitzing and doubling me off ball-screens. We just had to make shots. I feel like we let our offensive struggles affect us on the other end of the floor and missing assignments. Really wasn’t locked into the game plan really that much. We just let our mistakes turn into more mistakes and they got hot and won the game.”

“It was just one of those games — we just felt like we didn’t really get rolling,” Grizzlies backup point guard Tyus Jones said of the defeat. “We are usually able to kind of hit a point in the game where we feel like we’re clicking, go on a decent run as well, and we just didn’t get to that point tonight. It was just one of those nights and luckily we play in 24 hours, so we get a chance to correct it right away.”

Memphis led 57-51 at halftime, but the Blazers outscored the Grizzlies 65-39 in the second half. 

“We didn’t play well tonight,” Taylor Jenkins said after the loss. We got an opportunity tomorrow. Our guys have always bounced back and competed [in] the next opportunity — so learn from it, get better, and play better tomorrow.”

Jenkins continued, “We knew they were an aggressive defense — give them credit — they played hard and turned us over but we still had plenty of opportunities to kill runs and stay in this ball game and we didn’t take advantage.” Portland forced 21 turnovers.

According to Jones, the Blazers’ defense, “were up on ball screens, showing hands, being active, and they just deflected a good amount of passes.” If the team is not extremely careful with the ball, precise with passes, they’ll force a lot of turnovers then they get out and run and hit shots. “They hit a lot of shots, a lot of contested shots so it kind of played into their hands a little bit. They were up on ball screens. We just got to do a better job capitalizing on that.”

Despite the gloomy conditions inside Moda Center, Desmond Bane was the bright spot for the Grizzlies on Wednesday night. The TCU alum led Memphis with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting. He continued his streak of connecting on multiple three-pointers while going 4-of-7.

After taking an accidental elbow to the head from Blazers forward Larry Nance Jr., Bane left the game late in the third quarter. Because of the blow, Bane’s blood spilled onto the court, and he needed six stitches to close the wound.

Bane is poised to take the second year leap. Through four games, the 6’5” guard is averaging 19.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 28.5 minutes of play for Memphis. 

Up Next

The Grizzlies will face the 4-0 Golden State Warriors, tonight at the Chase Center to wrap its four game West road trip. Tip-off starts at
9 p.m. CT.

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Larry Finch Statue Unveiled

When it comes to breakfast meetings, it’s safe to say the one I had on August 29, 2018, is the most memorable. I joined Harold Byrd, Herb Hilliard, and Dr. David Rudd at the Holiday Inn on the University of Memphis campus. The names alone will tell you this was no friendly “catch-up” over scrambled eggs and biscuits. Byrd is the president of Bank of Bartlett and a significant, active booster of U of M athletics. Hilliard is another local titan in the banking industry, and just happens to have been the first African-American to play basketball at the University of Memphis. Dr. Rudd, of course, is the president of the U of M.

I’d written recently (but not for the first time) about the need for a Larry Finch statue somewhere in Memphis. It was high time this regional legend receive a proper memorial, and particularly during a time divisive statues were being taken down all across the country. If nothing else, Larry Finch was a unifier, both on the basketball court (where he led the Memphis State Tigers to the 1973 national championship game) and off the court (where he somehow made Memphians forget skin color or background in defining themselves as a community).

Dr. Rudd had a few questions for me. He felt like the right kind of statue — along with a memorial plaza, where people could linger — would cost more than my column suggested. But he emphasized his skills at fund-raising and explained, on the scale of a major university in a metropolitan area like Memphis, the cost of the Larry Finch memorial would be no tall hurdle. Finch would get the bronze treatment.

It took more than three years (two of them under pandemic conditions), but the Larry Finch statue now stands proudly in front of the palatial Laurie-Walton Family Basketball Center on the U of M’s south campus. It was unveiled Thursday in front of a few hundred Finch family, friends, and fans (the largest contingent representing his beloved Melrose High School). 

Penny Hardaway got choked up at the microphone and needed a solid 60 seconds before sharing his feelings about his college coach. Elliot Perry described spending a few of Finch’s final hours with him. (“I mostly thanked him for being him,” said Perry, the most prominent member of Finch’s first recruiting class as Tiger coach.) Finch’s widow, Vicki, shared a sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, one she feels reflects the love Larry Finch had for the game of basketball.

