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Fruit
for Friends I've told you about Fruit before, and this time the popular and entertaining Australian band is returning to Café Paradiso Sunday, July 18 as Fruit...The Trio, sans drummer Yanya Boston and bassist Brian Ruiz.
The performance is a benefit for Friends of KRVM, all the more reason to reserve your spot at the show. The trio consists of the three main women of the band, Susie Keynes and Sam Lohs on electric and acoustic guitars and Mel Watson showing off her talents on various horns. Each of those women write songs and sing, their vocals harmonizing effortlessly into a sisterly groove, combining to form funk, blues, ballads and rock with anthemic appeal. Fruit formed in 1995 in the Southern Australian town of Adelaide. The initial formation had the fingerprint of fate, as each of the three women discovered they had all been booked to perform a show at the same venue on the same night. The threesome took the stage and realized they had a unique connection. Surprisingly, the idea of forming a band with three lead singers felt comfortable. According to Watson, "It started off as a project and it ended up being a lifestyle." The group has performed and recorded as a trio before. The most recent recording, The Trio Album: Live at the Church, features the three women performing at the Church of the Trinity in Adelaide. The group has played thousands of shows since its inception and has performed at folk festivals and fairs all over the world. Audiences seem especially receptive here in the Northwest, where Fruit has performed several times. New Orleans-based jam band Saaraba has done all it can in New Orleans; recording a debut studio album, headlining Tipitina's, and performing at Mardi Gras. Now, the band is ready to break out of the South and performs July 21 at Luckey's. The five-piece band performs reggae to New Orleans-style funk and everything in between. Saaraba formed two years ago, when guitarist/vocalist Danny Marks and drummer Boyanna Trayanova moved into an apartment above an abandoned convenience store in New Orleans. Recognizing an opportunity, the pair began hosting monthly open jam keg parties. That's how saxophonist Joshua Scalf and trombonist Luke Hudleston became involved. Bassist Josh Riley hooked up with the four and Saaraba was born, and the New Orleans club circuit greeted them with open arms. In less than a year, the group recorded their self-titled debut CD to strong reviews by the city's daily newspaper and the premier musical publication, Offbeat Magazine. The debut shows a strong sense of music rooted in reggae, with touches of ska and rock steady along with the island beats. There's a little Latin thrown in, some brass and funk winds blowing and a good sense of having fun. If you feel like dancing, check 'em out. On Thursday, July 15, Sam Bond's Garage will host singer-songwriter Joanne Rand and her band, which was voted Sonoma County's Best Acoustic Band. Rand and band will be joined by a cappella vocal trio Copper Wimmin, who also hail from Sonoma County, where they have been singing together for more than a decade. Copper Wimmin have been said to have the harmonic beauty of Sweet Honey in the Rock and the multicultural appeal of Zap Mama. The trio of women share their ideals of a healing creative force and seek to enrapture audiences into "a complete awareness of our world and a desire to heal it." Rand, once a pigtailed kid in Georgia, has released seven albums over a 20-year career. She became enchanted with the Pacific Northwest after traveling as a teen and lived in this area for six years. Her recent CD, January 2003's self-produced Into the River, is dedicated to a certain wild river she fell in love with while traveling through the area. She says, "Dive in! The river is yours, the river is now, river of life." Over the years she has emerged into a strong voice for preservation of wild places, "songs of transformation and grassroots power." When Into the River was released, Rand moved back to the Siskiyou Mountains and the river that nurtured her own spiritual growth and transformation. Her creativity was aroused once again and a batch of songs written in 2003 are destined for the upcoming release, A Year in Orleans. She also has a new band: The Rhythm of the Open Hearts. Meanwhile, over at The Downtown Lounge, a brand new 1,000 sq. ft. dance floor is giving an opportunity for evening dance programming and lessons. Noted dance instructor Denise Steele, owner of The Joint is Jumping Dance Studio, will host Blue Mondays with '50s rock, East Coast swing and Lindy hop at 6 pm, followed by swing blues at 7 pm. Steele has worked closely with Frankie Manning, Lindy hop innovator and choreographer and travels annually to Europe to dance and teach. On Tuesdays you can meet up with members of Eugene Swing Team at 7 pm for lessons until 8 pm and dancing until 10 pm. Wildcard Wednesdays offers instruction in either swing, Cajun/Zydeco or waltz from 7 until 10 pm. Schedules alternate, so check with Downtown Lounge, or better yet, just plan on going down there every Wednesday! Thursday is Latin night, with amateur ballroom dancers teaching samba, cha cha, rumba, bolero and jive. Lessons start at 7 pm with dancing until 10 pm. With all these choices, you'll have happy feet!
The Shins, Chutes Too Narrow, 2003, SUB POP RECORDS by Amy McCullough OK, I admit it. I love the new Shins album. Maybe it's not that hard to admit, since everyone's been raving since its release last October.
Yeah, I liked "New Slang" from their debut Oh, Inverted World (just like everyone else) but even that and seeing them at Seattle's Bumbershoot last summer didn't have me running out to buy Chutes Too Narrow. I did buy it eventually, though, and it's been in my stereo ever since. Singer James Mercer reminds me of label mate Jeremy Enigck (Sunny Day Real Estate) when he yells. These New Mexicans emulate obvious heroes such as the Beatles and Beach Boys, but are truly original on Chutes. Plus, "Gone for Good" sounds an awful lot like that earlier gem, "New Slang." Sure, I'm a little burnt by having to agree with everyone, since popular approval is usually a pretty good indicator that something sucks, but everyone seems to be right on this one. Produced by Phil Ek of Built to Spill/Modest Mouse fame, Chutes Too Narrow is anxiously waiting to change your mind about the Shins.
