‘The ultimate in brass balls’ times two!

The Melting Point seems to be in a New Orleans state of mind with the shows they’ve booked for the next few days. If you like horns and funk then you should mos def make the drive over to check out The Dirty Dozen Brass Band on the 13th and Bonerama on the 15th.

The last time I saw Bonerama it was in a sweaty little (aren’t they all) NOLA hotspot called The Mapleleaf. They strutted onto the stage with horns in full tow, and when they got down and dirty with the NOLA funk, the place went wild. Packed to the brim, the show lasted well past 1 a.m. and spilled onto the street after that. There’s a reason why Rolling Stone’s David Fricke says that this band is “the ultimate in brass balls.”

If you want a little more than just horns (but really, why?) then there’s the Dirty Dozen Brass Band to see on Saturday night. Anything goes with DDBB, so don’t expect just brass with these guys. They’ve worked with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Elvis Costello and incorporate guitars, keyboards and drums into their mix. DDBB has been redefining the NOLA brass band concept since the 70′s, so head on out to the Big Athens and let them show you how it’s done.

Either way, laisser les bons temps rouler!

That parachute is orange, not golden

Clemson announced yesterday that faculty and staff are now required to take an unpaid five-day furlough because of state budget cuts.

“It is regrettable that we have to take actions that directly impact the Clemson family, but the severity of the budget cuts leave us with no choice,” said Clemson President James F. Barker. “Clemson is already a lean operation, and we had implemented substantial internal reallocations earlier this year to hold down tuition, which left us with few options to handle a cut of this magnitude.”

Clemson’s budget-cut strategy should save the school nearly $5 million. But the $3.5 million dollar question is this: How can the school afford to buyout Bowden for the next six years if they are in such dire straits? Not to mention Clemson has paid him $15 million over the past decade.

Now supporters would argue that Bowden’s salary is paid by athletic funds, which are donations to the school. Oh, OK. You guys support the football team, not the school. Clemson, a public university, has the audacity to ask its educators and staff to take unpaid leave while Bobby Bowden cools himself from the harsh Carolina sun with a cash fan in each hand? The Tamer calls bullshit. BB, you should donate that windfall back to Clemson. Now that’s a way to leave a winning legacy at the school that’s been so good to you for ten years.

No money, mo’ problems

Clemson’s Board of Trustees went into executive session this morning to talk about future budget cuts at the school. No action was taken, but since S.C. budget analysts have predicted a $138 million shortfall this fiscal year it’s no secret that state education will suffer.

One program already on the chopping block is Clemson’s sustainable agriculture program, a USDA certified organic farm located on 15 acres of campus land. Organic bounty from the farm is available to the community through a program called Campus Supported Agriculture. It also hosts a farmer’s market. The sustainable agricultural program has been self-sufficient since 2001, relying on the community and grants from the college to survive. However, the grants have been yanked, which means the whole program could close. That would be a shame.

Want to show your support? Sign this online petition.

A ‘Lowe’ down dirty shame

Will Clemson get a Lowe’s? Probably not.
But tonight the city will make its final considerations on a rezoning request for the 20-acre tract adjoining U.S. 123 and Issaqueena Trail, the same place Wal-Mart wanted a few years ago. That Wal-Mart is now in Central.

Opponents to the project are mostly residents living in an adjoining neighborhood worried about noise and traffic congestion.

Plans also call for more stores on the Lowe’s tract, possibly a restaurant or a bank. It’s estimated tat Lowe’s has already spent $15 million on the project, and tonight’s meeting will outline building plan changes made by Lowe’s to accommodate the concerned residents. Changes to Lowe’s original plans include:

• A plan to restrict lighting to the Lowe’s property line
• Widening of a buffer zone along Hwy. 123
• Maximum heights for poles
• Landscaping standards
• Allowing construction of a building over 100,000 square feet, which is the zoning standard. Lowe’s is seeking to construct a building of 137,916 square feet.

The Clemson Planning Commission will meet at 6:30 p.m. tonight in council chambers at Clemson City Hall, 1250 Tiger Blvd.

Want to make your voice heard? The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing about the proposed Lowe’s on the 17th, although we think it’s a little odd to hold a public hearing after a re-zoning meeting.

Things we like: art and Gnarls

This is short and sweet, but you understand. Maybe you are short and sweet, too.

