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Breaking
Ground Joe Russo describes himself as a chain smoking sexual deviant whose favorite food is Kool-Aid in powder form straight out of the can. He has more teasing words for his partner in crime, Marco Benevento, who's in the background listening as Russo describes him as "kind of fat and lazy," with a weird sugar fetish that drives him to constantly eat chocolate Hostess cupcakes.
How much truth lies in these statements is hard to gauge. Truth, like beauty, lies in the eye of the beholder. Sticking to facts, it's safe to say that the two of them make up the Benevento Russo Duo. Adding in opinion based on experience and evidence, it's also safe to say they've clamped their jaws around the neck of jazz and shaken it the way a terrier kills a rat. Russo describes what they do as "instrumental jazz rock." They were recently written up in Rolling Stone, but you'll find stories about them on Jambase and even in Relix. Of the jammy genre, the most apt comparison would be Medeski, Martin and Wood. Using an arsenal of pedals, drums and organ, they layer melody on rhythm on melody on rhythm. Their songs ebb and flow with structure and a framework that loops back on itself — recurrence to reconnect the listener and create themes within the songs. The strong current of jazz runs through their tunes, holding together the melodies and regrounding the music when it trips out into weird experimental space. The dark, spooky influence of Thelonius Monk is strong, but so are the echoes of electronic music. With the Benevento Russo Duo, the sum of the parts does not equal the whole. To say they combine jazz, with rock, a little blues, some jam band influences and electronic doesn't add up to what they're doing. Some songs, "The Three Questions" for example, smolder with anxiety and tension like a couple's bedroom after a bad fight. "We definitely have a bit of aggro energy attached to our music," said Russo, who now calls Park Slope in Brooklyn home. "It's from all the damn traffic." Contrast that with "9x9," a serene, gentle song, swirling and colorful like lying on your back watching the northern lights. Whatever you call it, the Benevento Russo Duo is beautiful, uncharted territory.
Collision
at Cloud 9 Chic, hanging bulbs, sleek track lighting and two vine-like street lamps gloriously illuminate Bel Ami's incredibly high ceiling, posh bar and spacious dining area. The vastness of the new lounge is nearly breathtaking. Local artist Adam Grosowsky's paintings of dark archways and beautifully pensive women lend a curious yet subdued ambiance to this new restaurant and lounge inside the Triomphe marketplace.
Tucked in the far corner of the room, Oneself Connect co-founder Shawn Kahl coolly rotates the jog dial on his Pioneer CD DJ 800 turntable (commonly referred to as a CD DJ). It acts like the record platter on a traditional turntable and allows DJ's to manipulate CDs with their hands they same way they would work with vinyl. "We sold our turntables a long time ago and converted everything to CD," Raging Family co-founder Cosmos Corbin says. Raging Family and Oneself Connect, two of Eugene's oldest DJ collectives host this new Thursday night event named Cloud 9, which combines electronic music with short film and video art. Local DJs and producers of electronic music provide a laid-back soundtrack to the work of various local filmmakers and video jockeys. The musical side of things focuses on neo-lounge styled electronic music with an emphasis on the new digital mediums used to produce and play the music. Music from artists such as Thievery Corporation and Kruder and Dorfmeister plays alongside original Raging Family and Oneself Connect musical compositions. In addition to DJs, musicians perform original works through laptop computers. In bigger cities, regular exhibitions of originally-produced electronic music known as "laptop battles" are common. But Cloud 9 is more about creating a friendly atmosphere instead of a competitive one, Kahl says. "We're trying to promote it more like a sharing event, where people can collaborate and feel like they can work with one another."
