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Freak
Scene Just Can't Believe Us It's hard to believe 20 years have passed since J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Emmett Patrick "Murph" Murphy started the sonic boom heard 'round the world that became known as Dinosaur Jr. Barlow and Mascis, friends from Amherst, Mass., originally formed a band called Deep Wound, a hardcore group which found Mascis leading the drum beat of rebellion. They quickly tired of the formulaic nature of hardcore, Mascis swapped his drumsticks for guitar picks and the rest, as they say, is musical history.
Mascis plugged in, amped up and let the guitar take over his world. He's a tour de force guitar shredder without the wankery or affectations of the modern day guitar hero, and his voice often sounds like he's barely awake. It was all part of the geeky appeal of this band that made making melodic, emotional but hard-rocking music seem effortless. The three chums sported bedhead hair, jeans and flannel years before the Seattle crowd would become famous for it. And without even trying, Mascis set a new standard for guitar rock that still holds today. When the band was new, there was no way to categorize their textured noise, and they blew people away with the guitar washing over everything in waves of fuzz and distortion. They sometimes mumbled, sometimes howled. They were loud. They followed no song structure. They were lo-fi nerds in a sinister world, and never reached the heights of success they should have. As is wont to happen when two creative minds share the same mental space, tensions between Mascis and Barlow ran high. Barlow was publicly and messily canned from the band and went on to success with Sebadoh, but not before Dinosaur Jr. released three acclaimed albums, 1985's Dinosaur (on Homestead Records), 1987's You're Living All Over Me (on SST) and 1988's Bug (also on SST). Later, Dinosaur Jr. became essentially Mascis' pseudonym; as songwriter and primary instrumentalist he produced 1991's fantastic Green Mind and 1993's Where You Been; and went on to other work with his band The Fog, but that's a whole 'nother article. Fans of Dinosaur Jr. will be pleased to know that Mascis regained the rights to those first three influential albums, and reissued them on Merge Records in March 2005, timed to coincide with the announcement that the original lineup would regroup. Incidentally, Rhino Records has a "best of" Dino CD and has plans to reissue Green Mind and Where You Been.
Creative
Collaboration The key to artistic progress is often collaboration — artists from various fields working together, hanging out together, creating together. The resulting cross-fertilization can stimulate artists to go beyond the perimeters of their own field, build audiences across artistic boundaries and produce multi-faceted works of lasting appeal. Unfortunately, too many forces conspire to separate artists, so it's been gratifying to see opportunities emerging recently for progressive artistic collaboration in Eugene. One is Cherry Blossom musical arts, which created last year's children's music theater production, Nisse's Dream, which sold out every show. Next weekend, Cherry Blossom convenes a broad spectrum of Northwest artists at Lord Leebrick Theatre for what promises to be the most compelling show of the season for regional performers, creators and arts lovers. Highlights include: • A dance poetry piece called September 11, a response to the tragedies in New York, Iraq and Afghanistan, based on a poem by Carter McKenzie, in which a quartet dances to music composed by Paul Safar and performed by a quartet of local musicians • Improvised music to accompany an original film by composer/flutist Daniel Heila, performed by Heila, clarinetist Kurt Doles and trumpeter Tim Clarke, all of whom created a wonderfully atmospheric soundtrack to one of Heila's films at DIVA last month • A humorous audience participation piece called Examining the American Search for the Perfect Partner, perpetrated by OSU music professor and performance artist Michael Coolen
• A short film accompanied by Rob Tobias • Jazzy rock by Brook Adams and friends, accompanied by projected graphic images • Theatrical improvisation by one of Eugene's most accomplished musicians, the great pianist Art Maddox • Ballroom dance and solo piano by Staver Dance Sport, a narrated musical tale by composer Gary Noland, modern dance by Traduza, performance painting by Mika Holtzinger, and more. Local artists responding to current events by collaboratively creating new multimedia works — this is the kind of venture that builds a vital artistic community here, and I hope our community supports it. Another hotbed of local creativity is DIVA, the visual arts institute that's also been putting on some intriguing music and other performances. On April 22, DIVA hosts the Eugene Composers Collective's third and final concert of the season, featuring original works by local composers. The ECC is another new institution that's contributing to Eugene's artistic vitality; these shows always feature some thought-provoking music. Many of these composers got their start at the UO, which hosts the Oregon Composers Forum featuring new music by UO composition students, a free show at Beall Hall on April 25. And one of the school's most accomplished graduates, percussion wizard and UO faculty artist Sean Wagoner, presents a solo showcase there on April 24. Still another source of local creativity is the spiritual community associated with Indian music and chant. On April 15, Dharmalaya Yoga Center hosts a CD release party for Solala Towler's new Sacred Soundings disk, featuring members of Windhorse and guests on tabla, vocals, didjeridoo, tamboura, percussion, violin, flute, bass and more to accompany throat singing, harmonic singing and chant. I always get excited about new music, but there's plenty of beauty in the old stuff, too — especially the really old stuff. One of the finest concerts I ever attended in Eugene happened a few years ago at Beall Hall, when the amazing French singer Anne Azema joined renowned early music multi-instrumentalist Shira Kammen in an intimate journey through medieval music. The duo returns to Beall on April 18 in a free show featuring music and poetry on the theme of courtly love. Most of the composers will be new to you (they certainly are to me, and I love this period), but this pair is adept at explaining what's going on in these lovely (and sometimes lusty) songs, and they make their concerts unforgettable time travel experiences. Essential to early music fans, and recommended to everyone. Finally, there's some striking new music coming to Portland this month. One of the hottest contemporary music groups, Ethel, will play their greatest hits at Reed College on April 23. This is another group that really reaches out to audiences while presenting groundbreaking music. And on April 21, Portland's own terrific new music ensemble, Fear No Music, welcomes zheng (Chinese zither) virtuoso Mei Han and composer-instrumentalist Randy Raine Reusch in music that combines thousands of years of Chinese musical traditions with original world music and jazz influences. It's at the Wieden / Kennedy building on Northwest 13th Street.
Cracking
the Books It's unfair to pigeonhole The Books with any of the newly-christened genre names that seem to bubble up in hipster-friendly music publications on a weekly basis. Folktronica, the term most often used to elucidate The Books' sound, really only grazes the surface and belies the complexity behind their music. Wikipedia cites bands like Boards of Canada, Four Tet and Mum (bands with sometimes similar but mostly divergent sounds) as examples of folktronica musicians.
But unfortunately, it manages to get even more convoluted than that. According to Wikipedia, folktronica somehow bleeds into similar styles like "laptop folk" (which I've never heard of, but I'm sure has probably been used incessantly on Pitchforkmedia.com), "beardtronica" (which I believe was contrived by a smart-ass Wikipedian to soley confuse), and "nu-folk" (which also has been used on Pitchfork and supposedly comprises the likes of Devendra Banhart!!!). From the sarcasm, I hope you can sense, folktronica, The Books really are not. Their music and their technique are much too intricate and subtle. Now, what they are… First, The Books are a duo composed of Nick Zamutto and Paul de Jong, two found sound archivists/musicians with a shared passion for awkward moments caught on tape, the pure tonality of the human voice and the obscure scat singer Shooby Taylor. As a team they combine original cello, guitar and altered vocal work with samples of pre-recorded human conversation, pre-speech and idioglossia-like vocalization, advertisements and dialogue from film. With these found sound samples sometimes taking center stage in a song, as they are repeated, stretched, stuttered and altered in numerous other ways, they sometimes dictate rhythm and subsequently extend a song beyond traditional structure. Recontexualized rather than mutilated, these samples take on lives of their own, reaching for new messages and sound apart from their original environment. But through their original instrumentation, The Books still operate within some familiar framework of melody. Over the course of three albums (Thought for Food, The Lemon of Pink and Lost and Safe), they have gained a significant cult following. For rare insight into their attitudes towards found sound, seek out the Internet radio broadcast that de Jong and Zamutto did last year for www.dublab.com,which is now available through Dublab as a podcast. The hour-long broadcast features favorite songs and melodies (both from other artists and The Books catalog) as well as snippets from The Books' library of found sound and field recordings. What begins with a zealous preacher trying to sell God morphs haphazardly but somehow logically into Laurie Anderson's "O Superman," the idiosyncratic scatting of Shooby Taylor, "Take Time" from The Lemon of Pink, "Contempt" from Thought for Food and a slew of obscure found sound and old timey and international folk music. All of it in some way contributes to an understanding of the intention behind the band's original albums. Their live shows now include pre-recorded video accompaniment created by The Books themselves. This new visual element compiles numerous snippets of found video culled from thrift stores and field recordings, much in the same way the duo collects their sound samples. The overall performance, visual and aural, should entertain as well as challenge. If it were simple, and I were lazy, it'd be nothing more than folktronica.
David Jacobs-Strain's Blues
If you've followed the Eugene music scene at all the last several years you've undoubtedly heard of David Jacobs-Strain. He's the former wunderkind, now 22-year-old, who's been hailed since he was a teen as a future blues giant. In a recent phone interview, Jacobs-Strain talked about what he's been up to lately. Last I heard you were going to college. I was going to college and trying to keep up with my music both, but I noticed a lot of the best writing I did was when I was supposed to be studying. I loved going to college, but I really felt like this was the time to focus on what I love most. What have you been doing lately? I just got back from Mexico City, doing some shows down there. It's an incredible city, a very international city. Nobody really knew who I was, but there was an interesting mix of people from all over the world who came to hear me. There were some dancers from the Ballet de Folklorico there. A lot of great musicians. Today, I'm in San Francisco helping produce an album for a friend. It sounds like you're doing pretty well. Have you been to the crossroads? Well, I play the blues, but no one's making any deals with the devil here. The worst deals I've made probably revolve around keeping my car on the road. People often ask me, "Are you channeling Robert Johnson?" But even though I've always connected with the blues, I've never been a purist. I've never tried to play the old songs note for note. What do you enjoy most about being a musician? Everything. I love the people who come out to listen. Watching music on TV is passive, uninvolving. People who come out, they're participating in music just as much as I am. I just love playing music. I love the sound, the feel of my fingers on the strings. I love the vibration of the guitar as it leans against my chest. I just love it all. David Jacobs-Strain plays at 8 pm Friday, April 14 at Luna. $10 stu. adv./$14 gen./$16 dos. —John Ginn
Chasing Away the Tax Day Blues It's tax day, April 15, and you've just sent your forms off to Uncle Sam. Bummed; you're bummed; you've just paid a lot of money to a bunch of bums. It's a bummer.
Fortunately, there's a cure for that. The Harlem Gospel Choir is in town on this very night, the perfect antidote for all that bummedness. Imagine the scenario: You: I hate tax day. It's not a good day. HGC: We hear you, brother. Come on, sing with us… You: No! HGC: Amazing Grace, how sweet… You: La la la, I can't hear you! HGC: How sweet the sound, that saved... You: No way! Forget it! HGC: That saved… You: That saved a wretch like me! And suddenly there you are, almost against your will, singing songs about metaphorical lost sheep and letting your little light shine on the darkness of the world, and you are clapping and whooping and having a rousing good time. Formed in 1986, Harlem Gospel Choir was founded by Allen Bailey, who was inspired by a Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration at the Cotton Club. Gathering singers and musicians from various black churches in Harlem, the group has become one of the most widely known and traveled gospel choirs in the world. Its mission is two-fold: To make the world a more loving and peaceful place, and to create a better understanding of the African-American culture, gospel music and how it relates to the black church. The theme of every performance is bringing people and nations together, and giving something back. And for nearly 20 years now, that's exactly what they've been doing, raising the roof on venues all over the world, sharing stages with Diana Ross, U2, The Chieftains, Bono, and, most recently, the multi-media group Gorillaz. Gospel is not a passive musical style. Do not expect to lean back, eyes closed, and gather in the sound. Participation is encouraged, and toward that end, there will be a free workshop on Tax Day Eve open to anyone wanting to learn more about spirituals, slave songs and traditional and contemporary gospel. Those attending the workshop can join the choir onstage (concert ticket required) for a song at Saturday's performance. The Harlem Gospel Choir hosts a free gospel workshop, Friday 7:30pm April 14 at the Hult Center and performs 8 pm Saturday April 15 at the Hult Center. $18/$22/$26. —John Ginn
Lukewarm Jam Given that the bluegrass scene has taken off like a rocket all over the bar circuit in Eugene, it's easy for bands like Blue Turtle Seduction to get lost in the mix with all the other silly-named groups with mandolins, violins and harmonizing vocals. Straight from the back country of Lake Tahoe, Calif., these guys try to mix it up with what they call a "High-Altitude Bohemian Tribal Funk Grass" sound that includes everything from world music to hip hop to the skank rhythms of reggae and ska. All the genres in the world couldn't begin to describe these guys. The harmonies in songs like "Changing Lanes" sound like a generic country album and the attempt at a hip hop verse in "Breakfast" is cornier than watching Snakes on a Plane with a $5 tub of Orville Redenbacher. Their saving grace is that the band members are quite talented with their instruments. If your desire for yet more bluegrass in Eugene hasn't been satiated yet, then maybe these guys will do it for you. Blue Turtle Seduction plays with Ken Babbs the intrepid traveler/capn and the Prankster/Skypilots, UTF the Next Step and The Great All Merge at 8 pm Thursday, April 20 at the WOW Hall. $13 adv./$15 dos. — Dan Hoyt
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