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Lo-What? Loquat (lo'kwät') n. 1. A small evergreen tree of the rose family native to China and Japan, or the small, yellow, edible fruit of this tree. 2. One of the most promising new bands to play Eugene this year; if you miss their show you'll probably cry yourself to sleep.
Hailing from California, Loquat plays bittersweet and haunting electro-pop reminiscent of thoughtful nights spent on the beach or golden afternoons in the company of your most recent crush. And, like a crush, Loquat's enchanting music is easy to fall in love with, while flaunting enough dynamic rhythm and catchy guitar to keep you coming back for more. The mixing of standard guitar, drums and bass with electronic and synthesized sounds creates a mysteriously organic kind of music that seems to come out of the ether. The members of Loquat take their mixture of standard and synthesized music to the stage, treating each song as an entity that needs to be loved and understood before it will come alive. "It's like a relationship," lead singer and guitarist Kylee Swenson says. "You can't know someone well enough in two weeks to get married. I think it takes years to become a good live band." Swenson describes Loquat's live shows versus their studio recordings as a friendly battle. "It has been a constant chase, a competition between live and studio," she says. "Right now I think the live shows are winning the competition." Swenson also says that the most important part of playing a good live show is to make sure that all the band members are in tune with one another — and she doesn't just mean instrumentally. "It's not just everyone playing the right notes at the same time and knowing the lyrics," Swenson says. "It's so many elements at the same time, and everyone really has to be paying attention." In order to make this happen, the band members, including Swenson and longtime friend and founding bandmate Earl Otsuka (a pair who used to name their songs after the liquor they were drinking at the time, e.g. "Vodka") have imposed a limit on drinking before the show. But their steady hands will surely pay off. Loquat's beautifully mellow music is likely to give you a better buzz than a top shelf martini.
We're
All the Same Blood Eugene has been blessed with amazing local and visiting reggae and dancehall talent. We can walk down the street and chat with the always glowing, always graceful Norma Fraser, dance at the Northwest's only thriving dancehall club nights, or, on a good weekend, catch the Wailers or Barrington Levy on tour. Sadly, though, because his name may not be as recognizable as his music, this weekend's Junior Reid show at Cozmic Pizza may be the year's most underappreciated and under-attended dancehall reggae concert.
To understand what you might miss, it's best to start around 1990, around the middle of Reid's career. His legendary (we're talking genre defining) hit "One Blood," which he originally recorded in 1988 after leaving Black Uhuru, was released to a worldwide audience. The single, which some may recognize from the notorious bootleg jungle remixes that sampled Reid's vocals, won numerous awards and praise from the dancehall reggae community at large. Reid replaced Michael Rose, who replaced founding member Don Carlos in the late '70s, and took over as the lead vocalist for Black Uhuru in 1986. After recording only two albums with the band, Reid left the group after visa problems prevented him from touring the U.S. It's also been reported that Reid's strained relationship with Uhuru founding member Derrick "Duckie" Simpson also contributed to his departure. Previous to his start with Black Uhuru, Reid had recorded with a slew of producers and musicians such as Carlos, Sugar Minot, and King Jammy, all of whom were intrinsically tied to the group. His solo career post-Uhuru saw him pairing up with electronic superfreaks Coldcut, the Wu-Tang Clan and Glasgow one-hit wonders the Soup Dragons (yep, that's Reid on the Rolling Stones cover "I'm Free"). Although he dabbles with the rowdy and raucous dancehall crowd, Reid has always tried to remain positive and socially conscious in his lyrics, effectively bringing a bit of the roots ideology to dancehall. He appears in Eugene with Fenton and the Reggae Angels and Wada and Andrew Blood. Don't miss Reid in a totally new element as he performs through the rich and warm acoustics of the very intimate Cozmic Pizza.