Memphis is a happier place today. A better place? That’s up to you and me, the actions we take and decisions we make every day. But Memphis is a happier place today. Larry Finch brought so much joy to so many people in the Mid-South, and across generations. (My paternal grandmother adored Larry Finch and shared the first stories I heard of him and his impact.) It’s criminal that Finch died so young (age 60, in 2011 after a series of strokes). He would have relished Thursday’s celebration, primarily for bringing together — yet again — Memphians who shared something . . . in this case a love for Larry Finch.

We can’t pose for a selfie with “Coach Finch.” (I always refer to him with the title he held for 11 years — from 1986 to 1997 — at the U of M.) But for generations to come, Memphians and their lucky guests can take a selfie with the Larry Finch statue, and read about his legend, his impact, his significance over the precious 60 years we had him.

I’ve come to believe that we can channel the souls of our heroes when near a statue that embodies the right message. Memphis has such a monument now, and there will be some soul channeling, you can be sure, in the years ahead. Larry Finch once again stands proudly. Here’s to all he represents, then, now, and tomorrow.

Categories
News News Blog Uncategorized

Covid Bill Would Strip Local Pandemic Power

Credit: Tennessee General Assembly

Tennessee citizens are puppies over-loved by health department officials and now those citizens want nothing to do with those health department officials. 

That was part of the case made Thursday by Rep. Kevin Vaughn (R-Collierville) to justify stripping local health departments of their power during pandemics. His bill was among those before lawmakers during a special session in Nashville this week. It was the third special session called for this sitting Tennessee General Assembly, the most in history. This week’s session is dealing specifically with Covid issues. 

Vaughn’s bill would give pandemic powers to the governor and strip local health department leaders of their mandate powers — including masks and restaurant limitations — and give those decisions to local mayors. The bill would also give the governor a say-so in who gets to lead local health departments. 

Vaughn complained that health orders from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee “apply everywhere except in Shelby County.” He said he lives closer to rural Fayette County than urban parts of Shelby County. So, Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) rules on masks and more apply to him, even though his area is not densely populated and “the rules get very confusing.”

He complained that no masks are required in Fayette County restaurants, for example, but to go the 10 miles for a Collierville restaurant, masks are required.

The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) serves as the health department for 89 of Tennessee’s 95 counties. Six counties — Sullivan, Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Shelby, and Madison — have their own county health departments and can set rules that apply only to that county.  

Vaughn’s bill would strip local health powers, but only during a pandemic, which he said would be those certified by the World Health Organization (WHO). This would allow the governor to have decision-making authority for the entire state, with “all oars pulling in the same direction.” Local departments could still ask the governor for exceptions. 

Local health officials’ intentions during the pandemic have been “honorable,” Vaughn said. Sometimes, though, decision made with the best intention can have negative consequences. 

“You know how when you give a child a new puppy, a child loves that puppy more than anything in the world.”

Rep. Kevin Vaughn (R-Collierville)

“You know how when you give a child a new puppy, a child loves that puppy more than anything in the world,” Vaughn said. “He or she picks it up … and loving it to death and squeezes and squeezes and that puppy starts squealing. It gets uncomfortable and don’t want anything but be put down because it’s getting loved to death. Then, it runs from the child from there on. 

“I’m afraid that that’s some of what … we’re being overprotected in some places. We’ve seen a situation to where people are — in the name of good intentions — are creating consequences that may either create ill intent or create an environment for noncompliance, which then it undermines the entire system.”

House members from urban areas explained larger populations in cities have made Covid more transmissible than in less populous areas. Therefore, cities should have the right to make rules different than rural areas. 

“That’s why it behooves local departments to make these decisions, not just one general — as you put it — to make those calls,” said Rep. Jason Powell (D-Nashville).  “I disagreed in many ways with the way that the governor handled the outbreak, in some of the things that he did and did not do, when that was occurring. 

“I disagreed with some of the decisions that my locals made and did not make, but I think that ultimately allowing locals to have more say, and not rely on getting permission and exceptions when we’re in the midst of a global pandemic, is important.”

Vaughn said epidemic curves across the state and in counties with health departments looks basically the same, implying restrictions imposed by those independent health departments have not worked.  

Tennessee’s new cases during the pandemic.
Credit: Tennessee Department of Health
Shelby County’s new cases during the pandemic.
Credit: Tennessee Department of Health
The Upper Cumberland region’s (the state’s least populated region) new cases during the pandemic.
Credit: Tennessee Department of Health

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Planned Crosstown Hangout Touts Fresh Bar Concept

A fresh bar with food, games, and music will open at the old The Doghouzz location. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Midtown is slated to get a sweet spot around the holidays.