Because laptop computers are so portable, they're the perfect tool for do-it-yourself electronic musicians and have come to symbolize the new digital revolution in the music. The development of live-performance-friendly digital sound editing and production software such as Ableton Live has inspired many traditional DJs to make the transition from DJing to producing. In addition, interactive playback software such as Serato Scratch Live gives DJs the ability to take digital music files from a laptop computer and mix them on turntables or CD DJs through encoded vinyl records or compact discs. A couple records and the computer's hard drive now replace the crate-full of vinyl DJs used to haul around. "Just like anything else you gotta change with the times and you gotta get progressive," Kahl says. "You gotta keep being innovative and keep growing." Digital technology has also caused a lot of waves in the film and video world. Cody Yarbrough, a UO student and indie-filmmaker who will showcase some of his short films this Thursday at Cloud 9, says digital technology has opened the doors for a lot of new artists. "New digital technology is really democratizing an art form than until now has required so much money to get involved with," he says. Kahl and Corbin say they're trying to really push this digital film aspect of the night as well, and will feature new filmmakers and video artists each week. Cloud 9 featuring Oneself Connect and Raging Family and guests. 10pm, Thursdays. Bel Ami, inside Triomphe, Free
Music
Shorts You'll Say "I Saw Her When" You could say Anne McCue was discovered by alt-country maven Lucinda Williams while playing a gig in a little club in Nashville. Or maybe it was her 1998 and 1999 gigs at the Lilith Fair with Eden. Or maybe the years she spent touring the blues circuit with Girl Monstar and the year they spent gigging in Vietnam helped get her name out there. Whatever's helped McCue gain the recognition she's now getting, the girl's paid her dues. After getting recruited by Williams in Nashville, McCue went on to open for 23 acts across the country, including opening for Heart at the Les Schwab Amphitheater in Bend last summer. The first listen of McCue's second solo album, Roll, is soothing and blues inspired. Her voice drifts in one ear and floats around, reluctant to leave, reminiscent of Lucinda's country twang. Her subject matter ranges from autobiographical to Western fairytale, and the whole delicious sundae is topped with an explosive nine-minute cherry of a cover, Jimi Hendrix's "Machine Gun." It jerks the listener out of the old west and into a distortion-filled paradise. When she's headlining a stadium tour and selling out months in advance, you'll be able to say, "I saw her when." Anne McCue plays John Henry's, Thursday, 5/19 at 7 pm. $7 — Denise CaJacob, Reprinted with permission from the SOURCE Weekly in Bend.
Man of the Year's Elaborate, Endearing Melodies The precise, sparkling pop of Man of the Year just begs for a whole host of slinky descriptive terms: shiny, swooping, sophisticated, shimmery. But none of those thoroughly conveys the charm of A New and Greater Tokyo, the band's second album, on which these four Portlanders do nearly everything right.
Tokyo is a huge step forward from Man of the Year's first album, The Future is Not Now, which earned plenty of glowing reviews of its own back in 2000. ("Buffy" fans might recognize a track— or the band themselves — from a 2001 appearance on the show.) Its cheery opener, "Western Sun," is driven by jaunty, Dandy-Warhols-esque guitars (no surprise; the two bands share a producer). "Mucho Macho," thick with harmonies and Brenna Sheridan's buzzing synths, is just the sort of pop song that's been missing from the airwaves for far too long: Catchy and uptempo, it sounds a bit like Blur jumping straight from their first album to the year 2000. A good handful of Man of the Year's songs, notably "Blue Sky," carry a hint of The Posies, a touch of the power-pop that was arguably one of the best things about '90s college rock. Sheridan and bassist Kelly Simmons aren't shy about harmonies, giving singer/guitarist Todd Morrisey a lush backdrop for both his vocals and the occasional well-placed guitar solo. And ultimately, what makes this melodic confection so satisfying is the simple fact that live, they pull it off with aplomb. Man of the Year play with The Fast Computers and Eric Nordby, Saturday, 5/21 at Luckey's. 10pm, 21+ show, $3-$5 ss. — Molly Templeton
