Saturday, October 30, 2010

Leslie and Corvette Summer at Slim's



Charleston rockers and Slim's favorites Leslie returned to Raleigh last night and played to a very appreciative audience. These guys play the type of heavy, hard, Zep-inspired Southern rock that sound perfect in a bar like Slim's, where the PBRs are cold, the shots are plentiful, and there's no need to be embarrassed if you fall off your barstool. Thanks to the band for letting me take numerous photos of them. They were cool guys and I think I got some good shots.





Leslie - "The Rescuer" from Mann's World on Vimeo.



Corvette Summer, a new covers project with Larry Burlison and Erik Sugg, made a fine debut. Some of their covers included Pat Travers' "Snortin' Wiskey, Drinking Cocaine," Free's "Ride on Pony," and best of all, BOC's "Tattoo Vampire." See more photos. 

Monday, October 18, 2010

Hell yes for The Hell No!


Before the world discovered Beth Ditto as a fashion icon, her band The Gossip was known as an amazing, dirty, blues-punk trio whose frontwoman had a sexy persona and a sexy wail. The Hell No still has a fire that I think The Gossip lost when fashion designers suddenly jumped into the mix. I checked them out at Sunday's birthday bash and benefit for Steven, a young man who is bravely battling cancer. He wasn't feeling well enough to be at the show, but the rest of us had a great time in his honor. I got a couple of videos, including an amazing cover of "Fever", but since this was taking place at White Collar Crime, a spot not known for its great lighting, these are very dark. 

And yes, I know that singer Brenna has some serious red-eye in that photo. I thought it made her look even more menacing, so I left it as is. See more photos.

The Hell No from Mann's World on Vimeo.



The Hell No covering "Fever" from Mann's World on Vimeo.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Video of Static Minds from the J. Betski's Rocktoberfest


I have to apologize for the tardiness of this particular blog post. I'm dealing with several things right now (some good, some not so good) that are making blogging difficult. Regardless, here's the video from the Static Minds' rockin' Rocktoberfest performance. My picks for the shows of the week are the COC/Double Negative show tomorrow night at Kings, and the Birthday/Benefit for Steven with Royal Nites, Hank Sinatra, Richard Bacchus & the Luckiest Girls, the Hell No
and The Infamous Sugar Sunday at White Collar Crime. If things calm down a bit for me, maybe I'll see you out and about. More photos.


Static Minds at Rocktoberfest from Mann's World on Vimeo.

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Five Questions with Minus Sound Research




Artists often don't confine themselves to one genre. If someone is a musician, chances are they create some sort of visual art as well. Chapel Hill's Minus Sound Research is a collective of local musicians who do just that: create visual art. This weekend the group will showcase the art, visual and aural, of its members with a two-day showing and concert at Carrboro's ArtsCenter. Collective members Maria Albani (Organos) and John Harrison (North Elementary) answered my questions.



1. Tell us about Minus Sound Research. Who are the artists involved, and what kinds of art to they create?
(Maria) Minus Sound Research is an artist collective comprised of local NC musicians. This year, for our 5 year anniversary, we have invited all of our past participating artists to submit 1 piece. In addition, we've also invited 5 new artists into the collective, who will be showing 4-5 new pieces.

These are all of the artists (Past & new) who have work in MSR5 this year:

New Artists: Mac McCaughn (Portastaic/Superchunk) Casey Cook (Americans in France), Casey Burns (The Nein) , Wendy Spitzer(Felix Obelix), & Billy Sugarfix (Billy Sugarfix)

Past Artists: Laura Ballance (Superchunk), Melissa Swingle (The Moaners), Bill Taylor (KM) Ron Liberti (Pipe), Beth Tacular (Bowerbirds), Michael Triplett (Fin Fang Foom), John Harrison (North Elementary), David Koslowski (Free Electric State), Shirle' Hale (Free Electric Sate), Catherine Edgerton (Midtown Dickens), Nathan Oliver (Nathan Oliver), Mas Sato (The Sames), Reid Johnson (Schooner), Anna Bullard (Anna Bullard), Chip Smoak (Simple), Linc Hancock (Strange), Drew Robertson (Phon), Viva Cohen (Jett Rink), Laird Dixon (Shark Quest), & Maria Albani (Organos/Schooner).

As far as what kind of art you'll see: Various mediums. Michael Tripplet shows his photgraphy, Anna Bullard has done a leather collage', Nathan Oliver has made a wooden light box, Laura Ballance made a ceramic pot (complete with baby jade plant living inside), Ron Liberti has a screenprint, & Drew Robertson has created an audio.visual piece that is incredible. There really is quite a variety.

2. Why did you decide to do a two-day concert, and how did the ArtsCenter get involved?

(Maria) The main focus of MSR has always been the visual art. We have never featured live music with any of the shows for that reason. When we approached the Carrboro ArtsCenter about having MSR5 in their gallery, we discovered we would also have access to their
beautiful theatre. Since MSR5 would be a celebration of our 5 year Anniversary-we really wanted to have live music this year. What's even more fantastic about this portion of the celebration, is that all of the bands are performing for FREE. This means that when folks purchase a ticket to see the bands play on both Friday & Saturday-100% of that ticket money is being donated directly to our ArtsCenter!

3. When is the book coming out, and where can we buy it?

(John) The book is out now! Here is a preview.
There is a wall exhibit of the book at the opening along with a copy and bookmarks that will have information on where to purchase your very own copy.
The link to get your copy.

4. Tell us about your own art. What are the similarities between your visual art and your music?

(John) Mostly the art I do is mixed media involving screen printing, acrylic and spray paints on canvas or found objects such as wood/paper. Certainly there is a collage element to both....the sounds and random bleeps/static surround the songs in much of my music...and....the spray paint or drips of random color that surround much of the screen print that is more formed and concrete. I feel that in both ways the song or definition of the piece is presented in a fashion that creates an effect somewhere between creating and deconstructing. I really enjoy the process of creating both...they come from the same source inside of myself.
(Maria) I do a lot of different things. Sometimes acrylic paints. Sometimes pastel chalks or some form of printmaking. This year I am showing an screen print. I guess a main similarity in my art and music would be the element of spontaneity. Resulting in compositions that might not make a whole lot of sense? I don't know. I never sit down and make art with an idea of what I'm trying to execute already present in my mind. It's always a surprise to me. Same with my music.

5. One of your new artists is Mac McCaughan. Tell us about his work.

(John) The subject matter of Mac's work for this show is based in music....amp tubes (the one featured on the new Superchunk album) and headphones. Mac uses pen and gouache on paper. Gouache is similar to watercolor but with a smaller ratio of water to pigment.

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Come celebrate Ashlea and Brian's wedding



Ashlea Green is the amazingly talented graphic designer who did the poster for my show. This is the poster she did for her wedding party, which will take place at Kings tonight. You probably know her betrothed, Brian Green, from his tattoo work or his DJ sets at Neptunes. Anyway, they're having a big, public party with several great bands and DJs. It's free, so come out and help them celebrate!