Tandem Restaurant Partners with Tony and Stephanie Westmoreland and Dr. Michael Muhlert will open a new bar/restaurant in the old The Doghouzz at 1349 Autumn Avenue across from Crosstown Concourse.

“We’re going to change the concept to a fresh bar concept,” Tony says. “Fresh fruit mixed drinks and cocktails. We’ll use pineapple, orange juice, and things like these. Squeeze our own juices from the bar.”

As for food, Tony says it will be “Southwestern and tropical” cuisine. “We’re working with Duncan Aiken on the menu.

And there will be music. “We’ll probably put in some small stage.”

He wants the new place to be “a hangout spot. Food, drinks, comedy shows, some acoustic sets, pinball  machines, pool table, and darts if we can fit it in.”

And, he says, “We’re probably going to keep it a little bright and vivid and put some comic book stuff in there. Game days. It’s just an interest of mine and a lot of guys I’m working with on the concept.”

The Doghouzz concentrated on hot dogs. “They were like predominantly a hot dog bar. That’s all they did on their menu.”

The former owners “just decided to sell the building. And we heard about it through the grapevine before it hit that market and got with the agent.”

The building is “around 3,000 square feet. Not too small.”

They plan to buy new furniture. And they need get licensing and permits. So, Tony believes it will take about two months and they’ll be “ready to go. That’s our hope. To try to hit the holidays.”

They haven’t picked a name for the place yet, but Tony did come up with “The Flip Side” as one idea. “There’s always a flip side to everything. It pulls in the tacos, burritos, pinball. The concept in general — a fresh bar — is little bit different.”

Categories
Music Music Blog

The Flow: Live-Streamed Music Events This Week, October 28 – November 3

Jack Oblivian (Credit: Jack Yarber)

Halloween music abounds this weekend, naturally, and in many forms. B-Side Memphis sports both a Misfits tribute band and a Cramps tribute band, not to mention a special “ZARR” edition of Jack Oblivian & the Sheiks. We can’t quite see the scary side of the Ray Price tribute at Hernando’s Hide-a-way, but the venue will feature Timbo & the Lonesome Country on Halloween night itself. Howling will surely be involved! Try live-streaming one of these fine shows while you wait at home for those knocks on your door, as ghouls demand their lump of sugar. Be prepared! As your door swings open, wear a mask! And stay safe!

ALL TIMES CDT

Thursday, October 28
8 p.m.
Mario Monterosso — at Hernando’s Hide-a-way
Website

9 p.m.
Devil Train — B-Side Memphis
Facebook YouTube Twitch TV

10 p.m.
Ghalia Volt — at Hernando’s Hide-a-way
Website

Friday, October 29
10 p.m.
The Reeves Brothers — at Hernando’s Hide-a-way
Website

10 p.m.
Memphits Halloween Bash (Misfits tribute) — at B-Side Memphis
YouTube Twitch TV

Saturday, October 30
10 a.m.
Richard Wilson
Facebook

8 p.m.
The Blue Dreamers (Ray Price tribute) — at Hernando’s Hide-a-way
Website

10 p.m.
Jack Oblivian & the Sheiks — at B-Side Memphis
YouTube Twitch TV

Sunday, October 31
4 p.m.
Imagene Azengraber — Drag Queen Bingo at Hernando’s Hide-a-way
Website

7 p.m.
Timbo & the Lonesome Country — at Hernando’s Hide-a-way
Website

10 p.m.
Richard, Anne, Ross & Scott (Cramps tribute) — at B-Side Memphis
YouTube Twitch TV

Monday, November 1
10 p.m.
Evil Rain — at B-Side Memphis
YouTube Twitch TV

Tuesday, November 2
7 p.m.
Bill Shipper
Facebook

Wednesday, November 3
5:30 p.m.
Richard Wilson
Facebook

8 p.m.
T Jarrod Bonta — at Hernando’s Hide-a-way
Website

Categories
Music Music Blog

Switchblade Kid: Soundtrack for a Scary Saturday Night

Harry Koniditsiotis of Switchblade Kid (Courtesy Harry Koniditsiotis)

October 30th is Devil’s Night, at least according to some traditions. It’s a night for mischief, making it a fitting warmup for Halloween. That also makes it the ideal setting for a rock-and-roll show, such as when The Glory Holes and Switchblade Kid share the bill at the Hi Tone this Saturday. In advance of the concert, I spoke with Harry Koniditsiotis of Switchblade Kid about frightening films, the power of a producer, and how he’s stayed busy (very busy) during the pandemic.