Aerosmith, Honkin' on Bobo, 2004, COLUMBIA RECORDS by David Bischoff Credit this band's power and position with the record company that gained them this opportunity. If you are a blues and roots-rock fan — and so many of us are in the Pacific Northwest — this is a must-own CD. After so many years, these rockers somehow manage to put about 150 percent of themselves into their music. Not only is their live act still the best classic rock review since The Who, Aerosmith still produces quality studio albums. Honkin' on Bobo is remarkable in multiple respects. First, it is simply a grand collection of covers. Aeromsith turns the amps past eleven and rock and brawl their way through wonderful tunes like "Road Runner," "Shame, Shame, Shame" and a smokin' "Stop Messin' Around." Second, this is an American band. These guys get to the soul of the blues and rock and communicate it. Next, and perhaps most importantly, somehow Aerosmith takes these great, old songs and through some alchemy turns them into their own modern statements, without losing an ounce of primal blues power. Oh, how I'd like to hear some of the fifties greats do their stuff again in a high-tech, 21st Century studio with a Chicago and Delta moxie. As this won't happen, Honkin' on Bobo will do nicely. Too bad "Son" House and Robert Johnson aren't around to hear it.
Caustic Resin, Keep On Truckin', 2003, UP RECORDS by Sean Campanella Does the idea of really heavy, psychedelic metal intrigue you? Boise's Caustic Resin has been blowing apart speakers for 15 years, and their latest release, Keep On Truckin, offers everything that staunch connoisseurs of the rare metal-experience crave: acid-induced dementia, veiled sorcery and a slow-ride across an apocalyptic, high-desert landscape.
Similar in style to Black Sabbath, the music is driven by dense, viscid guitar-playing; it drones and plods, searches out strange melodies, and reverberates to ear-smashing levels, only to become quiet and spacious, allowing plenty of room for Brett Netson's voice to writhe and flail like a green tentacle, recalling not only Ozzy but Procol Harum's Gary Brooker as well. The first four tracks are merely a warm-up for three, count 'em, three consecutive 10-minute songs about trucking: "Drive #47," "Keep On Truckin" and "Drive #49" — those songs themselves are an album within an album. Half an hour later you definitely feel like you've journeyed, but only a vivid, insistent imagination might tell you where to. Meanwhile, whatever gruesome, alien transformation Netson has been going through is nearing completion, and slime is beginning to pool. The final track, "8th St.," suggests that it may be wise to bail out of the passenger seat before it's too late.
The Roots, The Tipping Point, 2004, GEFFEN RECORDS by Todd Cooper If you know The Roots, then you don't need to read this review to know this disc is worth copping. I immediately knew that I loved this album when the needle hits the record and a Sly & The Family Stone sample ("Everybody is a Star") opens the album.
The Tipping Point (borrowed from the Malcolm Gladwell book) is The Roots' seventh album. This collection is the result of days and days recording extended studio jams that were later edited down and finessed for its release this Tuesday. Unlike their Grammy-nominated Phrenology, it sounds more raw groove than experimental. The listener will not be disappointed though. From the soulful, laid-back "Star" to the stripped-down "The Web" to the straight-crunk "BOOM," the band keeps it fresh from track to track. Their lead single, "Don't Say Nuthin'" sets it off with a pop-lockin' mumble funk that will have you scratching your head. What the hell is Black Thought saying? "Stay Cool" sounds like a soundtrack to a pimp walk and comes off just as confident. ("There's not another soundsystem rocking steady as us.") The highlight of the album is when you hear "One-Take Dizzle" (comedian Dave Chapelle) grab "The Mic" (the hidden track.) The Roots are obviously big fans of Chappelle's Show. (Who isn't, right?) They end the track with Dave's impersonation of Samuel L. Jackson that will keep you laughing after the album is over. Even though The Tipping Point doesn't exactly break new ground, it is the kind of quality, organic hip hop you expect from the legendary Roots crew.
BLACK FOREST CAFE PARADISO CLUB TSUNAMI COFFEE GROVE COOPERATIVE COUNTRY SIDE RESTAURANT COZMIC PIZZA@THE STRAND All
Ages DIABLO'S DOWNTOWN LOUNGE DUCK INN EARLY RISE CAFE EMBERS SUPPER CLUB GOOD TIMES INDIGO DISTRICT JAKE'S PLACE JOE'S BAR & GRILLE JO FEDERIGO'S JOGGER'S BAR & GRILL JOHN HENRY'S JUANITA'S HIDEAWAY
THE JUNGLE LAVELLE'S WINE BAR & BISTRO LONE STAR BAR AND GRILL LUCKEY'S CLUB CIGAR
LUNA MAC'S AT THE VET'S MORNING GLORY CAFE THE O BAR OREGON ELECTRIC STATION OUR PLACE TAVERN OVERTIME TAVERN PEABODY'S PERUGINO PLANET GOLOKA QUACKER'S RAMADA INN
SAM BOND'S GARAGE STACY'S COVERED BRIDGE SWEETWATER'S TAP 'N' KEG TAYLOR'S BAR AND GRILL TINY TAVERN WETLANDS
WOW HALL All Ages
CORVALLIS FOX 'N' FIRKIN MURPHY'S PLATINUM NIGHT CLUB
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