Chuck D appointed RSD Ambassador

Book Club cuts a lathe single, and more music news

On Sat., Feb. 22, folk rock outfit Book Club is convening in the Rodriguez Room at the Goat Farm for a particularly industrious merger of homegrown art and music. For this show, the group will give a slightly longer-than-usual live performance during which artist Molly Rose Freeman will paint a work of art live. When she’s finished, the piece will be broken into 30 separate 7-inch pieces of art that will be used as record covers. Straw Hat Press will then screen-print the back covers of each one. Throughout the duration of the two-hour show, Thomas Barnwell (Stations Receiving) will lathe cut Book Club’s song “Boomerangs and Bedroom Eyes” onto a 7-inch. The song itself was recorded and mixed live to tape by the Cottage’s sound engineer, Damon Moon, in the Rodriguez Room a few weeks earlier. The finished product will be a one-sided record/objet d’art that will be available for $50 (advance) and $65 (day of show). Tickets for the show, without a copy of the lathe cut single, are $10-$12. The music starts at 8:30 p.m.

Chuck D, the co-founder and leader of legendary hip-hop group Public Enemy, will bring the noise as the official ambassador for Record Store Day 2014, scheduled for April 19.

As RSD Ambassador, Chuck D will join the ranks of Jack White, Iggy Pop, and Ozzy Osbourne, all past promoters of the unofficial holiday started seven years ago to advocate for independent record store culture in the music industry. In a press release, Chuck D said: “I don’t go 1 single day without emphasizing that the genre of hip-hop is spawned from DJ culture. The founding members of Public Enemy were, and still are, DJs. The tool and fuel for DJs has forever been recordings. And where these recordings have long connected, with pros and fans alike, has simply been The Record Store, the connection point of listener and the recording ...

The record store made musicians listen beyond themselves. It both complemented and supplemented the radio, in fact the best radio stations in the past followed the vibe of the record stores of their regions, thus growing and nurturing each other.”

On Fri., Feb. 21, the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center and Film Love presents a tribute to Lou Reed, the Velvet Underground, and Andy Warhol through screenings of their collaborative film work. A 1966 rehearsal film titled The Velvet Underground and Nico will be at the center of a program, along with screen tests of the band members and various other rare bits of footage featuring the Velvets.

In other news, Red Sea, which has remained somewhat quiet over the last year, snuck in under the radar this month to release the four-song ‘’Yardsticks for Human Intelligence EP. The group has been sitting on some of these recordings for as long as two years. As its members’ musical approach has evolved, Red Sea decided to sneak these songs out via Bandcamp rather than just scrap them. So what you get is a snapshot of a group in transition — some familiar sounds and some newer numbers, all presented in full-bodied melancholy spirit.
Saira Raza, cellist and vibraphone player who is perhaps best known for her work with Waking Astronomer and for live performances with the likes of Boog Brown, Methuzulah Gem, and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson/Kebbi Williams’ orchestra, has a new EP out this month titled Ephemera. Dungeon Family affiliate Pretty Ken, who’s produced a handful of hits for the Youngbloodz and Attic Crew numbers such as “Dope Boi Fresh,” “Shake ‘em Off,” and “85,” has a new solo release in the works dubbed Behind the Music. His first single, “What Up,” arrived this month and features cameos from fellow locals Killer Mike and Bobby Creekwater.

Dingbats, the latest LP from Casper & the Cookies, is out Feb. 25 via Wild Kindness Records, with an album release party slated for Fri., Feb. 21, at the Caledonia Lounge in Athens. Electro-rockers Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun recently released a video for its latest single, “Youth Found in the Night.” The song will appear on the group’s forthcoming Quads EP, which is due out in April. Black Lips released their latest single, “Justice for All,” on Feb. 12. This one is the second single from the group’s Underneath the Rainbow LP, due out March 18 via Vice Records. On Feb. 14, Eshe of Arrested Development unveiled a video for her latest offering “So Gone.” It’s the second single to be released from her upcoming EP. C

chad.radford@creativeloafing.com

Additional reporting by Sonam Vashi.

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