Memphis Flyer: The last time we spoke, it was for a Christmas-themed concert at Two Rivers Bookstore. Do you have a particular fondness for holiday concerts?

Harry Koniditsiotis: I do. I love all the lights, decorations and especially vintage plastic blow molds.  I covered Two Rivers in Christmas lights and blow molds. It was so dreamy. Holidays always seem like a great time to throw a party. This Halloween show will have plenty of spooky decor, gloomy lighting and smoke.

Is this a Switchblade Kid (the band) concert, or will you be flying solo?
This will be the full band. We’ll be playing material from a new album that I hope to have out next year and some old favorites.

We will also be brushing up on a few Angel Sluts tunes in preparation for the upcoming  reunion show for The Angel Sluts Live at the Buccaneer album. That will be in January. And probably throw in a few Turn It Offs songs just to keep things interesting. 

I’ve been working with a new label out of Los Angeles called Thanks I Hate It Records. They will be putting out both albums and rereleasing the first album of my old ’90s New Orleans goth band, Falling Janus, The Trinity Site. The first track “Empty Shoulders” was recently picked up to use in an upcoming New Orleans-based horror movie called Tad Caldwell and the Monster Kid. 

The show is at the newly relocated Hi Tone. What do you think of the new space?
I think it’s a great spot. This will be my first time playing at the new location so I’m looking forward to it. 

What can we expect from this concert — any spooky songs?
I think all my songs have a bit of a spooky vibe. That might be the New Orleans thing. 

Speaking of spookiness, where do you fall on the horror spectrum? Switchblade Kid music has always struck me as somewhat ominous, but I don’t think of the project as really horror-themed.
I think it’s more of a Twilight Zone, Twin Peaks, silent film vibe than anything. Music for flickering 8mm projectors. 

Okay, quick Halloween horror rundown. What’s your favorite scary franchise?
I’ve been on a mummy kick this season and am currently watching 1981’s Dawn of the Mummy. But I did  just finish a Godzilla marathon.

Cabinet of Dr. Caligari might be my favorite horror movie of all time. Two years ago I made a cut with an all Bauhaus soundtrack and showed it at Black Lodge. I love the classic Universal horror monsters and B-movie giant spiders-type stuff. 

You’re from New Orleans and you live in Memphis, two cities that definitely have associations with being haunted. Do you think that’s a factor in your aesthetic?
There’s such a natural death culture in New Orleans. It’s like breathing. You grow up around all these monuments to the dead and somewhat carry on the tradition, knowingly or not. I’ll play a friend something I wrote and they’ll say “Wow, that’s spooky as hell,” and I’m like, “Oh really? I thought it was pretty sunshine happy.” 

How have you kept yourself busy during the pandemic?
I gotta say I stayed busy as hell. I would actually love another shutdown so I could get more done.  I recorded a new Switchblade Kid album, discovered the Live at the Buccaneer recording that Joe Holland did back in 2005 and got that record rolling. I started writing a comic book called Day Labor, so that was a whole new thing for me. The best was cutting a cover of “Memphis Tennessee” with the one and only Ross Johnson, who oddly enough knew my next door neighbor from the house I grew up in. He actually stayed next door for a week back in the ’80s. If only I had met Ross when I was 10! I also did a set for the Shangri-La Records podcast. That was a lot of fun. 

Tell me a little bit about the porch shows you’ve put on. The neighbors don’t mind?
The neighborhood actually loved it! I thought the neighbors would be annoyed but I kept having random people approach me on the street and ask when the next one was. I think the shows brought a lot of joy to people in Cooper-Young who were dealing with the isolation of lockdown. I basically had bands play in the driveway of my studio 5 & Dime Recording. 

Do you like hosting other bands, or working with them in the studio? How is that different from working on your own songs?
I love being a producer. I always liked the George Martin/Martin Hannett aspect of working with bands. I can’t be in a million bands but it’s fun to be a part of so many even if it’s just for a short time period.