Bite into This As a band trying to make a memorable impression on various media sources, you have to be particular about what to include in your press kit, aside from the standard bio and CD — should it be candy? A free ticket to a show? In the case of up-and-coming sultry rock group Mon Frere, the press kit includes the essentials plus a pair of plastic vampire fangs. Memorable? I think so. Mon Frere's first disc, the Real Vampires EP (hence the fangs), is by all means the embodiment of the sass and night time rock 'n' roll energy that a pair of plastic fangs implies. The album definitely has a bite; lead singer and keyboard player Nouela O. Johnson's vocals are seductive in a brutal kind of way. Combine that with wicked keyboard riffs and guitarist Kyle B. Swisher's mean power chords and you have the recipe for some bloodthirsty rock 'n' roll. (Swisher is also credited with "shrieking" on the album.) Although Mon Frere definitely has the potential to become one of the year's most badass rock bands, they still have some maturing to do in terms of the dynamics of their music. While similar groups such as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Pretty Girls Make Graves have enough confidence to add some slow and more melancholy songs to their mix, a lot of Mon Frere's catalogue — although great — ends up sounding too similar. Nonetheless, their live show should be something you don't want to miss. Even though Mon Frere might not be up to the vampire-esque standard of killing with one bite, they're still powerful enough to go for the jugular and transform you into a faithful fan. Mon Frere plays a free show at 4 pm Friday, Aug. 12 at CD World. —Emily Freeman
Stick Up Men
The most interesting musicians often work the seams between genres, which makes it frustrating to try to put their music into the genre pigeonholes that record labels construct. So: how to describe the music of Jerry Marotta and Tom Griesgraber? Instrumental rock? Yes, their sound is fueled by Marotta's backbeat, but as one of the top session drummers in pop music (Paul McCartney, Indigo Girls, John Mayer, Elvis Costello, Trey Anastasio), Marotta does a lot more than that. Jazz? There's plenty of improvisation between Marotta and Griesgraber, who plays the Chapman stick, a 12-string guitar/bass/synth hybrid played by tapping strings behind frets, enabling him simultaneously make melodies with both hands. But the music feels a bit more composed and compact than what most listeners think of when they hear the J-word. Ambient? Most of it's warm and mellow enough to not frighten away any New Age types, but the inventive tunes do more than just conjure an atmosphere. World music? A vet of Peter Gabriel's band, Marotta knows plenty of rhythms. But ultimately, the duo's laid-back prog rock creates its own category, and the best way to understand it is to check samples at www.spottedpeccary.com,or, better yet, hear them in person at Cozmic Pizza at 8 pm on Saturday, Aug. 13 along with their labelmate, Norwegian guitarist/synthmeister Erik Wøllo, whose pensive, spacious soundscapes will appeal to Hearts of Space heads. $10. — Brett Campbell
Urban Minstrels Po' Girl, a three-woman band from Canada, is the kind of stuff you'd be just as likely to hear coming out of a trendy coffee shop as you would on a Bourbon Street corner. Po' Girl takes a hearty dose of Depression blues, old-time country grit and a dash of urban poetry steeped in New Orleans jazz. Vocalist Allison Russell's silky vocals are evolved from the soulful styles of greats like Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday, with the plaintive country lament perfected by the likes of Patsy Cline and Lucinda Williams. Po' Girl knows the inherent power of a wailing harmonica and a deceptively simple melody laced with haunting vocal harmonies. Po' Girl originally began as a side project started by Be Good Tanyas founding member Trish Klein, who took a hiatus from the Tanyas after her BGT bandmate Frazey Ford gave birth to a baby girl. However, the new band realized that the project had germinated into something more than just a temporary distraction. Po' Girl is a dynamic super-trio, in which all three women have their hands in, or on, a wide variety of different instruments. Klein is schooled on banjo, mandolin, harmonica and guitar, while Diona Davies is a fiddler with skills on the tuba, guitar, piano and trombone, to name a few. And while Russell is usually wowing the audience with her sultry vocals, she's a multi-instrumentalist as well: Her repertoire includes the clarinet, pennywhistle, guitar and bodhran. After touring extensively throughout the world to promote their self-titled debut album, Po' Girl is on the road again to promote their latest effort, Vagabond Lullabies. It's mellow, thick music that flows over the eardrum like molasses dripping from a plate of fresh hotcakes — soothing comfort food guaranteed to satisfy. Po' Girl plays at 9 pm Monday, Aug. 15 at Sam Bond's Garage. $6. — Sara Brickner
BADA BING'S BLUE LUNA CLUB CHARLIE MAC'S CLUB TSUNAMI CORNUCOPIA All Ages COUNTRY SIDE BAR & GRILL COUNTRYSIDE PiZZA & GRILL COZMIC PIZZA@THE STRAND All
Ages DIABLO'S DOWNTOWN LOUNGE EMBERS SUPPER CLUB EUGENE WINE CELLARS GOOD TIMES JAXX THE JAZZ STATION
JO FEDERIGO'S JOE'S BAR & GRILLE JOGGER'S BAR & GRILL
JOHN HENRY'S KELYNSKI'S SPORTS PUB LAVELLE'S WINE BAR & BISTRO LUCKEY'S CLUB CIGAR
LUNA MAC'S AT THE VET'S MCSHANE'S BAR & GRILL MULLIGAN'S PUB O'DONNELL'S IRISH PUB OVERTIME GRILL PEABODY'S PERUGINO QUACKER'S RED LION INN
SAM BOND'S GARAGE SAM'S PLACE SPIRITS STACY'S COVERED BRIDGE THE STAGE@HOSANNA CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP All
Ages TAP 'N' KEG TAYLOR'S BAR AND GRILL TINY TAVERN WETLANDS WORLD CAFÉ All
Ages
WOW HALL All Ages CORVALLIS BEANERY All Ages BOMBS AWAY CAFE IOVINO'S RISTORANTE PLATINUM karaoke
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