Tag: Memphis

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Music Music Blog

Gonerfest Friday: Woozy, Brutal, Beautiful

Gonerfesters got a running start on Friday with an afternoon superkegger at Memphis Made’s taproom on Cooper. Memphis Made created a pair of custom beers for this year’s festival: A tart saison IPA and Gonerbraü, a smooth creme ale. Both proved popular with the rockers assembled in the sun to watch a four-band bill. New Orlean’s Trampoline Team turned in the most turnt tunes of the afternoon.

Yes, I just wrote that sentence. I probably should have just deleted it, but I’ll leave it to show the effects 48 hours of pounding beats are having on my synapses.

Trampoline Team riles up the crowd at Memphis Made.

The eventful Hi Tone Friday night got rolling with Opposite Sex from Deundin, New Zealand. They led with an impressive one-two punch in bassist/screamer Lucy Hunter and guitar squealer Reg Norris, who is able to get an huge range of sounds from just a wah pedal and a souped up stomp box. (TurboRat represent!)

Opposite Sex

The Hi Tone was filling up quickly as Memphis family affair Aquarian Blood howled to life. The husband and wife duo of Memphis hardcore OG JB Horrell and Laurel Fernden, supported by drummer Bill Curry and Coletrane Duckworth (son of Memphis guitar legend Jim Duckworth), gets better every time I see them. Between Horrell trying his best to strangle his ax into submission and Fernden switching between a clean microphone and one with rubbery echo effects—sometimes within a single lyrical line—they sound like no one else.

Aquarian Blood

When I walked into the Hi Tone Big Room to see Power killing it, I briefly wondered if I had stepped back in time to 1974. Like their countrymen Wolfmother, the Melbourne, Australia trio have embraced butt rock, mullets and all. And the Gonerfest audience went right there with them.

Power and the crowd.

I have to admit I totally missed Buck Biloxi and the Fucks. I was visiting the food truck out front for a much needed gutbomb burger when the party (it may have been a hip hop show, I wasn’t clear on the details) across the street at the erupted into a shirt-ripping brawl. There was at least one shot fired, but no one was hurt, and cop cars quickly swarmed the area. It was a strange, tense scene: on one side of the street, an African American crowd rapidly dispersing as police arrived; on the other side of the street, sweaty, mostly white punks from all over the world watching with a combination of horror and fascination, wondering if we were going to be witnesses to some kind of racially charged incident that has dominated the news in 2016. Fortunately, the first wave of cops to arrive seemed focused on de-escalating the fighting, and the situation cleared up without further violence or—judging by the lack of ambulance—injury.

The Blind Shake demonstrates unorthodox guitar technique.

Flashing blue lights provided the background as The Blind Shake took the stage. The Minnesota brothers Jim and Mike Blaha, who describes themselves as an “extraterrestrial backyard surf party”, are Gonerfest regulars. This year, they topped themselves with the tightest, snarlingest set I’ve seen from them. “Shots fired next door,” Jim said from the stage. “It’s an old marketing ploy.”

Black Lips

When 1 AM rolled around, the wrung out crowd milled around, trying to catch our breath as Black Lips meandered onto stage. The original Gonerfest grew out of a Black Lips show, and the band represents something of a garage rock ideal. The sound they have been chasing for the last decade and a half is something like a drunken 60s girl group backup band practicing in the stairwell where John Bonham recorded “When The Levee Breaks”. This is the strain of punk rock that originated in Memphis with the immoral Panther Burns. With the addition of a new saxophonist, the Black Lips pushed ever closer to the Panther Burns party vibe, gathering steam with each woozy rocker until “Katrina”, their 2007 underground lament of New Orleans devastation sent the crowd into a frenzy from which we didn’t emerge until the lights came up.

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Music Music Blog

Reigning Sound Rule Gonerfest Thursday Night

If you want to get cheered up quick, try Gonerfest. 

Memphis punks Nots open Gonerfest 13 in the Cooper Young Gazebo

I had had a pretty crappy Thursday, and was in a pretty foul mood as I headed to the corner of Cooper and Young for the kickoff of Gonerfest 13. The fresh air, idyllic weather, and flurry of faces, both familiar and unfamiliar, loosened me up a bit, and then Nots rocked away the remnants of my darkness. As Goner co-owner Zac Ives said in his brief introduction to the band, it’s been a real privelage watching this band of Memphis women grow and evolve from raw, explosive talent into the finely honed outfit that confidently kicked off the world’s greatest garage punk festival. Even more heartening was the gaggle of little girls who gathered transfixed before Nots frontwoman Natalie Hoffman. The rest of Gonerfest may not be kid-friendly, but for a few minutes yesterday afternoon some Midtown kids got a glimpse of what a powerful, talented, and determined bunch of women can do. 