Have you got anything else in the works our readers should know about?
I’ll be releasing my New Orleans comic book documentary Who the Hell is Alfred Medley?! in May 2022 so I’m super excited about getting that out there and hitting the film fest and comic con circuit.

Pre-orders are up for The Angel Sluts Live at the Buccaneer on yellow vinyl at ThanksIHateItRecords.com. 

Switchblade Kid, The Gloryholes will perform at Hi Tone on Saturday, October 30th, 9 p.m. $5

In advance of a Saturday-night gig with The Glory Holes, Harry Koniditsiotis of Switchblade Kid talks
Harry Koniditsiotis of Switchblade Kid (Courtesy Harry Koniditsiotis)
Categories
Politics Politics Beat Blog

Kelsey Sheds Committee Chairmanship

Brian Kelsey

State Senator Brian Kelsey took the first practical step on Wednesday in dealing with his federal indictment on campaign finance charges, resigning — temporarily, he said — his chairmanship of the Senate Education Committee. 

The senator did so in response to the fact that Senate rules require a suspension of a committee chairmanship within 10 days of an indictment unless the indictment is lifted beforehand.

Kelsey and his fellow indictee, Nashville club owner Joshua Smith, are scheduled to appear in federal court November 5th to answer the charges. If convicted, each could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the indictment’s five counts.

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Indie Memphis Announces 2021 Award Winners

Reel Rock: Black Ice won both the jury and audience award for Hometowner Feature at Indie Memphis 2021.

The Indie Memphis Film Festival announced the winners of its festival awards for 2021 in an online ceremony broadcast from Black Lodge last night. The 24th annual festival wrapped on Monday, October 25th, with screenings of Spencer and the films chosen for the Hometowner Narrative Shorts Competition.

Four films pulled off the rare feat of winning both the jury and audience awards. Queen of Glory by director Nana Mensah unified the Narrative Feature category. Larry Flynt for President was chosen as Best Documentary Feature by both audience and jury. Reel Rock: Black Ice took home both of the Hometowner Feature awards, while “The Devil Will Run” by Noah Glenn did the same in the Hometowner Narrative Shorts.

Memphis filmmaker Jordan Danelz shared two Audience Awards for his work with other directors: one for Hometowner Music Video “Buzzsaw Kick” by Idi X Teco, which Danelz co-directed with Sharrika Evans; and the other for the documentary short “Firebird Rising,” which he co-directed with David Roseberry.

The Hometowner Music Video Jury Award went to Don Lifted’s “Brain Fluid”, directed by Nubia Yasin and Joshua Canon. Director Aaron Baggett’s “Nuestra” won the Hometowner Documentary Short jury award. Former University of Memphis film professor Angelo Madsen Minax won the Departures Audience Award for his experimental documentary North by Current.

Two film proposals, both documentaries, were awarded IndieGrants worth $15,000 in cash and in-kind filmmaking services: “I Am” by Jessica Chaney and “Soil and Clay” by Emmanuel Amido.

While the audience awards are determined by popular ballot, and the jury prizes are awarded by panels of filmmakers and industry experts, the festival prizes are voted on by the staff and board of Indie Memphis. The Vision Award, honoring the service of longtime indie film supporters, went to Mark Jones, the filmmaker and philanthropist who originated the IndieGrant program. Jones used the occasion of his acceptance speech to announce a new grant program for LGBTQ+ filmmakers, which will begin next year. The Indie Award, which goes to crew members who have gone above and beyond the call of duty, went to cinematographer Jason Thibodeaux. The Craig Brewer Emerging Filmmaker Award went to Andrew Infante for Ferny & Luca. The Ron Tibbett Excellence In Filmmaking Award went to Yasmine Mathurin for One of Ours.

Winning features Ste. Anne, One of Ours, Larry Flynt for President, The Pill, and Queen of Glory, as well as a retrospective of the work of late Memphis actor/director Don Meyers, are currently available for encore screenings on Eventive, Indie Memphis’ partner for streaming content, and a Memphis-based company.

