Up first at Round 5 of the 2013 Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase was Fayetteville's Bartin Memberg, a.k.a. Martin Bemberg, formerly of The Memphis Pencils and presently an incredibly prolific solo artist.
Bemberg had a bit of trouble at first getting his whole laptop/guitar/pedals/what-have-you setup set up. But once he did, he performed some challenging, weird pop, with a Young Marble Giants feel, what with the sparse sound and pinging percussion.
Showcase judge CT wrote, that the set "started off roughly, when it took off it got better. Nice songs." The guest judge this week was Eugene Whitmore, a record producer and recording engineer who owns Genetics Studio in Little Rock. Whitmore wrote, "Not bad tone, but tech difficulties."
Grayson Shelton wrote, "I enjoy his songs, but I think I would enjoy them more if he would put a band together instead of the samples." He also noted Bemberg's "Bowie-esque delivery." Judge Mandy McBryde wrote, "Interesting sampling of "Auld Lang Syne" in the first song, especially since the celebratory hymn we all know so well is based on a poem about life, love and other tragedies. I liked his "song to four-year-olds. If I had a kid, I would TOTALLY play this song for them (and probably wish I'd written it myself)."
After the jump, more photos and a video.