The show moved to the considerably less kid-friendly environs of the Hi-Tone for the evening’s festivities, led off by Memphis newcomers Hash Redactors. Half the fun of Gonerfest (well, maybe not literally half) is discovering new acts, and between the psychedelic Redactors and Chook Race from Melbourne Australia, I had joined two new fandoms before 10 PM. As the night’s MC, the legendary Black Oak Arkansas frontman Jim Dandy, explained “Chook Race” is Aussie slang for chicken racing, which is apparently a thing in the Outback. But aside from their accents, the three piece didn’t sound like they were from down under. I got a distinct vibe of Athens, Georgia circa 1981 from the jangly sound and twisty songwriting. Some songs sounded like Pylon, while others could have been outtakes from REM’s first EP “Chronic Town”. 

Chook Race from Melbourne, Australia

The crowd shoehorned into the Hi Tone mingled all kinds of accents and looks. I noticed as I entered the show that passports were being offered as IDs as often as American driver’s licenses. Yes, people really come from outside the states to Gonerfest. Lots of them. 

Reigning Sound

The rest of the evening offered various shades of garage rock, from Ohioans Counter Intuits to the Gonerfest veterans now based in San Francisco Useless Eaters. Guitar heroes Fred and Toody—Oregonian legends who fronted Dead Moon and Pierced Arrows—played a noisy set to a reverent room. Then it was time for a return of some Memphis favorite sons, Reigning Sound. Greg Oblivian Cartwright formed the band in the early 2000s with Alex Greene on keys, Greg Roberson on drums, and Memphis import Jeremy Scott on bass and backup vocals. The original lineup stayed stable for two of the best records created in Memphis since the heyday of Stax, and their live shows are legendary. When the original lineup reunited, with the occasional addition of John Whittemore on pedal steel and guitar, they proved the legends true for those who didn’t get the opportunity to see it go down the first time. There wasn’t a bad band on the first night of Gonerfest 13, but the Reigning Sound were head and shoulders above the rest. No one else had the width and depth of Cartwright’s songwriting, or the telepathic group cohesion that can sound both haphazard and incredibly tight at the same time. These guys are, and have alway been, the real deal. 

Now to get rehydrated for today’s shows. 

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: Matt Lucas

It’s time to take a little trip with MVM. 

A couple of weeks ago, Memphis producer Matt Lucas dropped the first single for his new record Whiskey for Breakfast: A Day in the Life of Matt Lucas. “Ea$t Side Nights/Home” is a banging bit of post-Kanye hip hop. It’s full of contrasting sonic textures, leading with a pounding subwoofer beat before veering heavily towards chillwave at the climax. 

Directed by Rahimhotep Ishakarah, the video reflects the song’s 21st century schizoid nature. “This video tells the story of a young man who tries to escape his problems but cannot escape himself or his vices,” says Lucas. “He tries to envision a world beyond his own to face the harsh realities of his past and present to motivate himself to take on his future and control his destiny.”

Music Video Monday: Matt Lucas

If you would like to see your music video featured here on MVM, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com

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Music Music Features

Monkee Mania at Lafayette’s Music Room

This Sunday night, the Subtractions along with J.D. Reager and the Cold-Blooded Three will pay tribute to the Monkees at Lafayette’s Music Room. Formed in 1965, the Monkees recently celebrated their 51st anniversary, causing Reager and Lafayette’s to throw together a tribute show. While the Monkees weren’t quite as commercially successful as their somewhat rivals the Beatles, the band from Los Angeles did crank out hits like “Daydream Believer,” “I’m a Believer,” and “Last Train to Clarksville,” in addition to selling over 75 million records to date. Not bad for a band that was originally formed for a television show.

The Subtractions and the Cold-Blooded Three will be covering the Monkees for the entirety of the evening, and with the deep knowledge possessed by show organizer Reager, you can bet that both bands will be digging deep into the Monkee’s catalog. The Subtractions also feature original Reigning Sound member Jeremy Scott on bass and vocals, and other guests for the evening include Mark Akin (the Subteens), Jason Pulley (Glorious Abhor), and the Flyer’s own Chris Davis. Fun fact: Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz was part of the famed “Hollywood Vampires” drinking crew that included Alice Cooper, Keith Moon, Ringo Starr, and Harry Nilsson. Imagine those bar tabs.

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: The Staple Singers

Music Video Monday is proud to be a Memphian today. 

In the wake of the police killings of Philadro Castille in St. Paul and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, and the mass shooting of police officers in Dallas, Black Lives Matter protests have turned into violent confrontations all over the country. Last night in Memphis, when BLM protestors set out to shut down the Hernando de Soto bridge over the Mississippi, the events of the spring of 1968 loomed large over their actions. On March 28 of that year, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a march downtown in support of the Sanitation Workers strike that ended in a violent riot. When Dr. King returned a week later to lead a second, hopefully peaceful march, he was assassinated, and the city—not to mention the world—was never the same.

But last night was different. There were no arrests, no violent confrontations. The protestors exercised their First Amendment rights to peaceably assemble and seek redress of their grievances with their government, and the police response–which included Interim Police Chief Michael Rallings marching arm in arm with the protestors as they cleared the bridge—was exemplary. These Memphians were determined to set an example for America and the world. This protest that could have ended in violence, recrimination, and division has instead brought us together and focused our attention on the problems of racial disparity in law enforcement. This one incident is not going to automagically solve the deep racial and economic divisions of our city, but maybe, just maybe, we took a step towards putting the ghosts of ’68 to rest. 

On August 20, 1972, the stars of Stax played a massive outdoor concert in the Los Angeles Colesium to call attention to the still-unhealed scars of riots that had occurred in that city’s Watts neighborhood seven years earlier. In this clip from David L. Wolper and Marty Stewart’s documentary Wattstax, Pops Staples leads his family and a crowd of 112,000 in song. The power of “Respect Yourself” echoes across the decades, and we’re sending it out to all the brave women and men on the bridge who showed our country a way forward. 

Music Video Monday: The Staple Singers

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Fly On The Wall Blog Opinion

Tony Stark Visits Memphis, Brings Iron Man Armor

He is Iron Man.

Memphis looms large in American pop culture history, and your pesky Fly on the Wall likes to keep readers informed when the Bluff City’s notably name-checked in movies, TV shows, comic books and other media. For example, the rooftops of Uptown were showcased in Invincible Iron Man #4, which was originally published last December, but just became available to digital Marvel Unlimited subscribers last week.

Here’s the shot: Billionaire industrialist/Golden Avenger Tony Stark was supposed to visit sick kids at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital but, in typical Stark fashion, he forgot about the appointment and tried to bail.

Always the futurist Stark anticipated this craven moment and pre-recorded a video of himself shaming his future self for being such predictable dick. So, of course he goes to St. Jude, brings his Iron Man armor, and has a great time with all the kids. Well, until Dr. Doom shows up and things get weird.

So yeah, the images aren’t all the Memphis-y. Even the rooftop conversation with Doc. Doom is pretty generic. Nevertheless, that happened. 

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: Angry Angles

This Music Video Monday is moving at a breakneck pace. 

The late king of Memphis garage rock Jay Reatard was notoriously prolific—even his side bands had side bands. He formed the Angry Angles in 2005 with his then-girlfriend, rocker/model/DJ Alix Brown, and Ryan Roussau of Phoenix, Arizona psych rockers Destruction Unit. On May 20, Goner Records will release a compilation album with 17 songs recorded during the band’s 2-year tender. This video for the first single, a previously unreleased version of “Things Are Moving”, is by New Orleans video artist 9ris 9ris. It was created by combining footage shot at a pair of Angry Angles live shows with various gifs and video loops. Check out the crunchy video feedback action! 

Music Video Monday: Angry Angles

If you would like to see your video featured on Music VIdeo Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com

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News News Blog

Woman Indicted for Soliciting Minor Online, Sexual Exploitation

CREDIT: Facebook

Facebook

Baluka

A Collierville woman has been indicted on allegations that she solicited a 16-year-old boy online and, later, had sex with the boy, according to Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich.

Melissa Anne Baluka, 40, was indicted on the allegations Wednesday, Weirich said. One indictment was for soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor.

Baluka met the Chicago-area boy online in February 2013, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations and members of the Memphis Child Exploitation Task Force.

After that, investigators said Baluka exchanged sexually explicit photographs with the boy over the internet. Those images included photographs from a sexual encounter the two shared in a motel when Baluka traveled to Chicago in February of 2014.

The boy’s parents found thousands of the text messages on his phone and also found an online account, which chronicled his relationship with Baluka.

The case is being handled by the D.A.’s Sepcial Victims Unit.

Baluka is being held on $75,000 bond.  

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

TED Talks PBS Special Has Memphis Ties

TED Talks, the popular online lecture series, is premiering its new broadcast special on PBS this Wednesday night and the nationally broadcast show features work by Memphis artists. 

A virtual set created by Memphians K. Brandon Bell, Sara Rossi, and Dan Baker.

K. Brandon Bell and Sarah Rossi’s work on the Tony Awards was previously featured in the Memphis Flyer. Along with animator Dan Baker, they created the virtual sets that hosted the speakers for a TED event last November in New York’s Town Hall Theater on Broadway. Three shows for PBS were created from the event, and the first one, “Science And Wonder”, will air on WKNO Wednesday night, March 30 at 9 PM. Here’s a preview:

TED Talks PBS Special Has Memphis Ties

Categories
Fly On The Wall Blog Opinion

Is the RedBall a Veiled Comment on Mass Surveillance? (Probably Not)

CREDIT: Kurt Pershke, RedBall Project in Paris

Kurt Pershke, RedBall Project in Paris

The RedBall in Paris

The Brooks Museum of Art announced this week that as a part of its centennial celebration, it is bringing artist Kurt Perschke’s “RedBall Project” to Memphis. The “RedBall Project” is a temporary and site-specific installation piece that involves the placement of a giant, inflatable red ball at various significant points around town. The locations where the Ball will be placed are determined by Perschke, who spends time biking, walking and otherwise exploring the city in the months before the Ball is placed.

The Ball’s placement in other cities has looked loosely to be the work of some toddler-like deity: balanced at the edge of bridges, inflated in doorways, shoved beneath underpasses. It’s funny and unsettling without being too unsettling. It says, “Hello, this is an international city where inexplicable art stuff happens.” It’s the kind of thing Memphians will remember years out: “Ah yes,” we’ll murmur to our cyborg grandchildren, “2016… the year that we were visited by the Ball.” Here are some pictures of the “RedBall” in other cities, so you can get the idea.

In short: the Ball will be fun. The Ball will be different. The Ball should (but will probably not be) placed directly on top of the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest, like a bloated clown nose. The Ball will introduce temporary and site-specific art to Memphis, and it will do it with cosmopolitan style. We are good with the Ball. But will the Ball be a veiled comment on mass surveillance? Let’s discuss.

A hypothetical situation: It’s a sunny midsummer day in Memphis. You’re walking down the street, drinking an iced latte, when you notice that your favorite intersection has been visited by a massive red ball. You stop drinking your latte, mid-sip. You feel suddenly more aware of yourself, of your puny human size, of how zoned-out and unquestioning you were moments before. The RedBall has seized your attention, changed your relationship to the corner and how your body feels as you approach the corner.
You move closer. The RedBall stays in its position. Maybe you put a hand out and feel its rubbery redness. But you can’t move it. It’s really heavy. So you circumnavigate. Your latte-infused commute has been effectively changed, forever. Meanwhile, the Ball is mute, unchanging, super-bright in its super-occupation of public space.

This is a weird experience, huh? Or maybe it is not so weird, because it triggers something in your brain. It triggers the memory of the other thing that was recently installed on your favorite corner: that blinking, blue camera box that provides the Memphis Police Department with 360-degree surveillance of your block. Operation Blue CRUSH, as the camera boxes are called, also made you check yourself in public space. The camera established a ball-shaped zone of spherical surveillance that, while invisible, is very much palpable.

Before you come at me with accusations like, “Oh, what, are chemtrails real too?”, ask yourself: What is the point in a big, red, ball? Our public art could conceivably be anything. It need not be static or silent. It need not be immobile or durable. It could ask things of us. It could tell a story. But a red ball does none of those things. A red ball is just a silent presence — an elephant in the proverbial “room” of the commons.

Is the “RedBall” a comment on the normalization of mass surveillance? Probably not. But will the way we meet it be more normal because Memphians are used to large and inexplicable presences in our neighborhoods?? It’s possible. Whether or not it is intended (and, let’s be real, it’s not), the fact is that in its red and spherical reticence, the Ball is like surveillance: whether or not it watches us is beside the point. The point is that it makes us watch ourselves more closely. Now excuse me while I go get a latte.