Here’s the full list of awards from Indie Memphis 2021:

Jury Awards:

Narrative Features

  • Best Narrative Feature, Queen of Glory (Dir. Nana Mensah) – $1000 Cash Prize
  • Duncan Williams Best Screenplay Award, The Pill (Dir. Franco Clarke) – $1000 Cash Prize
  • Special Jury Mention to Narrative Feature, Actors Anna Cobb (We’re All Going to the World’s Fair) + Lauren Kelisha Muller (Ferny & Luka)

Documentary Features

  • Best Documentary Feature, Larry Flynt for President (Dir. Nadia Szold) – $1,000 Cash Prize Presented by Classic American Hardwoods
     

Hometowner

  • Best Hometowner Feature, Reel Rock: Black Ice (Dir. Zachary Barr, Peter Mortimer) – $1,000 Cash Prize
  • Best Hometowner Narrative Short, “The Devil Will Run” (Dir. Noah Glenn) – $500 Cash Prize
  • Best Hometowner Documentary Short, “Nuestra” (Dir. Aaron Baggett) – $500 Cash Prize
  • Special Jury Mention, Hometowner Narrative Short, “Main Street” (Dir. Joshua Woodcock)
  • Special Jury Mention, Hometowner Documentary Short, “Letter to My Son” (Dirs. Brittany Butler + Joshua Woodcock)


Departures

  • Best Departures Feature, Ste. Anne (Dir. Rhayne Vermette) – $500 Cash Prize
  • Best Departures Short, “A Few Things I’m Beginning to Understand” by Xenia Matthews

Sounds

  • Best Sounds Feature, Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché (Dirs. Celeste Bell + Paul Sng) – $500 Cash Prize
  • Best National Music Video, “Hideaway” by Nîm (Dir. Etienne Fu-Le Saulnier)
  • Best Hometowner Music Video, “Brain Fluid” by Don Lifted (Dirs. Nubia Yasin + Joshua Cannon)

Shorts

  • Best Documentary Short, “You Can’t Stop Spirit” (Dir. Vashni Korin) – $500 Cash Prize
  • Best Narrative Short, “Cousins,” (Dir. Mandy Marcus) – $500 Cash Prize
  • Special Jury Mention, Documentary Short “Rebyrth” (Dir. Cydney Tucker)
  • Special Jury Mention for Actor Felix Alexis in “Last Summer on Bainbridge St”
  • Special Jury Mention for the Main Participant, Brandi,  in “A Fine Girl” (Dir. Darcy McKinnon, BIliana Grozdanova)

IndieGrants

  • “I Am” (Dir. Jessica Chaney) – $15K Grant ($7.5K cash, $7.5K In-Kind Filmmaking Services)
  • “Soil and Clay” (Dir. Emmanuel Amido) – $15K Grant ($7.5K cash, $7.5K In-Kind Filmmaking Services)

Poster Design

  • Jury Award for Best Poster Design, Juju Stories (Dirs. Michael Omonua, Abba Makama, + C.J. Obasi)

Festival Awards:

Ron Tibbett Excellence in Filmmaking 

  • One Of Ours (Dir. Yasmine Mathurin)

Craig Brewer Emerging Filmmaker

  • Ferny & Luca (Dir. Andrew Infante)

Vision Award

  • Mark Jones

Indie Award

  • Jason Thibodeaux

Best After Dark Short

  • “I’m So Sorry” by Chester Toye – $500 Cash Prize

Audience Awards: 

Narrative Feature

Queen of Glory (Dir. Nana Mensah)

Documentary Feature

Larry Flynt for President (Dir. Nadia Szold)

Sounds Feature

Elder’s Corner (Dir. Siji Awoyinka)

Departures

North by Current (Dir. Angelo Madsen Minax)

Hometowner Feature

Reel Rock: Black Ice (Dirs. Zachary Barr + Peter Mortimer)

National Narrative Short

“Desperate LA” (Dir. Jeanetta Rich)

National Doc Short

“You Can’t Stop Spirit” (Dir. Vashni Korin)

Departures Short

“A Few Things I’m Beginning to Understand” (Dir. Xenia Matthews)

Hometowner Narrative Short

“The Devil Will Run” (Dir. Noah Glenn)

Hometowner Documentary Short

“Firebird Rising” (Dirs. David Roseberry + Jordan Danelz)

Hometowner Music Video

“Buzzsaw Kick” by Idi X Teco (Dirs: Jordan Danelz + Sharrika Evans)

National Music Video

“Fire” by Fimone (Dir. Fimone)

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Mask Mandate Lifted

Masks are no longer mandatory indoors at businesses, according to the latest health directive from the Shelby County Health Department (SCHD). 