Live Punk Rock Jukebox If you're into Misfits, MDC and the Exploited, the corner bar with Kenny Chesney, Matchbox 20 and Led Zeppelin is definitely not your hangout of choice. But The Tiny Tavern, with The Secret Hippy's Live Punk Rock Jukebox, with punk music and cheap beer, might be. Every Wednesday night at 10 pm, The Secret Hippy spins old school and hardcore — by a punk, for punks. And because the music isn't stuck inside some neon lit jukebox eating quarters like Wal-Mart gobbles wetlands, you can actually make requests for those songs you just have to hear. The Secret Hippy is an experienced DJ, and at one time hosted a popular punk show on UO's KWVA 88.1 FM. With a massive personal collection of punk tunes spanning the gamut from DRI to GBH and Agnostic Front to Poison Idea, The Secret Hippy said he started Punk Rock Jukebox so that punks had a place of their own. "Punks need a place to hang out, socialize, build a community, talk about music, shows, politics, etc." he said. "This is a good venue to do just that, and the beer specials are good too!" Punk rock DJ nights are a new idea, at least around these here parts. Eugene has long had disco night, reggae night, Grateful Dead night and the infamous '80s night. It's about time punks had a night of their own. The Secret Hippy has thought his shit through. He'll take requests, of course, and will play music if you bring it. CDs are best. "I'd rather not handle anyone else's vinyl," he said. He's happy to throw on "something you want to turn your friends on to, a good message you want to share, or if you just want to rock to a good drinking song." Cheap beer and punk rock. What more can you say to that! See The Secret Hippy every Wednesday at the Tiny Tavern. Free. — Vanessa Salvia
Gold at the End of the Rainbow Lissa Schneckenburger has chosen a unique path to fame and fortune. Eschewing pop, singer/songwriter, rock and all that other stuff, the 26-year-old Brooklyn resident plays a brand of folk music known as "New England fiddle tunes and folk songs," which has its roots in Celtic music.
Lissa began playing the violin when she was a 6-year-old growing up in Maine. "I love the healing qualities of music and the emotional connection between the performer and the audience," she says. To this day, her parents have always been her biggest supporters. Recently, her dad drove all the way from his home in Maine to see her perform in Boston, even though he had to work the next day. Her third and most recent solo album, simply titled Lissa Schneckenburger, is a haunting mix of fiddle and vocals. It transports the listener to a far off time and place — a time before cell phones and hip hop; a magical place where the legend of the leprechaun might easily be born. Any fan of folk is sure to enjoy her music. Lissa is currently touring the West Coast, and will be performing at 8 pm at Café Paradiso, Wednesday, May 25. $8. — Ursula Evans-Heritage
AX BILLY GRILL & SPORTS BAR BLACK FOREST
CAFÉ PARADISO CLUB TSUNAMI CORNUCOPIA All Ages COUNTRY SIDE RESTAURANT COUNTRYSIDE COZMIC PIZZA@THE STRAND All Ages DA HOUZE DOWNTOWN LOUNGE EMBERS SUPPER CLUB EUGENE WINE CELLARS 535 CLUB ROCK GOOD TIMES JAXX LOUNGE@PREMIUM POUR JO FEDERIGO'S JOE'S BAR & GRILLE JOGGER'S BAR & GRILL JOHN HENRY'S THE JUNGLE LATITUDE 10 CAFE All
Ages LAVELLE'S WINE BAR & BISTRO LUCKEY'S CLUB CIGAR
LUNA MAC'S AT THE VET'S MAX'S TAVERN MCDONALD THEATRE All Ages MCSHANE'S BAR & GRILLE MONROE STREET CAFE All Ages MULLIGAN'S PUB O'DONNELL'S IRISH PUB OREGON ELECTRIC STATION OVERTIME GRILL PEABODY'S PERUGINO QUACKER'S RED LION INN ROSE'S DINER
SAM BOND'S GARAGE SAM'S PLACE SAMURAI DUCK SHER'S TAVERN STACY'S COVERED BRIDGE THE STAGE@HOSANNA CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP SWEETWATER'S TAYLOR'S BAR AND GRILL TINY TAVERN VET'S CLUB BALLROOM WETLANDS
WOW HALL All Ages YUKON JACK'S CORVALLIS AJ'S FOX & FIRKIN IOVINO'S RISTORANTE MURPHY'S PLATINUM NIGHT CLUB SQUIRREL'S TOMMY'S PEACOCK karaoke TH: The Cooler, Countryside, Da Houze, Duck Inn,
Lone Star
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