Go see this new installation at the Lee Gallery in Clemson with your own eyes:

“Headway” is a sculptural kinetic work hovering six feet above the floor in Lee Gallery. Yikes.

“In these works, a calculated study of motion and force is paired with a variety of elements of myth and religion to give the sense of a new philosophy… In the form of an installation, art has the ability to immerse the viewer in a multi-sensory experience. By using this approach, and the implications of a suggested new mythology, the viewers are urged to think about their own convictions and the origins of these notions as we consider and reconsider what we think we know to be true,” said artist Martijn van Wagtendonk.

van Wagtendonk is Assistant Professor of Art in Studio Foundations at the Lamar Dodd School of Art, the University of Georgia. He went to school in the Netherlands. No wonder his shit looks so cool, and he sounds so smart.

“Headway” will be showing October 6 through November 12. The Gallery’s hours are: Monday to Friday: 9 am to 5 pm, Sunday: 2 to 5 pm. Please call the gallery at (864) 656-3883 to confirm Sunday dates and hours during holiday breaks.

Directions:
Leaving the Clemson visitors center parking lot, proceed up the hill and veer left towards the Clemson House. At the stop sign just after the Clemson House make a left. Go down the hill and make your first available left. Continue down the hill and make your first right. At the stop sign continue towards the traffic light getting into the very left hand lane. Continue straight through light and go down the hill. (Methodist Church should be on the right.) At the first stoplight make a left onto Williamson Road. Continue on Williamson road past the stadium (on the right) and at the top of the hill veer left. At stop sign make a right onto Fernow Street. Park in the visitor spaces in the cul-de-sac.

Here’s one more van Wagtendonk teaser for you:

And some new Gnarls Barkley:

Three Things and Some Science

 

Sweetness:

If you are old and in the way, you probably remember the likes of Matthew Sweet. His third album, Girlfriend was a 90′s goodie. Rolling Stone rated it as one of the top 100 albums of that faraway decade, when we all went to raves and cried over Princess Diana. Remember this? 

 

 

Old Man Sweet will be tearing it up at the 40 Watt this Saturday in Athens. There will be a bunch of thirty-somethings toting around extra-large Pibbers, but don’t let that stop you. Sweet will be performing tracks from his new album, Sunshine Lies.

He was on World Cafe yesterday, and you can take a listen here.

 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96660138

 

I don’t know if it’s a sign of the economic times, but Sweet makes pottery, too. You won’t find any at the merch table, but if you’re interested you can find pieces here:

 

http://matthewsweet.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&Itemid=56
 

I like the kitties.

Preposterously Shifting the Paradigm:

Sometimes loving Of Montreal is a hard thing. They are freaks. They are geniuses. They put on a bitchin show. They know all this. Their October release, Skeletal Lamping is sure to take you on a rainbow-filled extravaganza with a black transexual named Georgie Fruit. Pour yourself two drinks before sitting down to listen to “Beware Our Nubile Miscreants”. Actually, you should probably be standing, preferably with a horse’s ass attached to your backside. See, like this:

Skeletal Lamping is available in seven formats, including a paper lantern, t-shirts, totes and a horsey die-cut. Shit, Kevin’s press release explain it best. Sort of:

“Digital downloading has brought about an unfortunate situation. From the consumer standpoint, with your purchase, you only receive at best a thumbnail sized image of the album. From the retail standpoint, sales are lost to a faceless server in the middle of nowhere … The release of Skeletal Lamping is a paradigm shift. The goal is to expand the perception of music packaging beyond traditional flat, square artwork and to bring consumers back to record stores to get it.”

Not exactly the structure of a scientific revolution, but aw hell, we love you guys anyway. Here is a real paradigm shift for you, OM:

If you want to grasp this concept, check out Thomas Kunhn’s book, “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”. Ay yi yi. One example of a paradigm shift is the transition between the Maxwellian Electromagnetic worldview and the Einstein Relativistic worldview. Please don’t ask us to explain this. We just think they sound like really good band names.

Peace Out, Bean Sprouts:

Do you like tortured pop with a side of jam? Then we have the perfect band for you. Seepeoples will be playing in Asheville on the 7th at the Orange Peel and then in Athens on the 8th at the Georgia Theatre, opening up for Lotus. Here’s the title track from their latest endeavor, Apocolypse Cow: