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Tradition
of Sedition It's not a good sign when your publicist walks off the job in the middle of a tour promoting your label's most-anticipated release of the year, which happens to be your own CD. It also doesn't help that you keep the hours of a vampire. But when you're Jello Biafra and the tour in question is Jello performing with The Melvins, with The Melvins opening, the flakiness of a publicist can be forgiven.
Sole proprietor of the stalwart Alternative Tentacles record label, the controversial punk rock provocateur behind San Francisco's Dead Kennedys, San Francisco mayoral candidate, national Green Party presidential candidate, spoken word artist, tireless activist against censorship: What hasn't already been said about the man born Eric Boucher who claims to have taken his stage name randomly from a notebook? Throughout his 27-year career Biafra has been alternately championed and pilloried in the punk rock community. What hasn't ever changed is his staunch denouncing of the "punk fundamentalist" mentality wielded like a caveman's club against him: that utter hypocrisy that someone has to wear a certain pre-approved uniform and listen only to certain majority-sanctioned music in order to truly be "punk rock." He continues to vent his spleen against the moronic political climate in the U.S., censorship, global terrorism, censorship, Der Gropenführer Arnold Schwarzenegger, censorship, censorship and censorship. The man, who has collaborated with everyone from D.O.A. to Ministry (as Lard), and NoMeansNo to Mojo Nixon, has chosen The Melvins for the second time to deliver his message of dissimilation and dissent. The new album, Sieg Howdy, is not exactly a proper new album, featuring some new tunes and some reworked tunes from 2004's Never Breathe What You Can't See, but that can be forgiven too. The album kicks off with a crushing version of Alice Cooper's "Halo of Flies" then re-does "The Lighter Side of Global Terrorism." And that's just the first 15 minutes. Then there's "Voted Off the Island" and the destined-to-become-a-classic "Those Dumb Punk Kids (Will Buy Anything)." There's the new vitriol of "Lessons in What Not to Become" and "Wholly Buy Bull" (think it through, people!), and an updated version of DK's "Kalifornia Über Alles." Remixes include "Dawn of the Locusts," "Caped Crusader" and Al Jourgensen's "Enchanted Thoughtfist." Altogether, 27 minutes of new Jelvins material and 17 remixed minutes make it a worthwhile and satisfying CD purchase. Incidentally, this release marks the last time Cows bassist Kevin Rutmanis will be a Melvin. Sob, boo-hoo.
Blues
Blooded In most music stores, you can find Bonnie Raitt's albums classified in the rock and pop section. And though she's certainly had her share of hit singles and radio play, the heart and soul of her music should be classified as pure blues.
The thing about Bonnie Raitt (aside from the great way her name sounds when you say it out loud, especially with a twang – go on, try it) is that her voice is just so darn charming. Combine those melodic and soulful vocals with some down and dirty blues guitar playing, and you've almost got the ingredients to explain Raitt's success over the past two decades. But a lot of musicians can play a mean guitar, and quite a few can sing decently. So what makes Raitt different? The first explanation is accessibility. There's a reason Raitt is filed in the rock and pop section – she has appeal across the musical spectrum, from die hard blues fans to poppy top 40 types. Remember "Something To Talk About"? Exactly. Don't act like you didn't sing that by yourself in the car. While it may seem that some blues artists are removed from the mainstream (and many of them are by choice), Raitt chooses to go her own way, fusing a solid connection between purely accessible pop and head bobbin' blues. Another reason behind Raitt's success is her fantastic voice. It's not often that such a talented singer is also such a talented guitarist. Impossibly melodic and utterly enchanting, Raitt's voice has the power to lull a hyperventilating schizophrenic into a state of calm bliss. Raitt's newest album, Souls Alike, showcases her greatest assets as a musician. Longtime fans will be pleased with the familiar blues-steeped nature of the record, while first time listeners find it hard to resist Raitt's spellbinding vocals and the feel-good nature of the disc. Typical Raitt-esque grooves like "I Will Not Be Broken" and "Trinkets," interspersed with soulful ballads such as "So Close" highlight Raitt's versatility. The best track on the album is perhaps the last, "The Bed I Made," a piano-based, jazz-influenced song, tailor made for Raitt's sensationally soothing vocals.
Pretty
Mellow Everyone loooves Tristan Prettyman. Virgin records loves her; Rolling Stone loves her; fellow acoustic artist/boyfriend Jason Mraz loves her.
But I only like her as a friend. She's that really cute friend that you totally respect but you just know, deep down, that it wouldn't work out … but that's just me. There's someone out there for all of us, so if you're interested in a 23-year-old singer/songwriter (aren't we all) from San Diego who plays an acoustic set as smooth and honest as her most-adored predecessors, Ani DiFranco and Jack Johnson, then Prettyman might be the one for you. Prettyman's debut full-length album, t w e n t y t h r e e (she turned 23 this year on May 23rd), is an 11-song collection of seaside love songs that sound like they're straight from the campfire ring. She says that songwriting just kind of happens naturally for her and that she leaves the more politically driven coffeehouse acoustic style to her contemporaries like DiFranco. "I don't like to go there. I think we have to think about so many things every day," she says. "If they want to get something from it they can, if not they can just let it play." She's an avid surfer with deep nostalgia for her relaxing, wave riding lifestyle and this comes through in her recordings. In "Love Love Love" (the lyrics of which are printed on a photo of ocean waves slowly rippling away), she describes a beautiful, sunny life while talking a friend through doubt. While both lovely and pleasant, this song is pretty much the reason Tristan and I just can't be together. When the EW internship duties come crashing down on me I need a pumping fist to relate my troubles, not a full body massage and a cup of cozy chamomile tea. Prettyman is every bit of what she's advertised though. She writes all her own music and lyrics. Her soft, bluesy voice is just dusty enough to sound genuine and her songs stay true to her relaxing, optimistic lifestyle. Her 2003 independent release, The Love EP, sold over 10,000 copies by word of mouth alone.
Fans Turn On Their Golden Child Maybe it's just my own predilections towards a traditional hip hop sound, but the new album from Atmosphere, You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having, smokes anything being released by the insipid "dictionary rap" underground. I wouldn't group Atmosphere's sound together with the Sages and the Doseones of the world … but they all together share the same audience thanks to clever marketing people who've been whispering "the next big thing" into the ears of impressionable college kids for some time now. Digressions aside, the album has been met with mixed reviews — indie rap purists calling it too "poppy" (I knew the day would come when the hipsters would turn on their own); regular people hailing it as "dope." Besides Slug's cogently honest lyrics, Ant's tight production raises You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having to a level beyond anything the group has done to date. Some people claim that Ant stole a lot of his beats on this one, citing that "The Arrival" sounds like "Pangaea" by the Visionaries, or that "Little Man" sounds like "Who I Am" by the Diplomats. They're right. The songs are pretty much the same, using the same samples and bass lines. But if you're listening that intently … let me rephrase that … if you're getting your panties all bunched up over it, you should pick up the pocket protector and the slide rule and go back to doing mathematics the hard way because hip hop will continue to jack beats from everywhere. The album is superb. The show will blow you away. Atmosphere plays 8 pm, Friday, Nov. 4 at the McDonald Theatre. $16 adv/$18 dos.— Steven Sawada
They Might Be…in Eugene It's been seven years, but true They Might Be Giants (TMBG) fans feel like it was just yesterday. Seven years ago, one of TMBG's founding members, John Linnell, was named one of People magazine's "Ten Most Beautiful People in the World" in an online poll. He beat out the likes of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Pamela Anderson and Prince to earn a ninth-place finish. Forget that TMBG fans stormed the site to vote for Linnell, and that Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf of Howard Stern fame was named the most beautiful — this is an honor of legendary proportions.
Between beauty contests, Linnell and band mate John Flansburgh spend time making music. They've released a couple of kid's albums to commercial and critical success, and were revered as art-rock pioneers on college radio in the '90s. You can blame them for getting the television show themes of "The Daily Show" and "Malcolm in the Middle" (for which they won a Grammy) stuck in your head. And they were the inventors of Dial-a-Song, the seminal answering machine system of their songs that helped propel them to fame in the '80s. The Two Johns, as they're sometimes called, have made a career out of drop-kicking genre-defining norms. They've sold more than 3 million records and have toured tirelessly for more than two decades, while never hesitating to take risks (making kids' albums) or to please their rabid fan base (releasing a 52-track Dial-a-Song compilation). Dial-a-TMBG show 8 pm, Saturday Nov. 5 at Agate Hall on the UO campus. $20. —-Tim O'Rourke
Holy Harmonicas Fatman!