Instead, masks are “highly recommended” and the new rules are effective immediately and will continue until the end of November. The move away from the indoor mask mandate comes “due to the decline in Covid-19 cases reflecting that Shelby County is currently not a high transmission area,” according to the SCHD. Masks are still required, however, for indoor school settings, with some exceptions for teachers for certain teaching purposes.  

Shelby County’s Covid-19 numbers have been decreasing over the past month, and currently the county is not considered a ‘high transmission’ area, according to the CDC.

Shelby County Health Department

“Shelby County’s Covid-19 numbers have been decreasing over the past month, and currently, the county is not considered a ‘high transmission’ area, according to the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC],” reads the new directive. “This is due in large part to many businesses and schools who have been providing a safe environment for customers, students, and employees by requiring masks. Due to the decline in the numbers, the department highly recommends that businesses continue to require masks in indoor, public settings.” 

Categories
Music Music Features

Alicja-Pop: Howlin’ From a Place of Wilderness

Alicja Trout (Photo: self portrait)

If you find yourself in the waiting room of the Utopia Animal Hospital, cast your eye over the informal exhibit of nature-inspired artwork there. The studies of wolves, foxes, and other creatures in near-tropical landscapes dotted with neon trees and flowers will draw you into their own universe. But what’s really striking is the art’s backstory: It’s all created by badass no-wave rocker Alicja Trout, perhaps best known as Jay Reatard’s collaborator in the Lost Sounds, later a key creator behind such propulsive bands as the River City Tanlines and the Sweet Knives.

Completists also know of Trout’s other works, which mine a different sonic territory, going back to the sweetly naive-yet-arch synth-pop of The Clears, and her solo singles on Loverly Music, under the name Alicja. That side of Trout, now known as Alicja-pop, was still going strong in 2016 with the release of Rats (Home Recordings 2009-2013), its sounds echoed by cover art depicting the artist up against a wall with a synth. Reflecting on the look and feel of that album, Trout says she was striving “to make a cover that fit the aesthetic of the music I was associated with.”

Which brings us to Howlin’, Alicja-pop’s new LP on Black and Wyatt Records, which sports a cover more in-line with her fantastical animal studies from Utopia. The songs, too, have an earthier feel, even if the overall mix of guitar-driven and synth-driven music is consistent between both albums. (Indeed, the versions of “Shadow Hills” on both releases are nearly identical.) And the album is already turning heads. As Henry Rollins himself has said, “Howlin’ is not only a great collection of songs, but balances her considerable skills excellently. It’s a very cool record.”

“Balance” is the key. Though Rats certainly featured guitar-heavy rockers, Howlin’ ventures further into the sonic possibilities of the guitar, from the classic rock strut of “Glass Planet, Blank Space Mind” to the wistful ostinatos of the title track. And there’s ecological balance as well: Both the album cover and the title song reflect Trout’s deepening embrace of the nonhuman world, or what Trout calls “natural inspiration.”

“It could just be progressing through life, getting older. I used to love city life, but the noise started driving me nuts,” she says. In contrast, she found respite in nature. “There’s an escape when you cultivate your wild garden. And I’ll obsess on different animals.” One need only look at her paintings of dogs, wolves, and foxes to see it. “They’ve always interested me as being the top of the food chain before humans came and controlled all that. They’re the main balancer in the ecosystem, the wisest hunters. They have a complex group and pack. And they also get along with humans. Even going as far as human children being raised by wolves. People don’t give canines credit for their abilities and sensitivity. So I think some of that little world was getting incorporated into the art.”

By “art,” Trout means both her visual and musical ventures. Taking it a step further, she considers the creative act itself to be an expression of nature. “Just making music, what’s guiding you?” she asks. “It’s nature that’s guiding you. How do you pick what chord goes next? And why do those three or four or five chords all sound good together? It’s just something having to do with nature, the same way you throw a bunch of zinnia seeds in the ground and they all grow together, all a little different, yet similar. And everyone agrees that they’re pleasing: The bees and different creatures come to them, and this different system is going on. I think it’s related.”

That natural reverie may be why, when asked if these songs emerged from the isolation of quarantine, Trout can’t quite say. “I just try to go into this space of alone time where it’s almost like meditation, except you’re doing something the whole time. And I really can’t place where I was in time at the time because the memory in my head is just this space of recording. It has nothing to do with what’s going on around me. So the memories from 2015 and 2018 and 2021 would all look the same in my head.”

Alicja-pop will play a record release show with full band at B-Side Memphis, Friday, November 12th.