Everybody knows who Blues Traveler is, and those who don't will get no help from this article. But here's a story. I was in junior high in 1991 when the band released their quintessential album, Travelers and Thieves. I remember thinking it was some of the coolest shit I'd ever heard, and I fed off of it exclusively for months. To this day, that album is about the only thing I care to remember from junior high. So now, when I hear John Popper's pinched vibrato and inhuman harmonica riffs, I'm still impressed, but it triggers weird associations to an awkward time. But maybe that's just me. Blues Traveler is still pumping out some great tunes and killing it onstage at major venues across the country. They're touring in support of their newest album, Bastardos, a perfectly competent product from a band that's been doing pretty much the same thing for the past couple decades. But if it ain't broke…, right? Get your tickets quick for the Eugene show. You might even get to hear something off Travelers and Thieves. But don't be surprised if it makes you feel a little awkward. Blues Traveler is playing with Carbon Leaf, 8 pm, Saturday, Nov. 5 at the McDonald Theatre. $22.50 adv. /$25 dos. — Dave Constantin
Here They Come to Save the Day
The liner for The Strange Tones' latest album, Crime-A-Billy, depicts the band as a comic book, superhero foursome, complete with blueprints of their secret, hollowed-out mountain fortress. It doesn't hurt their case that the band members even sport superhero names like Guitar Julie, Suburban Slim, J.D. Huge and Andy Strange. To fans of rockabilly, this depiction isn't so incredible. Rockabilly's battered body has been held captive in Texas since the Stray Cats broke up. And it's high time somebody brought it back into the light. But alas, The Strange Tones are no purists. Crime-A-Billy is more or less a blues album with a twist of billy, but it has a lot of the same giddy energy. The band combines the usual blues, country, rock and bluegrass feel into a tightly controlled, expertly delivered package. Even though it's not rockabilly in the strictest sense, that's OK. We'll take what we can get. The Strange Tones play 9:30 pm, Saturday, Nov. 5 at Mac's at the Vets. $4. — Dave Constantin
Aiken For Clay While the mere mention of Clay Aiken may induce sniggers or looks of disgust from many a hipster, you have to admit that the guy has made a pretty huge success out of his fantastic voice. After coming in second place to Ruben Studdard (hey, whatever happened to that guy?) in 2003's American Idol, Aiken nicely bridged the gap between oh-so-hot-but-kind-of-nasty Justin Timberlake and oh-so-hot-but-maybe-too-intelligent-to-be-a-teen-pop-idol Josh Groban (he sings in what language?). Within seconds of accepting the silver medal, Aiken was selling records by the trillions. So somebody has to like him, right? If the screaming, hysterical teenage girls who attend Aiken's performances and have watched his progress from American Idol through several record deals; whose mothers look on them with smiling approval and who secretly have adulterous crushes on the spiky-haired crooner — if these people are any indication of the type who have made his career so profitable, then prepare yourself, Eugene: The teenage invasion is coming. And their mothers are coming with them. Clay Aiken performs at the Hult Center Saturday, Nov. 5, 7:30 pm. $39.50 – $69.50.— Emily Freeman
Answer to the Question When it comes to writing somewhat interesting articles about music, the name of a band is a good place to start looking for ways to present a particular group's image. But the name of this band is just too easy: Why? No, this isn't a question. That's the name of the band. Question mark and all: Why? I don't know. It just is. Before this turns into a regular who's on first routine, let's lay down a little about the band. Why? is a car crash of musicians hailing from California who don't make bones about telling it like they think it is. The group utilizes guitar, pans, drums, trombone, violin, and keyboards (just to name a few) in creating beautiful and sometimes cryptic instrumentals to back vocals that aren't the most eloquent ("I'm fucking cold like a DQ Blizzard") but definitely get the point across. While singing about the music life, relationships and the like, Why? manages to put a new spin on the same old stuff with their melodic bluntness. As for the name of the band, why Why? Because they're damn good, that's Why. Why? plays with Aqueduct, 9 pm Wednesday Nov. 9, at WOW Hall $7adv./$8dos. — Emily Freeman
THURSDAY NOV. 3 BADA BING'S
Family Karaoke with Jared the Karaoke Guy—6
SAM BOND'S The Reverend Petyon's Big Damn Band,
Jon Itkin—9; Rock
FRIDAY NOV. 4 BADA BING'S
Rocket—9:30
DOWNTOWN LOUNGE Looner, The Randies, New Maxiumum
Donkey, The Very Hush Hush, Wetsock—10
SATURDAY NOV. 5 AX BILLY
Mike Denny—8
LUCKEY'S (the concubot), Armored Frog—10;
Indie, rock
SUNDAY NOV. 6 BADA BING'S
Mr. Wizard's Musicians' Jam—8
MONDAY NOV. 7 BLACK FOREST
Caught-in-the-Act Karaoke—9:30
TUESDAY NOV. 8 BADA BING'S
Paul Biondi, Blake Padilla, Scott Bossina & Friends—6:30
WEDNESDAY NOV. 9 BADA BING'S
Paul Biondi, Blake Padilla, Scott Bossina & Friends—6:30
WOW HALL Why?, Aqueduct, Kiki—9; Hip hop, rock
CORVALLIS BIG RIVER RESTAURANT
Club Guide AX BILLY GRILL & SPORTS BAR 999 Willamette
• 484-4011
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